VALITAX, Codific’s proud triumph: revolutionising VAT automation and earning global recognition with EY acquisition

Last updated on: 27th December 2023

Key takeaways:

• The Codific Innovation Sandbox partnered with Danny Vermeiren, VAT professional, to build the technical execution of VALITAX.
• VALITAX is a cloud-based VAT engine that helps businesses save time and money by simplifying the VAT treatment process.
• This VALITAX solution engineered by Codific was then acquired by EY, the global leader in the field, only two years after creation.
• As of August 2023, the well respected financial digital leader Unifiedpost Group successfully incorporated VALITAX, as a mandatory feature for the future e-invoicing market.

The Codific Innovation Sandbox is our division that partners with visionary entrepreneurs and industry experts to turn ideas into products, visions into companies, and dreams into reality. One such visionary is Danny Vermeiren. Danny has over two decades of expertise in European VAT and global indirect taxes. With a strong focus on realizing his vision for an automated VAT engine, Danny founded VALITAX and turned to Codific for the technical execution.

In less than two years since the inception of the project, Codific’s technical expertise played a pivotal role in the success of VALITAX. This innovative solution caught the attention of EY, a global leader but ultimately led to the acquisition of the VALITAX solution by EY. The collaboration between Codific and VALITAX, now endorsed by EY, highlights the impact of technical ingenuity in reshaping the landscape of VAT automation.

The tool automatically validates VAT calculations and tax codes, providing intuitive visualizations of risks and opportunities. Unlike traditional solutions, VALITAX is designed to feel natural and intuitive to VAT professionals, reducing the risk of errors and resulting in substantial time and cost savings for clients.

Additionally this August, 2023, Unifiedpost Group has effectively integrated Valitax, a software tool that is essential for the e-invoicing industry going forward, to expand its range of offerings. 

We asked Danny Vermeiren to share a few words about his experience creating VALITAX:

When did you realize this could and should be done? (when was the vision formed)

During the course of my career in VAT, I have worked in various positions as an in-house VAT manager and gathered a lot of experience with various types of tax technology tools. As I implemented and tested many tools each promising to solve the problems of the previous one, I found myself at least partly disappointed at each occasion and thinking “what if…”. That is when I started dreaming about designing what in my head would be the ultimate VAT solution, designed by and for (VAT) users.

What was the role of Codific in the execution and what did you appreciate the most?

Codific has done a tremendous job developing the core VALITAX application. From the beginning to the end, the team has been amazing at understanding the sometimes very (VAT) technical requirements, designing the most optimal technical solution, and coding the solution in a clean and agile way within agreed timeframes and budget. I think it is fair to say that during the entire development path that we have gone through, the team not once told me that something was “not possible”. Instead, the team demonstrated a true can-do mentality and was always available to think about new and better ways to do things.

What is your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs in the Fin-Tech industry at the beginning of their journey? Lessons to take away….

First of all, I am humbled by the question. It feels like I have only just started my journey, and I am not sure I have a lot of wisdom to share. I guess my advice would be: go for it! If you have that great idea and you are thinking about starting your own business, do it. Start today rather than tomorrow. And I am not suggesting you now all go and quit your current job in a dramatic scene and then go home to ‘be an entrepreneur’. It’s not a binary thing. What I have found during my journey is that sometimes it takes very little to get started. You would be amazed in today’s world how many resources are freely available to you, that can help you develop your idea to the second level, maybe just enough to get some funding and get to level 3 and so on. The hardest part is starting. So, my advice: start, in whatever shape or form that works best for you, and build a little bit every single day.