The end is near...of the Brexit saga

[JonathanEemans]

Brexit task force and changes in your SAP environment

In a referendum on the 23rd of June 2016, UK decided in a referendum to leave the EU. For years now, Brexit has been a topic within Europe and UK. With the Tories, led by Boris Johnson, winning the elections the end of the Brexit saga is most probably concluding...

Fortunately, a hard brexit will not happen, but an organised Brexit on the 31st of January 2020 will most probably be passed in the UK Parliament.

If the deal, which has been agreed between the UK and EU, is also passed by the UK Parliament, then there will be a transition period until there’s a trade deal between the European Union and United Kingdom. At least until end of 2020 the majority of the current rules and regulations will remain unchanged.

Nevertheless, after that date, the Brexit will affect business processes and there will be an impact on the configuration in your SAP environment. For changes in SAP, knowledge base article 2862299 is a good starting point for analysing impact of Brexit on your SAP environment.

Until the trade deal comes into action, the country setting for GB should still maintain the EU parameter and there is no impact on VAT regulation or legal reporting.

After this transition period, the possible changes in your SAP environment can be divided in six areas:

1. Organisational structures


2. Master data


3. Tax


4. Trade and customs


5. Reporting


6. Migration

Some examples of changes in configuration when new rules and regulations become active…



It is important for companies to have a Brexit task force as an in-house solution team for changes related to the Brexit. This task force should be a good mix between business and IT.

Once the trade deal comes into action, the impact will be more than a few changes in your SAP configuration and more than some mass changes in master data fields. A successful transition will require thorough testing of the impacted business processes. In addition, as always a good cooperation between all stakeholders (business and IT) is a key success factor.