Validate VAT Numbers in Your CRM

By Remco from AvatcadoPublished April 3, 2026Updated August 25, 2026Last reviewed August 13, 2026

Every major CRM stores VAT numbers as plain text. Out of the box, Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Zoho do not validate VAT numbers against a government registry; whatever a sales rep types into the field is what gets stored. Bad data enters at account creation and propagates into invoices, ERP systems, and compliance records.

This guide covers why you should validate VAT numbers at the point of entry, what a validation returns, and how to connect Avatcado to your CRM. If the record you need to validate lives in accounting software instead, see the Xero and QuickBooks VAT validation guide.

Why validate at account creation, not just at checkout

Most VAT validation guides focus on the checkout flow. That makes sense for e-commerce, but in B2B SaaS and services, the VAT number often enters your system weeks or months before the first invoice. A sales rep creates an account record, pastes in a VAT number from an email, and moves on.

If that number is wrong, the problem compounds. Your billing system generates invoices with an invalid VAT number. Your ERP syncs the bad data. You apply the reverse charge to a transaction that does not qualify. When an auditor checks, you have no proof the number was ever valid.

Validating at account creation catches these issues before they spread. It also gives your sales team immediate feedback: if the number is invalid, they can ask the prospect for the correct one while they are still in conversation.

What validation returns

A VAT validation lookup does more than return valid or invalid. When a number is active in the government registry, the response includes the country code, the registration status, and, where the registry discloses it, the registered legal entity name (Germany and Spain do not disclose name and address via VIES).

This is useful beyond compliance. You can auto-fill the company name field on the CRM record using the official name from the registry. This ensures your records match the legal entity exactly, which matters when you generate invoices or onboard the account into your ERP.

// Example response from Avatcado
{
  "data": {
    "valid": true,
    "vat_number": "NL123456789B01",
    "country_code": "NL",
    "company": {
      "name": "Example B.V.",
      "address": "Keizersgracht 100, 1015 AA Amsterdam"
    },
    "requested_at": "2026-03-26T12:00:00.000Z"
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "cached": false
  }
}

Integration patterns

There are three common ways to connect Avatcado to your CRM, depending on your team's technical capabilities and the CRM you use.

Direct API callout

If you are building a custom CRM integration or internal tool, call the Avatcado REST API directly. Send a GET request with the VAT number, parse the JSON response, and update the record. This works with any language and any CRM that exposes an API for updating records.

See the API documentation for the full endpoint reference.

Salesforce Apex callout

Salesforce supports HTTP callouts from Apex code or Flow actions. You can trigger a validation when an Account record is created or when a VAT number field is updated, then write the result back to custom fields on the Account.

See the Salesforce VAT validation guide for a step-by-step walkthrough with code examples.

No-code automation via Zapier or Make

If you do not have developers available, you can connect Avatcado to your CRM using Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat). Both tools can call the Avatcado API using their built-in HTTP/webhook modules and write the result back to CRM records without code.

Batch validation for existing records

If you already have a CRM with thousands of VAT numbers that were never validated, you do not need to check them one at a time. The Avatcado batch endpoint accepts up to 50 VAT numbers per request on Pro and Business plans.

Export your CRM records, group the VAT numbers into batches of 50, and send them to the batch endpoint. Each result includes the validation status and registered company name, so you can update your CRM records in bulk.

For very large backlogs, the async batch endpoint queues requests and delivers results via webhook. See the async validation guide for details.

Get started

Avatcado's free tier includes 500 validations per month with no credit card required. That is enough to validate every new account as it enters your CRM.

Start validating for free →

Read the API documentation for the full endpoint reference and SDKs.

Frequently asked questions

Does my CRM validate VAT numbers natively?

No major CRM does. Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Zoho all store the tax ID or VAT number as a plain text field with no verification: whatever a sales rep types or pastes is what gets stored, and nothing checks it against VIES, HMRC, or any other government registry. The consequence is that bad data enters at account creation and propagates from there into invoices, ERP syncs, and compliance records, often weeks or months before the first invoice would surface the problem. Closing the gap means calling a dedicated validation API at the point of entry and writing the result back to the record. There are three common patterns depending on your team: a direct REST callout from a custom integration, an Apex callout in Salesforce (triggered from a trigger, Flow action, or button), or a no-code automation through Zapier or Make using their HTTP modules. Each catches an invalid number while the rep is still in conversation with the prospect.

What does validation return beyond valid or invalid?

A successful lookup returns the country code, the registration status, and, where the registry discloses it, the registered legal entity name and address from the government record; note that Germany and Spain do not disclose name and address via VIES, so for those two countries you get the validity result without company details. The company name is the operationally useful part for CRM work: you can auto-fill or correct the account's company name field with the official registered name, which keeps your records aligned with the actual legal entity, exactly what matters when the record later feeds invoice generation or ERP onboarding. The response also carries meta fields, including a request_id for tracing and a cached flag that tells you whether the result came from Avatcado's cache or a live registry call. Store the whole result with a timestamp on the record: the valid flag, the registered name, and when it was checked become your audit trail.

Can I validate VAT numbers in bulk for existing CRM records?

Yes. The Avatcado batch endpoint accepts up to 50 VAT numbers per request on Pro and Business plans, so a backlog of never-validated CRM records does not have to be checked one at a time. The working pattern: export or page through your CRM records, group the VAT numbers into batches of 50, submit each batch, and use the per-item results, validation status plus registered company name, to update records in bulk. Each item succeeds or fails independently, so one malformed number does not spoil its batch. For very large backlogs, the async batch endpoint is the better fit: it accepts up to 200 numbers per batch on Pro and 1,000 on Business, queues the work, and delivers all results in a single webhook when processing completes, so nothing in your integration has to wait on VIES latency. Budget quota accordingly, since every accepted number counts against your monthly allowance.

Sources

Invoking Callouts Using Apex Salesforce, accessed August 13, 2026
Send webhooks in Zaps Zapier, accessed August 13, 2026
Check a VAT number (VIES) European Union, accessed August 13, 2026