The following article answers frequently asked questions about the DATEV integration.

Support

Who should I contact if I have questions about setting up and using the DATEV integration?

If you have any questions or problems setting up and using the DATEV integration, please contact the people responsible for your payroll accounting or Personio Support. For a detailed list of who you can contact in each case, see our article: I have questions about DATEV integration – who can I contact?.

Setup and Compatibility 

Is the interface compatible with all DATEV payroll applications?

The interface between Personio and DATEV is compatible with the payroll programs DATEV LODAS and DATEV Lohn und Gehalt.

We would like to change our payroll application, from LODAS to Lohn & Gehalt or vice versa. How can we do this?

If you have decided to switch from one payroll application to another, you also need to adjust your DATEV integration with Personio. For example, the DATEV attributes in your account will need to be changed to the new payroll application, and the DATEV integration will need to be activated. To make such a change, please contact your local account manager via Support. 

Can I use the integration with LODAS and Lohn und Gehalt in the same Personio account?

You can set up and use the integration in your Personio account with either LODAS or Lohn und Gehalt. You cannot use the integration with both payroll programs at the same time.

Data transfer and security

Is data encrypted for the transfer between Personio and DATEV?

Both DATEV and Personio see data security as a top priority. Data is TLS-encrypted according to current standards (A+ rating) for transmission, and both providers conduct regular technical tests of their interface.

Which data is transmitted to DATEV via the integration?

The following data is transmitted via the integration:

Your payroll accountant will also need information on salary components (bonus payments) and employee documents. These must also be made available and sent to your payroll person via an export of the preliminary payroll so that they can enter them manually in DATEV. 

Tip:
We recommend that you give your payroll accountant access to your preliminary payroll via a Personio profile so that they can pull this data themselves.

Personio is continuously expanding the range of DATEV integration features to include additional components such as salaries, additional reports, and documents from DATEV. Go to the section Supportand contact our Growth & Success teams for more information.

Are only the changes to the master data transmitted to DATEV in the payroll import data service?
 

All transferable information will always be sent to DATEV in the monthly Lohnimportdatenservice. The data you collect in the payroll > Managing > DATEV LODAS/Wage and Salaryare included in the DATEV export (ASCII file). Even if no changes have been made to this master data, all are still tracked Information submitted. You can find further information on the Lohnimportdatenservice in our article Exporting Master Data via the Lohnimportdatenservice. 

Does the activation of DATEV payroll programs in Personio replace the regular export of preliminary payroll in .xls format?

If the DATEV export is activated, downloading the Preparatory payroll accounting in the regular .xls format. As the DATEV export does not comprise the full scope of information in preliminary payroll, it does not supersede the Excel export altogether.

How can I do activities related to DATEV integration follow up?

Personio automatically logs all important actions related to the DATEV integration in audit logs. These audit logs allow you to track who made what change and when, or which file was exported, transferred, or retrieved. This allows you to maintain maximum transparency and quickly identify errors or unauthorized changes. For more information on how to use the audit logs, see the Help center articles on the topic.

Attributes

How can attributes be excluded from the DATEV export?

To exclude attributes from consideration in the DATEV export, navigate toPayroll accounting > managing > DATEV LODAS/Payrollto the area Employee master data & validations. Deactivate the attributes you would like to exclude from the export and click Save. If you decide later that you would like to include the attributes again, this setting can be changed at any time.

Please note:
Note that for attributes excluded from the DATEV export, no validation rules are applied to the attribute values. Any errors will then not be flagged in the payroll table or employee profile.

Can attributes excluded from the DATEV export be deleted from Personio?

Attributes linked to the DATEV export cannot be deleted from the system. To unpublish them from employees, you can use the respective attribute under Settings > People > Personal Information in the section DATEV LODAS/DATEV Wage and Salary and for them via the Settings > Organization > Employee roles any rights of opinion.

An attribute available for DATEV export is not contained in the exported file. What could be the reasons for this?

Please review the following options:

• If the attribute underPayroll accounting > managing > DATEV LODAS/Payrollin the area of Employee Master Data & Validations excluded? Only attributes activated in this section are included in the export.
• If the attribute underpayroll > Managing > DATEV LODAS/Wage and Salaryin the area of Employee Master Data & Validations listed? If the attribute is to be included in the DATEV integration, it has to be selected to be transferred. 
• Are values maintained in Personio for the attribute? "Blank" values are not included in exports.
• Are the values stored for the attribute formatted correctly? For a list of required formats please refer to the article on Validations of Attribute Values for the Data Transfer with DATEV.

If none of these reasons apply, go to the Supportand contact our Support teams.

An attribute value is marked as invalid in the employee profile and preliminary payroll. Why are these restrictions applied?

Since certain fields in DATEV are subject to validation and certain values are not accepted, they were also introduced in Personio to avoid errors in data transfer in the later step. Typical examples are the maximum length of the position title (30 characters) and the format of zip codes. To eliminate the errors, change the value for the affected employees to a valid value. You can find more information about validations and an Overview of the stored rules in our articleValidations of attribute values for data transfer with DATEV.

I have maintained values in the DATEV payroll program, but have not yet transferred them to Personio. Does the DATEV export overwrite the information in DATEV with the empty values from Personio?

No. If an attribute in Personio is blank, the existing values in DATEV will not be overwritten. Please note that even a single space is considered to be a value and would overwrite the value in DATEV. If you do not maintain an attribute for any of your employees, it is therefore advisable to enter it underPayroll accounting > managing > DATEV LODAS/Payrollin the area of Employee Master Data & Validations from the transfer. 

Documents and certificates

How can employee documents from a DATEV payroll program, for example, A1-Bescheinigungen or tax certificates, be uploaded to Personio?

Use the Lohnauswertungsdatenservice to save documents from a DATEV payroll program in Personio and make them available to employees.

How can electronic sick certificates (eAU) be retrieved with the DATEV integration?

If an employee receives an electronic certificate of incapacity (eAU) for a time off, the public health insurance provider automatically transmits this to DATEV. Integrating Personio with DATEV allows eAUs to be automatically retrieved and saved in the relevant time off period for the employee in question. For further information, see Setting Up the DATEV Integration.

My retrieved documents have disappeared from the employee profiles. What can I do?

If Personio detects that an attribute that is relevant for assigning employee documents was changed in a billing month, the distribution of documents and preview is reset. This is indicated above the payroll table with an error message. For more details about this error, see our troubleshooting article.

Why can't documents be retrieved in Personio?

If documents cannot be retrieved in Personio, check the following points:

1. DATEV authorization: Make sure you DATEV authorized have.
2. Document selection: Check if you have the Corresponding Documents selected that are to be transmitted to DATEV.
3. Retrieval in Personio: Call the in DATEV provided Documents in the tab Documentsof the preparatory payroll in Personio.

If you still cannot retrieve the documents after checking all the points, we recommend that you contact your tax office.

Fixes

Why are salaries not sent to employees?

To ensure that salaries are correctly sent to employees, make sure that the employee personnel numbers are stored in Personio. This is the only way to ensure that the data between Personio and DATEV match and that data can be matched smoothly. For more information about the mandatory attributes, see our article on the topic.

Why are wrong salaries sent to DATEV when the weekly hours change?

The weekly working hours that Personio sends to DATEV are not based on the weekly hours attribute in the employee profile, but on the stored working time model. 

Make sure that the employee's working time model in Personio is adjusted correctly after each change in weekly hours (e.g., when switching to part-time or full-time). This is the only way to send the correct values to DATEV.

Why is the salary still sent to DATEV during absence (e.g. parental leave)?

If you set parental leave only in the time off calendar, the salary is not automatically affected or paused. Salary will continue to be sent as usual. In order for the salary to be correctly paused for the period, the employment relationship must be suspended. For more information, please see our Help center article on the theme. 

Certain data has not arrived in DATEV. What can I do?

If certain data has not arrived in DATEV, check the following points:

1. Are the relevant attributes, team calendar, or salaries in thepayroll > Managing > DATEV LODAS/Wage and Salaryactivated and correctly assigned?
2. Has the required export been created in Payroll and sent to DATEV?
3. Did the tax office import the export into DATEV's accounting tool?

If none of these reasons apply, go to the Supportand contact our Support teams.

eAU

When does eAU retrieval take place?

Personio automatically starts the eAU retrieval process for every time off request in the Sick leave category that also meets the other conditions, regardless of the length of the time off. eAUs are thus also requested for sick leave lasting only one day. If an eAU is available, it will automatically be saved in the time off.

What happens when no eAU is available?

If there is no eAU for an time off, a notification is sent. If the time off request is below the certificate requirement, a certificate is not required and no notification is sent. If you know that an eAU is available, you can recreate the time off to restart the eAU request. 

Tip:
If no eAU is available, we recommend asking the employee if they have seen a physician and whether an eAU should be available.

What happens when the time off dates do not match those on the eAU?

Example: The eAU does not cover the entire time off
A time off request of 10 sick days has been made, but the eAU is only issued for 7 sick days.

▶︎ Personio sends a new eAU request to the statutory health insurer via DATEV in order to check whether another eAU has been received. A notification is sent to the approver of the final approval step (see Notifications).

What happens if several consecutive time off requests are made?

If several consecutive time off requests are made, a separate eAU is requested for each one.

Example 1: Multiple time off periods
The employee first makes an time off request for three days and then on the third day makes a separate request for two further days. The eAU is retrieved for both time off requests.

▶︎ If the employee saw their physician only once and received a medical certificate for (at least) five days, the same eAU is transferred to both time off requests.
▶︎ If the employee saw their physician a second time to have the original medical certificate extended from three to five days, there will be two eAUs. Each eAU is then transferred to the corresponding time off request.

Example 2: Extension of time off
The employee first makes a time off request for three days and then on the third day extends this to a total of five days. When the original time off request is extended, the eAU will be retrieved again.

▶︎ If the employee saw their physician only once and received a medical certificate for (at least) five days, this eAU is transferred to the time off requests.
▶︎ If the employee saw their physician a second time to have the original medical certificate extended from three to five days, there will be two eAUs. Both eAUs are transferred to the same time off request.

How long does it take for the eAU to appear in the time off tab in Personio?

Physicians normally upload the eAU to the statutory health insurer's server immediately after the employee's appointment with them. In this case, the eAU would normally be available in Personio the following day. However, there may be delays for a variety of reasons.

Can eAUs also be retrieved retrospectively?

To retrospectively retrieve an eAU, you will need to recreate the time off in Personio.

Does automatic eAU retrieval also work if time off is imported or brought in via an API?

Every time off request created via an API will trigger eAU retrieval. Importing time off requests will not trigger eAU retrieval.