This blog was last updated on March 11, 2019

With vast changes in VAT compliance and reporting regulations sweeping across the globe, companies need to strategically evaluate their approach to compliance to ensure they stay up-to-date and minimize the risk of errors, fines, penalties and even operational shutdowns.

But companies often overlook an important component in selecting a proactive, intelligent approach to VAT compliance and reporting: implementation.

Implementation time and resources must be considered from the start, and the selected solution must be implemented in a way that meets the needs of all stakeholders and the government regulations to be fully effective.

Yet despite the magnitude of implementation, companies often do not dedicate the time and resources necessary to manage this process effectively. Common misconceptions about VAT compliance and reporting solution implementation can hinder companies’ progress.

• Implementation is not a switch companies can simply turn on. Like any software implementation, VAT compliance and reporting solution implementation takes time and must be started well in advance of when you need to go live. This is especially important when approaching a new compliance mandate with a hard deadline.
• Implementation is not one-size-fits-all. Every company has different processes and formats for capturing and reporting data, meaning your compliance solution is based on your specific business scenarios.

Implementation is not a hands-off process. Because of these customizations and the critical nature of compliance, implementation is a partnership between your team and your technology vendor.