The DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 lets you transfer receipts such as invoices and credit notes directly and automatically from your Xentral system to DATEV Unternehmen Online. Both receipt images and key data (e.g., amount, date, supplier) are transmitted without any manual effort.
This saves you a significant amount of time: all relevant invoice data lands in the DATEV system in a structured and accurate way and is immediately available there for accounting. This way, you save effort and minimize errors in data entry.
The DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 lets you export your accounting receipts (invoices, credit notes, liabilities) directly to DATEV via API. Xentral automatically transfers the export to DATEV. Xentral displays all exports in an overview table.
Note
Xentral supports connections with DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice in Version 1.0. The newer Version 2.0 is currently not supported.
Quickly setting up and exporting with Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 works as follows:
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Enter the data for the initial master data setup for the transfer and save it, for example the client and advisor numbers.
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Connect Xentral to DATEV via SmartLogin or DATEV SmartCard/DATEV mIDentity.
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Export the data to DATEV Unternehmen Online by selecting a receipt type, specifying a date range, and starting the export.
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Advanced Settings: Select the account, and for liabilities, choose either the entry date or invoice date of the receipt.
Caution
Your tax consultant needs administrator rights in DATEV for the connection to work smoothly. You can find instructions for the configuration in DATEV in the following article in the DATEV Help Center: Setting Up Accounting 1.0 as a Tax Consultant in DATEV.
You can find the DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 module via the Smart Search by searching for DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0, or in the menu under Accounting > DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0.
Connecting to DATEV via SmartLogin or DATEV SmartCard/DATEV mIDentity works as follows:
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In the DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 module, click on the Settings tab.
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Click on Authenticate. A new tab opens in your browser. Log in to DATEV.
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Select your login method:
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DATEV SmartCard/DATEV mIDentity: A separate card reader and card that you can purchase from DATEV for more secure authentication. The card reader with card must stay connected to your computer’s USB port during the login process.
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DATEV SmartLogin: An app for smartphones and tablets that lets you log in using a QR code.
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Click on Next and log in using your selected login method.
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Click on I Agree to give Xentral permission to exchange data with DATEV.
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Xentral now completes the authentication and stores an authentication token. You are redirected to the Settings tab of the DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 module in your Xentral instance.
Note
The Settings tab displays the person who logged in to DATEV as the Token Creator. The token’s validity is displayed in the Token Valid Until field.
After connecting to DATEV, you can carry out the following configurations in the Settings tab:
Field Label |
Description |
|---|---|
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Import User |
If you have multiple users or companies, all users connected to the DATEV account in use are listed here. Select the company for which you want to export your receipts. |
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Test Access |
Optional: Select this option if you want to export your receipts to the DATEV sandbox for testing before going live. |
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Liability Date Filter |
Select whether to export your liabilities by entry date or by invoice date:
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You can export your invoices, credit notes, and liabilities directly to DATEV via API – for a period of up to one month.
Exporting your receipts to DATEV via API works as follows:
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In the DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0 module, click on the Export tab.
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Select the type of receipt you want to export. You can choose Invoices, Credit Notes, or Liabilities from the drop-down menu. You can only export one receipt type at a time.
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Select the start date and end date of your export. Make sure the export period stays within the same month, for example 01.10.2024 to 31.10.2024.
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Click on Export.
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Xentral now transfers the export to DATEV and logs it in the table below with a timestamp and a status (Error or Success).
For each completed export, Xentral logs the period with timestamp and status in the receipt tables. You can also download a CSV file of the export by clicking on Log in the respective entry. This file contains status information for the receipts included in the export in DATEV.
Note
The log is only available for Xentral instances starting with version 24.14.6, and only for exports carried out after updating to this or a newer version.
Here you’ll find the export options at a glance:
Field Label |
Description |
|---|---|
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Type |
Define which data categories to export, for example Invoices, Credit Notes, or Liabilities. You can only export one receipt type at a time. |
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Project |
Optional/leave blank by default: only specify the project if you want to export a single channel exclusively. |
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Start Date |
Select an export range by specifying a date from DD.MM.YYYY to DD.MM.YYYY. For example, export the period of one month for DATEV for the month-end close. |
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End Date |
Select an export range by specifying a date from DD.MM.YYYY to DD.MM.YYYY. For example, export the period of one month for DATEV for the month-end close. |
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Ignore Previously Exported Documents |
Optional/special workflow: ignores data that has already been pulled. For example, if you export daily, you can exclude yesterday’s data. |
If an error message is displayed, several troubleshooting actions are available to you. For more information, see the FAQ on accounting export.
Error |
Troubleshooting |
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Check the advisor number and client number under Financial Accounting Export & Settings. Then re-authenticate and try connecting to the DATEV Rechnungsservice again. |
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Check the settings in DATEV itself. All permissions should be set correctly here (e.g., for the tax consultant). Sometimes it also helps to delete the permissions in DATEV and reassign them. |
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Shorten the export period, for example to one day. Longer periods can sometimes cause problems. |
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Error: invalid Grant |
Renew the access token. For data security reasons, the DATEV API token is only valid for a few hours. As a result, Xentral may display an error message stating that the credentials are incorrect (i.e., Error: invalid Grant). |
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Error: No Ledger or Fiscal Year Available in DATEV Unternehmen online |
If you see the error message Error: No Ledger or Fiscal Year Available in DATEV Unternehmen online, the employee responsible for DATEV or your tax consultant should activate DATEV Rechnungsservice 1.0 for Xentral. You can do this in DATEV as follows:
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DATEV accepts up to 5,000 files per export, with a maximum file size of 20 MB. The shortest period you can export from Xentral is one day, which means you can upload a maximum of 5,000 files per day to DATEV. If you export your receipts in multiple file formats, such as XML and PDF, this reduces the number of receipts you can upload, since each receipt requires multiple files. A workaround for this problem is to download the receipts, split them into groups of fewer than 5,000, and upload them manually via the Financial accounting export. You can upload the receipts in the app in the DATEV Unternehmen Online section, at the bottom left. |