DATEV <> Odoo integration : User documentation

The following documentation will provide you with the information you need to use the much. DATEV <> Odoo integration. The objective is to get you familiarised with the integration by providing relevant information as to the main business processes it covers, and how you can configure it to best suits your needs.

Pre-requisites

Services subscription (only for API)

DATEV Services

To be able to send transaction data, master data and PDF documents to DATEV data center, you must first subscribe to the following data services : 

• DATEV Buchungsdatenservice (DATEV official help article)
• DATEV Unternehmen online (DATEV official help article)

You also need a way to authenticate to DATEV, such as DATEV SmartCard / DATEV mIDentity or DATEV SmartLogin.

much. Subscription 

When you purchase the DATEV API module from much. you'll receive an API key by email (1 by Odoo instance used)
Store this key securely, as it will be needed during the integration setup.

Odoo dependencies

To use the much. Odoo to DATEV Integration please make sure that in your database you have the following Odoo standard modules : 

• Accounting - account_accountant
• Germany Accounting - l10n_de

Install the modules

Install the integration modules

From the Apps, install the following modules :

• much_account_datev_base
• much_account_datev_csv_export
• much_account_datev_csv_import
• much_account_datev_xml_export
• much-integration-hub (*)
• much-datev-integration (*)

(*)Only if you purchased the API export.

Activate the integration (Only for API)

• Go to Integration Hub > Settings and make sure the following settings are enabled : 
• • iHub Logs
  • iHub Jobs 
  • iHub Queue

• Go to DATEV Export, scroll to the bottom of the page and add the Subscription key received by email for the related Odoo instance.

• Back to the Integrations tab, click New
• Add an integration name.
• In the Integration Type field, select DATEV.
• In the Company field, select the Odoo company that this integration will be applied to. 

• Click Save.

Configuration

The much. Odoo to DATEV Integration allows you to export master data, transaction data and PDF documents. The export can be configured to match your accounting needs.

Consultant & Client number

To start using the integration, as well as export DATEV compliant files, you must fill in your DATEV consultant and client number. To do so : 

• Go to Settings > Users & Companies > Companies.
• In the company form, fill out the L10N De Datev Consultant Number and L10N De Datev Client Number fields.

• Click Save.

 DATEV Settings

To configure the structure of the file that will be sent to DATEV via API or manually exported, please navigate to Settings > DATEV Export.

General Accounts

• Length General Accounts : configure the length of the account codes. The length must match the one used in DATEV by your tax accountant.  If the code length has more digits than in Odoo, the account code will be extended by 0 in the end.

Personal Accounts 

• Direct bookings : exports entries booked directly on receivable/ payable accounts instead of the partner account.
• Receivable format : range at which the generation of debtor numbers should start.
• Payable format : range at which the generation of creditor numbers should start.

                                Example of DATEV partner identifiers for ranges 10,000 and 70,000

• DATEV partner number generation : select if you want the number automatically generated on posting of first entry (default) or during the first export.

The generation will automatically set the number to the lowest available number within the range.

Column Configuration

The module allows you to edit the columns that will be exported in the accounting entries and master data files.

• List of columns in the DATEV export for accounting entries.

By default, all the field supported by DATEV are present as headers. The integration currently assign values to the following fields : 

Additional Accounting Entry Fields

These are the fields available in the module that are not included in the default export setup. You can add them to your export configuration.

• List of columns in the DATEV export for master data.

By default, all the field supported by DATEV are present as headers. The integration currently assign values to the following fields : 

Additional Partner Data Fields

These are the fields available in the module that are not included in the default export setup. You can add them to your export configuration.

Analytic Account - Export

In the accounting entries export file, you can use columns AK (KOST 1 - Kostenstelle) and AL (KOST 2 - Kostenstelle) to assign cost centers to your entries.

Since DATEV only allows the configuration of 2 cost centers, we allow to configure the corresponding Analytic Plans in Odoo. 

Configuration of cost centers in the DATEV export settings

Cost assignment on a vendor bill

Code of the analytic account in the DATEV export

Disable Automation

By default, if you manually remove taxes on an entry booked on an automated account, we will add 40 as value in column I (BU-Schlüssel). This will prevent that it will be added au in DATEV again, due to the automated nature of the account.

Integration Settings (Only for API)

Now that the DATEV structure has been configured, you can configure the integration, by going to Integration Hub > DATEV Integration > Integration Settings.

Connection Settings

• Make sure that your consultant and client number are correct. If not, you can click on Company Settings to adjust them.

Export Settings

• Export Frequency : choose at what frequency the automated action that will send your accounting entries and master data will run.
• Journals to Export : choose which journals should be exported to DATEV.
•  Data Selection for Export: Within the integration settings (Integration Hub -> Integrations -> DATEV -> Export Settings), you can precisely select which types of data to include in the API export:

• • Export Master Data (Partners)

  • Export Accounting Entries (Journal Entries)

  • Export PDF Documents (Invoice/Bill PDFs)

Note: If no data type is selected, the integration will be automatically disabled.

• Configurable Export Start Date:

• • A new Export Start Date field has been added under Integration Hub -> Integrations -> DATEV -> Export Settings.

  • This date defines the earliest point from which automated (scheduled) exports will gather data. 

• The PDF Export option (Optional/Mandatory) determines if the entire export job fails when a required PDF is missing.

• A PDF Size Limit can be set to prevent attempting to upload excessively large files.

• When Export PDF Documents is enabled, you can now configure the Category, Folder, and Register used when uploading PDFs to DATEV Unternehmen Online (Belegverwaltung) via the API. These settings are found under Integration Hub -> Integrations -> DATEV -> Export Settings.

Authenticate to DATEV (Only for API)

As a last step to enable the integration to run, you must authenticate to DATEV.  

Get your access token

• Go to Integration Hub > DATEV > Integration Settings. 
• Click Get Access Token.

• Login to DATEV with your preferred login method.

• Once login is successful, the token status will be green. 

• You can revoke the access to DATEV anytime by clicking "Revoke Tokens".

Enable the integration

• Once you are connected to DATEV, simply click Enable Integration. The integration status will go from Inactive to Active.
• You can turn off the integration at any time, either by clicking Disable Integration or by clicking Revoke Tokens. 

Usage

Automated DATEV API Export

Scheduled Exports

As mentioned before, the integration will automatically send your financial data and related PDFs on the configured frequency and journals. 
If needed, you can also trigger the API export manually : 

• Go to Integration Hub > DATEV and click Export via API (you have to be authenticated to see the action) 

• Select the journals and timeframe you want to export to DATEV.

• Click Export.

• After a few seconds (or minutes if you have a lot of data), you can go to the logs to see the status of your export : 

Error Handling

• Email Notification for Critical Errors

Configuration for Receiving Notifications

1. User rights 
   
   

To ensure a user receives these critical error notifications:

1. 1. Navigate to Settings > Users & Companies > Users.

   2. Select the desired user.

   3. Under the "Access Rights" tab, ensure they are part of the Administration / Settings group.

   4. Verify that a valid email address is configured for the user.
      
      
      

2. Email scheduled action

Email sending is managed by a scheduled action called ' DATEV: Send Grouped Critical Error Emails' 
To find and manage this scheduled action, please navigate to your DATEV integration > Scheduled Actions : 

• Fail safe for Token Failure

The connection to the DATEV API relies on OAuth 2.0 tokens that expire and need to be refreshed periodically. The system handles this automatically. However, if the token refresh process fails for any reason (e.g., a change in credentials, an issue on DATEV's side, or if the authorization was revoked), the following actions are triggered automatically:

1. Email Notification: An email is sent to the system administrators, informing them of the token failure.

2. Token Revocation: To maintain security, the module attempts to revoke the invalid token with the DATEV service.

3. Integration Deactivation: The DATEV integration in Odoo is automatically set to an "Inactive" state. This prevents further failed attempts and makes it clear that user intervention is required.

4. Scheduled Exports Deactivation: All scheduled exports are disabled. This prevents other integrations from failing if the same token error is occurring.

To resolve this, you will need to go back to the integration settings (Integration Hub > Integrations > Your DATEV Integration) and click Get Access Token again to re-authorize the connection and enable the integration. You then need to click "Re-activate Scheduled Exports" to enable the integration automated exports.

Manual DATEV Export

Our module also allows you to export DATEV data manually, either in CSV, CSV + PDFs, or XML. 

Single Record Export

You can export the DATEV file for a specific entry. To do so :

• Go to Accounting, open the entry you want to export and click on Actions.

• Click the Download DATEV File button, and in the pop up, select the desired format.

• Click Download.

General Ledger Export

You can also export all your entry for specific journals and timeframe. To do so: 

• Go to Accounting > Reporting > General Ledger.
• Use the filters to select your desired Journals and time period. By default, already exported entries will be excluded. If you want to include them, simply click the filter option and select Include Exported Entries. 

• Once done with your filtering, click on the down arrow or testing wheel on the top left corner, and select Download DATEV File. 

• In the wizard, select the desired format . 
• The wizard shows the total move count and allows you to specify the range (e.g., 1 to 1000) for the current download batch.
• A "Next Batch" button is provided in the wizard to easily proceed to the subsequent batch range after downloading the current one.

Filtering Options (DATEV Export Fields)

Export Fields for Invoices & Journal Entries : 

- Export Date (`datev_export_date`): Shows when the record was last exported to CSV format

   ✅ Use this to filter records that haven't been exported yet

   📅 Helps track when exports occurred for auditing

- API Export Status (`exported_to_datev_api`): Indicates successful transfer via DATEV API

   ✅ Set to checked after successful API upload

   🔄 Prevents duplicate API transfers

- PDF Export Status (`pdf_exported_to_datev`): Tracks if invoice PDFs were uploaded

  📄 Only for documents with attachments

  ✅ Set after successful PDF upload to DATEV

- Transfer Attempted (`transfer_attempted`): Shows if an export was tried (even if failed)

   ⚠️ Useful for troubleshooting failed exports

  🔍 Helps identify records that need attention

- XML Export Status (`datev_xml_exported`): Marks completed XML exports

- XML Export Date (`datev_xml_export_date`): Timestamp of XML generation

Export Fields for Contacts (Partners):

- Export Status (`exported_to_datev`): Shows if contact master data was exported

- Export Date (`exported_to_datev_date`): When the contact was exported

- API Export Status (`exported_to_datev_api`): Indicates API transfer completion

DATEV Import

The module also gives you the ability to Import data that was previously exported from DATEV. This is useful for example when you first setup your Odoo, to register all your existing partners and their respective DATEV partner id. 

To import a DATEV file in Odoo : 

• Go to Accounting > Accounting and click Import DATEV CSV. 

• In the pop-up, fill the following information 

• • Counter-Account : Gegenkonto.
  • DATEV Import journal: If you don't have 1 created yet, you must create one and select the Is DATEV Import Journal option. 

• • Select the Year and Month of the Import.
  • Upload your file and click Import Files.