GoBD-compliant exportThe technical building blocks for proper bookkeeping
finHero delivers your payment data from Stripe, PayPal & Co. so that it fits cleanly into a GoBD-compliant process: immutable export packages with a SHA-256 checksum, historised ECB rates, complete receipt linking and a process documentation (Verfahrensdokumentation) template. You and your tax firm share responsibility for GoBD compliance as a whole.
GoBD in plain language
The GoBD principles clearly explained
The GoBD (German principles for the proper keeping and retention of electronic books and records) describe how electronic books and records must be kept and retained. Behind the unwieldy name are six principles that can each be explained in one sentence.
Traceability
A knowledgeable third party must be able to follow every business transaction from receipt to booking within a reasonable time – and back.
Completeness
All business transactions are recorded – none missing, none duplicated. That includes fees, refunds and chargebacks.
Accuracy
Every booking reflects the actual transaction: correct amount, correct date, correct account, correct tax.
Timely booking
Business transactions are recorded promptly and assigned to the correct period – not months later from memory.
Orderliness
Bookings and receipts are filed systematically and can be found, for example via a unique reference.
Immutability
Once recorded, data must not be changed in a way that makes the original content impossible to determine.
Stripe & PayPal
GoBD-compliant export: what it means for payment data in practice
Payment service providers generate many individual transactions but only pay out aggregate amounts. This is exactly where typical GoBD gaps arise:
| Principle | Typical risk | What a clean export delivers |
|---|---|---|
| Traceability | Only the payout is booked; the individual payments behind it can no longer be identified. | Every booking carries the provider's transaction ID; payouts clear the cash-in-transit account (Geldtransitkonto). |
| Completeness | Fees, refunds or chargebacks are missing because they don't appear as separate transactions. | Payments, fees, refunds, disputes and payouts are exported as separate bookings. |
| Accuracy | Foreign currencies are converted at some arbitrary daily rate; totals don't match the provider. | Conversion at the ECB reference rate of the receipt date; every export is reconciled against the Stripe balance report. |
| Timely booking | Payment data is entered once a year after the fact. | Monthly exports; retroactive exports for past periods are possible. |
| Orderliness | Invoice PDFs are scattered across the dashboard with no link to the booking. | Receipts as PDFs plus a receipt list, linked to the booking via the transaction ID. |
| Immutability | CSV files are edited in Excel after download. | SHA-256 checksum per export package; finalization (Festschreibung) of the booking batch in DATEV at the tax firm. |
Auditable chain
From the payout back to the individual payment
An auditor sees a payout of 232,38 € on the bank statement. In the booking batch, they find two payments, two fees and one refund for it – each with a transaction ID and a linked receipt. 119,00 + 238,00 − 2,04 − 3,58 − 119,00 = 232,38 €: the cash-in-transit account is then at zero.
- Auditable forwards: receipt → booking → payout
- Auditable backwards: payout → bookings → receipts
- Account assignment per SKR03, SKR04 or your own accounts – agree this with your tax firm
What the bookings look like in detail is shown in the Stripe DATEV export and in the guide Booking Stripe in your accounting. For the account assignment of fees, see Booking Stripe fees.
| Amount € | Account | Contra account | Booking text |
|---|---|---|---|
| 119,00 | 1460 | 4400 | Payment · pi_3Nq…kL2 |
| 2,04 | 6855 | 1460 | Stripe fee · pi_3Nq…kL2 |
| 238,00 | 1460 | 4400 | Payment · pi_3Nr…8xQ |
| 3,58 | 6855 | 1460 | Stripe fee · pi_3Nr…8xQ |
| 119,00 | 4400 | 1460 | Refund · re_3Ns…2fA |
| 232,38 | 1800 | 1460 | Payout · po_1Nt…Vb4 |
The building blocks
What finHero contributes to your GoBD compliance
Six technical building blocks that make the path of your payment data into accounting traceable and immutable.
Immutable thanks to SHA-256
On creation, every export package receives a cryptographic fingerprint (SHA-256) that is stored in the database. Any subsequent change to the file thus becomes provable.
Locking in DATEV
DATEV booking batches are handed over with a locking flag – the locking itself happens audit-proof in your firm's accounting system.
Historised ECB rates
Foreign-currency bookings are converted at the ECB reference rate of the receipt date. The rates used are stored – every conversion is reproducible at any time.
Receipt linking
Every booking references the payment provider's original transaction ID and – where available – the receipt PDF. Verifiable both ways: receipt → booking → receipt.
Procedural documentation template
A fillable template for the sub-process “payment service provider → financial accounting” helps you build up your procedural documentation in line with GoBD.
Machine-analysable (Z3)
The exports are available in analysable formats (CSV/XML) and can be handed over to the tax authorities on a data medium.
Process documentation
Process documentation for the payment data export
The GoBD require process documentation (Verfahrensdokumentation): a description of how data in your company is created, processed, booked and retained. It is usually divided into four parts.
General description
Which business transactions exist, which systems are involved, how does the data flow?
User documentation
Who does what – triggering the export, checking it, handing it over to the tax firm?
Technical system documentation
Interfaces, data formats, account assignment rules and checksums.
Operational documentation
Data backup, archiving, permissions and how errors are handled.
The template for your sub-process
finHero provides a fillable template for the sub-process “payment service provider → financial accounting”. It is not a finished document but a framework that you fill in with your own workflows. Typically, you describe:
- Which payment providers are connected and with which permissions (read-only access)
- How often exports are run and who is responsible for them
- Which accounts and rules apply to payments, fees and refunds
- How receipts are linked to bookings
- How the handover to the tax firm and the finalization work
- Where the export packages and their checksums are archived
Retention
Retaining export packages in line with the GoBD
Booking batches, receipts and the receipt list are part of the records you are required to retain. The statutory retention periods apply to them – which period applies to which record is best clarified with your tax firm.
- Archive the export package unchanged as a ZIP file – don't unpack, rename and re-zip it.
- Document the checksum together with the package so that it can later be proven unchanged.
- Retain receipts in their electronic form – a printout does not replace the file.
- Make sure the data remains readable and machine-evaluable for the entire retention period.
- Define access and responsibilities: who exports, who hands over, who archives?
$ sha256sum finhero-export-2026-09.zip
9f2c4e…b71a finhero-export-2026-09.zipTax audit
Tax audit and data access with a GoBD-compliant export
During a tax audit, the tax authorities may access your tax-relevant electronic data. There are three types of data access:
Z1 – direct access
The auditor views the data in the system themselves, read-only.
Z2 – indirect access
You or your tax firm evaluate the data according to the auditor's specifications.
Z3 – data carrier provision
The data is handed over in a machine-evaluable form. finHero exports are available as CSV/XML for this purpose.
So keep the export packages for a period complete and ready. Using the transaction IDs, an auditor can trace samples back to the original transaction at the payment provider.
In 3 steps
How the export works
Connect payment provider
Connect Stripe via the finHero app in the Stripe App Marketplace, and PayPal, Mollie, Adyen, Paddle or Lemon Squeezy via API key – each with read-only access only.
Create export
finHero generates the booking batch, receipts and receipt list – each package with a SHA-256 checksum and transaction references.
Hand over to the firm
Your firm imports and locks the entries. You keep the unchanged export package in accordance with the retention period.
Checklist
Checklist: GoBD-compliant export of your payment data
Go through these points with your tax firm before you start exporting regularly.
- All payment providers in use are connected – including the “small” PayPal account.
- Payments, fees, refunds, chargebacks and payouts are booked separately.
- Every booking carries a unique reference to the original transaction.
- Receipts are linked to the bookings and complete.
- Foreign currencies are converted according to a fixed, documented rule.
- Exports are made regularly, at least monthly.
- The export packages are archived unchanged with a checksum.
- The booking batch is finalized in DATEV.
- The process documentation describes the sub-process and is up to date.
Honestly: GoBD is a process, not a seal
finHero delivers the technical building blocks – immutability, receipt linking, reproducible rates and a procedural documentation template. Whether your overall process is GoBD-compliant, however, also depends on your organisation, your retention and the cooperation with your tax advisory. Responsibility for this lies with the company and its tax advisor. That is why we deliberately do not claim to be “GoBD-certified” – no such certificate exists.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about GoBD-compliant exports
Is finHero GoBD-certified?
No – and no tool can be, because there is no official GoBD certificate. finHero provides technical building blocks such as SHA-256 checksums, receipt linking, reproducible ECB rates and a process documentation template. Whether your overall process is GoBD-compliant is the responsibility of your company together with your tax advisor.
Is the CSV export from the Stripe dashboard sufficient for the GoBD?
A raw export contains the data, but no booking logic, no receipt linking and no proof that it is unchanged. If it is edited manually, it is hard to prove what was changed. What matters is the entire path from transaction to booking – and that it is documented.
What does immutability mean for an export?
Data must not be changed in a way that loses the original content. When creating the export package, finHero calculates a SHA-256 checksum over it and stores it. The actual finalization of the bookings takes place in DATEV at your tax firm.
How long do I need to retain the export packages?
The statutory retention periods for accounting receipts and books apply. Which period applies in your specific case and when it starts is best agreed with your tax firm.
Do I need process documentation for Stripe?
The GoBD require process documentation for all processes that handle tax-relevant data – and that includes the path from the payment provider into accounting. The finHero template helps you describe this sub-process.
What can I present during a tax audit?
The archived export packages with booking batch, receipts and receipt list in a machine-evaluable form (CSV/XML), plus the checksums and your process documentation. Using the transaction IDs, samples can be traced back to the original transaction.
Can I export past periods cleanly for the GoBD after the fact?
Yes, retroactive exports are possible. Clarify beforehand with your tax firm how periods that have already been booked or finalized will be handled, so that nothing is booked twice.
Does this also apply to PayPal, Mollie and other providers?
Yes. In addition to Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Adyen, Paddle and Lemon Squeezy can be connected via API key with read-only access. The building blocks – transaction reference, checksum, ECB rates – apply to all exports.
Any more questions? Go to the knowledge base
Read more
Payment data that stands up to a tax audit
Create your first export for free – with checksum, receipt linking and procedural documentation template.
Create your first export for free7-day free trial · cancel monthly
