A quick update (things are a bit quiet on the blog this week).

While the SlideMagic app is my project that I can afford to take some time for to go through multiple beta iterations to get it right, the template bank is a much more straightforward business, I want to get it running on the new platform as soon as possible.

The key functions work: search a slide (search algorithm is still being improved), and you can download it in multiple formats. The “only” thing left to do is the payment infrastructure. I got the account management and download book keeping working which leaves me with one nice challenge: EU VAT accounting for digital downloads.

The EU put all kind of laws in place to get a cut of the profits that the internet giants are making over their head. That is all great, but in the process they created complicated accounting rules that also apply to me. I as a tiny startup need to have the same tracking in place as Spotify.

This is a technical challenge that will not move humanity forward (unlike the UI of my app, or the new slide search algorithms). But, I have to crack it. Hopefully in a week or so, my system accurately adds taxes (or not) depending on your country, as an individual, as a company, with valid (or invalid) EU VAT numbers, and generate reports for my own book keeping and refunding EU tax authorities at the press of a button. My accountant (a big international firm suggested I do this manually, I think there must be a smarter way to do this. Pfff.

Work in progress

Photo by Ray Reyes on Unsplash