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Building a merchant of record for European SaaS

Type:Spin-off Company
Industry:FinTech / Compliance
Status:Launching 2026

Vatly is a spin-off company that Sandorian researched and built from the ground up. A Merchant of Record platform that handles VAT compliance, tax calculations, advanced subscription logic, and payment processing for European SaaS companies selling globally.

The Challenge

European SaaS founders face a unique problem: selling globally means dealing with VAT across dozens of jurisdictions, each with different rules, thresholds, and reporting requirements. Most founders either spend countless hours on compliance or risk getting it wrong.

We saw an opportunity to solve this problem at scale, using everything we've learned from years of building payment systems and working with compliance-heavy industries.

What We Built

Vatly acts as the Merchant of Record for SaaS companies. This means we handle:

  • VAT calculation and collection across all EU member states
  • Tax compliance for global sales (US sales tax, UK VAT, etc.)
  • Advanced subscription logic (trials, upgrades, downgrades, prorations)
  • Payment processing via Mollie
  • Invoice generation and tax reporting
  • Refunds and chargebacks

For SaaS founders, this means they can focus on building their product while Vatly handles the entire financial and compliance layer.

Technical Highlights

Tax Compliance

Vatly handles tax calculations across jurisdictions, accounting for B2B vs B2C sales, reverse charge mechanisms, digital services rules, and threshold monitoring.

Payment Processing

Vatly leverages Mollie to offer local payment methods across Europe, including iDEAL, Bancontact, SEPA Direct Debit, and all major credit cards.

Real-time Reporting

SaaS founders need visibility into their revenue. Vatly provides real-time dashboards with key revenue and subscription metrics.

Domain-Driven Architecture

Vatly is built on Domain-Driven Design and event sourcing, creating a scalable architecture that mirrors the complexity of billing operations. Every transaction is recorded as an immutable event, providing a complete audit trail and enabling reliable, recoverable processes.

Developer-Friendly API

The API is designed for easy integration, with SDKs and platform integrations on the roadmap. Get up and running quickly with hosted checkout, or build custom flows using the REST API.

Why This Matters

Vatly represents the kind of work Sandorian excels at: taking a complex, compliance-heavy domain and building a system that makes it simple for end users.

If your business operates in a similarly complex space, whether it's fintech, healthcare, logistics, or another regulated industry, we bring the same depth of technical and domain expertise to your challenges.

Visit Vatly

Learn more about the product

vatly.com

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