DATEV Export

With the DATEV Export addon, you can export all bookings, payments, and cancellations from Bookicorn as a DATEV-compliant CSV file. Your tax advisor can import this file directly into DATEV Unternehmen online or DATEV Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen — without any manual data entry.

Category: Finance

What is the DATEV Export?

DATEV is the most widely used accounting system in Germany, used by tax advisors and auditors. Bookicorn exports your financial data in the DATEV Buchungsstapel format, a standardized CSV format that DATEV software can read directly.

What this means for you:

• You hand your tax advisor a ready-made export file instead of shoeboxes full of receipts
• The tax advisor saves time on data entry — which saves you on advisory fees
• Fewer errors from manual data input
• Faster year-end closings and VAT returns

Who is the DATEV Export for?

The addon is particularly useful if:

• You work with a tax advisor who uses DATEV (around 90% of all German tax firms)
• You have monthly or quarterly VAT advance returns
• You process more than about 20 transactions per month — the automated export pays off significantly beyond this volume
• You need a clean, GoBD-compliant bookkeeping record

Note: If you are a small business owner without input tax deduction and have few transactions, the PDF invoices from the Invoices addon may be sufficient. Discuss with your tax advisor which solution suits you best.

Activation in the Addon Store

Tip: Send your tax advisor a quick message: "I use Bookicorn for my course bookings and can export data in DATEV Buchungsstapel format. Which client number should I use and which chart of accounts (SKR03 or SKR04)?" — The reply usually only takes a few minutes.

The DATEV Buchungsstapel CSV format

The DATEV Buchungsstapel is a standardized CSV format with a header section and booking lines. Bookicorn generates the file fully automatically in the correct structure.

What is in the export file:

"EXTF";700;21;"Buchungsstapel";5;...  ← DATEV header (filled automatically)

Umsatz;S/H;Konto;Gegenkonto;Datum;Buchungstext;Beleg1;...
59,00;S;8400;1200;01.03.2025;Credit purchase Mustermann;RE-2025-0042;...
-29,00;H;8400;1200;05.03.2025;Cancellation Mustermann;RE-2025-0043;...

Explanation of the key fields:

Running an export

Start a monthly export

Use the export preview

Before downloading, Bookicorn shows a summary:

• Number of bookings included
• Total revenue for the period
• Number of cancellations
• Any warnings (e.g. missing account assignments)

Tip: Briefly check the preview before every export. If you see an unusually high or low number of bookings, the time period may not be set correctly.

Import at your tax advisor

Your tax advisor imports the CSV file into their DATEV system. The process on their side works as follows:

For import errors: The most common cause is an incorrect advisor number or client number. Check your settings under Settings → DATEV and align the data with your tax advisor.

What data is included?

The export contains all financially relevant transactions in the selected period:

Included

• Course bookings with direct payment — amount, date, course name, customer name
• Credit purchases — package price, date, customer name
• Credit subscription payments — monthly/yearly charges
• Cancellations with refund — as offsetting entries
• Partial refunds — with corresponding invoice reference

Not included

• Internal credit postings (credits without payment, manual corrections)
• Free course bookings (€0 bookings)
• Vouchers (the underlying payments are included, but not the voucher redemption itself)

Note: If you use Subsidized Courses and corporate clients pay invoices through external channels, discuss with your tax advisor how to account for these manually.

Chart of accounts and account assignments

Depending on which chart of accounts your tax advisor uses, different account numbers are applied:

SKR03 (more common for smaller businesses)

SKR04 (more common for larger businesses)

Tip: You do not need to know the account numbers yourself — just enter which chart of accounts your tax advisor uses during setup, and Bookicorn automatically selects the correct accounts.

Tips for smooth bookkeeping

Monthly export rhythm

Tip: Always export the same period at the end of each month (1st to last day of the month). This way your export aligns exactly with the posting month in DATEV and there are no duplicate or missing entries.

Consistency with time periods

• Always export complete months — no partial periods
• Do not overlap export periods (e.g. exporting 01.–20. March and then again 15.–31. March leads to duplicate bookings)
• Bookicorn marks already-exported periods so you don't make mistakes

Align chart of accounts with your tax advisor

Call your tax advisor once and clarify:

1. SKR03 or SKR04?
2. Which revenue accounts should Bookicorn use (standard or specific accounts)?
3. Should VAT be split automatically or recorded as a total amount?

This one-time conversation saves months of trouble.

Combination with Invoices addon

If you also use the Automatic Invoices addon, your tax advisor gets double the benefit:

• DATEV Export for bookkeeping (automatic import)
• ZUGFeRD PDFs as supporting documents (machine-readable and archiving-compliant)

This combination makes your year-end closing as straightforward as possible.