Meridian enables JLR to fully automate the Scheduling Agreements process.
Background
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), a leading global automotive manufacturer, relies on highly complex supply chains and large volumes of transactions to support its operations.
In the automotive sector, a common practice for processing self-billing invoices is through scheduling agreements rather than traditional purchase orders. While this approach provides efficiencies in managing long-term supplier relationships, it also presents challenges in areas such as VAT determination and compliance.
- Automotive
Before: Tax challenges for JLR
Standard VAT automation tools are often designed to work with purchase order (PO) processes. For JLR, this meant there was no streamlined way to handle VAT determination when using scheduling agreements and the resulting contracts. This gap created risks around:
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1
Inconsistent VAT treatment
Particularly across high volumes of transactions
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2
Increased manual intervention
Intervention is required by the AP and tax teams
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3
Potential compliance issues
Compliance issue can arise if if VAT was not applied correctly
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3
Reduced transparency
Full transparency is needed for the audit trail
Why Meridian?
Meridian Global Services extended its ARCO Determination product to specifically address the requirement of automating scheduling agreements. Working closely with JLR, Meridian’s product and implementation teams developed an enhanced VAT determination capability that supports:
- Automatic VAT code determination for scheduling agreements and resulting contracts
- Seamless integration with JLR’s existing SAP environment
- Full audit traceability to demonstrate compliance decisions
- Scalable design that could be adapted for future business needs and regulatory changes
