Weischer.Media acquired Publicitas Cinecom AG in 2015. Following the acquisition, Weischer.Media was faced with the challenge of archiving ERP data from the legacy SAP system in a manner compliant with GoBD.

In this interview, tax adviser Anja Levien talks about the joint project.

The interview in full

Ms Levien, thank you very much for agreeing to answer a few questions for our clients about the project that has been carried out. What new tasks arose in your department as a result of the takeover of Publicitas Cinecom AG?

As we do not use SAP within our own company, but are legally obliged to archive our accounting data following the acquisition of Publicitas AG, we had to find an IT system capable of archiving the data independently of the underlying system. It was also crucial that the archived data could be made accessible at any time in a straightforward, quick and clear manner.

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Why did you choose Opti.List and the services offered by hsp?

Opti.List was recommended to us and, after reviewing the information on the HSP website and speaking to Mr Liese on the phone, it became clear that Opti.List meets our requirements for GoBD-compliant archiving.

From your point of view, how did the project go? What went well, and what could have been better?

HSP was able to process the data at short notice and coordinated the project independently. Communication and coordination with the Swiss company that provided the SAP data were largely handled by HSP on its own. However, we were always kept well informed about the current status of the project.

Teething problems and overtaking manoeuvres

Initially, there were difficulties with saving general ledger accounts by account number and with the search function. I would have liked to see better coordination and plausibility checks on the imported data. However, HSP was able to resolve the issue quickly following a brief analysis.

Would you like to offer any advice to others facing a similar challenge?

In my view, it is important at the start of the project phase to define precisely which data must be archived in accordance with legal requirements, and which data should also be archived for internal company reasons.

Thank you very much for your time, Ms Levien, and we look forward to continuing to work with you.