Enabling Deferred Revenue Bookings With DATEV Automatic Accounts

← Bookkeeping Data Creation Use Cases

This article describes how to configure the bookkeeping data generation for invoices if you book to DATEV automatic accounts (Automatikkonten) and, in addition, your accounting requires revenue recognition on a monthly basis.

Summary

JustOn Billing & Invoice Management controls the booking data creation using dedicated configurations on invoice line items, G/L account settings, collective account settings and global settings. The key settings to cover the current use case are the global setting Enable Accounting in Gross Values as well as the Booking Month revenue recognition rule on the invoice line item.

This use case assumes that you use an automatic account for revenue and a standard account for deferred revenue (under DATEV SKR 04), and that there is one applicable tax rate of 19%. Consequently, the following settings are required:

Object	Field	Value
Global Settings	`Create Bookkeeping Data`	`true`
	`Enable Accounting in Gross Values`	`true`
	`Accounting Gross Taxes on First Month`	`true`
Assignment Rules - G/L Account	`G/L Account`	`4400`
	`Tax Code`	`DE_19`
	`Business Entity`	business entity name
Collective Account	`Booking Account`	`3900`
	`Type`	`Deferred`
Account \| Invoice	`ON_DebtorNo`\| `DebtorNo`	debtor account number
Invoice Line Item	`Revenue Recognition Rule`	`Booking Month`
Booking Detail	`BuCode`	`IF(ONB2__IsGross__c,CASE(Text(ONB2__Type__c),'Revenue','','101'),CASE(Text(ONB2__Type__c), 'Deferred','','40'))`

Use Case Outline

Assume an invoice for electronic services or software licenses in a subscription model – so-called SaaS business models. A typical invoice could look as follows:

Title	Service Period Start	Service Period End	Tax Rate	Net Total
Service	2024-04-01	2025-03-31	19%	1200,00

			Total (net)		1200,00
			VAT		228,00
			Grand Total		1428,00

Conditions

Charges for the use of electronic services in the subscription model are usually paid for a year in advance, but the revenue is booked proportionally per month during the service period. To illustrate this approach, let us therefore assume the following conditions:

Service period: one year
Full payment at the beginning of the service period
Deferred revenue on a monthly basis
Tax origin and due at the service period start
Revenue bookings to a DATEV automatic account, bookings for deferred revenue to a standard account (under DATEV SKR 04)

Booking Accounts

The bookings are expected to be made to the following accounts:

Account name	Account no. SKR 04	Configuration Type	Booking Detail Target Field
Revenue 19% VAT	4400	G/L Account	`Booking Account`
Deferred revenue	3900	Collective Account	`Booking Account`
Debtor	10000	Debtor number	`Contra Booking Account`

Expected Postings

In the first month of the service period (04/2024), the entire invoice amount (1428,00) is booked from the debtor account and posted to:

Revenue 19% VAT – 119,00 (gross)
Deferred Revenue – 1309,00 (gross)

Posting	Debit	Credit	Posting Record	Amount
1	10000	4400	Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT	119,00
2	10000	3900	Debtor → Deferred revenue	1309,00

In the following months (05/2024 – 03/2025), the deferred revenue is reversed and recorded as revenue (net) in the period to which they relate:

Posting	Debit	Credit	Posting Record	Amount
3..13	3900	4400	Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT	100,00

Required Configuration

JustOn Billing & Invoice Management controls the booking data creation using dedicated configurations on invoice line items, G/L account settings, collective account settings and global settings. Enabling the bookkeeping data generation for the outlined use case involves the following configuration steps:

Selecting the global settings to activate the booking detail creation, to enable gross value bookings and to enable the tax booking in the first month
Enabling the booking account allocation
Configuring the automatic tax calculation
Setting the relevant revenue recognition rule

In addition, your accounting may optionally require to configure booking texts, allocate cost centers or profit centers, or specify cost objects.

Activating Booking Data Creation

In order to

activate the booking detail creation,
enable gross value bookings,
enable the tax booking in the first month,

the features must be activated in the global settings.

Click to enter Setup, then open Custom Settings.

In Salesforce Lightning, navigate to Custom Code > Custom Settings.

In Salesforce Classic, navigate to Develop > Custom Settings.
Click Manage in the row of Global Settings.
Click Edit in the Default row.

Select the following checkboxes:

Checkbox	Description
`Create Bookkeeping Data`	Globally enables the booking data creation
`Enable Accounting in Gross Values`	Uses gross values when creating booking data
`Accounting Gross Taxes on First Month`	Aggregates the complete tax amount to the first booking detail

Click Save.

Once enabled, the bookkeeping data is generated automatically upon invoice finalization.

Info

Once created, the booking details can no longer be modified or deleted. In case of errors, however, you can regenerate booking details for invoices.

Enabling Booking Accounts

To provide for the correct booking account allocation, you create dedicated G/L Account Assignment Rules and Collective Account settings.

Booking revenue and deferred revenue according to the outlined use case requires the following booking accounts:

Account name	Account no. SKR 04	Configuration Type	Booking Detail Target Field
Revenue 19% VAT	4400	G/L Account	`Booking Account`
Deferred revenue	3900	Collective Account	`Booking Account`
Debtor	10000	Debtor number	`Contra Booking Account`

Remember that depending on your accounting system, the booking account numbers may differ.

Create an Assignment Rules - G/L Account setting to book the revenue.

To cover the use case for revenues with 19% VAT, you need the following setting:

Name G/L Account Tax Code Business Entity

Revenue 19% VAT 4400 DE_19 business entity name

For details, see Configuring G/L Account.
Create a Collective Account setting for the deferred revenue bookings.

To cover the outlined use case, you need at least this setting:

Name Booking Account Business Partner Account Type

Deferred 3900 debtor number Deferred
Account debtor no for deferred revenue

By default, JustOn Billing & Invoice Management fills the field Contra Booking Account in booking details for deferred revenue using the value of the Business Partner Account field of the corresponding Collective Accounts custom setting record. Your business use case, however, may require to use the value of the custom field ON_DebtorNo on the account instead. To support this scenario, activate the corresponding global setting Use Debtor No for Deferred Revenue.
1. Click to enter Setup, then open Custom Settings.
  
  In Salesforce Lightning, navigate to Custom Code > Custom Settings.
  
  In Salesforce Classic, navigate to Develop > Custom Settings.
2. Click Manage in the row of Global Settings.
3. Click Edit in the Default row.
4. Select the checkbox Use Debtor No for Deferred Revenue.
5. Click Save.
Depending on your requirements, your Collective Account setting may, in addition, need to define the Business Entity.

For details, see Configuring Collective Accounts.

Enable the debtor account number.

Depending on your requirements, the way to define the debtor account number differs:

Customer-specific debtor numberDebtor groups

For customer-specific debtor numbers, you use the Account field ON_DebtorNo.

Navigate to the fields list of the Account object.

Create the following new field.

API Name	Data Type	Description	Example Values
ON_DebtorNo	Text (255) or Formula	Specifies the contra account number for booking details. If configured as a formula, it can determine the value based on other fields.	`10000` `AnotherField__c`

To support collective debtors (or debtor groups), you use the Invoice field DebtorNo.

Using a collective debtor number via the Invoice field DebtorNo does not require a collective account setting. Instead, you just set the intended booking account number to be transferred to the booking detail.

Navigate to the fields list of the Invoice object (ONB2__Invoice__c).

Create the following new field.

API Name	Data Type	Description	Example Values
DebtorNo	Text (255) or Formula	Specifies the contra account number for booking details. If configured as a formula, it can determine the value based on other fields.	`10000` `AnotherField__c`

If the field is configured as a text, you can use the ON field mechanism to have it set using values from invoice source objects. Be aware, however, that if the field is configured as a formula, the ON field mechanism will not overwrite the DebtorNo value.

Info

When creating booking details, the Invoice field DebtorNo takes precedence over the Account field ON_DebtorNo. If the Invoice field DebtorNo is empty or does not exist, JustOn Billing & Invoice Management uses the Account field ON_DebtorNo to set Contra Booking Account in the booking detail.

Configuring Automatic Tax Calculation

To correctly initiate the automatic tax calculation for the gross booking details in DATEV automatic accounts, you use the custom booking code field BuCode on the relevant booking details. Typically, you create the BuCode field as a formula that returns the required booking code value according to the intended use case.

Applying the global setting Accounting Gross Taxes on First Month, JustOn Billing & Invoice Management creates gross booking details for the first revenue portion and the deferred revenue in the first booking month. In the following months, JustOn Billing & Invoice Management produces net booking details for the deferred revenue reversal and revenue booking.

With an automatic account for the revenue and a standard account for the deferred revenue, DATEV must be instructed to

automatically calculate and deduct the tax amount from the given gross amount for the deferred revenue in the first month on a standard account
automatically calculate and deduct the tax amount from the given gross amount for the revenue portion in the first month on an automatic account
not calculate taxes for the subsequent net booking details

To cover this use case, your BuCode formula must return one of three possible values:

101 (or another code according to the applicable tax) to trigger the tax calculation for the gross deferred revenue booking in the first month
null for the gross revenue booking in the first month (triggers the automatic tax calculation) as well as for the net deferred revenue bookings in the following months
40 for the net revenue bookings in the following months to deactivate the automatic tax calculation

Accordingly, the formula may look like

IF(ONB2__IsGross__c,
CASE(Text(ONB2__Type__c),'Revenue','','101'),
CASE(Text(ONB2__Type__c), 'Deferred','','40')
)

Create the BuCode field on the Booking Detail object as follows:

Navigate to the fields list of the Booking Detail object.

Create the following new field.

API Name	Data Type	Description	Use Case Value
BuCode	Formula (Text)	Instructs DATEV to apply the required tax calculation.	`IF(ONB2__IsGross__c,CASE(Text(ONB2__Type__c),'Revenue','','101'),CASE(Text(ONB2__Type__c), 'Deferred','','40'))`

Note

Be aware that DATEV automatic accounts only work with bookings that originate from business within Germany (a German company with a German customer). That is, if your business operates foreign markets as well, your BuCode formula must make sure to set the required value only for German business, including a condition that evaluates, for example, the appropriate tax rule or an according business entity/billing country combination.

Setting Revenue Recognition Rule

JustOn Billing & Invoice Management writes deferred revenue bookings according to the revenue recognition rule set in the invoice line item field Recognition Rule.

The ON field mechanism is a likely option for having the revenue recognition rule specified automatically on the invoice line item when generating invoices. Alternatively, you can use Salesforce flows or other automation tools.

To make use of the ON field mechanism, you set the field ON_RecognitionRule on the invoice line item source object:

Navigate to the fields list of the corresponding object.

Create the following new field.

API Name	Data Type	Description	Use Case Value
ON_RecognitionRule	Text (255) Formula (Text) Picklist	Specifies the revenue recognition rule to be applied, is copied to the invoice line item during the invoice run.	`Booking Month`

For help about creating fields, see Managing Object Fields.

Produced Booking Details

Once configured accordingly, JustOn Billing & Invoice Management produces the following booking details, covering the outlined use case:

First service period month (04/2024)

#	Booking Period	Amount	Debit/ Credit Flag	Booking Account	Contra Booking Account	Is Gross	BuCode	Type
1	04/2024	119,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`			Revenue
2		1309,00	`H`	`3900`	`10000`		101	Deferred

Booking to a DATEV automatic account with an empty booking code initializes the automatic tax calculation. Passing a booking code like 101 to an account that is not set as an automatic account will initialize the tax calculation according to the booking code. Consequently, DATEV will calculate the tax for both the revenue and the deferred revenue. That is, it takes 19,00 off the revenue and 209,00 off the deferred revenue, gaining the complete tax amount of 228,00 in the first month.

Following months (05/2024 – 03/2025), re-posting the deferred revenue

#	Booking Period	Amount	Debit/ Credit Flag	Booking Account	Contra Booking Account	BuCode	Type
3	05/2024	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
4		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
5	06/2024	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
6		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
7	07/2024	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
8		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
9	08/2024	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
10		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
11	09/2024	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
12		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
13	10/2024	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
14		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
15	11/2024	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
16		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
17	12/2024	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
18		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
29	01/2025	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
20		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
21	02/2025	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
22		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred
23	03/2025	100,00	`H`	`4400`	`10000`	40	Revenue
24		-100,00	`S`	`3900`			Deferred

The booking code 40 deactivates the automatic tax calculation on DATEV automatic accounts, treating the given revenue amounts as net values. Accordingly, the empty booking code for standard target accounts does not trigger any tax calculation, so the deferred revenue amounts are treated as net values as well.