Objective:

Develop an automated solution to extract, calculate, and report VAT data from a global web-based system for multiple sellers across Cyprus, handling different VAT rates for various tourism services.

Problem:

The travel agency needed an efficient way to manage daily excursion schedules, assign buses and guides, and ensure that the same resources were not double-booked. The manual process of planning excursions and communicating schedules to guides was time-consuming and prone to errors, especially during peak tourist seasons.

Solution:

• Created a hybrid automation system using Python and VBA to interface with the web-based tourism platform
• Implemented web scraping functionality to extract sales data for each seller
• Developed a robust calculation engine to process different VAT rates based on service types
• Established a centralized database for storing and managing extracted data

Key Functionalities:

• Automated weekly data extraction from the global web system
• Dynamic VAT calculation based on service categories
• Centralized data storage for easy access and reporting
• Custom report generation for accounting department

Technical Implementation:

• Used Selenium for web automation and navigation
• Implemented Beautiful Soup for structured data extraction
• Developed VBA modules for Excel-based reporting
• Created a scheduled task system for weekly automated runs

Impact:

• Eliminated manual data extraction and calculation processes
• Streamlined VAT reporting for multiple sellers across Cyprus
• Provided accountants with instant access to accurate VAT calculations
• Reduced time spent on report generation and data compilation

Technologies Used:

• Python (Primary automation language)
• Selenium (Web automation)
• Beautiful Soup (Data extraction)
• VBA (Report generation and Excel automation)
• SQL Database (Data storage and management)

Problem Solved: The system successfully automated a complex VAT calculation process that previously required manual extraction and computation for multiple sellers with varying VAT rates. By centralizing data and automating calculations, the solution significantly reduced processing time and eliminated human error in VAT reporting.