SaaS · 🇩🇪 Germany
A cloud ledger the Steuerberater could not accept
A German GmbH running international accounting software found its year-end handover broke down at the DATEV boundary.
Berlin GmbH, EU-wide software sales, monthly VAT filing. Client identity withheld — we publish names only with written permission, so this engagement is described by its shape rather than by who it was.
DATEV
Export standard adopted
GoBD
Record-keeping compliance restored
0
Manual re-entry at year end
The situation
- The company ran an international cloud ledger chosen by its US parent.
- Each year end, the Steuerberater re-keyed the accounts because the export format was unusable — expensive, slow, and error-prone.
What we found
- No DATEV-compatible export, which is the interchange standard between German companies and their tax advisers.
- Corrections were being made by editing original entries, which does not satisfy GoBD's unalterability requirement.
- OSS reporting for EU distance sales handled separately in a spreadsheet.
What we did
- Implemented a DATEV-compatible export path so the Steuerberater receives data in the expected format.
- Changed the correction procedure to reversing entries, with a documented process meeting GoBD.
- Brought OSS reporting into the same monthly cycle as the domestic Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung.
The outcome
- Year-end handover no longer requires manual re-entry, and the record-keeping procedure now meets GoBD requirements.
- The parent kept its group reporting in the international ledger, so no migration was needed.
What we'd flag
Germany is genuinely different. Approaches that work across the UK, US and Australia do not transfer here, and pretending otherwise costs money at year end.
Start with a conversation
Recognise any of this in your own books?
Thirty minutes. We review where your books stand and where the money's actually going — no obligation.