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.
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
- Centre of Registers authorisations for accountants: how to grant, revoke and keep track of themAn expired or rejected authorisation is usually noticed only when the financial statements can no longer be filed. It is worth tracking sooner.
- Filing deadline calendar: the main VMI and Sodra dates through the monthMost of the month can be planned around three dates: the 15th, the 20th and the 25th. Here is how they line up.
- i.MAS notifications: what EDS, i.SAF, i.VAZ and other letters from the tax authority meani.MAS is not one system but several subsystems. Once the emails start arriving, the key is to quickly tell which one needs action.