This article outlines steps to follow to troubleshoot issues with the DATEV LAUDS integration.

How do DATEV payroll programs work?

DATEV offers two payroll programs, and understanding the differences between them is important for analysing integration or synchronisation issues.

DATEV Lohn und Gehalt (LuG)

This is a locally installed / on-premise payroll solution. Payroll accounting is processed locally rather than entirely within the DATEV data center. Due to this setup, data access and services often depend on the DATEV-Admin having established a secure DATEV connection (e.g., via SmartCard, SmartLogin, or another DATEV access medium).

If this authenticated connection is not active, clients may not be able to communicate properly with DATEV systems. In such cases, sync attempts or imports fail because there is no active DATEV connection.

• Active via local system: The SmartCard must be active (a USB token that must be plugged in at the tax office/accounting firm).
• SmartCard not configured: No connection to DATEV is active, and syncing with DATEV is not possible.

DATEV LODAS

LODAS is processed via the DATEV data center / a cloud environment and is generally classified as a centralised solution. Data processing and payroll accounting run through the hosted DATEV infrastructure rather than via locally installed systems (as is the case with LuG).

Why is this important for synchronisation?

When synchronisations fail, the root cause can vary depending on which DATEV program is being used.

• LuG: Connection and authentication established by the DATEV administrator are often critical factors. If the secure login is inactive, integrations may fail (e.g., due to the SmartCard requirements detailed above).
• LODAS: Issues with this system are more frequently related to permissions, field mapping, data setup, or service configuration within DATEV, rather than local server connectivity.

Advanced Troubleshooting

1. Review the Integration Settings

Discover → Integrations → DATEV LAUDS → Settings

For the connection to be completed, the user needs to move through all the steps of the integration and click on Save at the end.

Step 1: Connection to the DATEV account

• Is the user connected using their own personalised SmartLogin?
  • Is the connection stable?
  • Is the following data visible?
    • Consultant number
    • Payroll program in use
    • Username
    • Date
    • Client number

Step 2: Connection to the Data Center (DATEV Server)

• Is the Business Unit (Beschäftigungsbetrieb) connected? Referred to as “Betriebsstätte” in DATEV.
• Does the system report that data needs to be updated?

Step 3: Wage Types

• Is at least one base wage type linked?
  • Base salary
  • Hourly base salary
• Are the relevant payroll concepts created within the compensation settings?
• Are the payroll concepts mapped to the correct DATEV wage type codes?
• Are the concepts intended for synchronisation fully activated and linked in the DATEV integration settings?

Step 4: Absences

• Are all relevant absence types created in Settings → Absences → Absence Types?
• Are the absence types mapped to the correct DATEV absence codes?
• Are only the absence types that are supposed to be synchronised activated?

Step 5: Departments (optional)

• Only relevant if departments in DATEV are actively used.
• Are the teams correctly set up?
• Note that these are sometimes mapped via cost centers in DATEV.

General check

• Has an initial payroll run already been executed via the DATEV Data Center? If a payroll run has never occurred, you cannot perform a synchronization from Factorial to DATEV. The integration requires this historical footprint on the DATEV server to recognise where and how your transferred data should be created.

2. Review Organisation

• Note: A synchronisation to DATEV is only possible if the following employee fields are filled in Factorial:
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Tax ID
  • DATEV Employee Number
• Verify that all payroll-relevant data has been filled in the contract
  Organisation → Employee Profile → Contracts
  • The base salary type used in DATEV (monthly base salary or hourly wage) must be correctly configured in the employee's contract under Base salary type.
  • Working hours and working days must be accurately created.
  • Any additional compensation must be added through New Conditions → Update Conditions. This prevents existing contract historical data from being overwritten and ensures the contract history remains transparent and traceable.
• Organisation → Employee Profile → Personal Details
  • The DATEV employee number (DATEV-Personalnummer) must be filled in.
  • The Tax Identification Number or Social Security Number must be filled in.
  • To review the information for all employees at a glance go to Organisation → People → Select all → Edit employees. This will generate a table with all the employee data.

3. Review Time Tracking

• Review the rules for extra hours or bonuses
  Settings → Time Tracking → Time Tracking Policy → Extra and special hours
  • Overtime
  • Weekend bonuses
  • Night bonuses
  • Holiday bonuses
     
• Are these rules configured to be compensated directly via Payslip rather than through Time-off or Bank of hours?
• Verify that the time tracking rules are connected to the payroll concepts inside the compensation settings.
• If there are overlapping bonuses, ensure that this specific function is enabled within your settings.
• Verify that these payroll concepts have been linked to the matching DATEV wage type code in the integration settings under Discover → Integrations → DATEV LAUDS → Settings.
• Verify that the timesheets have been approved, and that the transfer to the compensation module has been confirmed under Time Tracking → Approved.

4. Review Compensation

• Is additional compensation explicitly fixed in the employee's contract so that it feeds into the compensation module?

Compensation → Cycles → Period

• Variable items appear with a "Bis zu" (Up to) note and grayed-out numbers.
• Fixed compensation items appear in plain black numbers.
• Manual inputs made directly into the cycle table will appear as black numbers.
  • Note: Import → Compensation is intended strictly for manual bulk document uploads for that specific period.
• Remember that synchronisation from Factorial to DATEV must always be triggered manually.
• Verify that the wage type codes correctly linked in the integration settings.
• Have any payroll concepts possibly been deactivated in the compensation settings, which is why they are no longer visible in the "cycle table" or integration settings?
• Verify that there is still an active DATEV connection with the respective user's personalised SmartLogin.

Compensation → Updates

• Are the specific absence types created correctly? This is particularly important for sick leaves like “Entgeltfortzahlungen mit eAU” (continued remuneration with electronic sick leave certificates), “Kind krank” (sick child), or “Krank ab 6 Wochen” (long-term illness past 6 weeks).
  • For LODAS, we recommend deactivating "Sickness" as a general absence type and configuring custom absence types instead, to ensure a clear categorisation.
  • For LuG, this is not required because this categorisation takes place in DATEV, as only the general absence type "Sickness" can be created in the integration settings.
• Are the correct DATEV absence codes mapped in the integration settings?
• Verify that there is still an active DATEV connection with the respective user's personalised SmartLogin.

Compensation Settings

• Has a payroll concept that needs to be synchronised been deactivated? If so, this concept will no longer be displayed in the "cycle table" or integration settings.
• Have the incident settings been checked or possibly deactivated? Only activated incidents generate an incident for the compensation module.
  • If Professionals is active, incident settings can only be activated/deactivated by the tax advisor via Configurations in Professionals. The correct company/client must be selected beforehand.
• Verify that the Expenses and Time Tracking modules are correctly set up and connected.

5. Review Professionals

• Make sure that the tax advisor has previously been created as an external employee.
• Make sure that the tax advisor completed their registration
• Verify that their status is set to "active".
• Verify that the tax advisor created and received the incidents according to their payroll relevance.