Customer Story

3+ Billion Transactions Per Year with Sovos Future-Proofs Global Airline's Tax Compliance Strategy

Products

Overview

As one of the world’s largest airlines, operating in a complex and highly regulated tax environment, was facing a major SAP S/4HANA migration. The airline needed a globally scalable tax compliance platform to manage Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC), e-invoicing mandates, and evolving VAT requirements.

Their existing tax infrastructure spanned dozens of disconnected tools and regional providers, creating unnecessary complexity and cost. To streamline its compliance footprint, the airline selected Sovos to provide an end-to-end, globally compliant indirect tax solution across 40+ jurisdictions.

To support this transformation, the company needed a scalable, integrated compliance solution covering e-invoicing, VAT reporting, and SAF-T obligations—across nine complex countries including Chile, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Romania, India, Spain, Greece, Norway, and Malaysia.

The Challenge

Operating at global scale, the airline faced:

Regulatory fragmentation: CTC and e-invoicing mandates accelerating across Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Siloed technology: Disparate point solutions for tax compliance that were hard to scale, maintain, or standardize.
ERP transformation risk: Needing to integrate tax compliance into a multi-year SAP S/4HANA rollout—without delaying timelines or increasing exposure.
Limited visibility: Inconsistent compliance practices across subsidiaries led to audit risks and unnecessary manual processes.

If this challenge sounds familiar to you, it’s worth connecting with a Sovos Expert so we can take this compliance burden off your shoulders.

The Solution

To address these challenges, the airline deployed Sovos’ comprehensive indirect tax platform in partnership with a Big Four firm:

Sovos Compliance Network
Enabled real-time e-invoicing and tax authority connectivity in every jurisdiction ensuring digital readiness at scale.
Sovos VAT Filing & SAF-T
Automated VAT returns and standardized SAF-T compliance globally minimizing local errors and regulatory gaps.
Sovos Indirect Tax Suite for SAP
Delivered native S/4HANA integration removing middleware, enabling automated flows, and future-proofing the airline’s ERP investment.

Together, these solutions replaced over 50 legacy tax tools, centralizing compliance across the business.

The Results

Financial Gains

$1.1M saved through system consolidation and reduction of vendor management costs
$700K avoided in penalties through real-time validation and automated filing
$2.3M in projected 3-year ROI, including savings on consulting, audit defense, andEfficiency Improvements

Efficiency Improvements

60% fewer manual tasks across tax and IT functions
40% faster onboarding of new jurisdictions using standardized compliance templates
75% reduction in exception handling, as automated validations replaced manual checks

Risk Mitigation & Scalability

3.5B transactions processed annually with full audit trail and real-time reporting
100% coverage of tax mandates in 40+ countries through one solution
SAP testing cycles reduced by 35%, as Sovos maintained continuity through ERP updates

Business Impact

Enabled strategic alignment between Tax, Finance, and IT departments
De-risked a multi-year ERP transformation while ensuring full compliance continuity
Enhanced agility to respond to fast-changing regulatory mandates across global markets

Key Metrics

40+

Countries supported

3.5B

Annual transactions processed

$2.3M+

Projected 3-year ROI

60%

Manual effort reduction

85%

Penalty reduction

40% faster

Onboarding speed

35%

reduction in SAP testing effort

Why Sovos?

The airline selected Sovos due to:

Unmatched scale: Proven ability to manage billions of transactions across 40+ jurisdictions
Seamless SAP integration: Fully embedded with S/4HANA – critical for future-proofing ERP investments
End-to-end automation: A single solution replacing dozens of fragmented systems
Deep compliance expertise: Trusted by leading brands in highly regulated industries