How does DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice integration work?

The integration sends your approved expenses from Factorial to your tax advisor in DATEV Unternehmen online. Each expense arrives with its receipt and is already assigned to accounts, so your tax advisor only has to review and post it.

• Data only goes one way, from Factorial to DATEV.
• There are no files to download or upload. Factorial sends the data directly.
• The integration is available for legal entities in Germany.

Before you start

What you need in Factorial

Plan: Expenses together with accounting (G/L accounts). You have accounting if one of these applies:

• You have Expenses on the Enterprise plan, or
• You have Expenses on the Business plan, plus Accounts Payable or Procurement on the Business plan or higher.

Accounting set up: each expense category must be linked to a G/L account (Sachkonto). You do this in the accounting settings or through One.

Who can do what:

• Admins install the integration and connect DATEV.
• Admins and managers with the permission to manage expenses can transfer expenses.
• Creating the chart of accounts and linking categories to G/L accounts needs the accounting permissions (“Manage ledger accounts” and “Assign ledger accounts to resources”).

Does my tax advisor need access to Factorial?

• No. In most cases the company sets up the integration and transfers the expenses, while your tax advisor works only in DATEV.
• If your tax advisor should work in Factorial too, an admin adds them in one of two ways:
  • As an employee of your company, or
  • As an external user of your Factorial account.

Then the admin gives them a permission group that lets them manage expenses.

What to agree with your tax advisor first

Go through this list together before you set anything up:

• Which DATEV client (Mandant) each German legal entity books into, with the Beraternummer and Mandantennummer. These must match the bookkeeping data set (Buchführungsbestand) in DATEV Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen.
• The fiscal year: it must exist in DATEV, with the right book enabled for it:
  • The Rechnungseingangsbuch (incoming-invoice ledger) for reimbursed expenses and any expense that doesn't go to the Kassenbuch,
  • Kassenbuch online if you send company card expenses to a Kassenbuch.
• Chart of accounts and account length: SKR03 or SKR04, and how many digits a G/L account has (for example 4).
• Account assignment: which expense category books to which G/L account and cost centre, and which creditor accounts (Personenkonten) to use for reimbursements and company card payments.
• VAT: Factorial sends the VAT rate and amount, but not the tax key (BU-Schlüssel). Agree how your tax advisor handles VAT in DATEV.
• Who orders the service and grants access in DATEV (your tax advisor), and who signs in to DATEV from Factorial (see below).

What your tax advisor sets up in DATEV

Your tax advisor does this once for each client, in MyDATEV Mandantenregistrierung, which they start from DATEV Arbeitsplatz. DATEV's step-by-step guide is DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 als Steuerberatungskanzlei bestellen und einrichten (Doc. No. 1037210).

Before they start, the client needs the service (Leistung) Buchführung in DATEV Arbeitsplatz, and the person ordering needs the right “Bestellen-/Vertrags- und Personendaten verwalten” in DATEV Rechteverwaltung online.

1. Order DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 on the client-used advisor number (mandantengenutzte Beraternummer). If the client already has one, for example for DATEV Unternehmen online, it is reused; otherwise a new one is created. A Kanzlei-Beraternummer can't be used here. In the same step, your tax advisor chooses the person at your company who will connect Factorial and, if needed, orders a DATEV SmartLogin for them. Your company receives the SmartLogin ID and registration code by letter.
2. Assign the rights template (Rechtevorlage) “DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0” to that person. Only an administrator in DATEV Rechteverwaltung online can do this, either during the order or later in Rechteverwaltung online.
3. Create the data set in DATEV Belege online with the processing form “Erweitert”, including the fiscal year. Its Beraternummer and Mandantennummer are taken from the Leistung Buchführung. A separate DATEV Unternehmen online contract isn't needed just to receive the data.

The person from step 1 connects Factorial with their SmartLogin (or another DATEV login method, such as mIDentity or SmartCard).

If someone at the tax advisor's firm transfers the expenses instead, your tax advisor only orders the service on the client-used advisor number, and your company doesn't need a SmartLogin. The firm assigns the Rechtevorlage to its own employee (Doc. No. 1018840), who signs in from Factorial with their own DATEV login and needs access to Factorial (see above).

If you use the Kassenbuch for company cards, your tax advisor also enables DATEV Kassenbuch online for the data set, creates a Kassenbuch for the client and opens it for the current fiscal year. DATEV doesn't open new cash book years automatically, so this has to be repeated each year. A Kassenbuch that only receives card payments needs an opening balance, or DATEV's negative balance check switched off. Belege online with the processing form “Erweitert” is needed in this case too.

Set up the integration

1. Install the integration. Go to Marketplace, open DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 and click Install.
2. Connect to DATEV. On the Connection tab, click Connect to DATEV and sign in with your DATEV SmartLogin (or another DATEV login method, such as mIDentity or SmartCard).
3. Choose the DATEV client. On the Configuration tab, choose the DATEV client for each German legal entity. The list only shows clients you have access to in DATEV.
4. Optional: add creditor accounts. On the Rechnungseingangsbuch tab, enter the creditor account for reimbursements (Kreditorensammelkonto) and, optionally, the one for company-paid expenses. You can also give individual employees their own creditor account.
5. Optional: send company card expenses to a Kassenbuch. On the Kassenbuch tab, turn on Export company card expenses to a Kassenbuch. Choose the cards (company credit card, company debit card or Factorial card) and enter the Kassenbuch name exactly as your tax advisor named it in DATEV, for example “Factorial Karte”. Reimbursed expenses always go to the Rechnungseingangsbuch.

Check that everything is connected correctly

On the Connection tab:

• Status shows Connected.
• Authorized by (DATEV) shows the name of the person you expect.
• Connection expires on shows until when you can transfer. For security reasons the connection lasts 11 hours. You’ll be prompted to reconnect if you try to sync after that time.

On the Configuration tab, each client shows its name and numbers, a check result for each book (the Rechnungseingangsbuch, and the Kassenbuch if you use one) and when it was last checked with DATEV:

• Ready: you can transfer.
• Needs attention: you can transfer, but some accounts will be rejected. Click Show details to see which.
• Cannot export: something is missing in DATEV. The message tells you what.

You can see and revoke Factorial's access at DATEV under Connected applications.

Transfer expenses

1. In Expenses, filter the list to the approved expenses you want to transfer and click Sync to DATEV at the bottom of the page. Factorial transfers the expenses shown in the list; selecting individual expenses doesn't change what is sent.
2. Factorial sends them to DATEV, grouped by client and month. Kassenbuch months are sent one at a time, oldest first, so a transfer covering several months takes a little longer.
3. You can see the sync status of each expense right in Expenses. For more details, including DATEV's own messages, open the integration's Processing log tab.

What gets sent

For each expense, Factorial sends:

• date, amount and currency (with the exchange rate for foreign currencies),
• VAT rate and amount,
• G/L account and creditor account,
• cost centre,
• merchant name and VAT ID,
• invoice number and description,
• the receipt.

What happens in DATEV

In Belege online, the accounts are already filled in: Sachkonto, Geschäftspartner-Konto (the creditor account) and the tax rate. BU stays empty, because the tax key isn't sent.

1. Each expense appears in Belege online in DATEV Unternehmen online, with the receipt attached. It is filed in the Belegkreis your tax advisor set up for incoming invoices (by default “Eingangsrechnungen”), under the month of the expense.
2. Its invoice data becomes a Belegsatz in the Rechnungseingangsbuch of Belege online, linked to the receipt and with the accounts already filled in. Each upload is listed under Startseite Belege › Protokolle › Import › Importprotokoll anzeigen.
3. Your tax advisor makes the Belegsätze available to accounting: under Startseite Belege › Belege bereitstellen, they select the Belegstapel and click Bereitstellen.
4. In DATEV Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen, your tax advisor fetches them (Bestand › Daten holen › Mandant ergänzen), creates booking suggestions (Buchungsvorschläge) under Belege buchen, checks them, adds the tax key if needed and posts them.

If you use the Kassenbuch, company card expenses appear as cash entries (Kassenbewegungen) in DATEV Kassenbuch online instead. Your tax advisor clicks Festschreiben und Bereitstellen there and then fetches them the same way.

Factorial never posts directly to your accounts. If you change an expense after transferring it, correct the Beleg in DATEV as well, then mark the expense Accept as exported on the Processing log tab so later transfers skip it.

Troubleshooting

For anything about the integration in Factorial, contact Factorial Support. Your tax advisor or their DATEV administrator handles settings and access rights in DATEV.

• The DATEV client is missing, or Factorial says there is no access to the client
  The person who signed in doesn't have the Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 right for that client, or the service hasn't been ordered yet.
  → Ask your tax advisor's DATEV administrator to assign the Rechtevorlage “DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0” in Rechteverwaltung online. Then reload the page.
  Who helps: your tax advisor.
   
• I can't select the client I need
  You may have signed in with a different SmartLogin or SmartCard. Check who is shown under Authorized by (DATEV). If it's the wrong person, click Disconnect and sign in again with the right one.
  If Factorial says two legal entities can't book into the same client, choose a different client for one of them.
  Who helps: you; if the client still doesn't appear, your tax advisor.
   
• Signing in to DATEV doesn't work
  • The SmartLogin is locked or not activated. Your tax advisor's DATEV administrator can fix this.
  • You return to Factorial, but the status is still “Not connected”. Click Connect to DATEV again. If it keeps happening, contact Factorial Support.
  • The status says “Reconnection needed”. The connection expired or was revoked. Click Connect to DATEV again.
     
• A transfer failed or was only partly accepted
  Open the Processing log. For each expense you'll see why it was rejected, often with a link to DATEV help.
  • Account problems (for example a G/L account is missing or has the wrong length): fix them in the accounting settings in Factorial, then transfer again.
  • DATEV setup problems (for example no fiscal year, or the processing form isn't “Erweitert”): ask your tax advisor.
  • Status “Check in DATEV”: Factorial couldn't confirm the result. Check in Belege online whether the documents arrived. If they didn't, choose Not booked at DATEV so the next transfer sends them again. If they did, choose Accept as exported.
  • DATEV can't be reached, or the error keeps coming back: contact Factorial Support. Include the DATEV job ID from the processing log.
     
• Company card expenses don't reach the Kassenbuch
  On the Configuration tab, the check result tells you what's missing:
  • “This client has no Kassenbuch” or “The Kassenbuch has no fiscal year for today”: ask your tax advisor to create the Kassenbuch or open the current year in Kassenbuch online.
  • “Next year's Kassenbuch is not open yet”: the fiscal year ends soon. Ask your tax advisor to open next year before your first transfer of the new year.
  • “Only company card expenses can be exported”: the Kassenbuch is ready but the Rechnungseingangsbuch isn't. Card expenses still transfer. Reimbursed expenses can't be transferred until your tax advisor enables the Rechnungseingangsbuch. If you only transfer card expenses, you can ignore this message.
    If the Kassenbuch name in Factorial doesn't match DATEV exactly, correct it on the Kassenbuch tab.
    Who helps: your tax advisor; for the name, you.
     
• Some fields are missing in DATEV
  DATEV only shows fields that are enabled in the Belege online entry mask (Erfassungsmaske). Ask your tax advisor to enable them.

DATEV help

• DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 als Steuerberatungskanzlei bestellen und einrichten (Doc. No. 1037210)
• DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0: Daten übernehmen (Doc. No. 1071255)
• Datenservices Rechnungswesen: Definition und Einrichtung der Rechtevorlagen (Doc. No. 1018840)
• Import von digitalen Belegen und strukturierten Belegdaten prüfen (Doc. No. 1022872)
• Connected applications at DATEV

Need help?

• Factorial Support — setting up the integration and transfer errors: contact Factorial Support
• Your tax advisor — ordering the service, rights in DATEV, client settings and posting in DATEV