e-Invoicing: Simplifying Complexities for Effortless Compliance
e-Invoicing: Simplifying Complexities for Effortless Compliance
Role
Senior Product Designer, Design Team Lead
Role
Senior Product Designer, Design Team Lead
Team
Francois Bacourt (PO), Antonio Kristicevic (EM), Sara Tan (Full Stack), Rui Magalhães (BE), Valentin Mezev (BE), Flavio Silva (Full Stack), Kelly Muniz, Trent Targa, Enis Gencer (TaxTech), Nemanja (Designer)
Team
Francois Bacourt (PO), Antonio Kristicevic (EM), Sara Tan (Full Stack), Rui Magalhães (BE), Valentin Mezev (BE), Flavio Silva (Full Stack), Kelly Muniz, Trent Targa, Enis Gencer (TaxTech), Nemanja (Designer)
Increase in ARR
10,416
%
Jul 2022 - Aug 2024
Client's FTE saved
€42,500
p.a
from manual intergration
Reduced error rate
8.5
%
one month after release
Increase in ARR
10,416
%
Jul 2022 - Aug 2024
Client's FTE saved
€42,500
p.a
from manual intergration
Reduced error rate
8.5
%
one month after release
duration: 1m17s
Increase in ARR
10,416
%
Jul 2022 - Aug 2024
Client's FTE saved
€42,500
p.a
from manual intergration
Reduced error rate
8.5
%
one month after release
Overview
Fonoa e-Invoicing simplifies compliance for global digital businesses facing complex mandates. As Lead Product Designer, I developed a design strategy that addresses Tax Managers’ key challenges—resource limitations, evolving regulations, data quality, and error management—aligning with Fonoa’s vision of effortless compliance. Today, e-Invoicing processes over 700,000 transactions monthly, with the value of €26 million for our clients.
Overview
Fonoa e-Invoicing simplifies compliance for global digital businesses facing complex mandates. As Lead Product Designer, I developed a design strategy that addresses Tax Managers’ key challenges—resource limitations, evolving regulations, data quality, and error management—aligning with Fonoa’s vision of effortless compliance. Today, e-Invoicing processes over 700,000 transactions monthly, with the value of €26 million for our clients.
Key Compliance Challenges
Through user interviews, I identified the core challenges TMs face:
Key Compliance Challenges
Through user interviews, I identified the core challenges TMs face:
Resource Constraints:
Under-resourced tax departments struggle to secure necessary engineering support for integration with multiple tax authorities, creating compliance bottlenecks that delay market entry and raise the risk of penalties.
Resource Constraints:
Under-resourced tax departments struggle to secure necessary engineering support for integration with multiple tax authorities, creating compliance bottlenecks that delay market entry and raise the risk of penalties.
Complex and Constantly Changing Regulations:
TAs frequently update mandates, requiring time-intensive tracking and adaptation. This evolving complexity diverts TMs focus from strategic tasks
Complex and Constantly Changing Regulations:
TAs frequently update mandates, requiring time-intensive tracking and adaptation. This evolving complexity diverts TMs focus from strategic tasks
Data Quality Issues
Transaction data from multiple sources (ERPs, APIs, manual entries) is often inconsistent, necessitating extensive manual verification and sanitization, which impacts the efficiency of compliance processes.
Data Quality Issues
Transaction data from multiple sources (ERPs, APIs, manual entries) is often inconsistent, necessitating extensive manual verification and sanitization, which impacts the efficiency of compliance processes.
Cryptic Error Messages
Tax authority error messages are often ambiguous, untranslated, and lack resolution guidance, increasing reliance on support for troubleshooting. This dependency delays compliance reporting and strains both clients and Fonoa’s CX and Engineering teams.
Cryptic Error Messages
Tax authority error messages are often ambiguous, untranslated, and lack resolution guidance, increasing reliance on support for troubleshooting. This dependency delays compliance reporting and strains both clients and Fonoa’s CX and Engineering teams.
Design Strategy: Enabling Low-Effort Compliance
To address user jobs, needs, and pain points, the following design strategies were defined:
Design Strategy: Enabling Low-Effort Compliance
To address user jobs, needs, and pain points, the following design strategies were defined:
Simplify labor-intensive workflows
Ease data scoping and gathering with clear guidance.
Simplify labor-intensive workflows
Ease data scoping and gathering with clear guidance.
Automate knowledge acquisition
Through real-time regulatory updates.
Automate knowledge acquisition
Through real-time regulatory updates.
Improve confidence in data
By unifying data sources, ensuring clear status visibility and enabling flexible queries for in-depth analysis.
Improve confidence in data
By unifying data sources, ensuring clear status visibility and enabling flexible queries for in-depth analysis.
Clarify and offer actionable guidance to streamline troubleshooting
Empowering users to resolve issues independently and reducing support dependency.
Clarify and offer actionable guidance to streamline troubleshooting
Empowering users to resolve issues independently and reducing support dependency.
Deliver strategic insights
With aggregated analytics to enhance Tax Managers’ influence in financial discussions
Deliver strategic insights
With aggregated analytics to enhance Tax Managers’ influence in financial discussions
Notable Solutions and Impacts
Fonoa Required Data
A centralised, country-specific guide outlining essential data requirements for scoping and gathering.
Fonoa Required Data
A centralised, country-specific guide outlining essential data requirements for scoping and gathering.
Design Approach
Simplified data requirements with clear descriptions, examples, and grouped similar needs, reducing complexity and cognitive load.
Design Approach
Simplified data requirements with clear descriptions, examples, and grouped similar needs, reducing complexity and cognitive load.
Impact on User Workflow
Enabled Tax Managers to independently scope and gather data for reporting integrations, reducing engineering dependencies and speeding up market entry and expansion.
Impact on User Workflow
Enabled Tax Managers to independently scope and gather data for reporting integrations, reducing engineering dependencies and speeding up market entry and expansion.
Reduce new country integration time from 2 months to 3 hours.
Reduce new country integration time from 2 months to 3 hours.
Strategic Impact
Streamlined data scoping reinforced e-Invoicing’s value as a key compliance tool, empowering clients to confidently and quickly enter new markets.
Strategic Impact
Streamlined data scoping reinforced e-Invoicing’s value as a key compliance tool, empowering clients to confidently and quickly enter new markets.
Compliance Centre
A real-time compliance radar that tracks regulatory changes and allows users to receive tailored updates based on their interests.
Compliance Centre
A real-time compliance radar that tracks regulatory changes and allows users to receive tailored updates based on their interests.
Design Approach
Focused on simplicity, enabling users to select only the updates relevant to their use cases, reducing noise and the need for manual monitoring. This approach lets Tax Managers focus on mandates that directly impact their business while staying up-to-date.
Design Approach
Focused on simplicity, enabling users to select only the updates relevant to their use cases, reducing noise and the need for manual monitoring. This approach lets Tax Managers focus on mandates that directly impact their business while staying up-to-date.
Impact on User Workflow
By automating regulatory updates, the Compliance Centre frees users from manual tracking, significantly lowering compliance effort.
Impact on User Workflow
By automating regulatory updates, the Compliance Centre frees users from manual tracking, significantly lowering compliance effort.
Strategic Impact
Transforming compliance monitoring into a background task, keeping users informed without demanding significant time or attention.
Strategic Impact
Transforming compliance monitoring into a background task, keeping users informed without demanding significant time or attention.
Unified Transaction Records
Consolidates and validates transaction data from various sources, offering a structured, error-marked display for easy verification, saving users time on data quality checks.
Unified Transaction Records
Consolidates and validates transaction data from various sources, offering a structured, error-marked display for easy verification, saving users time on data quality checks.
Design Approach
Create a clear, structured layout displaying transaction records, statuses, progress, and marked errors for easy identification. This unified database supports deep dives and troubleshooting without navigating multiple systems.
Design Approach
Create a clear, structured layout displaying transaction records, statuses, progress, and marked errors for easy identification. This unified database supports deep dives and troubleshooting without navigating multiple systems.
Impact on User Workflow
Enabled Tax Managers to quickly access and verify transaction data, eliminating time-intensive data gathering and cleaning, thus streamlining compliance reporting.
Impact on User Workflow
Enabled Tax Managers to quickly access and verify transaction data, eliminating time-intensive data gathering and cleaning, thus streamlining compliance reporting.
Strategic Impact
The feature consolidates and validates data in a single view, establishing e-Invoicing as a Single Source of Truth for transaction data, enhancing client confidence in the platform.
Strategic Impact
The feature consolidates and validates data in a single view, establishing e-Invoicing as a Single Source of Truth for transaction data, enhancing client confidence in the platform.
Compliance Analytics Dashboard
Offers insights like reporting success rates and error frequencies, enabling Tax Managers to proactively monitor compliance health and contribute strategically to financial planning.
Compliance Analytics Dashboard
Offers insights like reporting success rates and error frequencies, enabling Tax Managers to proactively monitor compliance health and contribute strategically to financial planning.
Design Approach
Leveraged data visualization to present insights clearly, minimizing the effort required to interpret data. By highlighting patterns and trends, the dashboard shifts users’ focus from routine compliance tasks to high-level decision-making.
Design Approach
Leveraged data visualization to present insights clearly, minimizing the effort required to interpret data. By highlighting patterns and trends, the dashboard shifts users’ focus from routine compliance tasks to high-level decision-making.
Impact on User Workflow
Tax Managers can now quickly assess compliance health at a glance, identifying potential risks without manual data review.
Impact on User Workflow
Tax Managers can now quickly assess compliance health at a glance, identifying potential risks without manual data review.
Strategic Impact
This feature empowers Tax Managers to offer strategic compliance insights, securing a role in key financial discussions. The dashboard elevates the product’s value from a Continuous Transaction Control (CTC) tool to a critical source of strategic insights.
Strategic Impact
This feature empowers Tax Managers to offer strategic compliance insights, securing a role in key financial discussions. The dashboard elevates the product’s value from a Continuous Transaction Control (CTC) tool to a critical source of strategic insights.
Error Management System
Translated and standardised error codes and error messages across countries, offering actionable solutions and analytics that help users resolve errors independently, reducing reliance on support.
Error Management System
Translated and standardised error codes and error messages across countries, offering actionable solutions and analytics that help users resolve errors independently, reducing reliance on support.
Design Approach
Craft clear, helpful error messages and present error analytics in an insightful format, transforming error management from a guessing game into a structured, preventable process.
Design Approach
Craft clear, helpful error messages and present error analytics in an insightful format, transforming error management from a guessing game into a structured, preventable process.
Impact on User Workflow
With actionable error descriptions and analytics, Tax Managers can address compliance errors swiftly and independently, minimizing delays and support dependency.
Impact on User Workflow
With actionable error descriptions and analytics, Tax Managers can address compliance errors swiftly and independently, minimizing delays and support dependency.
Strategic Impact
Standardised and improved errors management creates a unified troubleshooting framework across clients, Fonoa CX, Sales Engineers, Engineering, and Product. This closed-loop approach minimises reporting disruptions and empowers users to resolve issues autonomously.
Strategic Impact
Standardised and improved errors management creates a unified troubleshooting framework across clients, Fonoa CX, Sales Engineers, Engineering, and Product. This closed-loop approach minimises reporting disruptions and empowers users to resolve issues autonomously.
Notable Iterations
Over four years of iterations, two primary themes have remained top of mind for Tax Managers: Operational Efficiency and Strategic Value Delivery.
Notable Iterations
Over four years of iterations, two primary themes have remained top of mind for Tax Managers: Operational Efficiency and Strategic Value Delivery.
Enhanced flexibility to improve Operational Efficiency
Despite common tasks and goals, each Tax Manager follows a unique workflow, requiring greater personalisations. We addressed this by introducing data table customisations to help to prioritise key information without horizontal scrolling. Nested filters were added for robust queries, improving workflow efficiency.
Enhanced flexibility to improve Operational Efficiency
Despite common tasks and goals, each Tax Manager follows a unique workflow, requiring greater personalisations. We addressed this by introducing data table customisations to help to prioritise key information without horizontal scrolling. Nested filters were added for robust queries, improving workflow efficiency.
Targeted analytics for Strategic Values
Discovery sessions highlighted the analytics most valuable to users, providing clear guidance on which data points to prioritise and aggregate.
Targeted analytics for Strategic Values
Discovery sessions highlighted the analytics most valuable to users, providing clear guidance on which data points to prioritise and aggregate.
Ideation & Prioritisation
We used an Impact/Effort Matrix to select features that aligned with our goal of achieving low-effort compliance for clients
I led How Might We (HMW) workshops with Product Manager, Engineering Manager, engineers, and in-house Tax Managers to generate ideas that addressed user needs.
Ideation & Prioritisation
We used an Impact/Effort Matrix to select features that aligned with our goal of achieving low-effort compliance for clients
I led How Might We (HMW) workshops with Product Manager, Engineering Manager, engineers, and in-house Tax Managers to generate ideas that addressed user needs.
Takeaways
Takeaways
Understanding the Real Cost of Compliance
User interviews revealed how compliance demands drain resources, especially where tax compliance has low engineering priority. Added complexity risks adoption, underscoring the need for low-maintenance features. This insight shaped Fonoa Required Data, focusing on only essential data to streamline scoping and gathering.
Understanding the Real Cost of Compliance
User interviews revealed how compliance demands drain resources, especially where tax compliance has low engineering priority. Added complexity risks adoption, underscoring the need for low-maintenance features. This insight shaped Fonoa Required Data, focusing on only essential data to streamline scoping and gathering.
The Power of Clear, Actionable Information
Client feedback highlighted how vague, cryptic error messages create friction. To address this, we designed the Error Management System to translate, standardise, and clarify errors, offering steps for resolution. This reduced support dependency and empowered users to troubleshoot independently, aligning with our low-effort strategy.
The Power of Clear, Actionable Information
Client feedback highlighted how vague, cryptic error messages create friction. To address this, we designed the Error Management System to translate, standardise, and clarify errors, offering steps for resolution. This reduced support dependency and empowered users to troubleshoot independently, aligning with our low-effort strategy.