Expect scramble from businesses in order to be GST-ready - IDC

Research firm IDC expects a scramble from businesses to be fully ready for the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) before the deadline.

In a statement today, IDC said this could emerge as a catalyst for growth for the Malaysian enterprise applications industry in the short term.

IDC Malaysia research manager, Chin Jun Fwu, said the requirements for GST implementation were standard but not all organisations were structured the same.

"Issues of compliance can be made even more complicated depending on configuration of not only systems, but also existing procedure.

"It should be kept in mind that GST is not a departmental issue, but an organisation-wide exercise," he said.

Chin said the entire issue of compliance cannot simply be left to the accountants, auditors and information technology staff and must be treated as a whole.

IDC said the Royal Malaysian Customs Department has prepared its online system for GST tax submission and the issuing of GST refunds.

In order to interface correctly with the system, Malaysian companies must put in place correct GST records and processes, it said.

Meanwhile, in view of the potential impact to businesses, SAP Malaysia has put in place a dedicated GST task force.

Its managing director, Bernard Chiang, said working closely with Royal Malaysian Customs, SAP Malaysia was confident it could help businesses achieve key objectives for GST implementation.

"SAP is committed to helping companies reduce overall project costs and time-to-value. With the right use of tools for automation, pre-defined content and templates, SAP is able to help accelerate GST implementation at possible savings of up to 60 per cent over traditional methods," he said.