10 Reasons IT Leaders are Prioritizing SAP Tax Compliance for S/4HANA

Alex Forbes
October 9, 2018

Tax compliance is moving up the priority list as companies migrate from ECC to S/4HANA and S/4HANA Cloud.

Multinationals recognize the inefficiencies of SAP-native compliance as government mandates redefine sales and use tax, e-invoicing, and VAT compliance and reporting requirements. Financial systems that were originally implemented to help manage growth are now hindering it.

IT leaders are prioritizing tax for SAP S/4HANA migrations as governments get more aggressive to close their tax gaps. Here are 10 reasons why:

  1. Legacy ECC and S/4HANA ERPs are falling out of compliance as continuous tax compliance requirements spread across the globe. In addition, your ECC tax solution may not be certified to work with S/4HANA

  2. Country-by-country custom codes and workflows are adding cost and complexity to SAP COEs and reducing operational efficiency
  3. Expansion into new geographies is creating discrepancies in how different business locations calculate and administer tax leading to errors and misuse of IT resources
  4. VAT and GST filing inaccuracies, tax penalties and fines are on the rise as constantly evolving regulations lead to out-of-compliance internal systems and product codes
  5. “Economic Nexus” tax collection requirements in the U.S. are evolving quickly since South Dakota v. Wayfair and companies still using disparate ERP or tax data-related technologies are ill-prepared to scale
  6. Real-time transaction controls where invoices cannot be exchanged between trading partners until the tax administration has received and approved them are forcing ERPs, and even business processes, to adapt radically
  7. Patchwork of e-invoicing, tax reporting and B2B transaction automation systems are resulting in significant cost and risks
  8. New customer-driven business models are requiring IT modernization projects to scale across all departmental areas affected by tax
  9. Unique and changing data formats that require modern, flexible and comprehensive APIs to make applications easily available across a specific set of financial systems and workflows
  10. Need for better collaboration among teams like tax, finance and IT that are closest to tax compliance management and require centralization of processes

Take Action

Learn how to minimize business disruption during an S/4HANA upgrade project in the wake of modern tax: Read Preparing SAP S/4HANA for Continuous Tax Compliance – How Tax Will Impact Key Processes in Your S/4HANA Upgrade and don’t let the requirements of modern tax derail your S/4HANA project.

Sign up for Email Updates

Stay up to date with the latest tax and compliance updates that may impact your business.

Author

Alex Forbes

Alex Forbes is Senior Manager, Content Marketing, at Sovos. When not helping readers navigate their tax-related digital business transformation journeys, he enjoys day tripping around New England with his wife.
Share this post

North America ShipCompliant
September 26, 2023
How Can Women-Led Beverage Alcohol Companies Change the Industry?

The beverage alcohol industry might no longer be strictly viewed as a “boys’ club,” but there are a minority of women leading organizations in the space. However, the number of women-led wineries, breweries and distilleries is on the rise, which – as we’ll explain – is likely a very positive thing for the industry. Let’s […]

North America ShipCompliant
September 25, 2023
Potential Government Shutdown Will Affect Beverage Alcohol Industry

Unless Congress is able to pass an appropriations bill in the next few days, the U.S. government is set to shut down all nonessential services effective October 1, 2023. This will include (among many other agencies) the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which will impact the beverage alcohol industry. If the shutdown […]

EMEA VAT & Fiscal Reporting
September 25, 2023
VAT in the Digital Age – Union One Stop Shop (OSS) Expansion

Entering into force on 1 January 2025, the EU Commission’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposals have been introduced in an effort to modernize VAT across the EU.  One pillar of ViDA is the “single VAT registration,” which would reduce compliance costs for businesses. The Commission proposes to achieve this by expanding the Union […]

North America Tax Information Reporting
September 25, 2023
Why Conduct a Pilot Season for Tax Information Reporting?

Another tax information reporting season is just around the corner and now is the time to start preparing your teams handling forms such as Series 1099, 1098, 1042-S, 3921, 5498, W-2, W-2G and more. Getting your teams ready and testing your reporting process ahead of January ensures you are set up for a successful season. […]

North America Tax Information Reporting
September 21, 2023
Sovos Education Returns to Orlando with Statutory Accounting CPE

If you didn’t join us in D.C. or San Francisco earlier this year, you won’t want to miss one last opportunity in 2023 to take part in live continuing education. Sovos Education is returning to the Orlando area for a full week of statutory accounting CPE opportunities and we’re hoping to see you there. Sun […]