DX is now fully compliant in Sweden!

DX is now fully compliant in Sweden, and it was quite a journey! 

Sweden has the toughest and most complex compliance regulations in Scandinavia, if not in all of Europe, so there were many Ts to cross.

It’s also why we set out to conquer Sweden’s compliance regulations first. Now that we’ve done that, we’re all set to become compliant in other countries, such as Denmark and Finland. 

These countries have their unique sets of compliance regulations, but with the Swedish experience under our belt, we're more than ready for the challenge. After all, with each new market we’re entering, we like to do our due diligence and personalize the launch to meet all specific cinema needs.

We’ve written about why compliance is critical before, but now we want to dive deep into all the specifics of the Swedish market and what that means for you if you are a cinema operator in this market. Or if you want to know more about what to ask of your software partners when it comes to the cinema industry, regulatory, and tech compliance.

DX Is Now Compliant in Sweden. Here’s What It Means. 

DX is now compliant and live in Sweden after having successfully navigated the intricacies of the Swedish compliance regulations, which was no easy feat. 

But what does this newfound compliance in Sweden mean for our clients and for you, our readers? How does it translate into practical implications that our Swedish clients can now benefit from? 

We’re glad you asked.

The DX feature checklist for Sweden-based cinemas

Below, you’ll find a checklist of key Sweden-specific features that any Swedish cinema requires in a compliant cinema management solution. Each feature comes with a short explanation of what it does and how it can benefit your cinema. 

Learn more about our Sweden-specific features here. 

Lifting the Curtain Behind The Swedish Compliance Hurdles 

So, what did our journey towards compliance in Sweden entail?

As you probably know, there are two different streams to Swedish compliance that a cinema management software provider needs to tackle: 

1. to get the approval of the Movie Owners Control Agency  (Filmegarnas kontrollbyrå) and 
2. register with the Swedish tax agency to comply with Swedish tax regulations.

Here’s how we made that happen. 

How we got the Filmägarnas kontrollbyrå AB (Movie Owners Control Agency) approval 

First, a detour into how the Filmägarnas kontrollbyrå AB works for our international readers out there:

This is a big piece of industry compliance for every cinema and streaming platform that wants to screen movies in Sweden. 

The Filmägarnas Kontrollbyrå AB is an organization representing distributors in Sweden, and cinemas must adhere to their requirements to publicly screen movies. These requirements are integrated into the cinema's ticketing and operations system, which must be approved by the agency.

The organization also overviews initiatives such as Bioguiden - a film and cinema guide,  and Biopasset - a cinema pass meant to increase the number of cinemagoers in Sweden. 

Biopasset offers a curated selection of films at half ticket price, featuring premieres distributed evenly throughout 12 months. These films are handpicked from the standard cinema repertoire and specifically chosen to be part of the Biopasset program that every Swedish cinema must comply with.

The approval process in a nutshell

The approval process involves a meeting with the control agency where a software provider such as DX presents a set of use cases, like selling standard tickets, issuing complimentary tickets, accepting company tickets, applying discounts, and reporting admission. 

These use cases are then executed and reported to the association, which verifies compliance. 

The integration follows a well-defined workflow, from importing movies to selling tickets and reporting admission and revenue. 

Overall, there were many things we needed to solve to get the approval of the Swedish Cinema Owners Association so we could provide a robust and fully compliant experience to our Swedish clients and moviegoers.

Yet, the most important ones — that are mission critical and any Swedish cinema needs — were:  

• ticket type mapping, 
• managing minimum pricing, 
• handling company tickets, 
• overseeing private screenings, 
• and providing the yearly and control reports that the agency requests from cinemas. 

What we did to achieve tax compliance in Sweden

The second element of achieving compliance in Sweden was registering with the Swedish tax agency and complying with its regulations. Sweden and Norway take these issues very seriously, and their regulations are strict, as they’re all about combating fraud, money laundering, and the black economy.  

Of course, this isn't limited to the cinema industry. It's something any business dealing with POS and ticket systems in Sweden has to comply with.

We highly believe in future-proofing our solution and our customers by tackling all of them from the get-go.  So we did everything we had to do to comply with the national tax regulations, including reviewing our platform infrastructure and fine-tuning our ordering logic to meet the specific cash register electronic journal requirements outlined in Sweden's SKVFS 2021:16. 

Other mission-critical aspects worth mentioning:

• srv4pos certification
• X/Z reports
• Handling petty cash
• Receipt copy with all required details
• +++ list

The advantage we brought to the table in Sweden was our experience in Norway, where we've been dealing with similar regulatory compliance since 2018 (when these stricter laws went into effect). This experience gave us a competitive edge in conquering tax compliance in Sweden. 

And it will surely give us a competitive edge over Denmark, as it is following Sweden’s example and has stricter tax regulations since January 2024.

We’re Proud to Be Officially Compliant in Sweden and Ready to Expand 

We’re thrilled to announce that we’re officially compliant in Sweden and ready to offer our cinema management solution to Swedish cinemas. But why should you care about our compliance success in Sweden? 

Well, if you’re operating a cinema in that market, then you can trust that:

• Your cinema and clients’ data is secure.
• You’ll get a cinema management solution efficiently integrated with all the critical Swedish systems.
• You won’t have to think about reporting hassles and other potential legal issues - we’ve got you covered!

Reach out to us to learn more about how DX can help you simplify cinema management and power great experiences. 

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