Retrieve Data from DATEV via API (Exporting Buchungen and Accounts)

Retrieve data from DATEV

Retrieving data from DATEV – the backbone of German accounting systems – is a common challenge for developers and product owners. If you've been searching for ways to get data from DATEV – whether you want to get Buchungen (bookings), get accounts (chart of accounts), or export complete Buchungssätze (journal entries) – you're not alone. In this article, we’ll explore how to pull data out of DATEV, the hurdles involved, and how Maesn's Unified API can streamline this process for your software integration.

Challenges in Exporting Data from DATEV

Getting data out of DATEV is historically difficult due to several reasons:

• Closed Ecosystem: DATEV has not offered freely accessible REST APIs for typical use cases unless you become an official partner. In practice, data is often locked behind manual exports and without a partnership there is no supported way to automate retrival. In fact, every new third-party integration with DATEV’s system must go through a formal approval process with DATEV (only skippable via Maesn Whitelabel Process), adding significant upfront effort.

• Multi-step Approval & Compliance: Gaining API access requires a multi-step onboarding and approval involving DATEV (often with paid consultants - only skippable via Maesn Whitelabel Process), even just to get sandbox access. Integrators must comply with strict technical and branding requirements before going live. This gatekeeping makes it time-consuming to start pulling data from DATEV’s platform.

• Fragmented Systems: DATEV’s accounting ecosystem is split into DATEV Unternehmen Online (DUO) – a cloud portal for exchanging receipts – and DATEV Rechnungswesen – the on-premises accounting system. Each has different endpoints and workflows. A complete data export might involve interacting with both systems (for example, receipts in DUO and finalized ledger entries in Rechnungswesen), complicating development.

• Legacy Integration Methods: Many firms still rely on exchanging data via the DATEV-Format CSV files. Accountants often manually export transactions or master data from DATEV and import them into other systems. This file-based exchange is cumbersome and error-prone – every manual export/import introduces risk. As one source notes, using a direct interface greatly reduces errors compared to manual saving and downloading of data files. In the absence of an official API, some even resort to automating the DATEV user interface with scripting or RPA tools to simulate exporting data, which is complex, fragile and not scalable.

• Batch Processing, Not Real-Time: Unlike modern RESTful APIs, DATEV’s data services often work via batch jobs and asynchronous processing. For example, to retrieve accounting entries you typically need to initiate a batch export job, then poll for result. The APIs are not designed for high-frequency real-time queries; you must schedule and monitor jobs carefully rather than pulling data on demand. This adds complexity when your application needs up-to-date information.

• High Setup Costs: Between the approvals, separate system handling, and the need to adhere to DATEV’s specifications, building a custom solution to export data from DATEV can take months. It demands significant engineering time and coordination with DATEV for testing and certification. Overall, these hurdles have made many teams reluctant to attempt a direct DATEV integration on their own.

  
  

Traditional Workarounds to Get DATEV Data

Before recent API options, companies have used various workarounds to retrieve data from DATEV:

• Manual CSV Exports: A common approach is to have the accounting team export ledger transactions or master data from the DATEV software (e.g. using the built-in DATEV CSV export in Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen). These CSV files (often in the standard “DATEV-Format” with predefined columns) can then be imported into other tools. While this method works, it is labor-intensive and usually done infrequently (e.g. monthly), meaning the data isn't real-time. It also requires an accountant’s involvement each time, which is not ideal for software products needing on-demand data access.

• DATEV Connect (Official APIs): DATEV has been developing API endpoints (often referred to as DATEVconnect or DATEV Data Services) that allow programmatic data exchange. With proper authorization, developers can use these APIs to pull data like journal entries, invoices, clients, and more from DATEVchift.eu. For instance, a cashflow application might use the API to retrieve open receivables and payables directly from a company’s DATEV accountschift.eu. However, as noted above, using DATEV’s APIs requires being a certified partner and handling complexities like OAuth for DUO and password auth for on-premises systems, dealing with client IDs, accounting period contexts, etc.chift.euchift.eu. The official APIs open the door for data retrieval, but the implementation burden – from security to approval – remains very high for most teams.

• Third-Party Connectors & RPA: Given the difficulties of direct integration, many businesses have turned to third-party integration providers or even robotic process automation. Some integration services (e.g. specialized middleware or connectors provided by DATEV partners) can export Buchungssätze and other data on your behalf, essentially acting as a bridge. Others, as mentioned, go so far as automating the DATEV Windows application via a virtual machine to extract datalegacy-use.com. These solutions can work but may involve additional costs, potential reliability issues, and dependency on external tools or service providers.

Each of these workarounds has downsides – manual exports don’t scale and aren’t timely, building against the official API is costly and complex, and unofficial hacks are brittle. So how can developers reliably get data out of DATEV without months of effort?

Retrieving DATEV Data with Maesn Unified API

The good news is that Maesn unified API simplifies DATEV integration dramatically. We act as an abstraction layer between your application and DATEV (as well as other accounting systems). Here’s how leveraging a unified API can resolve the challenges:

• One Integration for All: Our unified API provides a single, consistent REST interface (or our new MCP) that covers multiple accounting systems – in this case, both DATEV Unternehmen Online and DATEV Rechnungswesen with one connection. Instead of writing separate code for DUO’s API and the on-premise API, you integrate once with the unified API. Maesn’s platform, for example, supports reading accounts, journal entries, contacts, invoices, and more from DATEV through standard endpoints, just like it would for other system. This “build once, connect to many” approach accelerates development and ensures you can easily pull the data you need from DATEV alongside data from other sources.

• Pre-Certified Access & Compliance: Maesn is an official DATEV partner and has already handled the rigorous certification and approval steps on behalf of its users. That means you do not need to go through DATEV’s multi-step approval process yourself – no booking consultant hours or waiting weeks for validation. We take care of setting up the necessary DATEV app credentials, sandbox environment, and even production approval. In short, you get instant access to a certified DATEV integration in up to 1 day - not months. This not only saves time but also ensures that data exchange is compliant with DATEV’s security and quality standards from day one.

• Whitelabel User Consent Flow: One big piece of integrating with DATEV is handling the user authorization (Freigabe) process. Typically, an end-user (often the company’s tax consultant or admin) must explicitly grant permission for a third-party app to access DATEV data. Maesn’s unified API offers a whitelabelled consent flow, meaning your users can authorize the connection in a seamless, branded experience. For example, the user will be guided through a secure DATEV login and asked to accept the connection to your application – after which an access token is issued for ongoing data access. This whole flow is embedded in your app’s interface, maintaining a smooth user experience. The resulting token can be long-lived (valid up to 2 years in DATEV’s case) so that you can continuously retrieve data without requiring the user to log in repeatedly.

• Real-Time Sync and Webhooks: Maesn provides extras like webhooks or scheduled syncs to keep data fresh. Instead of manually initiating CSV exports on a schedule, you can periodically fetch new bookings or changes from DATEV and push them to your system. Maesn’s unified API supports webhooks and async tasks to get updates from DATEV Unternehmen Online as they happen. This means your product can have near real-time DATEV data (within the limits of DATEV’s batch processing) without building a complex polling mechanism.

• Developer-Friendly Abstraction: A key advantage of the unified API approach is that it hides the quirky aspects of DATEV’s interface (like batch job handling). As a developer, you interact with clear REST endpoints and JSON data structures, while the provider translates those into the necessary DATEV operations under the hood. You don't have to worry about whether a piece of data comes from DUO or Rechnungswesen – the unified API aggregates it if needed. For example, retrieving all journal entries with full details (accounts, tax codes, amounts, even linked document images) can be done with a straightforward GET call to the unified API, instead of juggling multiple DATEV endpoints. This significantly lowers the learning curve and potential for errors.

• Scalable & Enterprise-Ready: Using our unified API platform means the heavy lifting of integration is managed for scalability and reliability. Maesn’s infrastructure handles the concurrency limits and ensures secure data transfer to DATEV’s cloud. It’s a solution built to be enterprise-ready – including considerations like audit logs, data privacy, and maintenance. In effect, Maesn acts as a tech stack component that enables integrations at scale and meets enterprise compliance needs out of the box. Your team can trust that the connection to DATEV will be stable and secure for the long term, without dedicating in-house resources to maintain it.

• Focus on Core Product: Ultimately, adopting a unified API lets your development team stay focused on your core product features. Instead of spending months on a one-off DATEV export solution, you can integrate in record time and start offering the functionality to your customers quickly. This faster time-to-market can be a big advantage, especially if you’re responding to customer demand for a DATEV integration. Plus, by using a unified approach for all integrations, you reduce ongoing maintenance – adding new connections (to other accounting software or ERPs) becomes easier since it’s the same unified framework.

  
  

In summary, Maesn’s Unified API serves as an integration enabler for scalable, compliant, and enterprise-ready DATEV integrations. It’s a developer-centric solution that provides an incredible developer experience by abstracting complexity, and it gives your end-users the smoothest journey when connecting their accounting data. As the Maesn team puts it, why struggle with DIY CSV exports or raw DATEV APIs when you can “get a certified DATEV integration with Maesn’s whitelabel process in days”?

Conclusion

Exporting data from DATEV – be it financial transactions, account master data, or other records – has long been a headache for software teams. The lack of open APIs and the convoluted approval processes made it seem near-impossible to get Buchungssätze out of DATEV without manual effort. Fortunately, Maesn is now available to bridge this gap. By leveraging Maesn Unified API platform, developers can retrieve DATEV data on-demand and integrate it into their applications just as easily as any other data source.

For product owners and engineering leads, this means you can finally extend your product with a robust DATEV integration that keeps your users’ bookkeeping in sync with the rest of their tools. Whether you need to pull accounting entries for analytics, sync customers and invoices, or aggregate financial data across systems, a unified API like Maesn's makes the process efficient and reliable. You’ll save development time, avoid compliance pitfalls, and deliver value to your customers faster.

In a world where seamless software integration is a competitive advantage, no system should remain a silo. With the right approach, retrieving data from DATEV can go from a painful last-mile problem to a simple API call. Your team can build on this integration enabler to unlock new features and insights, while your users benefit from effortless data flow between DATEV and your product. In short, DATEV data export doesn’t have to be hard anymore – and that opens up exciting possibilities for you and your customers alike.