Businesses seeking to enter new geographic regions and countries face new levels of complexity related to tax and compliance. Each country has its own set of rules, regulations, and tax rates that are constantly changing. In the U.S., for example, the tax environment is even more fragmented with individual states having varied laws and codes. Some industries, like telecommunications, are subject to entirely different levels of taxation, further adding to the potential for confusion.
Many global enterprises have used Aria’s cloud billing platform to successfully expand their geographic footprint to offer goods and services in multiple countries using a wide range of subscription models. At the most recent Aria Recur, Aria’s annual customer and partner conference, Vertex’s Andy Hallsworth explained why any company with expansion aspirations needs to strongly consider tax compliance implications from the outset of their plans and adopt an automated and highly processed approach.
“Tax authorities are always looking to close budget holes by introducing new tax regulations and by leaning on businesses to generate and deliver tax compliance data within specific timeframes,” said Hallsworth. “Businesses that are not prepared to meet these challenges can find themselves facing unwelcome scrutiny, paying financial penalties, and dealing with all sorts of friction that is ultimately bad for business.”
Vertex’s tax automation capabilities, embedded into Aria’s cloud billing platform, are designed to remove potential friction by enabling companies to meet all tax-related challenges and achieve compliance, even as changes to rates and rules evolve. In addition to ensuring that accurate billing data is shared with all the relevant tax authorities within the mandated timeframes, Vertex also reduces the manual touches that often lead to errors that, in addition to ruffling tax collector feathers, can also negatively impact customer experience.
Aria customers leveraging Vertex tax automation capabilities can also instill confidence in local tax authorities by showcasing a demonstrated process. “Both tax authorities and businesses are looking for touchless compliance,” Hallsworth continued. “Automation reduces the friction and ensures that tax struggles do not interfere with business growth.”
To comply with emerging and complex tax regulations, enterprises around the world are rapidly adopting and deploying digital and e-invoicing capabilities. Calvi, another Aria partner that attended Recur, specializes in e-invoicing and helping companies consolidate and normalize data, including billing data, to acquire a more complete picture of the customer.
“Billing data is probably one of the least sexy topics at any conference, but one of the most essential sources,” said Mischa Hendriks of Calvi, a speaker at Aria Recur. “Billing data is needed for understanding customers, for care agents to sort problems and communicate, and for IT to find the best solutions possible. They all need billing data one way or the other.”
For both B2B and B2C companies, there are many benefits to adopting e-invoicing capabilities. First and foremost, e-invoicing saves money by reducing the cost and waste associated with printing, stamping, and mailing paper invoices. It also has the potential to reduce reputation-damaging errors.
In addition to the cost benefits, however, e-invoicing is quickly becoming an international standard for the safe exchange of invoices. Much like evolving tax codes and regulations, more countries are introducing mandates that require e-invoicing. Companies seeking to do business with minimal friction in these countries must be prepared to embrace e-invoicing in order to comply.
To learn more about how Aria users can enhance tax automation and adopt digital invoicing capabilities, contact us.
