Key takeaways
- The SIEVERS DATEV interface transfers posting and master data out of Business Central into the format DATEV expects.
- Every exported G/L entry is marked in Business Central, so it stays traceable what has already gone to the tax adviser.
- Earlier export runs can be reversed, which removes the marking again.
- The solution is DATEV-tested and Microsoft-certified, and comes as a SaaS app as well as an on-premises extension.
- It requires DATEV software able to import and export CSV files in DATEV format.
The problem is not the export but the traceability
Getting posting records out of an ERP is not the hard part — any standard system can produce a CSV file. It gets difficult at the question people actually ask: what did I hand over last month, what has been added since, and what happens when an entry is corrected after the handover?
Without a marking in the system you answer that with file names and memory. That is exactly where the duplicate postings and the gaps come from — the ones that surface at year-end and then have to be traced backwards.
The interface solves it by marking every exported G/L entry inside Business Central. The state is visible in the system rather than in a folder. And if a run has to be taken back, reversing it removes the marking so the entries can be handed over again.
What gets handed over
Posting data and the associated master data are transferred — not just the amounts, but the accounts, customers and vendors they refer to. That is what decides whether the tax adviser can process the data without coming back with questions.
The exchange is designed in both directions: data goes to the tax adviser and information can flow back. In practice the direction into DATEV is the more common one, because that is where the annual accounts are produced.
- Financial posting data in DATEV format
- Master data: G/L accounts, customers, vendors
- Exported entries marked directly on the record in Business Central
- Reversible export runs
- Available for Business Central from version 14 (AL) and Dynamics NAV from 2015
What matters when setting it up
The effort in a DATEV connection almost never sits in the technology but in aligning the accounts. The chart of accounts in Business Central and the one at the tax adviser have to map onto each other cleanly — for G/L accounts as much as for tax codes and the treatment of customer and vendor accounts.
Also worth settling early: at what interval the handover happens, who triggers the run, and how corrections after a handover are dealt with. Those are agreements with the tax adviser rather than system settings — but they decide whether the interface feels like relief or like an extra step.
The specific tax and accounting treatment belongs with your tax adviser. We set the handover up technically and make sure it matches the rules you agreed.
Frequently asked questions
- No, it serves them. The annual accounts, the tax assessment and the advice stay with the tax adviser; the interface only ensures they receive the data in the form they can process — without anyone retyping it or hand-building files.
- The DATEV software in use has to be able to import and export CSV files in DATEV format. That is the case with the common accounting products; if in doubt, your tax adviser can confirm it in a couple of minutes.
- Because exported entries are marked, it is visible in the first place that the transaction has already gone across. For the correction there are two routes: reverse the export run and hand over again, or send the correction as its own transaction in the next run. Which fits depends on what you agreed with your tax adviser.
- Yes. The solution is available as a SaaS app for Business Central Online and as an extension for on-premises operation. If a move to the cloud is on the cards anyway, that is one fewer argument against it.