DATEV export: send invoices to your accountant as a journal batch
Download outgoing invoices as an EXTF journal batch for DATEV: set the options, check the preview, understand which invoices are missing and why, hand the file to your accountant.
The DATEV export turns your outgoing invoices into a journal batch in EXTF format — the file your accountant imports directly. You find it under Integrations → DATEV.
The export produces journal entries, not documents. If your accountant also needs the PDFs, use the document export — the two complement each other.
1. Set the options (once)
Without options there is no export section. You need:
| Field | Where from |
|---|---|
| Consultant number and client number | your accountant |
| Chart of accounts (SKR03 or SKR04) | your accountant |
| Account length | usually 4 |
| Fiscal year start | normally 1 January |
| Default debtor account | collective account for customers without their own debtor number, e.g. 10000 |
| Revenue account 19% / 7% | e.g. 8400 and 8300 in SKR03 |
Save — the export section then appears above.
2. Check the preview (recommended)
Pick a period and click Check preview. The preview creates no file and marks nothing as exported. It tells you:
- how many invoices go into the batch and how many journal lines they produce,
- which invoices are NOT in the batch — with document number and reason,
- how many invoices post to the collective debtor account,
- how many line items land on the default revenue account,
- whether any line items have no revenue account at all.
This is worth doing because the export itself is not repeatable without consequences: it records on every included invoice that it has been exported (see step 4).
Why is an invoice missing from the batch?
| Notice | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No postable line item | Every line item is deleted, optional, not charged or part of a bundle — there is nothing to post. Common for invoices from a data migration that only have a header and no line items. | Open the invoice and check whether line items are missing. If the amount is correct but there is no line item, it belongs in the books by hand. |
3. What the notices about default values mean
Neither is an error — for many businesses this is exactly the intended setup:
- "post to the collective debtor account" — the contact has no debtor number. All those customers land on the same account. Your accountant can post that, but cannot keep an open-item list per customer. If you need one, enter a debtor number on the contact.
- "post to the default revenue account" — neither the product nor the product category has a revenue account, so the default per tax rate applies. If you want revenue split by line of business (food, drinks, rentals), set the revenue account on the product or the category.
- "have NO revenue account at all" — this one is a real problem: the journal line would have no contra account and DATEV rejects it. Add the default revenue accounts in the options.
4. Export
Export journal batch downloads the CSV file and records on every included invoice that it has been exported. The next export therefore leaves those invoices out — so your accountant never posts anything twice.
If you need a full period again, tick "Include already exported invoices".
⚠️ Invoices that were not in the batch do not get that mark — they show up again in the next export as soon as they have postable line items.
5. Which invoices qualify at all
Only invoices (no quotes, delivery notes or credit notes) in the states issued, sent, paid and overdue. Cancelled invoices stay out — in accounting terms the credit note carries the counter entry.
The period refers to the invoice's issue date.