Author: Priyasha Purkayastha, Sr. Content Writer, TJC Group | Co-author: Patchanok K, B2G Team Lead, TJC Group
The last 10 to 15 years have been significantly revolutionary for tax compliance and reporting landscapes. Today, with the implementation of e-invoicing and e-reporting with SAP DRC, things become smoother and easier. But what makes this solution stand apart from the crowd? Read this article to find out!
Table of contents
Introduction
The digitalisation of invoicing and statutory reporting is a boon for organisations that require efficiency and precision in their processes. Not just that, it also helps ensure seamless compliance with all the tax and regulatory requirements. Today, there are stricter reporting requirements for international businesses, leading to an increase in global regulatory compliance as well. With that in mind, authorities are more receptive to adopting commercial and digital approaches. Several countries across the world have made electronic invoicing and reporting mandatory, and some countries are on their way to implementing them. As a matter of fact, the e-invoicing market hit approximately USD 14 billion in 2023. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18% during 2024-2032, approximately reaching a global total of USD 61 billion in 2032. The key drivers for this uprise in the e-invoicing and reporting market are contributed to preventing tax evasion, increasing operation efficiency, and economic digitalisation. Interestingly, implementing SAP DRC for e-invoicing and e-reporting will further help organisations ensure a more streamlined process.
What is SAP Document and Reporting Compliance (DRC)?
If you are looking for a solution that helps tackle all the e-invoicing and e-reporting-related aspects in SAP systems, then SAP Document and Reporting Compliance is your go-to option. SAP DRC, as it is abbreviated, helps organisations create, process, and monitor electronic documents and periodic reporting within the SAP systems. Consequently, the solution helps ensure that organisations are compliant with their local legal framework and regulations. In fact, SAP Document and Reporting Compliance is an end-to-end solution that supports multiple countries and languages. Thereby offering a comprehensive and centralised approach to managing documents. Additionally, the solution provides complete access and visibility to the reports, further ensuring transparency.
What’s more interesting about SAP DRC is its eDocument Cockpit Feature, which makes document collaboration even more seamless and easier. Additionally, the SAP Application Interface Framework (SAP AIF) and SAP Integration Suite feature ensure that the integration of the solution with other SAP systems remains effortless. It can be safely touted that with SAP Document and Reporting Compliance for e-invoicing and reporting, organisations can ensure 100% compliance with the ever-changing regulations. In fact, the solution also helps maintain the reliability and accuracy of the information stored within the systems.
Components of SAP DRC that you must know
SAP DRC comprises two major components, namely – the Business System and the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). Apart from these, there are a few technical components as well. Let’s look at them in detail –
Major parts of the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance solution
Business system
The first part or component of the e-invoicing and e-reporting solution is basically on the business systems like the SAP S/4HANA, other ERPs, etc. This helps ensure effortless compliance with your business processes. As a matter of fact, it ensures that there are no redundancies or replications of data. The business component of SAP DRC helps in the management of local mapping or format, which is based on local regulations. Additionally, it also enables full integration with business processes, real-time business monitoring, and seamless modification across all types of mandates globally.
SAP Business Technology Platform
Coming to the second component of the SAP DRC solution, it is on the SAP Business Technology Platform or SAP BTP With SAP BTP, the solution can scale and simplify electronic integration with local platforms and authorities. As a matter of fact, SAP BTP can be the cloud edition of the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance, offering ready-to-use services. Additionally, it can provide customer-managed SAP Integration Suite tenants that can be deployed depending on the country. All in all, the component manages authentication, encryption, and digital signatures as per local regulations.
Technical components of SAP DRC
Along with the two significant parts mentioned above, SAP DRC also has the following technical components mentioned by SAP –
- eDocument Framework: It helps create electronic documents based on source documents like FI invoices, SD invoices, accounting postings, etc.
- Application Interface Framework: The Application Interface Framework component helps implement and monitor the interfaces – field mappings, value mappings, error handling, etc.
- Web Service Runtime: This component allows the consumption of the API Web Service feature.
- SAP Cloud Connect: The cloud connect feature authenticates e-invoices and handles related communications with the tax authorities.
Features of SAP DRC that add value to your business
The solution comes packed with state-of-the-art features, which not only makes it unique but also a preferred choice –
Designed with a holistic dashboard
- The holistic dashboard of SAP DRC enables users to manage corrections.
- Additionally, it also helps users proceed with effortless and effective follow-ups with the help of the centralised entry point.
- It embeds real-time and actionable insights into your ERP systems.
- Furthermore, it helps prevent disruptions and enables a smooth operation.
- The dashboard of SAP Document and Reporting Compliance provides a unified user experience globally, ensuring organisations’ flexibility to meet specific requirements.
Leverage digital reporting experience
- A unique feature of SAP DRC is that the solution allows users to prompt and monitor requirements across the world.
- As a matter of fact, this e-invoicing and reporting solution comes with a compliance calendar, offering easy monitoring of the commitments.
- It automates activities with approval adjustments in the record system. In fact, this process is supported by a customised checklist.
- Overall, the digitalised reporting feature automates submissions while enabling insights into transactions. Furthermore, the solution supports a complete audit trail and traceability.
Offers ease of operation
- The SAP Document and Reporting Compliance delivers an easy-to-operate experience backed by automation.
- It helps elevate the transmission and digital clearance of business transactions, keeping the local standards in mind.
- SAP DRC allows users to monitor the registered invoices while automating reconciliation with public agencies.
- Apart from this, the solution helps in the easy correction of transactions by going down directly into the underlying transactions.
Helps extend and create scenarios
- The solution has an extensibility platform that helps extend and create scenarios.
- In fact, the users have access to a library of pre-defined processes. Along with this, they have access to real-time scenarios that can be re-used.
- Additionally, it defines compliance reports and helps in seamless adding and copying of existing reports.
- All in all, it enables the repurposing of business features across all basic, personalised, and partner scenarios.
Benefits that make SAP DRC stand out
Along with the remarkable and ergonomic features, the SAP DRC e-invoicing and e-reporting solution comes with comprehensive benefits – making it one of the most sought-after options among many. Here’s what you need to know –
Benefits of SAP Document and Reporting Compliance for tax teams
For e-invoicing
Global compliance: The solution ensures accurate electronic invoicing while maintaining compliance with local legal standards and requirements.
Automation: With automation taking over the world, you can breathe a sigh of relief as the solution provides a fully automated process orchestration for both outgoing and incoming electronic documents. Furthermore, it also submits the documents automatically to tax authorities and business stakeholders.
Centralised cockpit: One of the advantages for tax teams that SAP DRC offers is the centralised cockpit. With its help, the tax teams can monitor errors automatically and underline transactions to enable easy corrections. In fact, the centralised cockpit also helps communicate rejections to authorities effortlessly.
Automated reconciliation: Another advantage of the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance solution is that it helps proactively identify missing transactions from the tax authorities’ portals.
For statutory reporting
End-to-end reporting: This e-invoicing and e-reporting solution helps ensure comprehensive statutory reporting, including analysis, adjustments, and validation of the reports.
Streamlined workflow: With the help of SAP DRC, organisations can enjoy the benefit of seamless review and approval of all statutory reports. As a matter of fact, it helps with automated notifications and follow-ups.
Embedded analytics: Yet another advantage of the solution for tax teams in statutory reporting is its embedded analytics. It helps with efficient trend analysis and data-driven analysis, further enabling users to identify any irregularities.
Benefits of SAP DRC for IT Teams
For e-invoicing
Compliance: For IT teams, the SAP DRC solution offers several benefits, one of which is compliance. It comes with pre-packaged content that allows easier adoption of legal changes.
Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO): The solution comes fully integrated with SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA, minimising efforts for data extraction management, IDOC, and EDI setup. Thereby reducing the total cost of ownership.
Extensibility and automated management: The SAP Document and Reporting Compliance comes with an extensible platform that helps meet the requirements of the industry. Additionally, the solution offers zero-touch invoice processing. This is done through integration with the invoice management system of the vendor.
Robust security: One of the major benefits of SAP DRC for IT teams in e-invoicing is the strong security standards that not just secures the entire process but also ensures to be on par with the policies of the organisations.
For statutory reporting
Electronic automated submissions: This is one of the foremost advantages of the solution for IT teams in statutory reporting. It can be fully integrated with tax authorities via the SAP Integration Suite on the SAP Business Technology Platform.
Automated regression tester: Another advantage that IT teams can leverage for statutory reporting is its automated regression tester. It helps check for error connections, optimisation, and deletion of existing features in the statutory reports. In fact, the testing is done by comparing the changes against a reference report run.
Easy audit trail: Overall, IT teams can leverage the benefits of SAP DRC thoroughly when it comes to audit trails. As a matter of fact, it comes with completely automated and digital audit-proof documentation that supports both external and internal audits.
Summarising the article
The SAP Document and Reporting Compliance is one of the game-changing solutions in the entire digital and electronic invoicing and reporting landscape. Firstly, it helps streamline e-invoicing and e-reporting operations through its holistic features. Secondly, with the help of its automation, organisations can ensure error-free and more accurate report submissions to the tax authorities. Most importantly, SAP DRC helps organisations stay compliant and on par with the ever-changing regulatory updates and the rapidly growing digital world.
Amongst these changes and regulations, you need a helping hand to implement SAP DRC for e-invoicing and e-reporting for your organisation. TJC Group offers a unique value proposition and a route that’s customer-centric for the implementation of the solution. With a proven track record of successful projects and long-lasting partnerships with SAP, we have access to the latest innovations that help us stay updated with the market and industry trends. Contact us today to get your e-invoicing and reporting challenges sorted with SAP DRC.
