Unit 1: SAP Document and Reporting Compliance - Overview

3. They can go one step further and provide electronic formats for e-filing, that are
submitted to a portal or from machine-to-machine.

4. Level one to three have been based on aggregated data. E-auditing then adds another
level of detail, individual transactions. However, this information is still to be submitted
periodically.

5. With e-invoicing, we are adding a new dimension. A platform to efficiently exchange

documents. Between businesses and governments (in their role of business partners
buying and selling products), as well as between different businesses. Therefore, a digital
trail, but not yet connected to the authorities from an audit perspective.

6. This connection is introduced with E-accounting. In (near) real-time, a company needs to

send a copy of the electronic document to the tax authorities. They now have a digital
copy of the transactional data as well.

7. E-clearance and e-distribution again, go one step further. Before sending the invoice to the
authorities, the sender needs to obtain clearance from the authorities (proven by an ID),
or the authorities distribute the electronic document themselves.

8. From there, it's only a small step to the last level, E-verification. The authorities have all
the data, but no taxes have been declared or paid yet. From their source data, the
authorities can create a periodic return, and determine the tax burden. The company only
needs to accept the draft.

To sum up, independent of the stage an individual country is in, a global solution needs to be
able to cover all variants. And the trend is clear, countries are moving to the right.

A Generic Process Overview

Figure 5: E-invoicing, E-reporting, and Statutory Reporting: Process Overview

Let's look at the archetypical end-to-end process flows, to bring life to what the last section
actually means for individual companies.

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