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Value Added Tax (VAT) is an indirect tax levied on goods and services across Europe and worldwide. The European Union (EU) has mandated VAT tax for all its member states, which are required to implement and enforce it in accordance with the EU VAT code. European Union European Union Overview EU Taxation | VAT Setting up a European Company EU Countries European Union Overview The EU is characterised by its cultural and linguistic diversity, which EU citizens can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. As a political entity, the European Union has two original core objectives, development of a common market, subsequently becoming a single market, and a customs union between its member states. EU Capital: Brussels in Belgium (Considered Capital) EU Flag: It consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background EU Languages: 24 official languages. 3 main languages (English, French and German) EU Financial Reporting: IFRS (Under EU rules, listed companies must prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS) EU Major Institutions: Brussels, Belgium: Commission, European Council, Council of the EU, Parliament Frankfurt, Germany: European Central Bank Luxembourg City, Luxemburg: Court of Auditors, Court of Justice, Council of the EU, Secretariat of the Parliament, Commission Strasbourg, France: Parliament (Primary) EU Taxation | VAT Value Added Tax (VAT) is an indirect tax levied on goods and services across Europe and worldwide. The European Union (EU) has mandated VAT tax for all its member states, which are required to implement and enforce it in accordance with the EU VAT code. The EU itself does not directly collect VAT tax; instead, it has established a comprehensive VAT code that regulates the collection and enforcement of VAT by each member state. This ensures consistency and fairness in VAT collection across the EU, while allowing member states some flexibility in setting their own VAT rates. In the early days of the EU, VAT was introduced at a standard rate of 10%, which gradually increased over the years. The standard rate of 10% VAT was applicable to all the EU member states when VAT was first introduced in 1967. France was the first country to implement VAT, but the standard rate of 10% was applied across all member states at that time. Currently, EU member states have different VAT rates for different types of goods and services. Warning : These rates are indicative only. Please use it as an example. Updated: 2023 Country Standard VAT Rate Intermediate Reduced Super Reduced First Reduced Second Reduced Thrid Reduced Austria 20% 13% 10% Belgium 21% 6% 12% Bulgaria 20% 9% Croatia 25% 13% 5% Cyprus 19% 9% 5% Czech Republic 21% 15% 10% Denmark 25% Estonia 20% 9% 5% Finland 24% 14% 10% France 20% 10% 5.5% 2.1% Germany 19% 7% Greece 24% 13% 6% Hungary 27% 13.5% 9% 4.8% Ireland 23% 13.5% 9% 4.8% Italy 22% 10% 5% 4% Latvia 21% 12% 5% Lithuania 21% 9% 5% Luxembourg 16% 13% 7% 3% Malta 18% 7% 5% Netherlands 21% 9% Poland 23% 8% 5% Portugal 23% 13% 6% Romania 19% 9% 5% Slovakia 20% 10% Slovenia 22% 9.5% 5% Spain 21% 10% 4% Sweden 25% 12% 6% Setting up a European Company Incorporation is the process by which a new or existing business registers as a limited company. A company is a legal entity with a separate identity from those who own or run it. The vast majority of companies are limited liability companies where the liability of the members is limited by shares or by guarantee. This is a macro level overview to understand what to consider when you want to open a business in the European Union. What are the points you need to take into account from an accounting, legal and tax point of view. There are many benefits to having a company in EU. It provides a single market with millions of consumers, and the possibility to expand and reach new markets. Key Advantages One of the largest markets in world A very stable economy Accessibility to a good financial instruments Large pool of skilled workers Simple and favourable tax regimes Keep in mind, there are many other points that need to be considered. It may be worthwhile seeking professional advice from a solicitor or accountant before deciding whether an incorporated company is the best way for you to run your business. Comparison table of some European Union Countries Country Czechia Hungary Poland Slovakia Capital City Prague Budapest Warsaw Bratislava Language Czech Hungarian Polish Slovak EU Member Since 2004 Since 2004 Since 2004 Since 2004 Schengen Member Yes Yes Yes Yes Population 11 Million 10 Million 38 Million 5.5 Million Area (KM²) 79,000 93,000 312,000 49,000 Currency CZK HUF PLN EUR Corporate Tax 19% 9% 9% ³ 21% ² Dividend Tax ¹ 15% 15% 19% 7% VAT (Standard Rate) 21% 27% 23% 20% Limited Company (LLC) S.R.O. KFT SP. Z.O.O S.R.O Incorporation Time 2-5 Days 4-5 Days 3-4 Weeks 3-4 Weeks Minimum Share Capital 1 EUR 8K EUR 1,250 EUR 5K EUR Remote Incorporation Yes Yes ⁴ Yes Yes EU VAT Number 2 Months Immediately 1-2 Months 30 Days Local Address Yes Yes Yes Yes Local Accountant Yes Yes Yes Yes 1 Dividend tax only applies to individuals who are tax residents in the given country. 2 If the company’s revenue remains below EUR 50,000, the corporate tax is 15%. 3 If the revenue exceeds EUR 2M. the corporate tax is 19%. 4 Travels may be required for company bank account opening. Warning : Take this comparison table below as an example only. The laws and taxations are dynamic and change very often. EU Countries Austria ISO Codes: AT / AUT Country Codes: +43 Capital: Vienna Official language(s): German EU member country: since 1 January 1995 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 1 December 1997 Belgium ISO Codes: BE / BEL Country Codes: +32 Capital: Brussels Official language(s): Dutch, French and German EU member country: since 1 January 1958 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 26 March 1995 Bulgaria ISO Codes: BG / BGR Country Codes: +359 Capital: Sofia Official language(s): Bulgarian EU member country: since 1 January 2007 Currency: BGN (Bulgarian Lev). Bulgaria has committed to adopt the euro once it fulfils the necessary conditions. Schengen: Bulgaria is currently in the process of joining the Schengen area. Croatia ISO Codes: HR / HRV Country Codes: +385 Capital: Zagreb Official language(s): Croatian EU member country: since 1 July 2013 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2023 Schengen: Schengen area member since 1 January 2023 Cyprus ISO Codes: CY / CYP Country Codes: +357 Capital: Nicosia Official language(s): Greek EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2008 Schengen: Cyprus is currently in the process of joining the Schengen area. Czechia ISO Codes: CZ / CZE Country Codes: +420 Capital: Prague Official language(s): Czech EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: CZK (Czech Koruna). Czechia is currently preparing to adopt the euro. Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Denmark ISO Codes: DK / DNK Country Codes: +45 Capital: Copenhagen Official language(s): Danish EU member country: since 1 January 1973 Currency: DKK (Danish Krone). Denmark has negotiated an opt-out from the euro and thus is not obliged to introduce it. Schengen: Schengen area member since 25 March 2001 Estonia ISO Codes: EE / EST Country Codes: +372 Capital: Tallinn Official language(s): Estonian EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2011 Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Finland ISO Codes: FI / FIN Country Codes: +358 Capital: Helsinki Official language(s): Finnish, Swedish EU member country: since 1 January 1995 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 25 March 2001 France ISO Codes: FR / FRA Country Codes: +33 Capital: Paris Official language(s): French EU member country: since 1 January 1958 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 26 March 1995 Germany ISO Codes: DE / DEU Country Codes: +49 Capital: Berlin Official language(s): German EU member country: since 1 January 1958 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 26 March 1995 Greece ISO Codes: GR / GRC Country Codes: +30 Capital: Athens Official language(s): Greek EU member country: since 1 January 1981 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2001 Schengen: Schengen area member since 1 January 2000 Hungary ISO Codes: HU / HUN Country Codes: +36 Capital: Budapest Official language(s): Hungarian EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: HUF (Hungarian Forint). Hungary is currently preparing to adopt the euro. Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Ireland ISO Codes: IE / IRL Country Codes: +353 Capital: Dublin Official language(s): Irish, English EU member country: since 1 January 1973 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Ireland has negotiated an opt-out from Schengen area. Italy ISO Codes: IT / ITA Country Codes: +39 Capital: Rome Official language(s): Italian EU member country: since 1 January 1958 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 26 October 1997 Latvia ISO Codes: LV / LVA Country Codes: +371 Capital: Riga Official language(s): Latvian EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2014 Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Lithuania ISO Codes: LT / LTU Country Codes: +370 Capital: Vilnius Official language(s): Lithuanian EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2015 Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Luxembourg ISO Codes: LU / LUX Country Codes: +352 Capital: Luxembourg Official language(s): French, German EU member country: since 1 January 1958 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 26 March 1995 Malta ISO Codes: MT / MLT Country Codes: +356 Capital: Valletta Official language(s): Maltese, English EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2008 Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Netherlands ISO Codes: NL / NLD Country Codes: +31 Capital: Amsterdam Official language(s): Dutch EU member country: since 1 January 1958 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 26 March 1995 Poland ISO Codes: PL / POL Country Codes: +48 Capital: Warsaw Official language(s): Polish EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: PLN (Polish Zloty). Poland is currently preparing to adopt the euro. Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Portugal ISO Codes: PL / POL Country Codes: +48 Capital: Lisbon Official language(s): Portuguese EU member country: since 1 January 1986 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 26 March 1995 Romania ISO Codes: RO / ROU Country Codes: +40 Capital: Bucharest Official language(s): Romanian EU member country: since 1 January 2007 Currency: RON (Romanian Leu). Romania has committed the euro once it fulfils the necessary conditions. Schengen: Romania is currently in the process of joining the Schengen area. Slovakia ISO Codes: SK / SVK Country Codes: +421 Capital: Bratislava Official language(s): Slovak EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2009 Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Slovenia ISO Codes: SI / SVN Country Codes: +386 Capital: Ljubljana Official language(s): Slovenian EU member country: since 1 May 2004 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 2007 Schengen: Schengen area member since 21 December 2007 Spain ISO Codes: ES / ESP Country Codes: +34 Capital: Madrid Official language(s): Spanish EU member country: since 1 January 1986 Currency: EUR (Euro). Euro area member since 1 January 1999 Schengen: Schengen area member since 26 March 1995 Sweden ISO Codes: SE / SWE Country Codes: +46 Capital: Stockholm Official language(s): Swedish EU member country: since 1 January 1995 Currency: SEK (Swedish Krona). Sweden has committed the euro once it fulfils the necessary conditions. Schengen: Schengen area member since 25 March 2001 References: European Union (european-union.europa.eu ); Global VAT Compliance (www.globalvatcompliance.com ); Helpers Central Europe (helpers-europe.com ); HM Revenue & Customs (www.gov.uk ); Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org); Investopedia (www.investopedia.com )

Topics: SAP Intalled Software | Version on Fiori and GUI | Transport Request TR | SE10 Find Objects in TR Transport Request / Tasks | Solution Manager | Rev-Trac Rev Trac | ChaRM SAP Management Find Objects in Transport Requests / Tasks SAP Version | Installed Product Version (SAPGUI) SAP Version | Installed Product Version (Fiori Launchpad) How to find a Transaction Code assigned to a Role? SAP Product Versions Supported by Support Packages Find Objects in Transport Requests / Tasks Issue : Typically, in the Realization phase of a project, you may face some challenges with configurations affecting you due to a large SAP team or multiple projects running at the same time. It is usually very difficult to find those who did the customization. Solution : Use transaction SE03 (Find Objects in Requests/Tasks) to find the transport request that contains the desired configuration and subsequently the User ID of the consultant who did it. Example : In this example, someone configured a CO object in OKB9 (Account Determination), and I will try to find the Transport Request that contains this configuration. T-Code : SE10 You can select a variety of transportable objects within this transaction. Objects: TABL (Tables) VIEW (Views) PROG (Programs) CDAT (Cluster Tables) And much more... The OKB9 transaction uses the (CDAT) Cluster table "V_TKA3" to transport data. Result: You can see that SE10 found the Task with the Cluster table V_TKA3. Get the task number and check if it is the correct one, containing the configuration you are looking for. T-Code : SE10 Find the Transport Request / Task and check the content. If this is the case, you can check the User ID and speak to the consultant responsible for the configuration. SAP Version | Installed Product Version How to identify the SAP S/4 HANA Version in the SAP GUI In the initial screen Go to System -> Status SAP System Data Section Product Version Select -> Magnifying Glass Installed Software will show up Select tab -> Installed Product Version Line -> S4 HANA ON PREMISE Column -> Release It will show the SAP S/4 HANA Version. In this case, you can see the version 1809. SAP Version | Installed Product Version (Fiori) How to identify the SAP S/4 HANA Version in the Fiori Launchpad Depending of the SAP S/4 HANA Version, it is possible to check it in the SAP Fiori Launchpad. Depending of SAP, you can check it in the "Settings" button or in the "About" button. You can browse in the toolbar and look for fields like Product Version or Product Name. How to find a Transaction Code assigned to a Role? If you don't have access to a transaction code and you need to find the roles that have a specific transaction assigned, you can follow this basic steps. Go to Menu -> Edit Roles (Ctrl+Shift+F12) T-Code: PFCG Insert the Transaction Code Confirm SAP Product Versions Supported by Support Packages The SAP Product Versions listed in the tables below are supported by support package stacks. Each support package stack has one leading software component version. The support package level of this particular component version is a key part of the stack and a unique identifier for the support package stack level. SAP Product SAP Product Version Leading Software Component Version Support Package Name SAP S/4HANA SAP S/4HANA 1709 S4CORE 102 SAPK-102INS4CORE SAP S/4HANA SAP S/4HANA 1809 S4CORE 103 SAPK-103INS4CORE SAP S/4HANA SAP S/4HANA 1909 S4CORE 104 SAPK-104INS4CORE SAP S/4HANA SAP S/4HANA 2020 S4CORE 105 SAPK-105INS4CORE SAP S/4HANA SAP S/4HANA 2021 S4CORE 106 SAPK-106INS4CORE SAP S/4HANA SAP S/4HANA 2022 S4CORE 107 SAPK-107INS4CORE SAP S/4HANA SAP S/4HANA 2023 S4CORE 108 SAPK-108INS4CORE SAP ERP SAP ERP 6.0 (SAP ERP 2005) SAP_APPL 600 SAPKH600 SAP ERP EHP1 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 SAP_APPL 601 SAPKH601 SAP ERP EHP2 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 SAP_APPL 602 SAPKH602 SAP ERP EHP3 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 SAP_APPL 603 SAPKH603 SAP ERP EHP4 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 SAP_APPL 604 SAPKH604 SAP ERP EHP5 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 SAP_APPL 605 SAPKH605 SAP ERP EHP6 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 SAP_APPL 606 SAPKH606 SAP ERP EHP6 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 ON HANA SAP_APPL 616 SAPKH616 SAP ERP EHP7 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 SAP_APPL 617 SAPKH617 SAP ERP EHP8 FOR SAP ERP 6.0 SAP_APPL 618 SAPK-618INSAPAPPL SAP NetWeaver SAP NETWEAVER 7.0 SAP_BASIS 700 SAPKB700 SAP NetWeaver SAP EHP1 FOR SAP NETWEAVER 7.0 SAP_BASIS 701 SAPKB701 SAP NetWeaver SAP EHP2 FOR SAP NETWEAVER 7.0 SAP_BASIS 702 SAPKB702 SAP NetWeaver SAP NETWEAVER PI 7.1 SAP_BASIS 710 SAPKB710 SAP NetWeaver SAP EHP1 FOR SAP NW PI 7.1 SAP_BASIS 711 SAPKB711 SAP NetWeaver SAP NETWEAVER 7.3 SAP_BASIS 730 SAPKB730 SAP NetWeaver SAP EHP1 FOR SAP NETWEAVER 7.3 SAP_BASIS 731 SAPKB731 SAP NetWeaver SAP NETWEAVER 7.4 SAP_BASIS 740 SAPKB740 SAP NetWeaver SAP NETWEAVER 7.5 SAP_BASIS 750 SAPK-750INSAPBASIS SAP NetWeaver NW AS ABAP 7.51 INNOVATION PKG SAP_BASIS 751 SAPK-751INSAPBASIS SAP NetWeaver NW AS ABAP 7.52 SAP_BASIS 752 SAPK-752INSAPBASIS SAP CRM SAP CRM 7.0 BBPCRM 700 SAPKU700 SAP CRM SAP enhancement package 1 for SAP CRM 7.0 BBPCRM 701 SAPKU701 SAP CRM SAP enhancement package 2 for SAP CRM 7.0 BBPCRM 702 SAPKU702 SAP CRM SAP enhancement package 2 for SAP CRM 7.0, version for SAP HANA BBPCRM 712 SAPKU712 SAP CRM SAP enhancement package 3 for SAP CRM 7.0 BBPCRM 713 SAPKU713 SAP CRM SAP enhancement package 4 for SAP CRM 7.0 BBPCRM 714 SAPKU714 SAP SCM SAP SCM 7.0 SCM 700 SAPKY700 SAP SCM SAP enhancement package 1 for SAP Supply Chain Management 7.0 SCM 701 SAPKY701 SAP SCM SAP enhancement package 2 for SAP Supply Chain Management 7.0 SCM 702 SAPKY702 SAP SCM SAP enhancement package 2 for SAP SCM 7.0, version for SAP HANA SCM 712 SAPKY712 SAP SCM SAP enhancement package 3 for SAP Supply Chain Management 7.0 SCM 713 SAPKY713 SAP SCM SAP enhancement package 4 for SAP Supply Chain Management 7.0 SCM 714 SAPK-714INSCM SAP SRM SAP�SRM�7.0 SRM_SERVER 700 SAPKIBKV SAP SRM SAP enhancement package 1 for SAP Solution Manager 7.0 SRM_SERVER 701 SAPK-701INSRMSRV SAP SRM SAP enhancement package 2 for SAP Supplier Relationship Management 7.0 SRM_SERVER 702 SAPK-702INSRMSRV SAP SRM SAP enhancement package 3 for SAP Supplier Relationship Management 7.0 SRM_SERVER 713 SAPK-713INSRMSRV SAP SRM SAP enhancement package 4 for SAP Supplier Relationship Management 7.0 SRM_SERVER 714 SAPK-714INSRMSRV SAP Solution Manager SAP Solution Manager 7.2 ST 720 SAPK-720INSTMAIN References: SAP (www.sap.com ); SAP Support (support.sap.com ); SAP Help (help.sap.com ); SAP Blog (blogs.sap.com )

Topics: SAP Project Roadmap | Period End Closing Activity Period End Closing Activities Seq Transaction Description Module Process Category Frequency Reference Business Process SAP Path 001 S_BCE_68000174 Update Exchange Rates FI Central activities Daily / Monthly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Environment -> Current Settings -> S_BCE_68000174 - Enter Translation Rates 002 VL10C Reviewing Sales Orders Due for Delivery SD Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Montly Closing Operations SD Logistics -> Logistics Execution -> Outbound Process -> Goods Issue for Outbound Delivery -> Outbound Delivery -> Create -> Collective Processing of Documents Due for Delivery -> Sales Order Items 003 V_UC Reviewing Incomplete SD Documents (Deliveries) SD Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily Closing Operations SD Logistics -> Sales and Distribution ->Shipping and transportation -> Outbound Delivery -> Lists and Logs -> Incomplete Outbound Deliveries 004 VKM1 Reviewing Blocked Sales Orders SD Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily Closing Operations SD Logistics -> Sales and Distribution -> Credit Management -> Exceptions -> VKM1 – Blocked SD Documents 005 V_SA Reviewing Log of Collective Delivery Creation SD Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily Closing Operations SD Logistics -> Sales and Distribution ->Shipping and transportation -> Outbound Delivery -> Lists and Logs -> V_SA - Collective Processing Log 006 V23 Review Sales Documents blocked for billing SD Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily Closing Operations SD Logistics -> Sales and Distribution -> Sales -> Information System -> Worklists -> Sales Documents Blocked For Billing 007 VF04 Review Billing Due List SD Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily / Monthly Closing Operations SD Logistics -> Sales and Distribution -> Billing -> Billing Document -> Billing -> Billing Document -> VF04 - Process Billing Due List 008 V.21 Reviewing Log of Collective Invoice Creation SD Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily Closing Operations SD Logistics -> Sales and Distribution -> Billing -> Billing Documents -> Log of Collective Run 009 VFX3 Reviewing List Blocked (for Accounting) Billing Documents SD Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily / Monthly Closing Operations SD Logistics -> Sales and Distribution -> Billing -> Billing Document -> Billing -> Billing Document -> VFX3 - Blocked Billing Docs 010 COGI Ensuring Goods Movement are Complete PP Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production - Process -> Process Order -> Environment -> Material Movement -> COGI - Failed Goods Movements 011 CO16N Ensuring Production Transactions are Complete PP Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Plant Maintenance -> Maintenance Processing -> Capacity Requirements Planning -> Leveling -> General -> Requirements -> Confirmation -> Reprocessing -> CO16N - Confirmations 012 S_ALR_87012342 Gaps in Document Number Assignment FI Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily / Monthly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Information System -> General Ledger Reports (New) -> Document -> General -> S_ALR_87012342 - Gaps in Document Number Assignment 013 S_ALR_87012341 Invoice Numbers Allocated Twice FI Check Invoices (vendors, customers) Daily / Monthly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Information System -> General Ledger Reports (New) -> Document -> General -> S_ALR_87012341 - Invoice Numbers Allocated Twice 014 MMPV Open Period for Material Master Records MM Period Change Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production Process -> Process Order -> Environment -> Master Data -> Material Master -> Other -> MMPV 015 OB52 Open and Close Posting Periods FI Period Change Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Environment -> Current Settings -> S_ALR_87003642 - Open and Close Posting Periods 016 CO43 Actual Overheads Calculaton Prod. Order CO Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production -> Shop Floor Control -> Period-End Closing -> Overhead Calculation -> CO43 - Collective Processing 017 CO8A Preliminary settlement for co-product CO Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production -> Shop Floor Control -> Period-End Processing -> Preliminary Settlement for Co-Products, Rework -> Collective Processing (CO8A) 018 KKAO WIP Calculation PP Order CO Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production -> Shop Floor Control -> Period-End Closing -> Work in Process -> Collective Processing -> KKAO - Determine Posting Periods 019 KKAQ Display work in process CO Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production -> Shop Floor Control -> Period-End Closing -> Work in Process -> Collective Processing -> KKAQ - Display 020 KKS1 Prod. and Process Order Variance Calculation CO Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production -> Shop Floor Control -> Period-End Closing -> Variances -> KKS1 - Collective Processing 021 KKS5 Product Cost Collector Variance Calculation CO Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production ->Repetitive Manufacturing -> Environment -> Period-end Closing for Prod.Cost Collector -> Variances -> KKS5 - Collective Processing 022 CO88 Settling Variances CO Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production -> Shop Floor Control -> Period-End Closing -> Settlement -> CO88 - Collective Processing 023 CO02 Closing Completed Production Orders PP Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Plant Maintenance -> Maintenance Processing -> Capacity Requirements Planning -> Leveling -> General -> Requirements -> Production Order -> Order -> CO02 - Change 024 COOIS Production Order Information System PP Production orders Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Logistics -> Production - Process -> Process Order -> Reporting -> Order Information System -> COOISPI - Process Order Information System 025 FBD1 Enter Recurring Document FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Posting -> Reference Documents -> FBD1 - Recurring Document 026 F.14 Post Recurring Document FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Recurring Entries ->F.14 - Execute 027 SM35 Post Recurring Document with BI FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Recurring Entries ->F.14 - Execute 028 F.13 Automatic GR/IR Clearing MM FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Automatic Clearing -> F.13 - Without Specification of Clearing Currency 029 F.19 Analyse GR/IR Clearing Accounts FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Closing -> Reclassify -> F.19 - GR/IR Clearing 030 F.13 Automatic GR/IR Clearing FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Automatic Clearing -> F.13 - Without Specification of Clearing Currency 031 F-03 Account Maintenance: Manual Clearing FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Account -> F-03 Clear 032 F-32 Automatic Clearing of Open Items in Customer Accounts FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Accounts Receivalbe -> Account -> F-32 Clear 033 F-44 Manual Clearing FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Accounts Payable -> Account -> F-44 Clear 034 FB50 Post Adjustment Entries FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Posting -> FB50 - Enter G/L Account Document 035 FAGL_FC_VAL Foreign Currency Revaluation FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Closing -> Valuate -> FAGL_FC_VAL - Foreign Currency Valuation (New) Periods 036 KB61 Reposting of unassigned Functional area FI FI Closing with CO Postings Montly Cost of Sales Accounting Cost Accounting -> Actual Postings -> Enter Reposting of CO Line Items 037 AIAB Maintaining settlement rules for Assets under Construction FI-AA Asset Management Montly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Fixed Assets -> Posting -> Capitalize Asset u. Const. -> AIAB - Distribute 038 AFAB Depreciation Posting Run FI-AA Asset Management Montly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Fixed Assets -> Periodic Processing -> Depreciation Run -> AFAB - Execute 039 ASKBN Periodic Postings (APC Values Posting) FI-AA Asset Management Montly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Fixed Assets -> Periodic Processing -> ASKB - APC Values Posting 040 S_ALR_87012936 Depreciation Simulation FI-AA Asset Management Montly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Fixed Assets -> Information System -> Depreciation forecast -> S_ALR_87012936 - Depreciation on Capitalized Assets (Depreciation Simulation) 041 OB52 Open and Close FI Period Asset FI-AA Asset Management Montly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Accounts Payable -> Environment -> Current Settings -> S_ALR_87003642 - Open and Close Posting Periods 042 KB31N Recording of statistical key figures CO Overhead Cost Controlling Montly Overhead Cost Accounting - Actual Accounting -> Controlling -> Cost Center Accounting -> Actual Postings -> Statistical Key Figures -> Enter 043 KSU5 Assessment of Shared Expenses CO Overhead Cost Controlling Montly Overhead Cost Accounting - Actual Accounting -> Controlling -> Period-End Closing -> Single Functions -> Allocations -> KSU5 - Assessment 044 KSU5 Running Assessment Cycle for Quality Costs CO Overhead Cost Controlling Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Accounting -> Controlling -> Period-End Closing -> Single Functions -> Allocations -> KSU5 - Assessment 045 KSA3 Accrual Calculation CO Overhead Cost Controlling Montly Overhead Cost Accounting - Actual Accounting -> Controlling -> Cost Element Accounting -> Period-End Closing -> Single Functions -> KSA3 - Accrual Calculation 046 KO8G Executing Settlement R&D Internal Order CO Overhead Cost Controlling Montly R&D internal orders Actual Accounting -> Controlling -> Internal Orders -> Period-End Closing -> Single Functions -> Settlement -> KO8G - Collective Processing 047 KEU5 Performing Actual Assessment to CO-PA CO Overhead Cost Controlling Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Accounting -> Controlling -> Profitability Analysis -> Actual Postings -> Period-End Closing -> Transfer Cost Center Costs/Process Costs -> KEU5 - Assessment 048 MRN0 Determination of Lowest Value for Raw Materials and Trading Goods on the Basis of Market Prices FI/CO/MM Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Warehouse Management -> Balance Sheet Valuation -> Deter. Lowest Value: Market Prices 049 KP98 Copying Inventory to Controlling Version CO Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Overhead Cost Controlling -> Planning: Cost Centers -> Copy Actual to Plan 050 S_ALR_87099918 Posting Book Depreciation CO Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Accounting -> Controlling -> Cost Center Accounting -> Planning -> Planning Aids -> Transfers -> Depreciation/Interest FI-AA 051 KP90 Revaluation: Set Old Posted Values Depreciation to Zero CO Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Overhead Cost Controlling -> Planning: Cost Centers -> Planned Costs 052 KP26 Activity price planning (Version3) CO Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Overhead Cost Controlling -> Planning: Cost Centers -> Change Activity Type/Price Planning 053 KSPI Acticity price planning tarif (version 3) CO Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Accounting -> Controlling -> Cost Center Accounting -> Planning -> Allocations -> Price Calculation 054 CK11N Inventory costing CO Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Accounting -> Controlling -> Product Cost Controlling -> Product Cost Planning -> Material Costing -> Cost Estimate with Quantity Structure -> Create 055 CK24 Price Update CO Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Accounting -> Controlling -> Product Cost Controlling -> Product Cost Planning -> Material Costing -> Price Update 056 FB50 Stock value adjustment FI Inventory valuation Yearly Inventory Valuation for Year End Closing Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Document Entry -> Enter G/L Account Document 057 OKP1 Period Lock CO Period Change Montly Overhead Cost Accounting - Actual Accounting -> Controlling -> Cost Element Accounting -> Environment -> Period Lock -> OKP1 - Change 058 ENGR Create Intrastat / Extrastat periodic declaration SD SD-Reporting Montly Foreign Trade Export Processing Logistics -> Sales and Distribution -> Foreign Trade/Customs -> Periodic Declarations -> Cockpit -> Periodic Declarations 059 S_ALR_87012357 Advance Return for Tax on Sales/Purchases FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Reporting -> Tax Reports -> General -> Advance Return for Tax on Sales/Purchases -> S_ALR_87012357 - Advance Return for Tax on Sales/Purchases 060 FB41 Post Tax Payable FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Closing -> Report -> Post Tax Payable 061 S_ALR_87012400 EC Sales List FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Reporting -> EC Sales List -> General -> EC Sales List 062 S_ALR_87012405 Foreign Trade Regulation Reports Z4 FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Reporting -> German Foreign Trade Regulations -> Germany -> Foreign Trade Regulation Reports Z4 063 S_ALR_87012162 Foreign Trade Regulation Reports Z5A FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Accounts Payable -> Reporting -> Germany -> German Foreign Trade Regulations Report Z5A 064 FAGLF03 Comparative Analysis FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Closing à Check/Count -> Reconciliation (New) 065 F.52 Balance Interest Calculaton FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Interest Calculation -> F.52 - Balance Interest Calculation 066 S_ALR_87012289 Compact Document Journal FI FI-Reporting Daily / Monthly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Information System -> General Ledger Reports (New) -> Document -> General -> S_ALR_87012289 - Compact Document Journal 067 S_ALR_87012287 Document Journal FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Information System -> General Ledger Reports (New) -> Document -> General -> S_ALR_87012287 - Document Journal 068 FF7A Cash Position & Liquidity Forecast FI FI-Reporting Daily / Monthly Cash Management Accounting -> Financial Supply Chain Management -> Cash and Liquidity Management -> Cash Management -> Information System -> Reports for Cash management -> Liquidity Analisys -> FF7A - Cash Position 069 OB52 Open and Close Posting Periods FI Period Change Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Environment -> Current Settings ->Open and Close Posting Periods 070 KE30 Runing Profitability Report CO CO-Reporting Montly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Profitability Analysis -> Reporting -> Execute Profitability Report 071 S_ALR_87012284 Financial Statements FI FI-Reporting Montly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Closing -> Report -> General Ledger Reports (New) -> Financial Statement / Cash Flow -> General -> Actual/Actual Comparisons -> S_ALR_87012284 - Financial Statement 072 SCAL Create Factory Calendar for New Year Cross Year Change Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Logistics -> Sales and Distribution -> Master Data -> Others -> Billing Schedule 073 S_ALR_87005830 Controlling Maintain Versions CO Year Change Yearly Overhead Cost Accounting - Actual Customizing: SAP NetWeaver -> General Settings -> Maintain Calendar 074 CK40N Costing Run CO Year Change Yearly Standard Cost Calculation Accounting -> Controlling -> Product Cost Controlling -> Product Cost Planning -> Material Costing -> Costing Run -> Edit Costing Run 075 S_ALR_87008275 Actual Overheads Calculation Production Order CO Year Change Yearly Period End Closing "general" (Plant) Controlling -> Cost Center Accounting -> Actual Postings -> Period End Closing -> Overhead -> Costing Sheet components -> Define Percentage Overhead Rates 076 AFAR Recalculating Values FI-AA Year Change Yearly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Fixed Assets -> Environment -> AFAR - Recalculate Values 077 ABST2 Account Reconciliation FI-AA Year Change Yearly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Fixed Assets -> Periodic Processing -> Year-End Closing -> ABST2 - Account Reconciliation 078 AJRW Fiscal Year Change FI-AA Year Change Yearly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Fixed Assets -> Periodic Processing -> AJRW - Fiscal Year Change 079 AJAB Year-End Closing FI-AA Year Change Yearly Asset Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Fixed Assets -> Periodic Processing -> Year-End Closing -> AJAB - Execute 080 F.07 Carry Forward AP/AR Balances FI Year Change Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Accounts Receivable -> Periodic Processing -> Closing -> Carry Forward -> F.07 - Balance Carryforward 081 FAGLGVTR Carry Forward GL Balances FI Year Change Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Closing -> Carry Forward -> FAGLGVTR - Balance Carryforward (New) 082 FAGLF101 Regrouping Receivables/Payables FI Year Change Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Accounts Receivable (or Accounts Payable) -> Periodic Processing -> Closing -> Reclassify -> Sorting / Reclassify (New) 083 F.17 Balance Confirmation Receivable FI Year Change Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Accounts Receivable -> Periodic Processing -> Print Correspondence -> Balance Confirmations -> F.17 - Print Letters 084 F.18 Balance Confirmation Payable FI Year Change Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> Accounts Payable -> Periodic Processing -> Print Correspondence -> Balance Confirmations -> F.18 - Print Letters 085 OB52 Close previous account period FI Year Change Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Environment -> Current Settings -> S_ALR_87003642 - Open and Close Posting Periods 086 S_ALR_87012284 Financial Statements FI FI-Reporting Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Periodic Processing -> Closing -> Report -> General Ledger Reports (New) -> Financial Statement / Cash Flow -> General -> Actual/Actual Comparisons -> S_ALR_87012284 - Financial Statement 087 S_ALR_87012287 Document Journal FI FI-Reporting Yearly Period End Closing Financial Accounting Accounting -> Financial Accounting -> General Ledger -> Information System -> General Ledger Reports (New) -> Document -> General -> S_ALR_87012287 - Document Journal References: SAP (www.sap.com ); SAP Support (support.sap.com ); SAP Help (help.sap.com ); SAP Blog (blogs.sap.com )

Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies.In this section we will try to cover topics in the history of macroeconomics to be taken as lessons learned of what to do and what not to do. Overview Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. In this section we will try to cover topics in the history of macroeconomics to be taken as lessons learned of what to do and what not to do. Fordland The Guardian coined this history as "Lost cities of Fordlandia – The failure of Henry Ford's utopian city in the Amazon" In the 1920s the US industrialist, Henry Ford, wanted to found a city based on the values that made his company a success – while, of course, producing cheap rubber. Spoiler alert : The jungle city that bore his name ended up one of his biggest failures. Location Fordlândia (in Portuguese) is a district and adjacent area of 14,268 square kilometres in the city of Aveiro, in the Brazilian state of Pará. It is located on the east banks of the Tapajós river roughly 300 kilometres south of the city of Santarém. Period / Purpose It was established in the Amazon Rainforest in 1928 as a prefabricated industrial town intended to be inhabited by 10,000 people to secure a source of cultivated rubber for the automobile manufacturing operations of the Ford Motor Company. Background Negotiations with the Brazilian government started during the visit by then-governor of the State of Pará, Dionísio Bentes, to the United States to meet Ford. An agreement was signed and the American industrialist received an area of about 10,000 km2. The agreement exempted Ford from taxes on the exportation of goods produced in Brazil in exchange for 9% of the profits (7% going to the Brazilian government and 2% of profits to local municipalities). Investments / Infrastructure With an investment of around US$2 million at the time, 2,000 people moved to the region. According to historian Greg Grandin, author of studies on Fordlândia, the place imitated all the nuances of a typically North American city, with a main shopping street, lined up houses designed in the city of Michigan, USA, sidewalks and a square central. There were also hospitals, schools, mechanical workshops, ice chambers for storing food, among other benefits that were previously rare in the region. Rules / Cultural Distance Ford, who was against drinking alcohol, wanted a perfect utopian city in the middle of the Amazon. The town had a strict set of rules imposed by the managers. Alcohol, women, tobacco and even football were forbidden within the town, including inside the workers' own homes. Inspectors (American managers) would go from house to house to check how organized the houses were and to enforce these rules. while promoting gardening, square dances and poetry readings to the site’s workers. According to sources, a menu with balanced meals was chosen by Ford himself, with oatmeal and canned peaches, imported from Michigan, for breakfast, and brown rice and whole wheat bread for dinner. Time clocks and sirens marked the working hours and the search for productivity was a trademark, which brought a certain strangeness to Brazilians at the time. The legendary businessman, however, did not count on the cultural differences between the American engineers, called upon to run the new venture, and the Brazilian rubber tappers (A cultural distance that would become the beginning of the end of the North American utopian city in the country). Riots / Revolts In 20 December 1930, at the workers’ cafe, in which skilled workers were separated from manual labourers, an argument quickly escalated and violence broke out. Workers vandalised the city, destroying generators, manufacturing equipment, and even their own homes. Fordland's managerial staff managed to escape by ship, they were eventually able to subdue the violence, but only by appealing to Pan Am air magnate to assist them by flying in Brazilian military personnel on one of his planes. According to sources, despite some agreements were made on the type of food the workers would be served, Ford did not agree to further negotiations and chose to fire the majority of the plant's workers. Downfall Even after the riots, Fordland faced some turning points: Labor Treatment Workers having to work in the middle of the day under the tropical sun, with fear of succumbing to the heat and humidity of the Amazon Rainforest Cultural differences Unfamiliar food American-style housing Lack of Tropical Agriculture Knowledge Hilly and rocky terrains/lands Protection mechanism against plagues and diseases (the rubber trees must grow apart from each other to avoid plagues) Logistical problems No roads were available in the area The area was only accessible by the Tapajos River Biological Risks Workers were affected by diseases such as yellow fever and malaria A fungus has made rubber tree plantations unusable for industry Competition New synthetic rubber made from petroleum derivatives Asian rubber plantations freed from Japanese rule with the end of World War II In the following decades, attempts were made such as relocation, opening of new factories in other regions, Autolatina creation, a joint venture with Volkswagen, but all in vain. Adding to an unfavorable economy, numerous crises and catastrophic events such as pandemics, after a hundred years, Ford left Brazil for good.

Create your own homelab. Applications and tools for monitoring, media servers, telemetry, ad blockers, DNS Sinkholes, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and more. Up Homelab Raspberry PI | Imager Uptime Kuma | Monitoring Tool Prometheus | Telemetry Grafana | Telemetry Postfix | Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) BGInfo | Computer Info on Wallpaper Pi Hole (DNS Sinkhole) AdGuard Home (DNS Sinkhole) Plex Media Server Zabbix | Monitoring Tool Raspberry PI | Imager Raspberry Imager Download Raspberry PI Imager | Path: https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/ Install Raspberry Imager Insert the Micro SSD in the laptop Run the Raspberry Imager Select the Device Select the Operating System Select the Storage After the installation is done, you just need to insert the Micro SSD on Raspberry PI and power it. Uptime Kuma | Monitoring Tool Uptime Kuma is an open-source monitoring tool that can track the health of websites, applications, and APIs. It can monitor services over HTTP/S, TCP, DNS, and other protocols. Features Notifications: Uptime Kuma can send notifications via email, Telegram, Discord, Gotify, Slack, Pushover, and more than 90 other notification services Status pages: Uptime Kuma allows users to create custom status pages to share information about service health and manage incidents Scalability: Uptime Kuma can be deployed on any cloud or on-premise Security: Uptime Kuma is secure Data storage: Uptime Kuma uses a local SQLite database to store user data and service configuration Installing Uptime Kuma on Docker Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Repository | Command: apt update (Optional) Install 'Docker', if you don't have it | Command: apt install docker-io Install 'Uptime Kuma' using 'Docker' | Command: docker run -d --restart=always -p 3001:3001 -v uptime-kuma:/app/data --name uptime-kuma louislam/uptime-kuma:1 Accessing 'Uptime Kuma' | Hyperlink: http://:3001 Example: http://192.168.1.130 :3000 Create an User and Password Accessing Uptime Kuma over Internet In order to expose Uptime Kuma to the web securely, you can reverse proxy it using a Tunnel (like CloudFlare Tunnel). Monitoring HTTP(s) Advanced Status Code 200-299 Range: Page is OK (Use this to your webpage) 400-499 Range: Problem with the Client (Problem is with your Computer) 500-599 Range: Problem with the Server HTTP(s) - Keyword It will monitor and search an specific word in your webpage, if the word is not found it will considered your webpage down DNS You can monitor your DNS Resolver (Like AdGuard or Pi-Hole) You can insert a webpage, and you DNS Resolver and port Prometheus | Telemetry Prometheus is a free software application used for event monitoring and alerting. It records metrics in a time series database built using an HTTP pull model, with flexible queries and real-time alerting. Prometheus Components Prometheus Server Prometheus server is a first component of Prometheus architecture Prometheus server is a core of Prometheus architecture which is divided into several parts like Storage, PromQL, HTTP server, etc In Prometheus server data is scraped from the target nodes and then stored in the database Storage Storage in Prometheus server has a local on disk storage Prometheus has many interfaces that allow integrating with remote storage systems PromQL Prometheus uses its own query language i.e. PromQL which is very powerful querying language PromQL allows the user to select and aggregate the data Service Discovery Next and very important component of Prometheus Server is the Service Discovery With the help of Service discovery the services are identified which are need to scraped To Pull metrics, identification of services and finding the targets are compulsory needed Through Service discovery we monitor the entities and can also locate its targets Scrape Target Once the services are identified and the targets are ready then we can pull metrics from it and can scrape the target We can export the data of end point using node exporters Once the metrics or other data is pulled, Prometheus stores it in a local storage Alert Manager Alert Manager handles the alerts which may occurs during the session Alert manager handles all the alerts which are sent by Prometheus server Alert manager is one of the very useful component of Prometheus tool If in case any big error or any issue occurs, alert manager manage those alerts and contact with human via E-mail, Text Messages, On-call, or any other chat application service User Interface User interface is also a important component as it builds a bridge between the user and the system In Prometheus, user interface are note that much user friendly and can be used till graph queries For good exclusive dashboards Prometheus works together with Grafana (visualization tool) Using Grafana over Prometheus to visualize properly we can use custom dashboards Grafana dashboards displays via pie charts, line charts, tables, good data graphs of CPU usage, RAM utilization, network load, etc with indicators Grafana supports and run with Prometheus by querying language i.e. PromQL To fetch data from Prometheus and to display the results on Grafana dashboards PromQL is used What is Grafana ? Grafana is a free and open source visualization tool mostly used with Prometheus to which monitor metrics Grafana provides various dashboards, charts, graphs, alerts for the particular data source Grafana allows us to query, visualize, explore metrics and set alerts for the data source which can be a system, server, nodes, cluster, etc We can also create our own dynamic dashboard for visualization and monitoring We can save the dashboard and can even share with our team members which is one of the main advantage of Grafana What is Node Exporter ? Node exporter is one of the Prometheus exporters which is used to expose servers or system OS metrics With the help of Node exporter we can expose various resources of the system like RAM, CPU utilization, Memory Utilization, disk space Node exporter runs as a system service which gathers the metrics of your system and that gathered metrics is displayed with the help of Grafana visualization tool Architecture This diagram illustrates the architecture of Prometheus and some of its ecosystem components Implementation Summary Documentation Download Files | URL: https://prometheus.io/download/ Node Explorer Docs | URL: https://github.com/prometheus/node_exporter Download Files Windows Node | URL: https://github.com/prometheus-community/windows_exporter/releases/ Windows Node Explorer Docs | URL: https://github.com/prometheus-community/windows_exporter Setting up Prometheus monitoring system and time series database Installing Prometheus on Ubuntu Organizing Prometheus Directories Configuring Prometheus Setting up Node Exporter (Linux) Node Exporter Monitor for Windows Configuring Prometheus to Scrape Node Exporter Setting up Node Exporter (Windows ) Node Exporter Monitor for Windows Configuring Prometheus to Scrape Node Exporter Installing Prometheus on Ubuntu Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Repository | Command: apt update Download Prometheus | Command: wget https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/download/v2.53.3/prometheus-2.53.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz Check the latest version before downloading Extract the file | Command: tar xvfz prometheus-*.tar.gz Navigate to the Prometheus Directory | Command: cd prometheus*/ Organizing Prometheus Directories Create a System User for Prometheus Command: groupadd --system prometheus Command: useradd -s /sbin/nologin --system -g prometheus prometheus Create Directories for Prometheus Command: mkdir /etc/prometheus Command: mkdir /var/lib/prometheus Move the Binary Files Command: mv prometheus /usr/local/bin Command: mv promtool /usr/local/bin Move the Configuration Files Command: mv consoles /etc/prometheus Command: mv console_libraries /etc/prometheus Command: mv prometheus.yml /etc/Prometheus Set Owner Command: chown prometheus:prometheus /usr/local/bin/prometheus Command: chown prometheus:prometheus /usr/local/bin/promtool Command: chown prometheus:prometheus /etc/prometheus Command: chown -R prometheus:prometheus /etc/prometheus/consoles Command: chown -R prometheus:prometheus /etc/prometheus/console_libraries Command: chown -R prometheus:prometheus /var/lib/prometheus Configuring Prometheus Change Prometheus configuration file | Command: nano /etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml Content: Check the content below Create Prometheus Systemd Service | Command: nano /etc/systemd/system/prometheus.service Content: Check the content below Reload Systemd | Command: systemctl daemon-reload Enable Prometheus | Command: systemctl enable prometheus Start Prometheus | Command: systemctl start prometheus (Optional) Check Prometheus Status | Command: systemctl status prometheus Tips | If you later make any changes to "prometheus.services", you will need to: Reload Systemd | Command: systemctl daemon-reload Restart Prometheus | Command: systemctl restart prometheus Content of "prometheus.yml" # --- Starting on the next line -> # Global Configuration global: scrape_interval: 15s # By default, scrape targets every 15 seconds. evaluation_interval: 15s # Evaluate rules every 15 seconds. # Attach these labels to any time series or alerts when communicating with # external systems (federation, remote storage, Alertmanager). external_labels: monitor: 'codelab-monitor' # Alertmanager configuration alerting: alertmanagers: - static_configs: - targets: # - alertmanager:9093 # Load rules once and periodically evaluate them according to the global 'evaluation_interval'. rule_files: # - "first_rules.yml" # - "second_rules.yml" # A scrape configuration containing exactly one endpoint to scrape: # Here it's Prometheus itself. scrape_configs: - job_name: 'prometheus' scrape_interval: 5s static_configs: - targets: ['localhost:9090'] # The job name is added as a label `job=` to any timeseries scraped from this config. # Override the global default and scrape targets from this job every 5 seconds. # --- End --- Content of "prometheus.service" # --- Starting on the next line -> [Unit] Description=Prometheus Wants=network-online.target After=network-online.target [Service] User=prometheus Group=prometheus Type=simple ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/prometheus \ --config.file /etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml \ --storage.tsdb.path /var/lib/prometheus/ \ --web.console.templates=/etc/prometheus/consoles \ --web.console.libraries=/etc/prometheus/console_libraries ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID Restart=on-failure RestartSec=5s [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target # --- End --- Node Exporter Monitor for Linux Open the terminal on the server you want to monitor For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Create a user named "nodeuser" | Command: useradd --no-create-home --shell /bin/false nodeuser Options: "--no-create-home" and "--shell /bin/false" will ensure that no home directory is created for this user, and this user cannot login to the server Download Node Explorer | Command: wget https://github.com/prometheus/node_exporter/releases/download/v1.8.2/node_exporter-1.8.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz Check the latest version before downloading Extract the files | Command: tar xvfz node_exporter-*.*-amd64.tar.gz Go to directory | Command: cd node_exporter-*.*-amd64 Move the directory | Command: mv node_exporter /usr/local/bin/ Secure the directory | Command: chown -R nodeuser:nodeuser /usr/local/bin/node_exporter Manage the Node Exporter instance with Systemd | Command: nano /etc/systemd/system/node_exporter.service Content: Check the content below Reload the systemd configuration | Command: systemctl daemon-reload Start the Node Exporter service | Command: systemctl start node_exporter Enable Node Exporter to start on boot | Command: systemctl enable node_exporter (Optional) Check Node Explorer | Command: systemctl status node_exporter (Optional) Check Metrics | Command: curl http://:9100/metrics Or you can check using your browser | URL: http ://:9100/metrics Content of "node_exporter.service" # --- Starting on the next line -> [Unit] Description=Node Exporter Service After=network.target [Service] User=nodeuser Group=nodeuser Type=simple ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/node_exporter ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID Restart=on-failure [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target # --- End --- Configuring Prometheus to Scrape Node Exporter Open the terminal on the Prometheus For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Config Node on Prometheus | Command: nano /etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml Add the lines in the "scrape_configs " section, after the "prometheus" job_name config: Check below Restart Prometheus | Command: systemctl restart prometheus Check the Telemetry em Prometheus | URL: http://:9090 Go to menu: Status -> Targets Content of "prometheus.yml" # --- Starting on the next line -> - job_name: 'node' scrape_interval: 5s static_configs: - targets: [' :9100'] # --- End --- Tips : If you need add a second linux node, you just need to install the node_exporter and add one more "target" line on "prometheus.yml" file Node Exporter Monitor for Windows Check the last version of node explorer for windows Download the ".msi" file Install it on windows machine Configuring Prometheus to Scrape Node Exporter Open the terminal on the Prometheus For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Config Node on Prometheus | Command: nano /etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml Add the lines in the "scrape_configs " section, after the "prometheus" job_name config: Check below Restart Prometheus | Command: systemctl restart prometheus Check the Telemetry em Prometheus | URL: http://:9090 Go to menu: Status -> Targets Content of "prometheus.yml" # --- Starting on the next line -> - job_name: 'windows' scrape_interval: 5s static_configs: - targets: [' :9182'] # --- End --- Grafana | Telemetry Grafana is a multi-platform open source analytics and interactive visualization web application. It can produce charts, graphs, and alerts for the web when connected to supported data sources. Official Installation URL: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/setup-grafana/installation/debian/ Hardware recommendations: Minimum recommended memory: 512 MB Minimum recommended CPU: 1 Supported operating systems: Debian or Ubuntu Red Hat, RHEL, or Fedora SUSE or openSUSE macOS Windows Installing Grafana on Ubuntu Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Repository | Command: apt update Install the prerequisite packages | Command: apt-get install -y apt-transport-https software-properties-common wget Import the GPG key Command: mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings/ Command: wget -q -O - https://apt.grafana.com/gpg.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/grafana.gpg > /dev/null To add a repository for stable releases | Command: echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/grafana.gpg] https://apt.grafana.com stable main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grafana.list Update the list of available packages | Command: apt-get update To install Grafana OSS | Command: apt-get install grafana Accessing Grafana | URL: http://:3000 Setting Up Prometheus Telemetry on Grafana Open Grafana UI | URL: http://:3000 Go to Menu: Connections -> Data Sources Add New Data Source Choose Prometheus Provide URL: http://:9090 Warning : Prometheus just need to added once. All Nodes will be pushed via Prometheus Uninstalling Grafana Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Stop the systemd service | Command: systemctl stop grafana-server Stop the init.d service | Command: service grafana-server stop Uninstall Grafana OSS Command: apt-get remove grafana (Optional) Remove the Grafana repository | Command: rm -i /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grafana.list Postfix | Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) Postfix is a free and open-source mail transfer agent that routes and delivers electronic mail. Setting Up Postfix with Gmail Relay (Ubuntu) Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Repository | Command: apt update Install the Postfix and the authentication module "libsasl2-modules" package | Command: apt install libsasl2-modules postfix When requested, select option: 2 Internet Site When requested, insert a hostname: Example: home.arpa Check below where the hostname will be displayed in the email (Optional) If you already have the postfix, or after the installation if the postfix configuration Wizard does not show up automatically, you can run the Wizard, and choose the options above | Command: dpkg-reconfigure postfix (Optional) Check the Postfix service status | Command: service postfix status Generate the Gmail App Password (action perform in your own gmail account) Create a file with SMTP Host, Port, Username and Password Open or create a file | Command: nano /etc/postfix/sasl/sasl_passwd Create a line | Line: [smtp.gmail.com]:587 : Example: [smtp.gmail.com]:587 johndoe@gmail.com :thjbdtrgjklmhjas Create the hash db file for Postfix | Command: postmap /etc/postfix/sasl/sasl_passwd (Optional) You can check the file created | File: /etc/postfix/sasl/sasl_passwd.db Secure Your Postfix Hash Database file Change the permission for root user | Command: chown root:root /etc/postfix/sasl/sasl_passwd.db Change the permission Read and Write for owner | Command: chmod 0600 /etc/postfix/sasl/sasl_passwd.db (Optional) Check permission | Command: ls -l /etc/postfix/sasl/sasl_passwd.db It should be like this "-rw------- 1 root root Jan 01 12:00 sasl_passwd.db" Delete the plain text file for safety measure | Command: rm /etc/postfix/sasl/sasl_passwd Configure the Postfix Relay Server | Command: nano /etc/postfix/main.cf Find and change this lines, or create them if necessary relayhost = [smtp.gmail.com]:587 # Enable SASL authentication smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes # Disallow methods that allow anonymous authentication smtp_sasl_security_options = noanonymous # Location of sasl_passwd smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl/sasl_passwd # Enable STARTTLS encryption smtp_tls_security_level = encrypt # Location of CA certificates smtp_tls_CAfile = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt Restart Postfix | Command: systemctl restart postfix Install 'mailutils' | Command: apt install mailutils 'Mailutils' is a set of utilities and daemons that allows users to manage email from the command line or Linux terminal You will need 'mailutils' to use the command 'mail' to send emails Tips Check where the Hostname will appear in the email Go to the Gmail and select the email Click in More > Show Original The Hostname will be displayed in these lines: Received: from xxxxx.home .arpa ([xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx]) X-Google-Original-From: root@home.arpa (Cron Daemon) Received: by xxxxx.home.arpa (Postfix, from userid 0) id xxxxxxxxxx; Sun, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000 (GMT) Message-Id: <20000101120000.xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.home.arpa > Sending Emails Open the terminal Sending an email | Command: echo "[email body]" | mail -s "[subject]" [recipient] Example: echo "Hi, How are you doing?" | mail -s "Hello" janedoe@gmail.com Changing the Mail Header Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Install Postfix PCRE | Command: apt install postfix-pcre Update or Create the Header | Command: nano /etc/postfix/smtp_header_checks Add line: /^From:*/ REPLACE From: Example: /^From:*/ REPLACE From: JohnSmith johnsmith@gmail.com it doesn't matter. It will be replaced automatically Update the Postfix config | Command: nano /etc/postfix/main.cf Add line: smtp_header_checks = pcre:/etc/postfix/smtp_header_checks Configuring Crontab to send automatic emails Open the terminal Open Crontab | Command: crontab -e Insert this line above your jobs | Line: MAILTO= Example: MAILTO=johndoe@gmail.com Ctrl+X and Save it Now, every time a Cron Job is executed, an email will be sent to the selected email with the output of the execution BGInfo | Computer Info on Wallpaper BGInfo is a tool that displays a Windows computer's configuration information on the desktop wallpaper. It's part of Sysinternals and is often used by system administrators in large enterprises. BGInfo can display information such as: Computer name, IP address, Service pack version, OS version, and Hostname. Requirements Client: Windows 8.1 and higher Server: Windows Server 2012 and higher Warning : BGInfo has issues with some wallpapers extension, like '.png', try using '.jpg ' To use BGInfo Download BGInfo from the Sysinternals website Hyperlink: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/bginfo Extract the ZIP file contents Suggested Folder: 'C:\Program Files\BGInfo\' Run BGInfo and configure it to your needs Click OK to save your configuration (Option) You can save a '.bgi' file to transfer to another computer View your system information on your desktop background Custom User Defined Fields Architecture | WMI Query | SELECT OSArchitecture FROM Win32_OperatingSystem Example: 64-bit BootDevice | WMI Query | SELECT BootDevice FROM Win32_OperatingSystem NumbProcess| WMI Query | SELECT NumberOfProcessors FROM Win32_ComputerSystem ProcessName | WMI Query | SELECT Name FROM Win32_Processor BIOSDate | Registry Value | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS\BIOSReleaseDate BoardProduct | Registry Value | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS\BaseBoardProduct SystemFamily | Registry Value | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS\SystemFamily Edition | Registry Value | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProductName Version | Registry Value | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DisplayVersion LastUpdatePurge | Registry Value | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\LastDownloadsPurgeTime Auto Update the Display Windows Startup Create a shortcut Example 1 | Target | "C:\Program Files\BGInfo\Bginfo64.exe" /timer:0 /silent Example 2 | Target | "C:\Program Files\BGInfo\Bginfo64.exe" Bginfo64.bgi /timer:0 /silent Example 3 | Target | "C:\Program Files\BGInfo\Bginfo64.exe" "C:\Program Files\BGInfo\Bginfo64.bgi" /timer:0 /silent /nolicprompt (Optional) Change the Run Mode | Run: Minimized Put the shortcut on | C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\ Programs\Startup Registry Editor Search Bar | Application: regedit Go to | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Create a New 'Expandable String Value' Name: BGInfo Value Data: C:\Program Files\BGInfo\Bginfo64.bgi /timer:0 /silent /nolicprompt Parameters | Specifies the name of a configuration file to use for the current session. Changes to the configuration are automatically saved back to the file when OK or Apply is pressed. If this parameter is not present BGInfo uses the default configuration information which is stored in the registry under the current user ("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Winternals\BGInfo") /timer | Specifies the timeout value for the countdown timer, in seconds. Example 1 | /timer:10 | Specifying 10 or no timer (default) will update the display in 10 seconds Example 2 | /timer:0 | Specifying zero will update the display without displaying the configuration dialog Example 3 | /timer:300 |Specifying 300 seconds or longer disables the timer altogether /popup | Causes BGInfo to create a popup window containing the configured information without updating the desktop. The information is formatted exactly as it would if displayed on the desktop, but resides in a fitted window instead. When using this option the history database is not updated /silent | Suppresses error messages /taskbar | Causes BGInfo to place an icon in the taskbar's status area without updating the desktop. Clicking the icon causes the configured information to appear in a popup window. When using this option the history database is not updated /all | Specifies that BGInfo should change the wallpaper for any and all users currently logged in to the system. This option is useful within a Terminal Services environment, or when BGInfo is scheduled to run periodically on a system used by more than one person (see Using a Schedule below) /log | Causes BGInfo to write errors to the specified log file instead of generating a warning dialog box. This is useful for tracking down errors that occur when BGInfo is run under the scheduler /rtf | Causes BGInfo to write its output text to an RTF file. All formatting information and colors are included /nolicprompt | EULA (End User License Agreement) is not prompted for new users /accepteula | EULA (End User License Agreement) is automatically accepted for new users Pi Hole (DNS Sinkhole) Installing Pi Hole o n Ubuntu Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Package Database | Command: apt update Install 'curl' to download the Application | Command: apt install curl Install Pi-Hole | Command: curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash Follow the steps to conclude the installation Pi-Hole will be installed and the initial password will be displayed on the screen Changing the Initial Password | Command: pihole -a -p Installing Pi Hole on Docker Container PowerShell Command: Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Install Pi-Hole | Command: docker run -d --name pihole -p 53:53/tcp -p 53:53/udp -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -e TZ="Europe/London" -v "$(pwd)/etc-pihole/:/etc/pihole/" -v "$(pwd)/etc-dnsmasq.d/:/etc/dnsmasq.d/" --restart=unless-stopped pihole/pihole:latest docker run -d (Run Docker) --name pihole (Container Name) -p 53:53/tcp (Ports to expose. The 53 and 80 are the bare minimum ports required for Pi-holes HTTP and DNS services) -p 53:53/udp -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -e TZ="Europe/London" (Timezone) -v "$(pwd)/etc-pihole/:/etc/pihole/" (Volume and $(pwd) for your Pi-hole configs help persist changes across docker image updates) -v "$(pwd)/etc-dnsmasq.d/:/etc/dnsmasq.d/" (Volume and $(pwd) for your Pi-hole configs help persist changes across docker image updates) --restart=unless-stopped (Automatically (re)start your Pi-hole on boot or in the event of a crash) pihole/pihole:latest (Image of the Pi Hole and the tag latest to always get the latest release) Automatic Ad List Updates: Since the 3.0+ release, "cron" is baked into the container and will grab the newest versions of your lists and flush your logs. Set your TZ environment variable to make sure the midnight log rotation syncs up with your timezone's midnight. Accessing the Pi Hole URL: http://pi.hole/admin If the URL doesn't work you can check the "IPCONFIG" Command Prompt, the IPv4 of your LAN (main server) Example: 192.168.0.101/admin Initial Password Since we didn't use the variable to set the password, Pi Hole generates a random one. Check the password: Open your Docker Container Containers Click on Pi Hole Container Logs tab Search for assigned random password Line example: [i] Assigning random password: 5Tg45Gd9 Changing the Password: You don't need the initial password to change it Just need to type the command: docker exec -it pihole -a -p (in our case the name is pihole) And a prompt will request the new password Command: docker exec -it pihole pihole -a -p Using the Pi Hole You can use the same IP address that you are using to access the Pi Hole Web GUI to put as a DNS in your laptop, mobile or pfSense. AdGuard Home (DNS Sinkhole) What is AdGuard Home? It is a DNS Resolver and DNS Sinkhole. In other words, AdGuard Home is a application for blocking ads & tracking. It will replace the IP of your DNS server, querying major DNS providers such as Google (8.8.8.8), Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), with the correct IP address for your devices (DNS Resolver). But with one difference, it will block ads and tracking IPs by changing it to (0.0.0.0), a non-existent IP address (DNS Sinkhole). Benefits Privacy (Tracking Blocking) Reduction of Ads Increasing network speed (IP 0.0.0.0 won't download anything) Installing on Docker Warning : According with AdGuard documentation, the application has no drivers to work on Windows Docker, it must be installed on Docker on Linux-based system. Pull the Docker Image docker pull adguard/adguardhome Create and Run the Container docker run --name adguardhome --restart unless-stopped -v /my/own/workdir:/opt/adguardhome/work -v /my/own/confdir:/opt/adguardhome/conf -p 53:53/tcp -p 53:53/udp -p 67:67/udp -p 68:68/udp -p 80:80/tcp -p 443:443/tcp -p 443:443/udp -p 3000:3000/tcp -p 853:853/tcp -p 784:784/udp -p 853:853/udp -p 8853:8853/udp -p 5443:5443/tcp -p 5443:5443/udp -d adguard/adguardhome docker run --name adguardhome --restart unless-stopped -v /my/own/workdir:/opt/adguardhome/work -v /my/own/confdir:/opt/adguardhome/conf -p 53:53/tcp -p 53:53/udp -p 67:67/udp -p 68:68/udp -p 80:80/tcp -p 443:443/tcp -p 443:443/udp -p 3000:3000/tcp -p 853:853/tcp -p 784:784/udp -p 853:853/udp -p 8853:8853/udp -p 5443:5443/tcp -p 5443:5443/udp -d adguard/adguardhome Installing on Linux-based Systems (Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi OS) 1 Option using "curl" Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Package Database | Command: apt update (Optional) If you don't have "curl", install it | Command: apt install curl Verify if you have "curl" | Command: curl --version Install AdGuard | Command: curl -s -S -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/master/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- -v Accessing AdGuard Finishing the installation you will see the IP address to access the Web GUI. (It will be the IP address with port 3000) Example: http://127.0.0.1 :3000 2 Option using "snapd" Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Repository | Command: apt update (Optional) If you don't have "snap", install it | Command: apt install snapd Verify if you have "snap" | Command: snapd --version Install AdGuard | Command: snap install adguard-home Accessing AdGuard Finishing the installation you will see the IP address to access the Web GUI. (It will be the IP address with port 3000) Example: http://127.0.0.1 :3000 (Optional) If you have to reconfigure the AdGuard you can access the 'yaml' directly Edit File | Command: nano /var/snap/adguard-home/current/AdGuardHome.yaml Plex Media Server Plex Media Server is a free software application that lets you store, organize, and stream your media collection from a central location. It's similar to having your own personal Netflix or Spotify server that you can access from many different devices. Plex Media Server Ports The most important port to make sure your firewall allows is the main TCP port the Plex Media Server uses for communication: Access to the Plex Media Server | TCP: 32400 (required) The following additional ports are also used within the local network for different services: Access to the Plex DLNA Server | UDP: 1900 Older Bonjour/Avahi network discovery | UDP: 5353 Controlling Plex for Roku via Plex Companion | TCP: 8324 Current GDM network discovery | UDP: 32410, 32412, 32413, 32414 Access to the Plex DLNA Server | TCP: 32469 Installing Plex Server on Ubuntu Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Package Database | Command: apt update Install WGET to download the Application | Command: apt install wget (Optional) To get the path for the last version of Plex Go to official Plex Webpage | Page: https://www.plex.tv/ Go to | Download > Plex Media Server > COMPUTER > Linux Choose the Linux Distribution | Click on Linux Distribution and Copy the link of the right distribution for you Example of the Ubuntu/Debian Intel/AMD 64-bit: Link for Download (Download the Application step): https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server-new/1.41.0.8992-8463ad060/debian/plexmediaserver_1.41.0.8992-8463ad060_amd64.deb File (Install the Application step): plexmediaserver_1.41.0.8992-8463ad060_amd64.deb Download the Application | Command: wget https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server-new/1.41.0.8992-8463ad060/debian/plexmediaserver_1.41.0.8992-8463ad060_amd64.deb Install the Application | Command: dpkg -i plexmediaserver_1.41.0.8992-8463ad060_amd64.deb Accessing Plex via Web Browser Open your browser And access it using: http://:32400/web Example: http://192.168.0.110 :32400/web Mount an SMB Share Drive for Plex If you want to map a SMB share drive to be used on Plex, you can check in those link below: Mount SMB on Ubuntu | Check it here Activating Automatic Update On DEB-based distros (Ubuntu, etc.) The PMS package will automatically do all repository setup for you on Debian 10+/Ubuntu 20.04+ installations, including obtaining the package signing key. Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Edit the file | Command: nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list 1 Option | On the line "#deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb/ public main " | Uncomment Removing: # The line should be like this "deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb/ public main" 2 Option | On the line "#deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/plexmediaserver.gpg] https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb/ public main " | Uncomment Removing: # The line should be like this "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/plexmediaserver.gpg] https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb/ public main" Save it | Ctrl+X, accept the change with "Yes" and press "Enter" Warning : If you have some issues with the updates, probably you are using older versions and you need to perform this follow steps below For pre Debian 10 and Ubuntu 20.04 To enable the Plex Media Server repository only a few terminal commands are required. Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Command: echo deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb public main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list Command: curl https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key | sudo apt-key add - (OPTIONAL) If you don't have the "curl" install it | Command: apt install curl (OPTIONAL) If you get a error about "gnupg" install it | Command: apt install gnupg Update the Repository | Command: apt update Upgrade the Packages | Command: apt upgrade -y 2 Option | using WGET Command: wget -q https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key -O - | sudo apt-key add - (OPTIONAL) If you don't have the "wget" install it | Command: apt install wget RPM-based distros (Fedora, CentOS, etc.) Inside the RPM package we have silently added a repository configuration file for Plex Media Server to hook up to a repository. To enable the repo, edit /etc/yum.repos.d/plex.repo change line 4 from enabled=0 to enabled=1 It should look like this: [PlexRepo] name=PlexRepo baseurl=https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/rpm/$basearch/ enabled=1 gpgkey=https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key gpgcheck=1 Once you’ve done that you can then update your Plex Media Server to the current public release Run your update program or |Command: yum update Plex Media Server will automatically get updated too On openSUSE After doing the normal steps for RPM-based distributions, openSUSE users will need to make an additional change: Open the “Software Repositories” app Find the “PlexRepo” entry Set that entry to Enabled and Auto Refresh Zabbix | Monitoring Tool Zabbix is an open-source software tool to monitor IT infrastructure such as networks, servers, virtual machines, and cloud services. Zabbix collects and displays basic metrics. You can check the official documentation for the free installation on: https://www.zabbix.com/download?os_distribution=ubuntu Installing Zabbix on Ubuntu Open the terminal For non-root users, use the command "sudo " to perform administrative tasks Update Repository | Command: apt update Install Zabbix repository Downloading| Command: wget https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/7.0/ubuntu/pool/main/z/zabbix-release/zabbix-release_latest+ubuntu24.04_all.deb Installing | Command: dpkg -i zabbix-release_latest+ubuntu24.04_all.deb Updating | Command: apt update Install Zabbix server, frontend, agent | Command: apt install zabbix-server-mysql zabbix-frontend-php zabbix-apache-conf zabbix-sql-scripts zabbix-agent (Optional) If you don't have the mySQL Check if you have your mySQL up and running | Command: systemctl status mysql If you don't have it. Install it | Command: apt install mysql-server Otherwise, when you try to perform the next step, after the password, you will face this error | Error: ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2) Create Initial Database | Command: mysql -uroot -p Password: password It will open the mysql command line. Use these lines one by one mysql> create database zabbix character set utf8mb4 collate utf8mb4_bin; mysql> create user zabbix@localhost identified by 'password'; mysql> grant all privileges on zabbix.* to zabbix@localhost; mysql> set global log_bin_trust_function_creators = 1; mysql> quit; Import initial schema and data | Command: zcat /usr/share/zabbix-sql-scripts/mysql/server.sql.gz | mysql --default-character-set=utf8mb4 -uzabbix -p zabbix Password: password The screen it will stop for a few minutes. Wait until the command line appears again Disable log_bin_trust_function_creators option after importing database schema | Command: mysql -uroot -p Password: password It will open the mysql command line. Use these lines one by one mysql> set global log_bin_trust_function_creators = 0; mysql> quit; Configure the database for Zabbix server | Command: nano /etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf Insert this line in the right place. You will find the password commented below the user | Line: DBPassword=password If you skip this step, when you login, you will face this web warning | Warning: zabbix server is not running Start Zabbix server and agent processes Restart | Command: systemctl restart zabbix-server zabbix-agent apache2 Enable | Command: systemctl enable zabbix-server zabbix-agent apache2 Starting with Zabbix Open your Browser and access | URL: http:///zabbix Example: http://192.168.1.100/zabbix (Optional) When you choose the language and face an issue, try these steps (This example is for en_US Language) Check the language | Command: localectl Install Locales | Command: apt install locales Choose the language | Command: locale-gen en_US.UTF-8 Select the language | Command: localectl set-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8 Reboot the system | Command: reboot Choose your User and Password Finish the initial setup References: Microsoft (www.microsoft.com ); GitHub (github.com ); Proxmox (www.proxmox.com )

Manufacturing Process Types are Discrete Industry, Process Industry (PI) and Repetitive Industry, and the basic Methods of Manufacturing are Make to Stock (MTS) and Make to Order (MTO). Product Costing In this section, you will be able to understand the Product Costing. Manufactu ring Process Types of Manufacturing Discrete Industry Process Industry (PI) Repetitive Industry Methods of Manufacturing Make to Stock (MTS) Make to Order (MTO) Discrete Manufacturing It is based in production orders, with products that can be assembled and dis-assembled. Benefits: Planning and manufacturing depends on production orders Materials will be issued with reference to production orders Products can change frequently Production is carried out on different production lines Product costing and settlement is done through production orders Master Data: Bill of Materials (BOMs) Routings Work Centers Production Version Example of Industries: Mechanical Engineering (Cars, Airplanes, Etc...) Consumer Goods Electronics Process Industry Manufacturing It is based on process orders, with products batch-oriented, with integration tools PP-PI (Production Planning / Process Industry) Benefits: Batch oriented process manufacturing. Copy the master recipe and adjust it to actual production Process Management between PP-PI and process control during the execution of a process order Master Data: Master Recipes Resources Example of Industries: Pharmaceutical Chemical Food Beverage Repetitive Manufacturing It is based on planned orders, produced repetitively or continuously in production lines, in a continuous production scenario. Benefits: Production is based on the planned orders Planning and manufacturing is based on period wise Production are carried out on a single production line (repetitively) Product costing and settlement is done through product cost collector Simpler back flushing Scenarios with high product stability, high repetition rates, and low product complexity Master Data: Product Cost Collector Rate Routing REM Profile Production version Example of Industries: Mechanical Engineering Consumer Goods Electronics Step Process in Discrite / Process (MTS / MTO) Create Independent Requirements: Create Planned Independent Requirements | Make-To-Stock T-Code: MD61 Create Customer Independent Requirement / Sales Order | Make-To-Order T-Code: MD81 / VA01 Check Demand Management | Make-To-Stock T-Code: MD04 | Make-To-Order T-Code: MD04 Run MRP | Make-To-Stock T-Code: MD01N | Make-To-Order T-Code: MD01N Production Orders: Convert Planned Orders to Production Orders | Make-To-Stock T-Code: MD04 | Make-To-Order T-Code: MD04 Create Production Order Manually | Make-To-Stock T-Code: CO01| Make-To-Order T-Code: COR1 Release Production Order | Make-To-Stock T-Code: CO02 | Make-To-Order T-Code: COR2 GI to Production Order | Make-To-Stock T-Code: MIGO | Make-To-Order T-Code: MIGO Production Order Confirmation | Make-To-Stock T-Code: CO11N | Make-To-Order T-Code: COR6N GR to Production Order | Make-To-Stock T-Code: MIGO | Make-To-Order T-Code: MIGO Production order Teco | Make-To-Stock T-Code: CO02 | Make-To-Order T-Code: COR2 Overhead calculation | Make-To-Stock T-Code: KGI2 | Make-To-Order T-Code: KGI2 WIP Calculation | Make-To-Stock T-Code: KKAO / KKAX | Make-To-Order T-Code: KKAO / KKAX Variance Calculation | Make-To-Stock T-Code: KKS1 / KKS2 | Make-To-Order T-Code: KKS1 / KKS2 Production Order Settlement | Make-To-Stock T-Code: KO88 / CO88 | Make-To-Order T-Code: KO88 / CO88 Close Production Order | Make-To-Stock T-Code: CO02 | Make-To-Order T-Code: COR2 References: SAP (www.sap.com ); SAP Support (support.sap.com ); SAP Help (help.sap.com ); SAP Blog (blogs.sap.com )

We are driven by the purpose of creating value and generating impact for our clients. Helping businesses to achieve its goals and building better future. We have a clear purpose: to help companies run SAP better, which reflects our mission to generate positive and significant. Locations Phone UK Office Address: 25 Crossharbour Plaza, London E14 9SS, UK US Office Address: 1200 Brickell Ave Suite 1950 #1137, Miami, FL 33131, USA BR Office Address: Av. Paulista, 1636 - Cerqueira César, São Paulo - SP, 01310-200, Brazil Contact Us First name Last name Email Write a message Thanks for submitting! Submit

SAP NFe fully supports vaccination and a safe business environment, respecting and supporting people's lives. If you are not feeling well, follow the public health guidelines posted in your community. Stay home, stay safe, take care of each other and your community. SAP NFe Take Care Today, Be Safe Tomorrow Health Policy SAP NFe fully supports vaccination and a safe business environment, respecting and supporting people's lives. If you are not feeling well, follow the public health guidelines posted in your community. Stay home, stay safe, take care of each other and your community. If you are in need, please, seek support at UK NHS National Health Service https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/ US CDC Centers for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/ BR SUS Health Unic System https://www.gov.br/saude/

SAP NFe is focused on SAP Localizations/Versions for Countries in Europe, North America and South America. We can improve processes, applying best practices and bringing SAP back to standard, creating value for your company. Creating value and generating positive and significant impacts on business. SAP NFe To Help Companies Run SAP Better Most of the companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars , hiring unprepared consultancies and consultants, resulting in a expensive and unreliable system, with high maintenance costs, which ends up not meeting the company's expectations. This is the usual experience that the most valuable companies on the market are used to living on a day-to-day basis. We are focused on Europe , North America and South America country versions and localizations. We can improve processes, applying best practices and bringing the SAP back to standard, creating value to your company. If you're ready to innovate, we can help your business achieve its goals with cost-effective, tailor-made solutions. SAP Global Best Practices These articles cover the guidelines and best practices that the big techs don't want you to know. SAP Brazil Localization These articles cover roadmap implementation, localization complexity, nota fiscal (e-invoicing), indirect taxes, direct taxes, withholding, bank communication, electronic reporting (SPED) and more. SAP EU Localization These articles cover the main points about the EU Common Market, Localization, Single Euro Payments Area and more. SAP UK Localisation These articles cover roadmap implementation, localisation complexity, financial accounting, taxes, accounts payable, bank accounting and more. SAP US Localization These articles cover roadmap implementation, localization complexity, financial accounting, taxes, treasure, accounts payable, bank accounting, check (or also known as a cheque, in British English), withholding taxes (1099 misc) and more. Solutions We are focused on helping companies achieve their goals with cost-effective, tailor-made solutions. Sustainability Technology shaping the future of your company with sustainability, eliminating the waste of resources and process. Global Trends Our values go beyond simply redesigning processes. We help improve performance, compliance and more.

Before starting any negotiation with new UK business partners, it is always recommended to be safe and do some background checks on the company. You can do that thanks to Companies House. Business in United Kingdom UK Limited Company Public Information Checking UK VAT Number FSCS Financial Services Compensation Scheme ICO Information Commissioner’s Office UK Foreign Travel Advice UK Limited Company Public Information Before starting any negotiation with new UK business partners, it is always recommended to be safe and do some background checks on the company. You can do that thanks to Companies House. Companies House is an executive agency, sponsored by the DBT (Department for Business and Trade). They incorporate and dissolve limited companies, registering their information and make it available to the public. Path : https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company Get Information About a Company You can get details about a company for free, including: company information, for example registered address and date of incorporation current and resigned officers document images mortgage charge data previous company names insolvency information You just need to access the link above and click the green "Start " bottom. https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company Search the Register You can find a company using one of these information: Company Name Company Number Officer Name https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/ Current features include File abridged or full accounts Change a registered office address View company data and document images Search for disqualified directors Order certificates and certified documents Follow companies Infomation Available Overview Filling History People (e.g., Director, Secretary) Charges More The Filing History can be Filter by Categories: Accounts Capital Charges Confirmation Statements / Annual Returns Incorporation Officers Incorporation In the filing history, filtered by incorporation, it is possible to check all incorporation information, like: Share Capital Share Capital You can see in the example the company was incorporated with a share capital of £10K pounds. Accounts In the filing history, filtered by accounts, it is possible to check all the accounts, like: Balance Sheet Profit and Loss Cash Flow Many other Information Balance Sheet This is a example of balance sheet filed, showing: Fixed Assets Tangible Assets Current Assets Debitors Due < 1 Year Debitors Due > 1 Year Cash at the Bank and In Hand Creditors Due < 1 Year Net Current Assets Total Assets Less Current Liability Provisions for Liabilities Deferred Tax Liability Net Assets Capital and Reservers Called Up Share Capital Profit and Loss Reserves Total Equity Other Useful Tools Company name availability : https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company-name-availability Alphabetical company search: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/alphabetical-search Dissolved company search: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/dissolved-search Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Disqualified Company Directors Search the bankruptcy and insolvency register: https://www.gov.uk/search-bankruptcy-insolvency-register Search for disqualified company directors: https://www.gov.uk/search-the-register -of-disqualified-company-directors Checking UK VAT Number You can also verify the UK VAT Number provided by your vendors and customer. Path : https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-vat-number VAT Number Just inform the VAT Number and click "Search". VAT is a 9 or 12 digit number, sometimes starting with GB. Valid UK VAT Number You will be able to see the valid number information, registered business name and the registered business address. FSCS Financial Services Compensation Sc heme The FSCS is the UK's statutory compensation scheme for customers of UK authorised financial services firms. This means that FSCS can step in to pay compensation if a firm is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it. Before you invest or deposit money in a institution, check in the FSCS Check, if the institution is a authorized firm and it is cover by FSCS. Path : https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/ Step by Step Access the FSCS Checker page Choose what you want to check, in the picture it was choose Banks Inform the name of the institution and select the right one. Informe the amount that you are planning to deposit, in this example, it was £100,000.00 And click in "Check Now" And the FSCS will show you how much you are protect. That means the limit of their coverage for that kind of institution, and how much is not. In this case £15,000.00 is at risk. And the reason why. In this case Banks in UK are protect up to £85,000.00 ICO Information Commissioner’s Office The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the UK's independent regulator for data protection and information rights. ICO Data Protection fee is mandatory for most businesses, organizations, and sole traders that process personal data: Who needs to pay : You must pay the fee if you're a business, organization, or sole trader that processes personal data electronically When to pay : You must pay the fee unless you're exempt What the fee funds : The fee funds the ICO's work What the fee shows : Paying the fee shows that you take data protection seriously and value your customers' information What the fee amount is : The amount you pay depends on the size of your organization. Most companies pay £40 or £60 per year, while large organizations pay £2,900 What happens if you don't pay : If you need to pay and don't, you could be fined Purpose The ICO's mission is to uphold information rights for the public in the digital age. They do this by: Educating organizations on how to use personal data Taking action against organizations that don't comply with the law Helping individuals understand and exercise their rights Working with other regulators to improve information rights standards Services The ICO offers guidance and resources for organizations, including: Public bodies Private and third sector organizations Sole traders For the public The ICO provides information about data protection and information rights, including: How to make a SAR (Subject Access request is a right that allows individuals to request a copy of their personal data, or to understand how and why their data is being used) How to make an FOI request (The Freedom of Information Act gives the public the right to request recorded information from public authorities) Domestic CCTV and data protection Protecting yourself against nuisance marketing Register of data protection fee payers : https://ico.org.uk/ESDWebPages/Search Register of Data Protection You can search for: Registration Reference Name Address Postcode And you can see if the company is paying the fee for the ICO ICO ICO Search ICO ICO Entry List ICO ICO Search 1/2 UK Foreign T rave l Advice Get advice about travelling abroad, including the latest information on coronavirus, safety and security, entry requirements and travel warnings, direct from HMRC. There are some important contents, like : Summary Coronavirus Safety and security (Important! Check it before traveling ) Crime Pickpocketing Robbery Vehicle Crime Sexual Offences Fraud Protests Civil Unrest Others Terrorism Local laws and customs Entry requirements Health Natural disasters Money Travel advice help and support Country Link Afghanistan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/afghanistan Albania https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/albania Algeria https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/algeria Andorra https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/andorra Angola https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/angola Anguilla https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/anguilla Antarctica/British Antarctic Territory https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/antarctica-british-antarctic-territory Antigua and Barbuda https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/antigua-and-barbuda Argentina https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/argentina Armenia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/armenia Aruba https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/aruba Australia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/australia Austria https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/austria Azerbaijan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/azerbaijan Bahamas https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bahamas Bahrain https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bahrain Bangladesh https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bangladesh Barbados https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/barbados Belarus https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belarus Belgium https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belgium Belize https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belize Benin https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/benin Bermuda https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bermuda Bhutan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bhutan Bolivia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bolivia Bonaire/St Eustatius/Saba https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bonaire-st-eustatius-saba Bosnia and Herzegovina https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bosnia-and-herzegovina Botswana https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/botswana Brazil https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil British Indian Ocean Territory https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/british-indian-ocean-territory British Virgin Islands https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/british-virgin-islands Brunei https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brunei Bulgaria https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bulgaria Burkina Faso https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/burkina-faso Burundi https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/burundi Cambodia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cambodia Cameroon https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cameroon Canada https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/canada Cape Verde https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cape-verde Cayman Islands https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cayman-islands Central African Republic https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/central-african-republic Chad https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/chad Chile https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/chile China https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china Colombia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/colombia Comoros https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/comoros Congo https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/congo Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cook-islands-tokelau-and-niue Costa Rica https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/costa-rica Côte d'Ivoire https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cote-d-ivoire Croatia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/croatia Cuba https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cuba Curaçao https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/curaçao Cyprus https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cyprus Czech Republic https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/czech-republic Democratic Republic of the Congo https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/democratic-republic-of-the-congo Denmark https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/denmark Djibouti https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/djibouti Dominica https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/dominica Dominican Republic https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/dominican-republic Ecuador https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/ecuador Egypt https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt El Salvador https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/el-salvador Equatorial Guinea https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/equatorial-guinea Eritrea https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/eritrea Estonia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/estonia Eswatini https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/eswatini Ethiopia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/ethiopia Falkland Islands https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/falkland-islands Fiji https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/fiji Finland https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/finland France https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france French Guiana https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/french-guiana French Polynesia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/french-polynesia Gabon https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/gabon The Gambia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/the-gambia Georgia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/georgia Germany https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/germany Ghana https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/ghana Gibraltar https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/gibraltar Greece https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/greece Grenada https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/grenada Guadeloupe https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/guadeloupe Guatemala https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/guatemala Guinea https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/guinea Guinea-Bissau https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/guinea-bissau Guyana https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/guyana Haiti https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/haiti Honduras https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/honduras Hong Kong https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/hong-kong Hungary https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/hungary Iceland https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iceland India https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/india Indonesia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/indonesia Iran https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iran Iraq https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iraq Ireland https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/ireland Israel https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/israel Italy https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy Jamaica https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/jamaica Japan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/japan Jordan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/jordan Kazakhstan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kazakhstan Kenya https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kenya Kiribati https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kiribati Kosovo https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kosovo Kuwait https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kuwait Kyrgyzstan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kyrgyzstan Laos https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/laos Latvia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/latvia Lebanon https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/lebanon Lesotho https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/lesotho Liberia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/liberia Libya https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/libya Liechtenstein https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/liechtenstein Lithuania https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/lithuania Luxembourg https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/luxembourg Macao https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/macao Madagascar https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/madagascar Malawi https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/malawi Malaysia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/malaysia Maldives https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/maldives Mali https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mali Malta https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/malta Marshall Islands https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/marshall-islands Martinique https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/martinique Mauritania https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mauritania Mauritius https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mauritius Mayotte https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mayotte Mexico https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico Micronesia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/micronesia Moldova https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/moldova Monaco https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/monaco Mongolia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mongolia Montenegro https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/montenegro Montserrat https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/montserrat Morocco https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/morocco Mozambique https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mozambique Myanmar (Burma) https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/myanmar Namibia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/namibia Nauru https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/nauru Nepal https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/nepal Netherlands https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/netherlands New Caledonia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/new-caledonia New Zealand https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/new-zealand Nicaragua https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/nicaragua Niger https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/niger Nigeria https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/nigeria North Korea https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/north-korea North Macedonia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/north-macedonia Norway https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/norway Oman https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/oman Pakistan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/pakistan Palau https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/palau The Occupied Palestinian Territories https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/the-occupied-palestinian-territories Panama https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/panama Papua New Guinea https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/papua-new-guinea Paraguay https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/paraguay Peru https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/peru Philippines https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/philippines Pitcairn Island https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/pitcairn-island Poland https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/poland Portugal https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/portugal Qatar https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/qatar Réunion https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/reunion Romania https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/romania Russia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/russia Rwanda https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/rwanda Samoa https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/samoa San Marino https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/san-marino São Tomé and Principe https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sao-tome-and-principe Saudi Arabia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/saudi-arabia Senegal https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/senegal Serbia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/serbia Seychelles https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/seychelles Sierra Leone https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sierra-leone Singapore https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/singapore Slovakia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/slovakia Slovenia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/slovenia Solomon Islands https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/solomon-islands Somalia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/somalia South Africa https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-georgia-and-the-south-sandwich-islands South Korea https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-korea South Sudan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-sudan Spain https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain Sri Lanka https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sri-lanka St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/st-helena-ascension-and-tristan-da-cunha St Kitts and Nevis https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/st-kitts-and-nevis St Lucia https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/st-lucia St Maarten https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/st-maarten St Martin and St Barthélemy https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/st-martin-and-st-barthelemy St Pierre & Miquelon https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/st-pierre-and-miquelon St Vincent and the Grenadines https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/st-vincent-and-the-grenadines Sudan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sudan Suriname https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/suriname Sweden https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sweden Switzerland https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/switzerland Syria https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/syria Taiwan https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/taiwan Hint : You can subscribe to HMRC travel advice updates by clicking on "Get Email Alerts". References: HM Revenue & Customs (www.gov.uk ); Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org ); FSCS (www.fscs.org.uk ); ICO (https://ico.org.uk)

The stock market is a component of a free-market economy. It allows companies to raise money by offering stock shares and corporate bonds and allows investors to participate in the financial achievements of the companies, make profits through capital gains, and earn income through dividends. Investments Stock Market Overview Brazil Stock Market Investments in the UK Stock Market Overview Stock Market (also known as Stock Exchange, Share Market or Equity Market) is a regulated and controlled environment, where tranders can buy and sell shares. The stock market ensures price transparency, liquidity, price discovery, and fair dealings in trading activities, guaranteeing all interested market participants have access to data for all buy and sell orders. The stock market is a component of a free-market economy. It allows companies to raise money by offering stock shares and corporate bonds and allows investors to participate in the financial achievements of the companies, make profits through capital gains, and earn income through dividends. Shares Shares are the equivalent of ownership in a public company. The terms "shares" and "stocks" are often used interchangeably, but they represent a company differently (For example: A company issued stock and you purchased 10 shares of it. If each share represents 1% of ownership, you own 10% of the company. The company issued stock, and you bought shares of it). Warning: The shares represent ownership, not debt, there is no legal obligation for the company to reimburse the shareholders if something happens to the business. Types Of Shares Common Stock Shares | This type comes with voting rights, giving shareholders more control over the business. These rights allow the shareholders of a company to vote on specific corporate actions. Preferred Stock Shares | This type of stock typically has set payment criteria, like a dividend paid out regularly, and takes priority over common stock if the business files for bankruptcy and is forced to repay its lenders. Stockbrokers Brokers are intermediaries between the stock exchanges and the investors by buying and selling stocks. Stock Exchanges NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) Region: US Market Place: New York City Time Zone: EST/EDT (-5:00) NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) Region: US Market Place: New York City Time Zone: EST/EDT (-5:00) LSE (London Stock Exchange) Region: UK Market Place: London Time Zone: GMT/BST (+0:00) Euronext (European New Exchange Technology) Region: Europe Market Place: Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Milan, Oslo, Paris Time Zone: CET/CEST (+1:00) ETR (Deutsche Borse AG) Region: DE Market Place: Frankfurt Time Zone: CET/CEST (+1:00) SWX (SIX Swiss Exchange) Region: CH Market Place: Zurich Time Zone: CET/CEST (+1:00) B3 (Brasil, Bolsa, Balcao - formerly know as BM&F BOVESPA) Region: BR Market Place: Sao Paulo Time Zone: GMT (-3:00) ETF The Biggest ETFs Issuers iShares Vanguard SPDR Invesco The Biggest ETFs SPY | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF VOO | Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF VTI | Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 Indexes S&P500 | Standard and Poor's 500 | It is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 of the largest companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. FTSE100 | Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 | Also called the FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie", is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with the highest market capitalisation. DAX40 | DAX Performance | The DAX is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Brazil Stock Market Stock Type Codes Frequent codes 3 | Common Stock Shares (Example: "VALE3" Vale) 4 | Preferred Stock Shares (Example: "GGBR4" Gerdau) 5 | Preferred Stock Shares Class A (Example: " USIM5" Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais ) 6 | Preferred Stock Shares Class B (Example: "ELET6" Eletrobras ) 11 | Units and ETFs Units (Assets composed of more than one type of share | Example: "SANB11" Santader | Composed "SANB3" + "SANB4") ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds | Example: "BOVA11" Ibovespa Index) 34 | BDRs (Brazilian Deposits Receipts | Foreign shares traded on the Brazilian Stock Exchange | Example: "GOGL34" Alphabet Google) Not so frequent codes 1 | Subscription Right (Common Stock Shares) 2 | Subscription Right (Preferred Stock Shares) 7 | Preferred Stock Shares Class C 8 | Preferred Stock Shares Class D 9 | Subscription Receipt (Common Stock Shares) 10 | Subscription Receipt (Preferred Stock Shares) Hint: Class 5, 6, 7 and 8 shares have a different list of rules, which varies depending on the company, and such rules are described in the Bylaws. Investments in th e UK There are many different ways to invest in the UK for both residents and those overseas, from low-risk bonds to more aggressive equity shares. Overview of Available Investments ISA Savings Cash ISA Junior ISA (JISA) Stocks and Share ISA Lifetime ISA Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) Savings Account Easy Access Account Regular Saver Account Notice Savings Account Fixed-Interest Savings Account Pension Workplace Pension Defined Contribution (DC) Defined Benefit (DB) Personal Pension Stakeholder Pension SIPP (self-invested personal pension) Investments Products Shares Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Investment Funds / Mutual Funds Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) Bonds and Gilts Government Bonds Corporate Bonds Local Authority Bonds Green Bonds Contracts for Differences (CFDs) and Spreads CFDs Spread Betting Cryptocurrencies FAQ (Frequently asked questions) Safest Investment in the UK : Aside from cash savings accounts, the safest investment in the UK is usually considered to be government bonds. Because they are guaranteed by the British government, they have very low default risk and offer a fixed interest rate. Best Investment for Monthly Income in the UK : There are several options can be considered, although the best choice for you will depend on your indivi dual circumstances and risk tolerance. Earn the Most Interest in the UK : The highest interest rates are often found in fixed-interest savings ac counts, where you agree to lock your money away for a set period. The tradeoff for the lack of liquidity is higher interest rates than on similar savings products. Highest Returns in the UK : Shares in the stock market have offered high returns compared with other investment classes over long time periods. (For example: S&P 500 index, tracks the stock performance of 500 of the largest companies or FTSE 100 Index, which tracks the 100 largest companies listed on the stock markets) ISA Savings (Indivi dual Savings Accounts) It is a tax-efficient savings account. It is one of the most popular types of investments in the UK. Limit: Up to £20,000 per tax year Taxable: Not Taxable Protection: Subject to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which protects up to £85,000 of your money if the financial institution fails. This protection applies per person, per institution. Types of ISA Savings Cash ISA It works like a regular savings account, but with the ISA benefits. Suitable: Short-term savings goals or as an emergency fund Risk: low-risk Withdrawal: You can withdraw any time Junior ISA (JISA) It is an ISA for children under age 18 living in the UK and you can open for your child or grandchild. The money belongs to the child, and they can access it when they turn 18. Suitable: Parents and grandparent, for the future of the children Risk: low-risk Limit: Up to £9,000 per tax year Stocks and Shares ISA It is an ISA that holds investments such as shares of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It works like a regular investment account but with ISA benefits. Suitable: Long-term savings goals or as a way to grow your wealth Risk: High-risk Lifetime ISA (LISA) You can use your LISA savings to buy your first home or saving for retirement. You can hold cash or investments, or a combination of both. LISA lets you save up to £4,000 per year with the government adding a 25% bonus on top of what you save (i.e. up to £1,000 per year). Suitable: Buying first home up to £450,000 or Retirement. Risk: Cash low-risk / Investment high-risk Application Rule: If you are age 18 to 39, you can keep contributing until you are 50. After your 50th birthday you can't contribute any more. If you have cash LISA the next 10 year you will receive interest, and in case of investments LISA, the valuation of the shares. Limit: Up to £4,000 per tax year, and it is part of the overall aggregated ISA £20,000 annual allowance. (The government bonus does not count toward the £20,000 limit, so you can still get up to £1,000 of extra money every year from the Lifetime ISA bonus) Withdrawal: You can withdraw to buy a house after 12 months or on your 60th birthday. Withdrawal Penalty: If you withdraw early, you will pay a 25% withdrawal charge, which recovers the government bonus and applies a small penalty. That means you can lose money. Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) It is a type of ISA that allows you to invest in qualified peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding platforms, which match up investors with borrowers or businesses. Suitable: Investors due to the potentially higher returns compared with other ISA options Risk: High-risk Savings Account Savings accounts can cater to different saving habits and needs. Each comes with its own set of benefits and constraints. Taxable: Yes Protection: Subject to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which protects up to £85,000 of your money if the financial institution fails. This protection applies per person, per institution. Types of Savings account Easy Access Account It is a more flexibly savings account. You can add or withdraw funds whenever you wish, without penalties. The interest rates are usually variable and lower than those of fixed-interest accounts. Suitable: Good option if you might need to access your savings quickly Risk: low-risk Regular Saver Account It is type of savings account that encourage consistent saving habits by offering attractive interest rates to those who commit to making regular deposits. Suitable: To save bit by bit and do not need to use the money for everyday spending Risk: low-risk Limit: Usually £50 to £500 every month, but maximum deposits vary by bank. Withdrawal: It may also have restrictions on withdrawals Notice Savings Account It is a type of savings that requires you to provide a set notice period (typically 30 to 90 days) before you can withdraw your money. Suitable: This can help you resist the temptation to dip into your savings, and in return, you’re usually offered a higher interest rate than easy access accounts. Risk: low-risk Withdrawal: Usually 30 to 90 days Fixed-Interest Savings Account Fixed-interest (or fixed-rate) savings accounts are a type of savings account where your money is locked away for a specified period, usually from several months to up to five years. In return for committing your money, you’re rewarded with a fixed interest rate, typically higher than that of an easy access savings account. Suitable: For Long-term investments with higher returns Limit: Usually it will have no limit to invest. Withdrawal: Few months up to 5 years Pension A pension is a tax-efficient way of saving money for your retirement. It is form an integral part of financial planning for retirement later in life. Limit: Up to £60,000 per tax year 2023-24 (The total amount you can build up in all your pensions without facing tax charges, excluding the State Pension, is currently limited to £1,073,100) Types of pensions Workplace Pension A workplace pension, also known as an occupational, company, works, or work-based pension, is a pension scheme arranged by your employer. You, your employer, and the government all contribute to this. You contribute a certain percentage of your salary every payday, and these contributions are usually automatically deducted from your salary before tax, providing immediate tax relief. Your employer also contributes an additional sum to your pension pot, which is essentially free money toward your retirement. In addition, the government provides tax relief on your contributions. This means the money that would have gone to the government as income tax instead goes into your pension pot. For basic-rate taxpayers in the U.K., for every £40 you pay into your pension, your employer typically puts in £30, and the government will contribute an additional £10 in tax relief. There are two main types of workplace pension: Defined contribution (D.C.): A pension pot based on how much is paid in by the employee. They’re sometimes called “money purchase” pension schemes. Defined benefit (D.B.): A guaranteed pot based on your salary and how long you’ve worked for your employer. They’re sometimes called “final salary” or “career average” pension schemes. Personal Pension A personal pension is a pension that you set up for yourself. You can contribute to your personal pension regardless of your employment status. Like workplace pensions, personal pensions also offer tax relief. However, if you’re a higher-rate or additional-rate taxpayer, you’ll need to claim the additional rebate through your tax return. Suitable: It is particularly useful for the self-employed or those not enrolled in a workplace pension scheme. There are two main types of personal pension: stakeholder pensions and SIPPs: Stakeholder pensions have low and flexible minimum contributions, capped charges, and a default investment strategy, which can be helpful if you don’t want to make investment decisions. Many default investment funds feature “lifestyling.” Lifestyling is when your funds are automatically moved into lower-risk investments as you approach retirement. A SIPP (self-invested personal pension) works in a similar way but offers a wider choice of investments. You have more control over your pension pot and can invest in a range of assets, including shares, bonds, funds, and even commercial property. Investments Products Shares Shares, also known as equities or stocks, represent a portion of residual ownership in a company. Buying shares in a company means that you sort of own a small slice of that company. As a shareholder, you could potentially profit in two ways. Capital Gains: If you sell your shares for more than you paid Dividends: It is a portion of the company’s profits distributed pro rata to shareholders Shares are traded on stock exchanges, with the London Stock Exchange being one of the most prominent in the UK. Suitable: For people with a more bold profiles, who accept possible losses to have greater gains Risk: high-risk (share prices can be volatile and fluctuate due to various factors such as the company’s financial performance, economic conditions, and market sentiment) Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Real Estate Investment Trusts are entities that own, and often operate, income-generating real estate. Investing in an REIT allows you to indirectly invest in property without having to directly own any real estate. This could be residential properties, commercial properties such as offices and shopping centers, or even specialist properties like hotels. REITs are required to distribute a majority of their taxable income to shareholders, making them an attractive option for investors seeking regular income, similar to dividend-paying stocks. Besides, they offer potential for capital growth if the value of the underlying properties increases. Suitable: For those who want to invest in real estate without having to buy a physical property Risk: high-risk (potential risk for property value decreases and rental income reductions) Investment Funds Investment funds (mutual funds) pool your money with other investors to invest in a wide range of assets, including shares, bonds, and property. Active funds: It is a type of investment fund where the investments are managed by professionals. These fund managers make decisions about where to invest the fund’s money, aiming to outperform the market or a specific benchmark. In return for this expertise, active funds generally charge higher fees than passive funds (e.g., index funds). Index funds: Also known as tracker funds in the UK, aim to replicate the performance of a specific market index, such as the FTSE 100. Rather than trying to beat the market, these funds simply try to match it. This passive management approach typically results in lower fees than active funds, making them a cost-effective way to diversify your portfolio. This shared approach can provide access to a diverse range of investments that you might not be able to afford individually, spreading the risk. Suitable: For investors who want to invest in a wide range of assets, spreading the risk Risk: high-risk Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are investment fund shares that are traded on stock exchanges, much like individual stocks. ETFs can track a wide range of indexes, from broad market indexes to specific sectors, commodities, or even geographical regions. They offer a flexible and cost-effective way to diversify across a wide range of assets, with the added benefit of liquidity and the ability to buy or sell shares in the ETF throughout the trading day at market prices. Suitable: It is a long-term investment, for those who invest in a wide range of stocks, and spread the risk Risk: high-risk Bonds and Gilts Essentially, a bond is a loan made by an investor to a borrower, typically corporate or governmental. As an investor, when you purchase a bond, you are lending money to the issuer of the bond in return for periodic interest payments and the return of the bond’s face value when it matures. Investing in bonds can provide a predictable income and is generally considered less risky than investing in stocks. Risks: Credit risk (the risk that the issuer will default on their payments) and interest rate risk (where a rise in interest rates can cause the value of the bond to fall). Taxable: Tax and regulatory implications may vary based on the investor’s country of residence There are several types of bonds available to investors Government Bonds It is also known as “gilts,” are considered among the safest investments because they are backed by the government. They pay a fixed interest rate (known as the coupon) twice a year until they mature, at which point the investor receives the face value of the bond. The term of a gilt can range from a few years to several decades. Risk: low-risk (They are backed by the Government) Corporate Bonds It is issued by companies to raise capital for various reasons, such as funding expansion or paying off other debts. They typically offer a higher interest rate than government bonds to compensate for the additional risk, as they rely on the company’s ability to meet its financial obligations. They can be an excellent way for investors to generate regular income and diversify their portfolio. Retail bonds are a form of corporate bond issued directly to the public and can be traded on the London Stock Exchange’s Order Book for Retail Bonds (ORB). Risk: Depends on the issuer Local Authority Bonds It is issued by local governments to finance public projects. These bonds are often tax exempt and offer competitive interest rates, making them an attractive option for those looking for a balance of risk and return. Green Bonds It is a newer addition to the bond market. The proceeds from green bonds are used to fund projects with environmental benefits. They are an excellent option for socially conscious investors who want their investments to support sustainability initiatives. Contracts for Differences (CFDs) and Spreads Contracts for differences (CFDs), spread betting, and other similar financial derivatives can also offer another avenue for retail investors. However, these types of products come with a high level of risk and complexity, so they may not be suitable for everyone. Risk: high-risk (for inexperienced investors may be considered very high-risk) Taxable: Tax laws can change and may depend on individual circumstances CFDs It is a type of derivative for speculating on the prices of fast-moving global financial markets, such as shares, indexes, commodities, currencies, and treasuries. When you trade a CFD, you are agreeing to exchange the difference in price of an asset from the point at which the contract is opened to when it is closed. You never actually own the underlying asset, but you can still benefit if the market moves in your favor, or you face a loss if it moves against you. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. While still legal, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has imposed limits and restrictions on the marketing, distribution, and sale of CFDs to retail consumers in the U.K. due to concerns about losses. Risk: high-risk Taxable: Yes. Capital gains tax and stamp duty Spread Betting It is another type of derivatives trading. It involves speculating on the direction of price movements. A spread betting company quotes two prices, the bid and offer price (also known as the spread), and investors bet whether the price of the underlying asset will be lower than the bid or higher than the offer. The main difference between spread betting and CFD trading is their tax treatment Risk: high-risk Taxable: No. It is free from capital gains tax and stamp duty Protection: Regulated by the FCA in the UK, and providers must meet certain standards and protections, including segregating client money. Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies are a relatively new addition to the investment landscape and have gained significant attention globally, including in the U.K. They represent a form of digital or virtual currency, secured by cryptography, making them nearly impossible to counterfeit, and they can be bought and sold via online cryptocurrency exchanges. (the most well-known cryptocurrency is Bitcoin). Investing in cryptocurrencies can be appealing due to their high potential returns. However, it’s essential to understand that cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and can fluctuate in value significantly. Risk: Very high-risk Additional Risks: In addition to high volatility, other risks such as scams are frequent in the crypto market Protection: There is no protection References: HM Revenue & Customs ( www.gov.uk ); Investopedia (www.investopedia.com ); Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org )

A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer by a governmental in order to fund government public expenditures. You can consider that direct taxes are taxes that you pay directly to the government and indirect taxes that you do not. Remember, this may vary from region to region. Taxation Overview “Nothing Is Certain, Except Death and Taxes” I couldn't start talking about taxes without quoting those remarkable infamous words. What is tax? A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer by a governmental in order to fund government public expenditures. And yes, that's the dictionary definition, but everyone knows what tax is, right? I don't want to bore you with dictionary definitions, but there are still some basic differences that create some confusion. Direct taxes vs. Indirect taxes Although the actual definition may vary a little region to region, but the basic rule is: Indirect Tax: A tax levied on goods and services. (e.g. VAT) Direct Tax: A tax levied on the income or profits. (e.g. Income Tax) In short: You can consider that direct taxes are taxes that you pay directly to the government and indirect taxes that you do not. Remember, this may vary from region to region. Indirect Tax Indirect taxes have various names around the world. Europe: VAT (Value-Added Tax) United States: Sales Tax Australia: GST (Goods and Services Tax) Japan: JCT (Japanese Consumption tax) The process for collecting these taxes can vary significantly, but the outcome is the same: The end customer pays the tax. Example: Sales tax is collected by the retailer when the final sale in the supply chain is reached. VAT is collected by all sellers in each stage of the supply chain (suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers all collect VAT on taxable sales). Similarly, all pay VAT on their purchases. (suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and end consumers). Businesses must track and document the VAT they pay on purchases to receive a credit for the VAT paid on their tax return. Potential advantages It is easier for the consumer to understand and acknowledge It is easier for firms to pay indirect taxes than consumers Countries can levy import duties to protect their domestic economy It is effective in reducing demand and overcoming market failures by adjusting social behavior (e.g. cigarette tax can contribute to reducing cigarette consumption) Potential disadvantages Indirect taxes tend to affect those with lower incomes due to their regressive nature. That is, the tax paid will be the same for different income groups. (those with lower incomes will commit a higher percentage of their income than those with higher incomes) It can encourage tax evasion. (for example, cigarette taxes can increase the black market) Direct Tax Direct tax is based on the economic principle that whoever has more resources or earns higher incomes must pay a higher tax burden, and is also considered the unavoidable tax. In other words, there is no choice but to pay. GST Overview The GST or Goods and Services Tax is a kind of VAT (Value-Added Tax) levied on most goods and services sold for domestic consumption. The tax is included in the final price and paid by consumers at the point of sale and passed on to the government by the seller.The GST is usually taxed as a single rate across the country, simplifying the tax system and reducing tax evasion. Warning: The list below is indicative only. Please use it as an example as it changes regularly as new countries adopt or change their GST schemes. List of Countries with GST Australia Canada India Malaysia Maldives New Zealand Papua New Guinea Singapore Article written by Luiz C. Mariani | Published June 2023 Reference sources: Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org ); Investopedia (www.investopedia.com ); Global VAT Compliance (www.globalvatcompliance.com ); European Union (european-union.europa.eu )