How Univar Reduced IT Burden and VAT Risks with Meridian’s VAT Add-On.

Less IT, More Control: Univar’s Journey to VAT Excellence with Meridian’s VAT Add-On Univar Cuts Disputes and Delivers Savings with Meridian’s VAT Add-On Determination Solution.

Client

Univar

Solutions utilisées

TVA complémentaire

Situation actuelle

Univar Solutions is a global partner to customers and suppliers for the value-added distribution of chemistry and related products and services. Univar’s expanded geographic reach, unmatched expertise, and advanced technologies enables them to work as a true extension of their customer and supplier teams, taking on highly specialized tasks and helping develop solutions to meet important challenges.

To meet the complex requirements of global VAT determination, Univar decided to implement Meridian’s VAT Add-On for SAP.

Catégories
  • Produits chimiques

Before: Tax challenges for Univar

Univar Solutions faced growing complexity in VAT management across multiple jurisdictions. Manual processes and fragile custom solutions increased the risk of errors and disputes. IT teams were heavily involved in maintaining VAT logic, slowing down other critical projects. Expansion into new countries added further pressure to ensure compliance with local tax legislation.

The Solution

Univar decided to implement Meridian’s VAT Add-On for SAP, designed to:
  • 1

    Centralize VAT logic

    Centralize VAT logic and automate compliance

  • 2

    Reduce reliance on IT

    Reduce reliance on IT for changes in supply chains, VAT or tax code updates.

  • 3

    Increase flexibility

    Increase flexibility in responding to VAT changes.

  • 4

    Mitigate fragility

    Mitigate system fragility and regression risks.

  • 5

    Simplify migrations

    Simplify migrations and ensure compliance in new markets.

The Results

Univar have reported significant improvements since deploying the Meridian TVA complémentaire :

  • Fewer VAT-related disputes: There has been a noticeable drop in VAT related queries or issues from customers and vendors.
  • Reduced IT workload: “I am 100% confident that the amount of IT time on exploring issues, maintaining these customized solutions has decreased sharply.”
  • Improved agility: VAT changes can now be implemented without delaying other IT projects.
  • Risk mitigation: VAT logic is ring-fenced, reducing translation errors between Tax and IT and allowing the VAT team to take full control of any new supply chains or VAT related changes.
  • Future-ready: Simplifies onboarding of new markets.

Intangible Benefits

Meridian’s solution delivered strong intangible benefits for Univar Solutions including first time VAT compliance, automatic updates to the VAT rules in the Meridian VAT Add-on, eliminating the need for new tax codes, and role simplification in the SAP team.
First-Time-Right VAT Compliance

More robust processes reduce risk of VAT errors and enhance Univar’s profile with tax authorities.

Automatic Updates

The Tax Team can take full control of the Meridian’s VAT Add-On to ensure it stays aligned with legislative changes, avoiding delays caused by competing IT priorities. Things like creating new tax codes for VAT rate changes are.

Eliminates the need for creating new tax codes

Meridian’s Tax Code Module allows VAT rate changes to be managed through validity periods, removing the time-consuming IT task of generating new SAP tax codes.

Role Simplification

Manual decision-making for SAP users and AP teams significantly reduced.

Univar praised Meridian’s engagement and responsiveness throughout the project:
“The vendor’s participation in regular calls and proactive approach were key to success. Future partnerships should build on this model.”
Senior Tax Leader Univar Solutions