DATEV and CSV export: handing your restaurant figures to your tax advisor
You hand over your figures as a file instead of a shoebox: the Buchhaltung (accounting) area of your panel offers two exports – a CSV file in a Standard or a Kompakt variant, and a DATEV posting batch (Buchungsstapel) as a Standard-Export. You select the export you want and download the file; it is prepared for handover to your tax advisor. In addition, under Buchhaltung → Berichte you create a Tagesbericht (daily report), Monatsbericht (monthly report) or MwSt.-Bericht (VAT report) – each of them also as a PDF.
Where to find the exports in the panel
Everything on this topic sits in the accounting area: the exports themselves, Buchhaltung → Berichte for the reports, Buchhaltung → MwSt.-Sätze for the tax rates and Buchhaltung → Rechnungen for invoices with sequential numbers. The overview of these four building blocks is on Accounting & Invoices, and the step-by-step guide is under Export for the tax advisor: CSV & DATEV.
CSV export: Standard or Kompakt
The CSV file comes in two variants. Standard contains the data with all details, Kompakt a shortened version. CSV is a neutral table format: your tax advisor can process the file directly, and you can open it in a spreadsheet program yourself if you want to check individual rows. Which of the two variants is right depends on how much detail the practice wants to see – settle that once, and it stays settled.
DATEV export: the posting batch
If your practice works with DATEV, you create a DATEV posting batch. It is provided as a Standard-Export: select the export, download the file, done. Your tax advisor then processes the file in their own system instead of entering your orders by hand.
Reports as PDF: day, month, VAT
Under Buchhaltung → Berichte you choose the report you need:
- Tagesbericht – the sales of a single day,
- Monatsbericht – the overview of a month,
- MwSt.-Bericht – the tax shares summarised.
Each of these reports can also be output as a PDF – for your records and for the conversation with your tax advisor. The guide is under Reports: day, month & VAT
For the export to be correct: assign the VAT rates first
An export is only as good as the rates behind it. Under Buchhaltung → MwSt.-Sätze you assign each category a rate – for example 7 %, 19 % or a custom rate; a built-in guide helps with the classification (food often 7 %, drinks often 19 %). A rate set on an individual dish takes precedence over the category rate. Important: a rate is never assumed automatically. If a category is left without an assignment, it stays untaxed and you see a warning notice. So assign every category before you go live. More on this on VAT in the restaurant and in the guide Set VAT rates per category.
Small business owners under Section 19 UStG
If you selected Kleinunternehmer (§ 19 UStG) in your business details, no VAT is shown – instead of the VAT row, the corresponding notice appears. Receipts, invoices and reports follow that setting, so the exported figures match what your guests received.
Receipts and invoices match the exported figures
Every order automatically produces a Beleg (receipt) with the line items, a deposit line (Pfand, if present) and the VAT breakdown or the small business notice; it carries the note that it is not an invoice within the meaning of Section 14 UStG. A genuine Rechnung (invoice) is created under Buchhaltung → Rechnungen from the Bestellnummer (order number): with sequential numbering without gaps, as a PDF, and cancellation and correction remain traceable. The difference is explained on Receipt and invoice for guests.
Old orders are not recalculated retroactively
The tax rate of an order is fixed at the time of the order. If you change a rate later, that applies to new orders; older ones stay as they were shown to the guests at the time. Very old orders from before this storage carry the open note (geschätzt), meaning estimated, on the invoice PDF.
What your tax advisor decides
The system supplies the data and the format – the assessment stays with your tax advisor. Which chart of accounts applies, how postings are made and which of the two files the practice prefers to receive is something you settle once at the start. And check for yourself that every category really has a rate before the first month is closed: the warning notice shows missing assignments, and only your assignment makes it disappear.
Who benefits from this?
Any business that mixes food and drinks and therefore needs 7 % and 19 % cleanly separated. Anyone who hands figures to a practice every month and has so far done that with retyped lists or screenshots. Businesses with delivery and pickup, whose sales from both routes should come together in the same evaluation. And small business owners under Section 19 UStG whose receipts must stay free of any VAT statement. If you are working through your own ordering page anyway, these figures arise as a by-product – see Ordering system without commission.
Frequently asked questions
How do I export my restaurant figures for my tax advisor?
In the accounting area of your panel you select the export you want and download the file: a CSV file in the Standard or Kompakt variant, or a DATEV posting batch as a Standard-Export. The file is prepared for handover to your tax advisor.
Is there a DATEV export for my restaurant?
Yes. The DATEV export produces a posting batch as a Standard-Export. You select the export, download the file and pass it to your tax advisor, who processes it in their own system.
What is the difference between CSV Standard and CSV Kompakt?
The CSV export Standard contains the data with all details, the Kompakt variant a shortened version. Both are CSV files that your tax advisor can process directly; which variant fits is something you agree once with the practice.
Do I get sales separated into 7 % and 19 %?
That is what the MwSt.-Bericht under Buchhaltung → Berichte is for: it summarises the tax shares for the selected period and can also be output as a PDF. It is based on the rates you assigned to the categories.
What happens if a category has no VAT rate?
Then that category stays untaxed, because a rate is never assumed automatically. Under Buchhaltung → MwSt.-Sätze you see a warning notice for it, so assign the missing rate before you go live.
Do old orders change if I change a tax rate later?
No. The tax rate is fixed at the time of the order, and a later change applies only to new orders. Very old orders from before this storage carry the note (geschätzt), meaning estimated, on the invoice PDF.
Does the DATEV and CSV export replace my tax advisor?
No. The export supplies the data in a suitable format; the posting, the chart of accounts and the tax assessment remain the responsibility of your tax advisor. Settle at the start which file the practice prefers.
More on this: Accounting & Invoices · VAT in the restaurant · Receipt and invoice for guests