Go-live and hypercare for a new country: the first 30 to 90 days
Go-live is not the moment the localization is proven. It is proven when every obligation has run once for real: the first e-invoice accepted, the first VAT return filed and paid, the first audit file submitted, the first payroll posted and the first bank statement reconciled. Some of those happen on day one. Others happen weeks later, after the project team has moved on. Hypercare is the period in which you watch each first occurrence closely and fix what breaks before it becomes a habit.
Part 1 of 3 in the series Running a country after go-live. Next: Localization governance: a RACI per obligation type and a review calendar.
This guide shows how to build a first-time obligation calendar from the country page, what to check each day and week, and when to end hypercare.
Build the first-time obligation calendar
Open the country page and list every obligation that applies to the entity: the e-invoicing section, each row under VAT reporting and SAF-T, and anything else from your obligation map. For each, work out the first date it happens after go-live. Use the frequency and deadline on the row, then check the row's official source, because deadlines move and non-working days shift them.
| Obligation | Country row | First event after go-live | First deadline | Owner | Evidence of success |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outbound e-invoice | country page, e-invoicing | first invoice | as the regime requires | AR lead | authority or network acceptance |
| Inbound e-invoice | country page, e-invoicing | first supplier invoice | — | AP lead | captured and matched |
| Periodic VAT return | VAT reporting row | end of first period | from the row | tax owner | filed return and receipt |
| Information returns, EU sales list | VAT reporting rows | end of first period | from the row | tax owner | receipt |
| Audit file | SAF-T row | first period or first request | from the row | controller | accepted file and tie-out |
| Payroll and employer filings | local adviser | first pay run | from the authority | payroll lead | payslips, filing receipt |
| Bank statement and payments | bank set-up | first statement | — | treasury | reconciled statement |
Put the calendar where the whole team sees it, and give every row a named person, not a team.
Daily checks in the first two weeks
- Transmission queues. Count documents created, sent, accepted, rejected and waiting. Any rejection gets an owner the same day. See e-invoice statuses for finance.
- Unposted or duplicate documents. Compare invoice counts in the ERP with the authority or network population.
- Tax postings. Run tax-code totals daily. A transaction with the wrong tax code is cheaper to fix in week one than after the return.
- Bank. Check that payment files were accepted by the bank and that statements import.
- Users. Keep a short log of questions. Repeated questions point to a missing work instruction or a wrong default.
Weekly checks until the first return is filed
- Run the VAT return report for the open period and reconcile it to the tax accounts, as in map tax codes to VAT return boxes.
- Produce a test audit file for the first closed period and tie it out; see produce and reconcile an audit file.
- Review the defect list: severity, owner, workaround, fix date.
- Confirm that manual workarounds are recorded, so they can be reversed once fixed.
Exit criteria
End hypercare when all of these are true, not on a fixed date:
- Every obligation in the calendar has run at least once and its evidence is stored.
- No open defect affects a filing, a payment or the ledger.
- Rejection and exception queues are handled within the normal support process.
- The local team has run one month-end close without the project team.
- Support ownership, contacts and escalation are written down and handed over; see localization governance and RACI.
For most entities that takes between 30 and 90 days, depending on the return frequency. A quarterly filer cannot exit before its first quarterly return.
Worked example: a Romanian entity going live on 1 March
A company starts invoicing from a new Romanian entity on 1 March and is registered as a monthly VAT filer. It builds its calendar from the rows on the Romania page. The dates below are worked out from the frequencies and deadlines on those rows; check each row and its source again before relying on them, because the authority can change them and non-working days move them.
| Requirement | Type | Frequency (from the country page) | Status on this site |
|---|---|---|---|
| VAT return | ordinary return | Registered fiscal period: month, quarter, half-year or year (a quarterly filer making a taxable intra-EU acquisition can have to switch to monthly) | verified |
| EU recapitulative statement | EU sales list / recapitulative statement | Monthly, for months with reportable intra-EU supplies, acquisitions, services or call-off stock movements | verified |
| Informative return of domestic supplies and acquisitions | information return (annual summary or third-party transactions) | Same reporting period as the D300 VAT return | verified |
| Standard audit file for tax | audit file – periodic submission | Regular file monthly or quarterly, following the VAT period (quarterly for half-yearly/annual VAT filers and non-VAT-registered taxpayers); annual assets file; stocks on request | verified |
| Day | Event | What hypercare checks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 March onward | First invoices go through RO e-Factura | Each invoice is submitted within the working-day limit stated on the Romania e-invoicing section; rejections are fixed and resubmitted without creating a new accounting invoice |
| 1–31 March | Daily tax-code totals | Wrong codes corrected before close |
| Early April | March close | Tax accounts reconciled; test D406 file tied out |
| By 25 April | First D300 VAT return; D390 if there were intra-EU transactions | Boxes reconcile to the ledger; payment made |
| By 30 April | First D394 and first monthly D406 audit file | D394 agrees with the D300 period; D406 validated and tied out |
| May | Second cycle | Same checks with fewer defects; manual workarounds removed |
| End of May | Exit review | Criteria above met; hand over to support |
The first VAT payment posts as a normal settlement. In this example, with illustrative round numbers, March output VAT was 3,800 and input VAT 1,900:
| Step | Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Settle March VAT | Output VAT | 3,800.00 | |
| Input VAT | 1,900.00 | ||
| VAT payable | 1,900.00 | ||
| Pay by the deadline | VAT payable | 1,900.00 | |
| Bank | 1,900.00 |
If VAT payable does not clear after the payment, stop and find out why before the second return.
Worksheet
Use the first-time obligation calendar and hypercare log.
Worksheet: First-time obligation calendar and hypercare log
Copy this worksheet for each case. It records decisions and evidence; it does not determine the tax or legal treatment.
Show the worksheet
Use with the go-live and hypercare guide.
Calendar
| Obligation | Country row (link) | First event | First deadline (checked on) | Owner | Evidence stored |
|---|
Daily checks (first two weeks)
- ☐ Transmission queue counts: created, sent, accepted, rejected, waiting
- ☐ ERP invoice count equals authority or network count
- ☐ Tax-code totals reviewed
- ☐ Payment files accepted and statements imported
- ☐ User questions logged
Defect log
| # | Found | Area | Severity | Workaround | Owner | Fix date | Closed |
|---|
Exit criteria
- ☐ Every obligation has run once with evidence
- ☐ No open defect affects a filing, payment or the ledger
- ☐ Queues handled by normal support
- ☐ One month-end close run by the local team alone
- ☐ Support ownership and escalation handed over
- Exit approved by and date:
Sources checked: 27 October 2026. Romanian frequencies and deadlines come from the linked rows on this site, each with its official source. Payroll and banking dates depend on the authority and the bank and are not restated here.
Related guides and data
Part 1 of 3 in the series Running a country after go-live. Next: Localization governance: a RACI per obligation type and a review calendar.
- How to test an ERP localization before go-live
- Localization governance: a RACI per obligation type and a review calendar
- Produce and reconcile a SAF-T or tax audit file from your ERP
- Build an e-invoice status model finance can trust
Data on this site: VAT reporting requirements by country · SAF-T and audit files by country · E-invoicing country × ERP matrix
In Planning and rollout: previous Estimate localization effort per country and ERP from the evidence · next Localization governance: a RACI per obligation type and a review calendar · Guides by task · All guides
Vendor documentation is cited only as an example of the level of evidence to ask for; it is not a recommendation or a ranking. This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Checked 2026-10-27.
Related: Glossary – abbreviations and terms used in these guides (SAF-T, Peppol, CTC, EN 16931, IFRS and more).
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