By integrating DATEV and Factorial, you will be able to sync data such as new hires, personal data changes and contractual changes easily, without having to duplicate the data entry in both systems.
What is DATEV?
DATEV is a registered german corporate society (eG), who a software company and IT service provider for tax consultants, auditors, lawyers, and their clients. With their payroll softwares DATEV LODAS and DATEV Lohn und Gehalt, they are the leading the german market for SMBs. One of their unique features is, that they are integrated with the German tax authorities, thereby ensuring payroll compliance.
How to sync data between DATEV and Factorial?
We give you the control to decide what data to sync and when to sync it this process is not automatic. You can perform the sync in the Payroll section of Factorial.
New hires
When a new employee is created in Factorial, an update will automatically appear in the Payroll > Employee Updates section.
- Open the employee update, review the employee’s information.
- Validate the details by ensuring all mandatory fields are complete.
- Once everything is correct, click the ‘Sync to DATEV’ button to sync the data.
Important: If mandatory fields for the synchronization are missing, they will be listed in the banner shown and you will not be able to sync the employee before entering the data.
Personal data changes
Whenever an employee’s details are modified in Factorial, the system creates an update in the Payroll > Employee Updates section.
- Open the employee update and review the changes made.
- Validate the information to ensure the updated data is correct.
- Once confirmed, click ‘Sync to DATEV’ to send the update.
Contract changes
Whenever an employees contract is modified in Factorial, the system crates an update in the Payroll > Employee Update section.
- Open the employee update and review the changes made.
- Validate the information to ensure the updated data is correct.
- Once confirmed, click ‘Sync to DATEV’ to send the update.
Please note that data changes and new employees will be automatically displayed in DATEV after the sync. Therefore, please make sure to be aligned with our tax consultant on this process.
If the tax consultant would like to check the data before it is synced, they will be able to review the data and sync it themselves by using Factorial Professionals.
How to set up the integration?
Requirements
To enable the DATEV integration in Factorial, some preparation is required in collaboration with your tax consultant. Please make sure all prerequisites are fulfilled before starting the setup process in Factorial. This ensures a smooth integration and avoids delays.
If you have any questions about these requirements, feel free to contact your dedicated payroll consultant.
Important: The setup process varies slightly depending on whether your payroll is managed internally (Selbstbucher) or handled by an external tax consultant.
Start by identifying who manages your DATEV account:
- If your company has its own DATEV administrator, you can complete the setup steps independently.
- If your tax consultant manages the DATEV account, they must order and authorize the necessary data services on your behalf.
By the end of the setup process, you will either have a DATEV Smartlogin (app) or a DATEV SmartCard (USB stick) for which the authorization to use the wage data exchange service (”Lohnaustauschdatenservice”) is activated. Usually, your tax consultant will need to activate this for you.
Order Lohnaustauschdatenservice
To use tha DATEV integration (both LODAS and Lohn und Gehalt), the DATEV Lohnaustauschdatenservice ist required.
Please make sure that this service is ordered and activated by your tax consultant.
Consultant and client number
Please ensure you know which consultant number (Beraternummer) and client number (Mandantenummer) you want to conntect the integration with. If the integration is to be created for multiple client numbers, the connection can be set up at the same time for all of them, as long as you are using the same Beraternummer. Please make sure to also know which payroll programm (Lohnprogramm) - DATEV LODAS or DATEV Lohn und Gehalt - you are using.
Your tax consultant can give this information to you.
Configure Authorization
To set up the integration in Factorial, you need a DATEV SmartLogin or SmartCard, that has been granted access to the Lohnaustauschdatenservice. This authorization can be granted in the Online Rights Management (Rechteverwaltung Online) by the tax consultant or an internal DATEV admin.
Install the integration
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Install integration in the Factorial Marketplace
- Go to Factorial Integration Marketplace and click on DATEV - this works for both LODAS and Lohn und Gehalt.
- Click on Install in the upper right corner.
- Enter relevant data for the setup
After clicking on ‘Install integration’, the settings page will come up. You will be guide through the following steps:
- Step 1: Login to DATEV via SmartCard or SmartLogin
- Step 2: Enter consultant number (Beraternummer) and client number(s) (Mandatennummern), select payroll programm (DATEV LODAS or DATEV Lohn und Gehalt)
- Step 3: Connect the business units of Factorial with the “Beschäftigungsbetriebe” in DATEV (the ones in the drop down are the once that are set up in DATEV. If needed, ask your tax consultant for clarification on this). This page can take a while to load. If there is an error connecting to DATEV, this will be shown here.
- Step 4: Map the wage types in Factorial to the wage types in DATEV (the ones in the drop down are the once that are set up in DATEV. If needed, ask your tax consultant for clarification on this).
These settings can always be reviewed once you go back to the integration and access the settings.
In order to be able to use the DATEV integration successfully, make sure to add the "Mitarbeitercode DATEV-API" for all employees (this field can be found unter personal data in the employee profile). You can either do this manually or via the importer, by clicking on the three dots under "organization," selecting "Edit employees," downloading the file for the respective legal entity, and adding the field for all employees in the file, before importing it again.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often can I sync data with DATEV?
You can sync data from Factorial to DATEV at any time. Since the process is not automatic, you have full control over when and what data is sent.
Additional note: When you sync a new hire to DATEV, any updates to their personal or contractual information can only be synced starting from the following month. Changes made in the same month as the initial new hire sync cannot be transferred until the next sync cycle.
Can I undo a synchronization?
Once data has been transferred to DATEV, it cannot be undone from Factorial. If errors occur, corrections must be made in DATEV directly or by resending the corrected data from Factorial.
What happens if I try to sync an employee that already exists in DATEV?
If an employee already exists in DATEV, the integration will not allow you to sync it to DATEV to prevent duplicate entries and ensure accurate data synchronization.
Who should manage the DATEV integration?
The DATEV integration should be managed by HR professionals and payroll administrators who have access to both Factorial and DATEV. Coordination with your tax advisor may also be necessary for setup and troubleshooting.
Can I synchronize data on bulk?
No, every employee update has to be send individually to make sure that the data is correct for each of them.