GoCardless DATEV exportFrom the bundled payout to a clean booking batch
GoCardless collects your SEPA Direct Debits and pays them out in bundles. This guide shows how every payout lands in DATEV broken down into payments, fees, chargebacks and refunds – with the invoice number in Belegfeld 1 so your open items are cleared automatically.
Why GoCardless is different
Direct debit collection is not an invoicing tool
With Stripe or Lexware Office there is a receipt for every payment. Not with GoCardless: it collects what your invoicing software or app instructs and transfers the result in bundles. Three things make the accounting special.
Payout instead of single payment
GoCardless collects direct debits into a balance and usually pays it out in bundles every working day. The bank shows the total – only the GoCardless API delivers the items.
Fees are deducted, not debited
GoCardless fees, surcharge fees and partner fees reduce the payout directly. Whoever only books the bank amount books net – and loses the expense.
The invoice lives elsewhere
GoCardless knows neither invoice PDF nor VAT. The invoice comes from your invoicing software into DATEV, the payment from GoCardless – both have to find each other via the invoice number.
Why SEPA Direct Debit is still worth it – and what it saves compared to credit card and PayPal – is covered in the article Collect payments cheaper.
In 3 steps
How GoCardless gets into DATEV
Connect once, store the accounts, export – after that the export runs automatically every month if you want.
Connect with GoCardless
Click "Connect with GoCardless" in the settings and sign in at GoCardless. finHero only gets read access (scope read_only) – it cannot trigger debits or payouts. The access token is stored AES-256-GCM encrypted.
Store accounts & taxation method
Enter the GoCardless account (e.g. 1816 SKR04), cash-in-transit account (e.g. 1467), debtor account and fee account and choose your taxation method. Optional: a separate account for partner fees and a pattern for the invoice number.
Create the export – DATEV CSV import (EXTF)
Choose period and format – DATEV (EXTF), BMD, bexio or Abacus – and download the booking batch. With auto-export enabled, finHero creates the batch by itself every month, together with Stripe, PayPal, Mollie & co.
Tip: agree the accounts with your tax firm once. The account numbers mentioned are common SKR04 examples, not requirements.
The data flow
From payout via the cash-in-transit account to the entry
finHero starts from payouts, not payments. That way every entry matches the line on your bank statement and the GoCardless account nets to zero per payout.
- The date the payout arrives on your bank account is decisive – it is also the document date of all payment and fee entries.
- Every payout is broken down into its items: payments, fees, chargebacks, refunds – nothing is netted.
- Fees are assigned to their payment and booked right before it, with the same invoice number.
- Additional information on every entry: transaction ID, payout ID and collection date – for checks in DATEV.
How an export runs
- Read payoutsAll payouts with status "paid" whose arrival date lies in the period.
- Break down itemsPayments, fees, chargebacks, refunds per payout.
- Assign accounts & invoice numberAccounts, booking keys, Belegfeld 1 from the payment reference.
- Generate booking batchDATEV EXTF, BMD, bexio or Abacus – import-ready.
Booking example
SEPA Direct Debit in DATEV: one payout as a booking example (SKR04)
Two collected direct debits, their fees, one chargeback and the payout to the bank account. Accounts: 1816 GoCardless, 1467 cash in transit, 10000 debtor, 6855 fees – examples you agree with your tax firm.
- Payment: GoCardless account to debtor, invoice number in Belegfeld 1 – the open item is cleared.
- Fee: fee account to GoCardless account, right before its payment, with your fee booking key.
- Chargeback: debtor to GoCardless account – the open item is reopened.
- Payout: cash in transit to GoCardless account for the bank amount – the GoCardless account is at zero.
The math: 119.00 + 4,760.00 − 1.20 − 47.00 − 119.00 = 4,711.80 € payout. How fees and partner fees are booked in detail is covered in Booking GoCardless fees; where the invoice number comes from in Invoice number & Belegfeld 1.
| Amount € | Account | Contra account | Booking text |
|---|---|---|---|
| 119,00 | 1816 | 10000 | Payment · RE-1234 |
| 1,20 | 6855 | 1816 | GoCardless fee · RE-1234 |
| 4.760,00 | 1816 | 10000 | Payment · RE-1240 |
| 47,00 | 6855 | 1816 | GoCardless fee · RE-1240 |
| 119,00 | 10000 | 1816 | Chargeback · RE-1198 |
| 4.711,80 | 1467 | 1816 | Payout to bank account |
Transfer received
"GoCardless SAS" on the bank statement: booking the credit via the cash-in-transit account
On the bank statement the sender of the payout reads "GoCardless SAS" – GoCardless's European entity (Paris) through which merchants in the EU are paid out. The credit is your payout; this is how it fits the accounting.
Bank line: bank to cash in transit
You (or your tax firm via the bank import) book the credit "GoCardless SAS" bank to cash-in-transit account, e.g. 1800 to 1467 in SKR04. It is not revenue – just a money transfer.
Counterpart from finHero: cash in transit to GoCardless account
finHero books the same payout from the GoCardless API cash in transit to GoCardless account (1467 to 1816) – with the payout reference, which is also in the bank line's remittance text, in Belegfeld 1 and the payout ID as additional information.
Cash-in-transit account nets to zero
Bank line and finHero entry cancel each other out on the cash-in-transit account. The items (payments, fees, chargebacks) likewise bring the GoCardless account to zero per payout.
Reconciling the GoCardless SAS credit – in four steps
- Compare the credit amount with the payout entry from finHero – both carry the GoCardless payout reference.
- Check the document date: finHero dates all entries of the payout on the arrival date, i.e. the day of the bank line.
- For foreign-currency payouts use the converted amount from the additional information "Auszahlung in Fremdwährung".
- Balance of the cash-in-transit account after the import: zero – otherwise either a bank line or an export period is missing.
All payout items
What a GoCardless payout contains – and how finHero books it
GoCardless knows several types of payout items. finHero books each type on its own; the revenue row (receipt) is only created when your taxation method calls for revenue entries.
| Payout item | Entry (debit to credit) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Collected payment | GoCardless account to debtor | Invoice number in Belegfeld 1 clears the open item. |
| Failed debit | Debtor to GoCardless account | The payment had already been paid out and is taken back. |
| Chargeback | Debtor to GoCardless account | The customer disputed the direct debit – the open item is reopened. |
| Refund | Debtor to GoCardless account | A repayment to the customer that you triggered. |
| Returned refund | GoCardless account to debtor | A refund could not be delivered – reversal of the refund entry. |
| GoCardless fee / surcharge fee | Fee account to GoCardless account | Gross with your fee booking key; reported VAT as additional information. Fee refunds mirrored. |
| Partner fee (app fee) | Fee account – or separate account – to GoCardless account | Fee of a partner app; with one checkbox on a separate account with its own booking key. |
| Revenue share | GoCardless account to revenue account | Partner accounts only: share of the GoCardless fees as income. |
| Payout | Cash in transit to GoCardless account | For the bank amount; payout reference in Belegfeld 1, payout ID as additional information. |
Unknown item types (new API types) are booked sign-aware to your clarification account instead of being skipped. If GoCardless rounds the payout differently from the sum of the items, a rounding-difference line goes to the fee account – so the GoCardless account always reconciles.
Taxation method
Book revenue – or not? Accrual, cash-basis taxation and open items in DATEV
GoCardless does not issue invoices. Whether finHero books revenue in addition is decided by your taxation method in the settings. The default is accrual taxation without revenue entries.
Accrual taxation (default)
Your invoices come from the invoicing software (e.g. Lexware Office, sevDesk) into DATEV with their invoice date. finHero only books payments, fees, chargebacks and payouts and clears them via the invoice number.
Accrual taxation, invoices not in DATEV
finHero also books the revenue: debtor to revenue account. The date is the day the payment was created in GoCardless – GoCardless does not know the real invoice date.
Cash-basis taxation
finHero books the revenue on the collection date of the direct debit. Chargebacks and refunds create the matching revenue reversal.
To be honest
What the GoCardless export cannot do
So there are no surprises: four limits that follow from the data GoCardless provides.
Security
Read yes, move never
The connection is limited to the bare minimum.
OAuth with read_only scope
You sign in directly at GoCardless and grant finHero read access only. No credentials are copied, and the connection can be removed at any time.
Token AES-256-GCM encrypted
The access token is stored encrypted in the database; the key is not part of the database.
finHero moves no money
Neither debits nor payouts nor refunds can be triggered via finHero – the read access does not allow it.
Checklist
Before the first export
Seven points that make the first GoCardless export reconcile right away.
- GoCardless connected via OAuth and marked as "active for the auto-export".
- GoCardless account and cash-in-transit account stored (e.g. 1816 and 1467 in SKR04).
- Debtor account, fee account and fee booking key agreed with the tax firm.
- Taxation method chosen – under accrual taxation, made sure the invoices reach DATEV from the invoicing software.
- Invoice-number preview checked with real references, pattern stored if needed.
- Partner fees: decided whether they go to a separate account.
- Period lies within the last 6 months.
The guide as PDF
All steps with screenshots to print or share with your tax advisor – from connecting to the DATEV import.
Download the guide (PDF)FAQ
FAQ on the GoCardless export
Which payouts end up in the export?
All payouts with status "paid" whose arrival date on your bank account lies in the chosen period. Each of them is booked with all its items.
Why is the document date the payout date and not the collection date?
Because that way the entries match the line on the bank statement and the GoCardless account nets to zero per payout. The collection date is still on every entry as additional information – and under cash-basis taxation the revenue row is dated on the collection date.
What happens with chargebacks?
They are booked as a separate entry debtor to GoCardless account, with the invoice number of the original payment. The open item is reopened; with revenue entries, the revenue reversal is created as well.
How do I find an entry in GoCardless again?
Every entry carries the GoCardless transaction ID (payment or refund) and the payout ID as additional information, plus the collection date. The full payment reference is in the booking text.
Can I combine GoCardless with Stripe or PayPal?
Yes. Every provider gets its own money and transit accounts, and the export combines all active providers in one monthly close.
What about payouts in foreign currency?
If GoCardless pays out e.g. a GBP balance to a EUR account, finHero notes the converted amount and the rate as additional information on the payout entry so the bank line can be matched.
Does the export also work for BMD, bexio and Abacus?
Yes. The booking logic is the same; finHero generates the respective import format for DATEV (EXTF), BMD (Austria), bexio or Abacus (Switzerland).
Is the export GoBD-compliant?
finHero provides the technical building blocks: immutable export packages with SHA-256 checksum, transaction IDs on every entry and the fixation flag in the DATEV batch. There is no receipt PDF with GoCardless – the receipt link runs via the invoice number to your invoicing software.
Still have questions? Go to the help center
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