Available to all clients on Expert subscription model.
A demo mode is VAT4U that lets you try out features, test workflows, or explore the platform without touching your real company data or live claims.
This article covers how demo companies, demo expenses and demo claims work, how long they stick around, and what happens if one goes unused.
Switching between Demo and Live mode
When available, Demo / Live switch will appear on top of the VAT4U status bar, next to the help center and global search.
You can switch between Demo and Live mode by toggling the button.
When you switch to Demo mode, any company, expense or claim created stays in Demo.
You can use demo mode to explore features, try out claim creation and Smart AI on a test data without polluting your Live environment with these tests.
Creating a Demo Company
You can create demo companies the same way as normal companies, by following these steps:
Go to Companies in the left sidebar
Click Create Company
Fill in the required fields with fictional information (name, country, business area, service provider, plan)
Click Create company to finish.
Important: Don't Use a Demo Company for Real Data
A demo company is not a working alternative to your real company profile. Avoid uploading real invoices or entering genuine claim data into a demo company:
Demo companies are automatically cleaned up after a period of inactivity (see below), and any data inside will be deleted along with it.
Data entered into a demo company is not processed as part of your actual VAT recovery - it's for testing and exploration only.
Inactivity and Automatic Cleanup
To keep the platform tidy, demo companies that go unused are automatically cleaned up. A demo company is considered inactive if, within the last 30 days, none of the following have happened:
An expense was added or edited
The company profile was modified
A claim was added or edited
If a demo company meets all three conditions above, VAT4U begins a removal process:
Demo companies expire after 30 days of inactivity. Adding or changing an expense, creating a claim, or editing the company's details all reset the 30 days.
You'll get a reminder email when a demo company has 7 days or less left. It's sent to the person who created the company, covers all of their expiring demo companies in one email, and repeats at most every 3 days.
Each reminder includes a "Keep my demo company" link. One click gives the company another 30 days.
If no action is taken, the demo company is deleted on day 30. Contact support if you need it restored.
Keeping a Demo Company Longer
If you'd like to hold on to a demo company past its 30-day inactivity mark - for example, if you're not ready to use it yet but don't want to lose your setup - each reminder email includes a link you can click to extend the demo company's lifetime by another 30 days. This resets the inactivity clock and protects the demo company from deletion.
Adding demo expenses
You can use Data entry and Import module, just as you normally do for Live data. Imported expenses in Demo mode are automatically marked as Demo expenses, and will not interior with your production claims or reports.
Note: Demo transactions count against your usage quota, and consume Smart AI transactions.
Coming Soon: Pre-Populated Demo Data
We're working on an enhancement so that new demo companies can be automatically populated with a realistic, ready-to-explore set of sample invoices and data, rather than starting from an empty company.