The DATEV accounting integration is only available in Germany. For more information about accounting integrations in other regions, see Lightspeed Accounting. 

Lightspeed Accounting now integrates directly with DATEV.

To use this integration, you’ll also need to connect both DATEV Kassenarchiv online and DATEV Unternehmen online. These two products ensure that your sales data transfers from your Lightspeed Restaurant account to your DATEV accounting software.

Connecting the DATEV accounting integration

To connect Lightspeed Accounting to DATEV:

1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed Restaurant credentials.
2. From the navigation menu, go to Integration > Accounting.
3. From the DATEV menu, click Connect integration.
4. Click Authorize.
5. Click Log in to DATEV.
6. Log in to your DATEV account.
7. Under Business location tenant, select the DATEV account you want to connect.
8. Click Continue.
9. Verify that the integration says Authorized.
10. Click Save.

Once you’ve connected your DATEV account to Lightspeed Accounting, continue by connecting your business to DATEV Kassenarchiv online.

Connecting DATEV Kassenarchiv online

To connect your business to DATEV Kassenarchiv online:

1. Log in to DATEV Kassenarchiv online.
2. Open DATEV Kassenarchiv online.
3. Click the folder corresponding to your business.
4. Verify that the kassenabschluss appears as both a ZIP file and a JSON file.
5. Click Details on the JSON file.
6. Review that your sales data transferred from your Lightspeed account. If your financial transactions are posted then you’ve successfully connected to DATEV Kassenarchiv online.

Once you’ve connected your business to DATEV Kassenarchiv online, continue by connecting DATEV Kassenarchiv online with DATEV Unternehmen online.

Connecting DATEV Kassenarchiv online with DATEV Unternehmen online

To connect DATEV Kassenarchiv online with DATEV Unternehmen online:

1. Log in to DATEV Unternehmen Online.
2. Click jetzt starten.
3. From the Anwendungen menu, open the Kassenbuch application.
4. Click Kasse anlegen to create a business folder.
5. Fill in the relevant fields with your business name and account number.
6. Click Speichern.
7. In another web browser, log in to DATEV Kassenarchiv online.
8. Open DATEV Kassenarchiv online.
9. From your business folder, click Verknüpfen to connect your kassenbuch.
10. Select the kassenbuch you’d like to connect to your business.
11. Click Speichern.

Once you’ve connected DATEV Kassenarchiv online with DATEV Unternehmen online, continue by connecting your business to DATEV Unternehmen online.

Connecting DATEV Unternehmen online

To connect your business to DATEV Unternehmen online:

1. Log in to DATEV Unternehmen Online.
2. Click jetzt starten.
3. From the Anwendungen menu, open the Kassenbuch application.
4. From the Kasse menu, open Kassenbewegungen anzeigen.
5. Review that your sales data transferred from your Lightspeed account. If your financial transactions are posted then you’ve successfully connected to DATEV Unternehmen online.
   

Once you’ve finished setting up the DATEV accounting integration, the data from your Lightspeed Restaurant account should automatically transfer to your DATEV accounting software.

Frequently asked questions

Setup

• You can create your Datev Kassenarchiv online account through the MeinFiskal portal.

• You need one DATEV license for each location, meaning if you have multiple locations then you will need multiple licenses.

• Your accounts are automatically mapped through the DATEV integration.

• To authorize the DATEV integration in Back Office, you will need to use your login details for your Datev Kassenarchiv online account.

• For detailed instructions on setting up your Datev Kassenarchiv online account and connecting Kassenbuch, refer to this guide from DATEV.

• As part of setting up the DATEV integration, the Kassenarchiv folder will be automatically created when the first archive is transferred, and you do not need to take any action to create it. Folders are created based on fiscal archives, which must have production transactions in them to create the folder. In cases where a merchant has not made any transactions since setting up the DATEV integration, a folder will not be created.

Data formatting and transmissions

• Yes, the DATEV integration transfers all transactional data, including cash movements and tips, from Lightspeed Restaurant to DATEV accounting.

• The Lightspeed Restaurant POS app sends data to DATEV at the end of each day. If the device and application are running, then the data will transfer at 5:30am. If the app is not left running, then the data will transfer the next time the Restaurant POS app is opened.

• The export includes all transactional data created while using K-Series. However, the starting and closing balances that you can enter when using the cash drawer are not transferred to DATEV. Cash lifts and cash drops are transmitted as part of the export.
• No, it's not possible to customize data grouping or configure a chart of accounts directly with this integration. Since the archive is based on the DSFinV-K export format which has specific requirements, additional mapping cannot be included directly in the export. However, according to DATEV, custom grouping and mapping can be achieved through a 'Learning File' (Lerndatei) in your bookkeeping system based on data from Kassenarchiv Online. To learn more about this process, refer to DATEV's Help Center.
• No, the DATEV integration doesn't support CSV exports. If you need CSV files, you'll need to use Omniboost instead.

• If you manually uploaded historical data that was created before your Cashbook connection date in DATEV Unternehmen online, you must manually initiate the transfer to Cashbook again. For detailed instructions, refer to section 3.1 in the DATEV Help Center.

  When you connect to Cashbook on a specific date (like January 5th) and try to upload data from before that date (like January 4th), the data will not transfer automatically to Cashbook and you will receive an error message since DATEV cannot determine whether you have already transferred this data to Cashbook or your tax consultant through another method.

  The specific error you'll see is: Prüfcode KB_010 Kassenabschlussdatum liegt vor dem Verknüpfungsdatum (Check code KB_010 Cash register closing date is before the link date). To learn more about this error, refer to the DATEV Help Center. 

  You can still transfer this historical data to Cashbook by manually triggering the transfer using the "repeat symbol" in your DATEV account. In this case, you'll need to trigger each file individually to complete the transfer process.

• No, the DATEV integration only transmits data from the moment it was activated onwards. Historical data prior to the integration setup cannot be sent.
  However, lower volumes of data, such as several weeks worth, can be manually uploaded to MeinFiskal by opening the relevant folder, and clicking 'Hochladen.' From the menu, select 'Kassenabschlüsse' (Cash Closures) and enter the time period of when the archive was created. The time period must be an exact match to upload correctly.
  DsfinVK archives are available from the Back Office by navigating Reports > Reports > German Tax Audit. The archive must be uploaded in its original form, without unzipping it. If you upload separate files, then the upload will not process correctly.

POS devices

• Yes, you can use the DATEV integration on multiple devices at the same time. All the data from these devices will be stored in a single folder, but each cash register will have its own separate archive and JSON files for each day.

• No, there is no limit to the number of active devices you can have at your location.

Troubleshooting

• If your MeinFiskal account only displays zip files, then DATEV hasn’t added the necessary configurations to this account. You will need to contact DATEV support and ask them to correct the issue.

• If you successfully completed the authorization process in Lightspeed Back Office, then the integration setup is likely not the issue with the data transmission. If you set up the integration on the same day as your inquiry, it may take until the next business day for your data to be transmitted from Lightspeed to DATEV. However, if even after the following day the data is still not available, then it could indicate a problem with your DATEV account. Insufficient device licenses or manually created folders are among the potential reasons for the data being unavailable.

• 1. If the Kassenarchiv folder was manually created:

  A manually created Kassenarchiv folder will have the Manuelle Archieverung function on, which would mean that the folder is waiting for manual data entries. However, the Kassenarchiv folder is meant to be created automatically as part of the integration setup. If the folder is manually created, then the integration will not work correctly, and data will not be transmitted from Lightspeed to DATEV. You will need to deactivate the manually created Kassenarchiv folder by clicking Verwalten > Kassenorndner deaktivieren. As soon as the folder is deactivated, inform the product team. Once the product team has completed some manual actions on Lightspeed’s side, you will have to re-set up the DATEV integration in Lightspeed Back Office.  Please note that you will only be able to re-set up the DATEV integration in Lightspeed Back Office after the previous folder is deactivated.

  2. If the Kassenarchiv folder was automatically created:

  One of the reasons why data might not be available in the Kassenarchiv folder is if the folder has the Manuelle Archieverung function on, which would mean that the folder is waiting for manual data entries. If this function is not enabled, then it could be an issue with the source data (DsFinVK) on Lightspeed’s side.

  Checking the transmission health dashboard

  Check the Datadog dashboard called “DATEV transmission health” to determine if you have an active DATEV license, or if there’s a problem with the field length in the DSGFinV-K.

  • Payment required: You must pay for your DATEV license. Once DATEV processes your payment, your data will resume transmission.
  • Value too long: The DATEV interface has a maximum value of 40 characters for entry fields, and exceeding it could cause sync problems. To identify if there’s a problematic area, tap the error line on the Datadog dashboard to open a view of the data transmission field. From this screen, select the entry you want to check. Depending on the time frame it might also be good to look at more than one message, if multiple are present.In the example, cashRegister.address.street is linked to a problem with the address. It’s possible to confirm this by downloading the DSFinV-K export for the respective day and checking the address value in the .csv files (for the above, it would be in location.csv).

  Checking if transaction data is present in the affected business location

  Check the affected period report in the Back Office. If it’s not available, then your shift hasn’t been closed correctly yet. Data can only be created and sent to DATEV once the shift ends. Next, you’ll need to check if the DSFinV-K export was generated successfully in the Back Office by navigating Reports > Reports > German Tax Audit, and downloading the DSFinV-K Export. If you’re able to download the report, check if there is transaction data present. The recommended file is ‘lines.csv’; and you want to be able to see more than just the header line. If you’re able to see same day data, then it should’ve been uploaded to DATEV. If you’re not able to see same day data, then it’s possible there’s no restaurant shift for that day. In such case, a DSFinV-K will still be created, but it won’t be sent to DATEV since it doesn’t contain any useful transaction related information.

  If you’re unable to download the export for that period, then there might’ve been an error during the report creation. If you see critical failures on this board after filtering for the respective business location and day in question, then we’re unable to generate the DSFinV-K for the respective day. For filtering on a date, keep in mind that the report is generated upon the period switch. So if you filter for the 25th of February, you will see errors impacting the 24th of February.