Checklist for Accounting – Xentral help center

This checklist provides an overview of the most important accounting tasks in Xentral – from the one-time setup at go-live to recurring tasks in day-to-day operations. It is aimed at accountants and tax consultants who use Xentral in combination with DATEV or another accounting system.

Note

Some tasks – such as prepaid expenses, fixed assets, or accruals – are typically handled directly in DATEV or by your tax consultant. These are listed at the end of this page.

Go-Live – One-Time Setup

Complete these steps once before going live:

Connect your business account: Link your bank accounts and credit card accounts to Xentral. Create the accounts in advance and reconcile the opening balances with your bank.
Set up the chart of accounts: Set up the appropriate chart of accounts (e.g., SKR03 or SKR04) for automatic pre-assignment of invoices.
Adjust auxiliary accounts for sales revenue: Configure the auxiliary accounts so that sales revenue is automatically assigned to the correct G/L accounts.
Link products with G/L accounts: Store the G/L accounts in the product master data so that invoice line items are pre-assigned automatically.
Define number ranges: Define number ranges for invoices and credit notes – per project if necessary – in consultation with your tax consultant.
Set up customer and vendor numbering: If needed, set up the numbering so that customer/vendor numbers correspond to the account numbers in your accounting system.
Store tax zone in master data: Define the tax classification for each customer and vendor (domestic, EU, third country) and link the entries to the corresponding sales accounts.
Select and set up the DATEV interface: Decide which DATEV export method to use – DATEV Unternehmen Online, DATEV Rechnungsdatenservice 1.0, or CSV export – and set up the interface accordingly.

Daily

Post bank and credit card transactions: Load the daily bank statement and assign incoming and outgoing payments correctly (depending on company size, this may be done less frequently).
Reconcile bank account with Xentral: Compare the account balance in Xentral with the actual bank balance daily.
Record liabilities: Enter incoming vendor invoices promptly.
Assign incoming payments and check for duplicate payments: Assign incoming payments to the correct receivables, check for duplicate payments from customers, and create credit notes or refunds as needed.

Weekly

Run dunning: Create and send payment reminders and dunning notices for outstanding receivables.
Start invoice run: Start the invoice run for due invoices directly from Xentral.
Execute payment run for payables: Run the weekly payment run for due vendor payables via the Payment Transactions module.
Assign invoices to receivables: Assign invoices to the corresponding receivables – for example, in the case of contribution reductions or changed document numbers.
Carry out cash book posting: Post the week’s cash transactions in the cash book.

Monthly

Start direct debit collection: Start the SEPA direct debit collection via the Payment Transactions module – either for all mandates or only selected ones.
Check open items: Review open receivables and payables for completeness and correct assignment.
Check creditors and debtors in DATEV: Reconcile vendor and customer accounts between Xentral and DATEV.
Check expense and income accounts (P&L): Verify that all postings have landed on the correct expense and income accounts.
Check and assign cost centers: Make sure all postings are assigned to the correct cost centers. Set up cost centers once in both Xentral and DATEV (including the DATEV cost center module).
Check balance sheet accounts: Verify that all documents have been posted to the correct balance sheet accounts.
Run DATEV export: Export the posting data from Xentral and import it into DATEV.
Reconcile Xentral ↔ DATEV: After the DATEV export, compare the totals of sales revenue, liabilities, and revenues between Xentral and DATEV. Also reconcile the account balances at month-end closing.
Enter travel expenses: Record travel expense reports for the completed month.
Prepare VAT return: The VAT return is submitted via DATEV. Make sure all posting data has been fully and correctly exported before submitting the return.

Tasks in DATEV or by Your Tax Consultant

The following tasks are typically not handled in Xentral, but directly in DATEV or by your tax consultant:

Payroll: Import the CSV file from your tax consultant into DATEV monthly.
Prepaid expenses: Distribute costs for the year proportionally across individual months (relevant for larger annual invoices).
Fixed assets: Record fixed assets directly in DATEV; in Xentral, only assign the corresponding G/L account.
Accruals/provisions: Post accruals in DATEV monthly if needed.