In May 2019, Oracle E-Business Suite user Canon Medical reached out to 4apps for help with their VAT reporting process.
The multi-national medical equipment manufacturer was struggling in two specific areas:
- Local teams were under intense pressure to meet VAT reporting deadlines at the end of each month. Their existing ledger validation process was Excel-based, error-prone and highly time consuming.
- At the country level, adjusting to changes in domestic tax laws and regulations was a constant challenge. The E-Business Suite tools simply didn’t provide enough flexibility to handle this constant evolution.
Canon’s European HQ was also concerned about a lack of oversight of what was happening on the ground. Managers decided they needed to find a safer, centralised and more effective approach to VAT accounting and reporting.
Who is Canon Medical?
Canon Medical is a leading global producer of medical imaging equipment. The company’s European central office is based in the Netherlands and over 900 staff are employed across the continent. From a VAT reporting perspective, Canon’s complex cross-border operations pose significant challenges.
Implementation
Initially, some country teams were skeptical about switching to a new VAT reporting system. However, they were quickly reassured by the depth of knowledge of 4apps’ experts when it came to Oracle systems, as well as local tax laws and procedures.
The implementation was quick and efficient. Within six months the whole of Canon Medical Europe was live and using the Itax4apps dashboard to automate their VAT reporting. In spite of a volatile backdrop (including Brexit and Covid), the transition was incredibly smooth.
According to Madrid-based cash manager Elisabet, 4apps solved Canon’s unique problems in a fast and methodical fashion. She said: “they studied everything… we did testing before… and it was a really good experience”.
Results
Saves Time – Local VAT reporting was reduced from 2-3 days per country to 2 hours! No need to spend hours manually checking tax codes any more – the automated platform handles discrepancies.
More Accurate – Errors get detected immediately and flagged in the user dashboard. For Canon that has meant fewer fines and regulatory risks (e.g. non-compliance, incorrect submissions etc.)
Highly Flexible – Changes to local laws and regulations are automatically and instantly reflected in the system. Canon Medical can also use the flexible framework to make ad-hoc tweaks as required by each country team.
Conclusion
All told, the switch to Itax4apps was smooth and lifted a huge burden from Canon Medical’s shoulders. VAT reporting is now faster, easier, less expensive and safer from a legal and regulatory standpoint.
Team morale has also been boosted by the fact that local teams don’t have to stress about being compliant or making monthly submissions on time. Moreover, the time saved on VAT reporting has freed up staff to work on other important tax-related projects.
