VAT Training
While systems and processes are, of course, important, the true foundation of good VAT compliance and management in any organisation is knowledge. However, in properly equipping staff with the knowledge and skills they need a business can face a number of challenges:
- VAT impacts different parts of the business in very different ways – an AP team may need knowledge that is focussed on invoice requirements and tax recovery rules; an AR team may need knowledge on the liabilities and rates to apply; a sales team may need to know how it impacts pricing and whether there are any hidden VAT costs in vouchers, gifts or special offers; a financial controller will need a strategic over view of all those things
- Multinational businesses need to equip staff with knowledge relevant to the jurisdictions in which they operate
- Training needs to take account of the culture and background of staff – for instance the approach necessary for a European accountant who has spent their entire career in a VAT environment may be quite different to that for a US one for whom VAT may be entirely new
- Staff movement and promotion means that good training is an ongoing process, not a one-off task
- Training should leave a legacy of materials and tools so that its benefit continues to be felt long after a course ends
At Essentia, we have extensive experience of delivering properly focussed training across a wide range of functions, jurisdictions and cultures. We do not believe in giving standardised presentations full of information that you don’t need. A typical training project would consist of:
- Working with you to define the people who require training and their exact needs
- Preparing a presentation that is focussed, lively and wherever possible uses “live” examples from your business
- Making sure that trainees go away equipped with tools to apply their new knowledge on a daily basis
Often, we find it helpful to place training in the context of our other services. For instance, we have found that a very useful approach for shared service centres can be to perform a review of processes first, followed by training that then focusses on the issues that come to light and functions as a “surgery” to which staff can bring their problems, not just a dry classroom lecture.
Contact us for more information on our tax vat training services.
