How to check a DATEV export before import

For marketplace and payment-provider data, the first question is not whether the file opens, but whether the booking records are complete and structured for the next processing step. DATEV data services move structured data and, where applicable, digital receipts into DATEV programs via DATEV Cloud, and they can also work in the reverse direction.

DATEV’s export workflow for financial accounting data is designed to provide structured data securely in the DATEV Cloud for downstream processing in partner software. That makes the partner software part of the check: the same export still has to fit the way the downstream system processes it.

The Buchungsdatenservice also transfers booking data, master data, and associated receipt images as complete booking records. For a pre-import review, that is a reminder to look at the batch as a set of related records, not as isolated lines that can be judged one by one.

DATEV distinguishes the chart of accounts from the concrete account assignment of individual receipts. In practice, that means a correct chart does not by itself show whether a payout, fee, or refund has landed on the intended account.

When you prepare a DATEV export, check the mapping separately from the chart itself. This matters especially when marketplace or payment-provider lines use alternative accounts that must be mapped to a DATEV account through a conversion table.

A useful review question is simple: if this line is imported as it stands, does it land where the bookkeeping process expects it to land? If the answer depends on a later manual fix, the mapping still needs attention now, before import.

DATEV’s ASCII import checklist for sums and balances is useful because it focuses on completeness and field order before import. For an export review, that means looking for missing fields, swapped columns, or incomplete records that can later interrupt processing.

The checklist also notes that alternative accounts must be mapped to a DATEV account when a conversion table is used. For a finance team, that shifts the pre-import review away from visual tidiness and toward whether every line can be processed without manual repair.

In practice, the question is less about whether the file looks clean on screen and more about whether it can move through the next step without creating avoidable rework. That is especially relevant when the export combines payouts, fees, refunds, and receipt data in one batch.

A practical check is whether the same posting has already been exported, copied, moved, or otherwise prepared for later import. DATEV’s help center documents that copied or moved postings can be exported and re-imported, which means the same booking content can appear again if the workflow is not controlled closely.

Before import, compare the export with the source period and the previous batch structure so you can spot payout, fee, or refund lines that may already exist in another booking stack or an earlier export. The point is not to assume an error; it is to keep later matching and review simpler.

That comparison is easiest when you follow the origin of each line: where it came from, whether it was already included, and whether a second import would duplicate the same economic event. A careful pre-check here is often more useful than a correction after the same amount has been booked twice.

If a payout, fee, or refund needs correction after export, the goal is not only to change the amount. The booking history should still show what changed and where the corrected line belongs.

DATEV Buchungsdatenservice transfers booking data, master data, and associated receipt images as complete booking records. That is a useful reminder to think in complete records rather than isolated lines, because later review is easier when the booking data and related receipt images stay together.

If a change affects the tax base, § 17 UStG says the correction belongs in the relevant tax period. In that case, the key point is traceability: the correction should remain readable in the booking record so later checks can follow why the entry was adjusted. This article provides general information and is not tax or legal advice.