Note
New Feature (Beta) – Chart of Accounts in Xentral
The new Chart of Accounts is available as a beta version starting from March 2026. This allows you to centrally manage your accounting accounts in Xentral and use them consistently across the entire system.
In the beta version you can already create, edit and manage your own accounts. The Chart of Accounts is designed to form the basis for all areas in Xentral where accounts are used (e.g. postings and DATEV export).
Since this is a beta version, functions and processes may still change. Feedback is explicitly welcome.
Overview of current revisions and new features
As part of the further development of Xentral, existing modules have been revised and new features have been added. Below you will find a compact overview of the most important changes:
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Revision of the Chart of Accounts: Optimization and structural adjustments to better reflect accounting requirements.
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New Feature (Beta) – Journal in Xentral: Introduction of an accounting journal for a more transparent and traceable representation of accounting processes.
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New Tax Setup: Revised setup for simplified and structured configuration of tax settings.
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Tax Codes: New or more clearly structured management of tax codes for correct tax allocation.
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Tax Obligations: New module name (formerly “Delivery Threshold”) with extended functionality to map tax obligations.
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New Revenue Account Exception: Centralized management of all revenue account exceptions in one unified overview, including search functionality, rules that can be enabled/disabled, clear rule naming, and easy deletion.
The Chart of Accounts is the central overview of all accounts that you use in Xentral. It forms the basis for postings, evaluations and exports (e.g. DATEV).
With the new feature, the Chart of Accounts has been revised to enable more functionality in the long term and to ensure consistent account logic across the entire system.
Note
Important change: Accounts must first be created in the Chart of Accounts Effective immediately: All accounts that are to be used in Xentral must first exist in the Chart of Accounts.
This means:
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Fields where account numbers could previously be entered freely are gradually replaced by selection fields.
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In these selection fields, you can then only select accounts that have already been created in the Chart of Accounts.
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This ensures that accounts are used consistently across the system and prevents incorrect or inconsistent account numbers.
Each account in the Chart of Accounts contains the following information:
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Account number: The account number of the account you want to use in Xentral.
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Name: The name of the account. It is displayed together with the account number in postings and in the Journal.
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Description: An optional description that helps you better understand the purpose of the account. This field is for internal reference only.
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Account type: The account type determines how the account is used in Xentral. The following account types are available:
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Revenue (Revenue): Accounts for sales and revenue, e.g. product sales or services.
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Cost (Cost): Accounts for expenses and liabilities, e.g. rent or external services.
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Rebate (Rebate): Accounts for recording granted discounts.
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Tax (Tax): Tax accounts for recording tax amounts. Currently, VAT accounts (input and output tax) are primarily supported.
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To create a new account, proceed as follows:
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Click on Create in the top right corner.
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Enter the mandatory fields account number, account type and name.
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Optional: Enter a description.
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Click on Save.
Caution
Account number and account type can no longer be changed after saving. Please carefully check this information before saving.
Proceed as follows to edit an existing account:
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Click on the pencil icon on the right side of the row.
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You can then only change the following fields: Name, description.
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Click on Save.
Account number and account type remain unchanged.
Accounts can be deleted and recreated if necessary. The following applies:
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If an account has already been used in postings, these postings remain unchanged.
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A deleted account should not be removed if it has already been used productively.
Caution
Accounts should generally not be deleted once they have been used in postings or exports in order to ensure consistency in accounting.
With the new Journal, you now receive a central overview of all accounting-relevant transactions processed in Xentral. As soon as a transaction becomes relevant for your accounting, accounts are automatically assigned and the posting is recorded in the Journal.
Note
Status: Beta Available from: 03/2026
The Journal helps you transparently track accounting-relevant transactions and later reconcile them, for example, with DATEV. All entries are searchable and can be viewed at any time.
Each Journal entry consists of two sections:
Document information (header section):
This displays the general information about the posting, e.g.:
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Document number (triggering document)
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Business partner number (customer or supplier; also used as the offsetting account)
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Transaction type
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Posting text
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Posting date
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Posted by (e.g. user or automated system user)
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Amount (gross)
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Debit/credit indicator
Line item information (detail section):
Here you can see the individual posting lines, e.g.:
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Account number
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Account name
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Posting text (e.g. item name for invoices/credit notes)
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Amount
The following transaction types are collected in the Journal:
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Debtor invoice
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Debtor credit note
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Creditor invoice
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Creditor credit note
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Incoming payment
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Outgoing payment
Note
Initially, debtor invoices and debtor credit notes are supported. The other transaction types are added step by step.
Caution
Important notes on how it works:
Once a transaction has been recorded in the Journal, the following applies:
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Journal postings are immutable.
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The associated document (e.g. invoice) is automatically set to read-only.
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This ensures that postings cannot be changed retrospectively. This immutability is an important building block for GoBD compliance in Xentral.
The DATEV export is based on the Journal going forward. This means:
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Your DATEV postings can be directly reconciled with the Journal entries.
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Accounts can no longer be changed manually in the DATEV export.
Caution
Therefore, make sure that your accounts and account settings are correctly maintained before a posting is created in the Journal.
The Journal forms the basis for further features, e.g. new evaluations or overviews for reconciliation and accounting control.
With the new version, the tax setup in Xentral has been expanded to map tax postings more precisely and consistently across the system. Instead of only using tax rate and tax type, the model is now based on tax codes, which clearly define the specific tax case.
This allows Xentral to clearly distinguish between different tax cases – especially when the same tax rate such as 0 % can have different meanings depending on the context (e.g. export, reverse charge or tax-free). These cases must be reported separately and require different accounting treatment.
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Tax Rate The tax rate describes the percentage of tax, e.g. 19 % for the German standard VAT.
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Tax Type The tax type categorizes the type of VAT. There are a total of 7 categories:
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Standard rate (Standard)
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Reduced rate (Reduced)
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Tax-free (Free)
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Reverse charge (Reverse Charge)
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Export (Export)
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Special case (Special)
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Super-reduced rate (Super-Reduced)
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Each European VAT is assigned to one of these categories.
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Tax Code A tax code is defined by the combination of tax type (Tax Type) and country (Country) and therefore describes the specific tax case. Each tax code has a fixed tax rate.
Tax rates can no longer be selected independently, but only as part of a tax code. For example, export, reverse charge and tax-free transactions all have a tax rate of 0 %, but they are considered different tax cases and must be reported separately to the authorities. Therefore, they are managed as different tax codes.
Each tax code contains four assigned accounts:
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Revenue account: Collects the net revenue.
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Output VAT account (Debit Tax Account / Output VAT Account): Collects the outbound VAT amounts.
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Cost account: Is assigned as the default cost type when receiving an invoice.
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Input VAT account (Credit Tax Account / Input VAT Account): Collects the inbound VAT amounts.
If the tax rate is 0 %, output VAT and input VAT accounts are usually not required, as net and gross amounts are identical. In this case, postings are made only via the revenue or cost account.
In the “Tax Codes” overview, you can see all created tax codes per country. When you click on a row, the detail view of the respective tax code opens. There you can view and edit the tax parameters as well as the associated accounts.
A tax code represents a specific tax treatment (e.g. standard, export or reverse charge).
Each tax code contains the following information:
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Country: Specifies for which country the tax code applies.
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Name: Name of the tax code. This is initially prefilled but can be adjusted to your requirements.
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Tax type (Tax Type): Categorization of the tax code. The following options are currently available:
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Free (Free)
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Reverse Charge / Transfer of tax liability (Reverse Charge)
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Export (Export)
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Reduced rate (Reduced)
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Standard rate (Standard)
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Special case / special rate (Special)
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Super reduced rate (Super Reduced)
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Tax rate (Tax Rate): Percentage tax rate, e.g. 19 %.
In addition, the associated accounts are defined:
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Revenue account: Account used to record net revenue.
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Output VAT account (Revenue Tax Account / Output VAT Account): Account used to record output VAT.
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Cost account: Standard account for incoming invoices.
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Input VAT account (Cost Tax Account / Input VAT Account): Account used to record input VAT.
The tax setup can also be configured even if tax obligation is not yet active in Xentral, e.g. if it is foreseeable that delivery thresholds will be exceeded.
Note
By default, all common European VAT types are already available as presets. For Germany, standard accounts based on DATEV SKR03 are also stored.
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For other countries, no accounts are prefilled, as these are not included in SKR03. These accounts must be created individually in coordination with your tax advisor.
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If you do not want to use separate accounts per country, you can also use the German standard accounts. The DATEV export includes country and tax rate so that your tax advisor can differentiate the postings accordingly. Please clarify the desired approach with your tax advisor in advance.
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It is important that you use consistent accounts for the same tax types (e.g. 8400 for standard revenue across multiple countries), provided this is aligned with your tax setup.
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Please also note: Some countries have more tax types than Germany. In these cases, no direct German account equivalents can be used. Coordination with your tax advisor is recommended.
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Note: With the planned OSS regulations from 2028, your tax advisor will likely require separate accounts for European tax filings. It may therefore make sense to create country-specific accounts already now in order to be prepared in the long term.
It is not uncommon for tax rates to change. Since tax rates in Xentral are always linked to a tax code, you need to create a new tax code when a rate changes.
To do so, click on Create Tax Account and proceed as follows:
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Name: Choose a clear identifier for the new tax code.
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Country: Select the country in which the tax rate is changing.
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Tax type: Choose the affected type (e.g. standard rate).
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Tax rate: Enter the new percentage rate.
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Valid From: Select the date from which the new rate should apply.
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Valid Until: Leave this field empty for the new tax code.
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Select new accounts: Since new tax codes must be reported separately from old ones, you need to assign new tax, revenue and cost accounts.
Caution
No two tax codes with the same country and tax type can be valid at the same time. Make sure to set the “Valid Until” date of the old tax code to one day before the new tax code becomes valid.
The function Tax Obligations replaces the previous Delivery Threshold and extends the concept beyond Europe. This allows you to define in Xentral in which countries you are tax registered and must calculate local VAT.
A tax obligation may arise, for example, in the following cases:
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Exceeding the EU delivery threshold: Once you deliver more than €10,000 worth of goods or services to other EU countries, you must charge local VAT there.
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Permanent establishment abroad: If you operate, for example, an office or warehouse in a country, local tax registration may be required – even without exceeding the delivery threshold.
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Deliveries outside Europe: Deliveries to non-EU countries are generally considered exports unless you are locally tax registered there (e.g. due to a permanent establishment).
As soon as you become tax obligated in a country, you should activate the tax obligation in Xentral:
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Select the country (from the available country list)
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Open the edit view via the pencil icon
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Enter the VAT ID
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Define the start date
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Enable the active status
In the background, Xentral automatically creates a new time period. From this point on, tax calculation for transactions is carried out according to the local rules of the respective country.
Caution
If the active status is not enabled, a new time period will be created, but no tax obligation will be activated.
Tip
To ensure correct postings after activating a tax obligation, you must also store the appropriate accounts in the respective tax codes. Only if the tax codes are correctly configured can Xentral post revenues and tax amounts to the correct revenue, cost and tax accounts.
Once a tax obligation is active, local tax rates are automatically applied to new postings. The resulting postings can then be reviewed in the Journal.
If you are no longer tax obligated in a country, you can deactivate the tax obligation at any time:
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Open the respective tax obligation
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Define a start date from which you are no longer tax obligated
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Leave the active status disabled
From this defined date onward, no local tax will be calculated.
Status: 03/2026: Activation via the delivery threshold (planned): A mass function is planned that will allow tax obligations for all European countries to be activated simultaneously once the delivery threshold has been exceeded. Further information will follow.
With the function “New Revenue Account Exception” you can specifically define when a different revenue account should be used instead of the account stored by default in the tax rate.
This allows you to define a different revenue account depending, for example, on:
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Project
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Product category
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Product
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Delivery country
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Central overview: All exceptions are now managed in one place. You can no longer find them in the individual settings of projects, product categories or products.
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Improved search function: You can search your rules specifically by: Account, Project, Product, Product category. This gives you a quick overview of existing exceptions.
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Activate or deactivate rules: You can control each rule via its status. This allows you to deactivate rules without deleting them directly.
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Name rules: Each rule can have its own name. This helps you immediately understand the purpose of the exception.
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Delete rules: You can delete rules that are no longer needed at any time.
Proceed as follows to create a new exception:
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Assign a name: Assign a clear and unique name that describes the purpose of the rule, e.g. “Amazon FBA Exception Germany”.
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Define the delivery country: Select the Delivery Country Code. This determines for which country the exception should apply.
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Define triggers: Define when the rule should apply. You can select one or more of the following criteria as triggers: Project, Product category, Product.
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Select the booking account: Choose the revenue account that should be used instead of the standard account from the tax settings.
Example:
Name: “Amazon FBA Exception”
Delivery Country Code: “DE”
Project: “Amazon FBA”
Booking account: “8401”
Result: All revenues generated in the “Amazon FBA” project and delivered to Germany are automatically posted to revenue account 8401 instead of the standard account from the tax settings.
Practical tips:
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Use clear and descriptive rule names.
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Regularly review your active rules.
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Deactivate rules first before permanently deleting them.
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Internally document complex account logics, especially when working with multiple country-specific exceptions.
With the new XGL DATEV Export, you have access to an enhanced accounting function that is specifically designed to meet the needs of growing and larger companies.
At the core of the new export is the Journal. It serves as the reliable foundation for your accounting data and ensures that only posted and immutable transactions are exported. This provides you with greater transparency, traceability, and security in your financial accounting.
Especially when dealing with large data volumes and more complex accounting processes, this structure ensures a stable and consistent data basis. At the same time, you ensure that your exports always comply with legal requirements.
What this means for your daily work: You continue to work with the DATEV export as usual, but benefit from a significantly more robust and future-proof accounting logic in the background.
You can activate the new export at any time using the “Use XGL” setting. The previous DATEV export remains available, for example for earlier periods or during a transition phase.
Note
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New accounting function based on the Journal
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Exports only posted (immutable) transactions
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Increased security and traceability of your financial data
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Especially suitable for larger companies and high transaction volumes
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GoBD-compliant export
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Export format unchanged compared to the previous DATEV export
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Previous export remains available (e.g. for historical data)
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Activation via “Use XGL” in the export settings
Note
The activation of the service must be actively requested by you. Please reach out to Support or your Customer Success Manager.
Please include the following information in your request:
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the instance URL you want to activate
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the date on which the activation should take place
The activation is carried out in several steps and is designed to require as little effort from you as possible.
In the first step, we transfer your settings and data to the Xentral General Ledger.
You do not need to transfer any data yourself. After the migration, you only need to check whether everything has been transferred correctly and whether there are any issues.
All accounts from your existing chart of accounts will be transferred to a new chart of accounts.
Not all accounts you use in Xentral are necessarily included in your chart of accounts. Therefore, we create additional entries for all used accounts to ensure your data is complete.
All active delivery thresholds are transferred to the tax obligations functionality. This allows the system to determine in which countries you are required to pay taxes and apply the correct tax rates.
Tax rates are no longer managed individually in the Xentral General Ledger. Instead, there is a complete overview of all VAT codes used across Europe.
Your existing tax rates will be mapped to these codes. In some cases, issues may occur, for example if outdated or special tax rates are used.
If you only use standard VAT rates, the transfer is usually straightforward. If you use special tax rates (for example for forestry or photovoltaic systems), you should review the results carefully.
Exceptions for standard revenue and tax accounts (for example for projects, product categories, or products) are transferred into a single overview.
After the migration, all settings areas will be available to you. You will also receive a guided setup assistant.
There you can see:
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which data was successfully transferred
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which data could not be transferred
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which items still need to be reviewed or adjusted
You can resolve all open points directly before activating the service.
Once you have reviewed the migration and resolved all open points, you can confirm that everything is complete.
By clicking “Activate Xentral General Ledger”, you start the journal. From that point on, all transactions are recorded in the journal.
Not all transactions in Xentral currently use the new tax logic of the Xentral General Ledger.
This currently affects, for example:
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Invoices
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Credit notes
These may still use the previous calculation logic for taxes and rounding.
When these transactions are transferred to the journal, the Xentral General Ledger recalculates the amounts and assigns the appropriate tax and revenue accounts.
Note
The Xentral General Ledger will become the central source for all tax calculations going forward. However, the transition will take place gradually.
During this transition period, you may notice minor differences in net and tax amounts on line items.
The total amount of the invoice remains unchanged. Only the split between net and tax amounts may show minor differences.