The situation
The firm’s past memos, approved positions and internal guidance
Your firm in Düsseldorf has advised mid-sized groups for twenty years. It has settled positions on recurring questions, from intercompany recharges to the treatment of holding costs, spread across 2,000 memos on a file server. Advisors find them by asking a colleague, if the colleague is still there.
The positions exist. The time goes on finding the right one, checking that the law behind it has not changed since it was written, and making sure a new memo does not quietly contradict the firm’s view. Most of that is search work nobody bills.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- The firm’s view is not the law
- An internal position is an interpretation the firm has approved, not a source of law. Research should show it separately, so the reader sees which statement rests on a statute or decision and which on the firm’s own view.
- Positions age with the law
- A memo states the law on the date it was written. Before a past position is reused, the provisions it relied on should be checked for amendments and new decisions.
- Professional secrecy reaches the archive
- German tax advisors are bound by professional secrecy, and client memos stay confidential after the engagement ends. A shared collection built from them needs the same access controls as the client files, or anonymised versions.
- Approve before sharing internally
- Only material a partner has approved should go into the shared space, with an owner and a review date. Drafts and one-off advice stay in the client file.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
A client’s German parent recharges IT costs at cost to its subsidiaries. What is our firm’s position on the VAT treatment, when was it approved, and have the provisions it relies on changed since?
You start with
The firm’s past memos, approved positions and internal guidance
- 01
Load the approved positions
On Enterprise, the knowledge space holds the firm’s approved memos, positions and guidance, cited separately from the law in every answer.
Knowledge space· Enterprise - 02
Keep client files apart
On Enterprise, client documents stay in their own workspaces with access by membership, so only approved, anonymised material reaches the shared space.
Workspaces· Enterprise - 03
Ask as usual
Ask a client question. azta answers from the law with citations, and shows any firm position that applies as a separate source.
Cited research· Free - 04
Check what has changed
Open the provisions a position relied on and compare the version cited in the memo with the version in force today.
Atlas statute reader You send
A knowledge space that research cites separately from the law
What you get
A knowledge space that research cites separately from the law
Position note · draft
Firm position: VAT on intercompany IT recharges at cost
Position. The firm treats recharges of IT costs between group companies as taxable supplies of services, including where they are charged at cost. This position was approved in March 2023 and is cited from the knowledge space, separately from the law.
Law relied on. The position rests on the VAT Directive’s rules on taxable supplies and the taxable amount, and on the German VAT act. The provisions it cites have been compared with the versions in force today.
Review. Owner: VAT practice group. Next review: March 2027, or earlier if a court decision on cost-sharing between group companies is published.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
9 minutes a month
At €190 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 90
- Capacity at your rate
- €17,100
- More memos that start from a past position a quarter
- 7.5
- Return on Pro
- 52.8×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoSources azta searches here
- Gesetze im Internet
- Rechtsprechung im Internet
- EUR-Lex · Curia
What stays with you
- Deciding which positions the firm stands behind.
- Anonymising client material before it is shared.
- Reviewing positions when the law changes.
Frequently asked questions
- Does the firm’s material mix with the law in answers?
- No. Approved internal material is cited separately from the law, so the reader can always tell which is which.
- Who can see the knowledge space?
- On Enterprise, access follows workspace membership, inside a sealed tenant with SSO.
- Is our material used to train models?
- No. Client and firm data is never used for training on any plan, and it stays in the EU/EEA.
