The development of the Versino Financial Suite began several years ago as an interface to the DATEV financial system. Initially, we implemented our own extended export function. Later, we were able to import the data or posting batches generated from DATEV into SAP Business One and thus keep SAP Business One & DATEV synchronised. The functionality of the DATEV interface has grown considerably since then. Time to take stock.
Import and export was a start
Although the SAP Business One standard has its own DATEV interface, this can only partially satisfy the growing requirements of SAP Business One users and the tax consultants involved. Both sides often complained about many hours of troubleshooting and reworking to check, synchronise and transfer data.
The development of a customised export for DATEV was therefore an obvious starting point for its own development and so the interface The SAP Business One interface is designed as a bidirectional interface to ensure a 100% synchronised database in SAP Business One and DATEV.
SAP Business One and DATEV in harmony
It helps to speak a common language in order to conduct an effective dialogue! To this end, we improved the handling of the customer, vendor, G/L accounts and tax definitions master data and ensured that the DATEV logic was already available at journal entries is taken into account in SAP Business One. This ensures a smooth import into the DATEV financial system. We developed special logics for this import. For the data to be imported, a distinction can be made between parked documents and journal entries in order to be able to selectively import only parked documents first.
DATEV data becomes business documents in SAP B1
You can also use data from DATEV Accounting or Wages & Salaries for the import. However, before this data is imported, the software first checks a few things:
- Whether the necessary accounts are all available,
- Whether the corresponding posting period is open,
- Whether the cost centres to be posted to exist.
If this is not consistently the case, the system will wait accordingly. If everything is OK so far, SAP Business One transfers the DATEV data line by line and triggers a corresponding posting.
Interpretation of DATEV accounting records
This means that if the import file contains a booking record such as Revenue account to debtor occurs, we do not simply import a journal entry, but the software creates a A/R Invoice on. If in the file Expense account against vendor occurs, an incoming invoice is created accordingly. The software can also Debit licence plate interpret. The logic generates an incoming or outgoing credit note. If the imported line contains Bank to debtor the system posts an incoming payment and vice versa, if vendor to bank is entered, an outgoing payment.
Utilisation of reference data
The software also checks the reference fields to see whether an invoice number is specified. If so, the software actually posts against the invoice and automatically counts it. In this case, the software acts as if a specialist were manually posting incoming or outgoing payments. However, if no document can be found or no document number is specified, an incoming or outgoing payment is still posted, but then as a payment on account posted. All other cases that go from account to account lead to the creation of a journal entry.
Pre-entered documents or post directly
When importing, we can also decide in advance whether we want prefabricated vouchers or whether we want to post directly. If we select prefabricated vouchers, standard, parked vouchers for journal entries, parked vouchers for invoices and parked payment vouchers for payments are created. This allows you to check and adjust the imported transactions at any time.
In many cases, this import function is used both for monthly payroll accounting and for regular data exchange with the tax office.
Overview of open items in SAP Business One
Some Versino Financial Suite users only post invoices in SAP Business One and then export the posting batches. Further postings, especially payments, are then made directly in DATEV. However, in order to always have an up-to-date overview of the open items in SAP Business One, the tax office returns the posting batches for these payments. This approach enables efficient collaboration and an accurate financial overview in SAP Business One, while detailed accounting is carried out in DATEV.
Transaction codes when importing SAP Business One
Another important aspect is the handling of transaction codes in journal entries during import. If desired, wage and salary entries can be assigned a specific transaction code during import. This setting can be made individually for each import or set as the default for all payroll postings in the system settings. Other postings can be assigned a different value accordingly.
Batch import from DATEV to SAP B1
For those who not only import individual files, but several files, as may be the case with annual financial statements, for example, it is possible to perform a batch import. These can be selected for import as an entire folder instead of individual files. In this way, you can process all saved posting batches in a single operation. Each imported file generates its own log file.
Improved SAP Business One export for DATEV
We have also optimised and expanded the export from SAP Business One compared to the SAP standard. The Financial Suite exports cost units, which is not the case in the SAP standard. In addition, the handling of taxes, where General reversal and when cancelling the automatic function, for correct account allocation, in order to facilitate the exchange with DATEV.
In addition, the add-on does not export zero bookings in order to eliminate irrelevant data.
Finally, the Versino Financial Suite transfers gross values instead of net values, which simplifies use in DATEV.
Export settings can be flexibly customised
However, the Versino Financial Suite offers the flexibility to adjust the export settings at any time, e.g. to the "All postings" option. Let's assume you export a month and send the data to the law firm. If corrections are required, many law firms prefer to receive a complete batch of postings for the month in question. In this case, you can export the entire month again after you have made all corrections or additions. To do this, select the option to re-export all postings, regardless of their status.
Cross-monthly export from SAP Business One to DATEV
Another significant adjustment concerns the export restrictions in accordance with DATEV specifications. DATEV requires that exports are limited to one month. This means that cross-month exports are not possible with the Versino Financial Suite. In DATEV, a batch of postings is usually created for one month, sometimes for a shorter period, but never across months. Our export module also allows you to filter postings according to their status. Every new posting in SAP Business One that has not yet been exported is assigned the status ?not exported?. This is also the default setting when opening the export, which initially only takes into account the bookings that have not yet been exported.
Booking errors and notes
Another feature of the Versino Financial Suite is the handling of so-called incorrect postings. These are handled differently in the Versino Financial Suite than in the SAP Business One standard. If postings cannot be exported in one line due to their specific composition, we generally use the Interim account 9999. This procedure is also known from the standard SAP add-on, where it is possible to store an interim account. Despite the use of this account, the balances of the individual accounts are transferred correctly and the interim account balances out to zero at the end. Such postings are classified as failed or failed.
Recognising problems before importing into DATEV
They are exported to a separate file, which makes it easier to check them. The cause of such problems often lies in the settings, and a separate file makes it easier to identify and check the corresponding bookings.
"Errors" are displayed in two colours. Errors are displayed in red, notes in yellow. These notes often relate to postings that have been entered and exported correctly in SAP Business One but can lead to problems in DATEV.
A typical example would be if the due date of a document is before the posting date. This is possible in SAP Business One, but not permitted in DATEV. Therefore, the due date of a document in DATEV cannot be before the document date. This function is therefore used to recognise and rectify potential problems or inconsistencies at an early stage before the data is transferred to DATEV.
The thing with split bookings
The difference between our solution and the SAP B1 standard DATEV Export lies in the handling of so-called split postings. In order to use the DATEV export of the SAP Business One standard, a basic requirement is to make a configuration in the company settings that has serious consequences. There you have to change the system setting ?Split journal entry by line item?</em activate. Instead of creating a single posting for an entire voucher, the system generates a separate posting for each voucher line.
Effect on postings in SAP Business One:
- Generation of more booking lines and a larger amount of data,
- Influencing the way in which reports and analyses can be created and interpreted,
- Potential impact on processing speed and system performance, depending on the volume of transactions and the performance of the system,
- Increased complexity in accounting for some companies due to the detailed breakdown and the increased number of postings.
The decision to activate this setting should therefore depend on the specific requirements of the company and the preferences of the accounting team. Being able to export the data to DATEV should not play a role.
Reason for 'Split journal entry by line item?
The reason for the mandatory setting "Split journal entry by line item" is simple: if you split journal entries by line item, this makes exporting much easier. This makes it easier to make the correct allocation to the revenue account and the corresponding posting to the account with the applicable tax. Without a precise analysis of the document origin of the journal entries, it would be almost impossible to allocate the correct amount to the correct revenue account with the correct tax. This is done in the Versino Financial Suite by means of complex checks and calculations.
Stay flexible with the Versino Finacial Suite
We wanted to retain the freedom of choice and flexibility of SAP Business One. In the Versino Financial Suite, it is not absolutely necessary to split the posting lines into document lines. Versino Financial Suite works with both variants
FAQs
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SAP Business One - Open items
GOBD and GOBD myths
IFRS & HGB with SAP Business One
Automatic journal entries in SAP Business One
