Why an Excel declaration tracker is no longer enough for an accounting firm
An Excel tracker works while you have ten clients. Where it breaks as you grow, and what automatic VMI and i.MAS notification tracking adds.
An Excel tracker works while you have about ten clients. As you grow it breaks: status is ticked by hand, copies multiply, and there is no history of when a return was actually filed. What to look for instead is automatic updates from tax-authority emails and a view per client.
In almost every accounting firm, declaration control starts with an Excel or Google Sheets table: clients in rows, months in columns, cells marked "filed / missing". While there are ten clients, that is enough. The problems start as you grow.
Where the Excel tracker breaks
- Manual updates. After every submission, someone has to open the sheet and tick a cell. Skip that step and the sheet no longer reflects reality.
- No single source of truth. Several copies, "final_v3", different people editing at the same time.
- Hard to delegate. A new hire has to be taught the sheet's logic, the colour codes and "where we mark what".
- No history. It is hard to answer "did we actually file the client's FR0600 for March, and when".
- Reminders live separately. The deadline calendar is in one place, the status in another, the tax authority's emails in a third.
What to look for in an alternative
- Status updates automatically from VMI and i.MAS notifications, with no manual ticking.
- Each client sees only their own data; your team sees all clients in one list.
- It is clear which client's return is missing right now, not just "someone has a deadline coming up".
- A record remains: when the notification arrived, when it was filed.
How Žymeklis does it
Žymeklis assigns each company a unique email address for VMI and i.MAS notifications. Incoming emails are recognised automatically (FR0600, GPM313, i.SAF, Centre of Registers authorisations and so on), linked to the client and gathered into a tidy, always up-to-date table – no spreadsheets, no missed deadlines. See the deadline summary in the filing deadline calendar.
This article is for general information only and is not individual tax or legal advice. For specific cases, rely on current information from VMI, Sodra and the Centre of Registers.
Read next
- How to forward VMI and i.MAS notifications to your accountantVMI sends the “new document” email to the confirmed Mano VMI address. The accountant needs that address – or a unique address per company.
- How an accounting firm tracks filings across dozens of clientsYou do not need a generic “the 25th is coming for someone”. You need a list: which companies still have no FR0600 or GPM313.
- FR0600 vs i.SAF mismatch: what to do when the return is “accepted with deficiencies”VMI compares FR0600 boxes 29–31 with VAT on issued invoices in i.SAF. A mismatch usually has to be cleared within 10 days.