Ardent’s FinTech Influencer Series highlights innovative voices in the world of ePayables automation. This series is the go-to spot for progressive thoughts on how technology, transformational thinking, and revolutionary ideas are changing how AP work gets done. Continuing our FinTech Influencer Series, today we are speaking with Jorge Tracana, Tax Manager, TAP Air Portugal.
Ardent Partners: Welcome Jorge and thank you for spending some time with me today. Let’s get started. Please tell me about your role and responsibilities as Tax Manager at TAP Air Portugal, as well as a brief overview of TAP for those who may not be familiar with it.
Jorge Tracana: TAP Air Portugal is the ‘Flag Carrier’ of Portugal. It is a company with an interesting history of more than 70 years which is very present in the heart of the Portuguese people. We mostly fly to Europe, Africa and America, and have a fleet of just under 100 aircraft.
My role at TAP Air Portugal is to coordinate and supervise all tax issues relevant to the company and TAP Group as a whole. This means my team and I must be up-to-date with tax regulations, make sure the companies are compliant, and help internal and external stakeholders with any tax questions that may arise. Since the TAP Group is not small, we also rely on our external providers, such as Pagero, especially regarding markets other than Portugal.
Ardent: When did TAP Air Portugal start on eInvoicing journey and why?
JT: TAP Air Portugal started looking into eInvoicing shortly after the legislative invoicing reform which took place in Portugal at the end of 2012. It should be noted that this was a particularly challenging matter for TAP, as with most airlines at that time, we issued hardly any invoices, because the ticket was accepted as a substitute for the invoice worldwide. This meant we had to recreate invoicing mostly from the ground up.
Ardent: What considerations did you take into account when selecting an eInvoicing solution provider?
JT: In the beginning of the project, we mostly used our own resources, since TAP had an IT company in the Group. However, when eInvoicing requirements started to spread worldwide, we had to select a partner with the know-how and renown within this subject. In addition, since eInvoicing requirements started appearing in many of our flight destinations, it was also important that we selected a partner that worked with most of our potential markets.
Ardent: How were suppliers onboarded and what level of adoption have you achieved? What has been the response from your suppliers?
JT: On the client side, the response has been mostly positive. Onboarding into eInvoicing with suppliers has been slower than expected. However we have plans to proactively approach and persuade suppliers to accept eInvoicing.
Ardent: How has implementing an eInvoicing solution helped TAP improve tax management and compliance?
JT: eInvoicing is a very efficient solution. It allows companies to complete a task in a much faster and error-free way and ultimately allowing people to allocate their time into more creative tasks. As a result, we believe eInvoicing has mostly saved us time and allowed us to provide a better service.
Ardent: What additional (and unexpected) results and benefits has eInvoicing provided to TAP?
JT: Additional results and benefits we find are saving resources related to printing invoices, such as, paper, printers, and their archival.
Ardent: What lessons did you learn along the way and is there anything you would do differently today?
JT: I would have started the eInvoicing project with suppliers earlier, if that would have been possible and if the suppliers allowed it.
Ardent: What advice would you give to other companies in the aviation industry, as well as those in other industries, looking to implement eInvoicing?
JT: For airlines specifically, it is important to find a good technology partner, especially one that can work with many jurisdictions.
Ardent: Thank you for your time and best of luck on your presentation at the Exchange Summit on September 26th – 28th in Lisbon.
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