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Enabling Permanent Invoice Bookings

DE Dauerrechnung
FR facture permanente

← Bookkeeping Data Creation Use Cases

Introduction

This article describes how to configure the bookkeeping data generation if your business models permanent invoices using JustOn Billing & Invoice Management.

This use case description is designed to comply with Article 14 of the German Value Added Tax Act (§ 14 UStG) and assumes posting the booking data to DATEV.

Bookkeeping data creation: Basic principles

Generally, JustOn Billing & Invoice Management adheres to the following principles when generating bookkeeping data:

  • Postings are separated by statement (that is, invoices for revenue or expense bookings).
  • Revenue postings are made with the debtor account (AR account) as the contra account.

  • Expense postings are made with the creditor account (AP account) as the contra account.

    Offsetting expenses against earnings is expressly excluded ("prohibition of set-off" in accordance with § 246 (2) of the German Commercial Code).

  • Cancellations are handled through general reversal.

Permanent invoice concepts

Your business may require to bill a product with a large service period. The payments, however, are to be distributed across smaller intervals, and so do the revenue and tax bookings. This is common practice in the context of rental or lease contracts, for example. You regularly provide

  • the same service
  • at the same price
  • over a large period

In Germany and Austria, this approach is known as Dauerrechnung ("permanent invoice"). This saves the need to issue multiple individual invoices. Permanent invoices must include the same data as usual invoices do and, in addition, an explicit validity end date. In Germany, they must be explicitly marked as permanent invoice under Article 14 of the German Value Added Tax Act ("Dauerrechnung nach § 14 UStG").

If there are any changes to the terms and conditions of the permanent invoice, you must issue a new permanent invoice.

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Solution Overview

To model permanent invoices in JustOn Billing & Invoice Management, you combine the Permanent Month or Permanent Quarter revenue recognition rules with the service period-based installments Service Month or Service Quarter, respectively, to request synchronized payments.

The settings differ depending on the applied installment interval.

For monthly installments and corresponding bookings, and assuming that there is only one applicable tax rate (19%), the following settings are required (under DATEV SKR 04):

Object Field Value
Installment Period Service Month
Global Settings Create Bookkeeping Data true
Assignment Rules - G/L Account G/L Account 4400
Tax Code DE_19
Business Entity business entity name
Collective Account Booking Account 3806
Tax Code DE_19
Type Tax
Collective Account Booking Account 3900
Type Deferred Revenue
Account |
Invoice		 ON_DebtorNo|
DebtorNo		 debtor account number
Invoice Line Item Revenue Recognition Rule Permanent Month
Template Info Right|
Text 3		 Permanent invoice under German VAT Act § 14

For quarterly installments and corresponding bookings, and assuming that there is only one applicable tax rate (19%), the following settings are required (under DATEV SKR 04):

Object Field Value
Installment Period Service Quarter
Global Settings Create Bookkeeping Data true
Assignment Rules - G/L Account G/L Account 4400
Tax Code DE_19
Business Entity business entity name
Collective Account Booking Account 3806
Tax Code DE_19
Type Tax
Collective Account Booking Account 3900
Type Deferred Revenue
Account |
Invoice		 ON_DebtorNo|
DebtorNo		 debtor account number
Invoice Line Item Revenue Recognition Rule Permanent Quarter
Template Info Right|
Text 3		 Permanent invoice under German VAT Act § 14

Solution Details

Scenario Outline

Assume you lease machinery – usually, on a yearly basis. Now a customer rents a machine for less than one year from 2025-10-10 to 2026-06-20. This is why a billing factor < 0 applies, which reduces the price. You issue one invoice on 2025-07-21 with one invoice line item that represents the charge for the entire service period.

# Quantity Unit Price Billing Factor Billing Unit Service Period Start Service Period End Tax Rate Pos Total (net)
1 1 1200,00 0,69803 Year 2025-10-10 2026-06-20 19% 837,64
Subtotal Net 837,64
Tax 159,15
Grand Total 996,79

You agree on split payments equally distributed on a monthly or a quarterly basis.

Conditions

Assume you split the payments equally on a monthly basis. Consequently, you will equally distribute the revenue and tax bookings across the service period, in accordance with the received payments.

To illustrate this approach, let us therefore assume the following conditions:

  • Service period: eight months, precisely defined by start date and end date
  • Distributed payments on a monthly basis
  • Separate bookings for the net revenue and the VAT
  • Tax origin and due on payment

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
VAT 19% 3806 Collective Account Booking Account
Deferred revenue 3900 Collective Account Booking Account
Debtor 10000 Debtor number Contra Booking Account

Expected Payment Plan

Applying an installment setting with Period set to Service Month produces the following payment plan for the example invoice:

# Service Period Start Service Period End Amount
1 2025-10-10 2025-11-09 119,00
2 2025-11-10 2025-12-09 119,00
3 2025-12-10 2026-01-09 119,00
4 2026-01-10 2026-02-09 119,00
5 2026-02-10 2026-03-09 119,00
6 2026-03-10 2026-04-09 119,00
7 2026-04-10 2026-05-09 119,00
8 2026-05-10 2026-06-09 119,00
9 2026-06-10 2026-07-09 44,79

Expected Postings

With the irregular service period (starting on the 10th of the month), only the relevant revenue portion for the remaining 20 or 21 days of the current month is included in the current booking period. The remaining amount is deferred until the next period, when it will be reversed and recorded as revenue.

However, the proportional tax amount is recorded completely in the relevant booking period. At the end of the service period, only the remaining tax amount is booked separately.

Month Posting Debit Credit Posting Record Amount
10/2025 1 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,97
2 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 29,03
3 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 19,00
11/2025 4 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 29,03
5 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,00
6 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 30,00
7 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 19,00
12/2025 8 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 30,00
9 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,97
10 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 29,03
11 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 19,00
01/2026 12 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 29,03
13 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,97
14 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 29,03
15 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 19,00
02/2026 16 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 29,03
17 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 67,86
18 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 32,14
19 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 19,00
03/2026 20 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 32,14
21 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,97
22 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 29,03
23 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 19,00
04/2026 24 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 29,03
25 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,00
26 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 30,00
27 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 19,00
05/2026 28 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 30,00
29 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,97
30 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 29,03
31 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 19,00
06/2026 32 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 29,03
33 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 37,64
34 10000 3900 Debtor → VAT 19% 7,15

Conditions

Assume you split the payments equally on a quarterly basis. Consequently, you will equally distribute the revenue and tax bookings across the service period, in accordance with the received payments.

To illustrate this approach, let us therefore assume the following conditions:

  • Service period: eight months, precisely defined by start date and end date
  • Distributed payments on a quarterly basis
  • Separate bookings for the net revenue and the VAT
  • Tax origin and due on payment

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
VAT 19% 3806 Collective Account Booking Account
Deferred revenue 3900 Collective Account Booking Account
Debtor 10000 Debtor number Contra Booking Account

Expected Payment Plan

Applying an installment setting with Period set to Service Quarter produces the following payment plan for the example invoice:

# Service Period Start Service Period End Amount
1 2025-10-10 2026-01-09 357,00
2 2026-01-10 2026-04-09 357,00
3 2026-04-10 2026-07-09 282,79

Expected Postings

In the first month of the irregular service period quarter, the proportionate revenue share is booked as revenue, and the remaining amount for the rest of the quarter is deferred. In the following two full months of the service period quarter, the share for that month is retrieved from the deferral and booked as revenue. In the following month, the remaining revenue portion for that service period quarter is reversed and booked as revenue.

The tax portion attributable to each service period quarter is posted completely in the first month of the quarter.

Month Posting Debit Credit Posting Record Amount
10/2025 1 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,97
2 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 229,03
3 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 57,00
11/2025 4 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 100,00
12/2025 5 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 100,00
01/2026 6 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 29,03
7 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,97
8 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 229,03
9 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 57,00
02/2026 10 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 100,00
03/2026 11 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 100,00
04/2026 12 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 29,03
13 10000 4400 Debtor → Revenue 19% VAT 70,00
14 10000 3900 Debtor → Deferred revenue 167,64
15 10000 3806 Debtor → VAT 19% 45,15
05/2026 16 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 100,00
06/2026 17 3900 4400 Deferred revenue → Revenue 19% VAT 67,64

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 permanent invoices involves the following configuration steps:

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

Enabling Installment Creation

This use case assumes you create service period-based installments Service Month or Service Quarter. The setup differs depending on the applied installment interval:

  1. Create a dedicated Installment custom setting record.

    To cover a monthly installment interval, you need the following setting:

    Name Period Title
    Service Month Service Month Installment [PosNo]

    For details, see Creating Fixed Installment Custom Setting.

  2. Add the new installment type to the value picklist for the Installment Type field of the Invoice object.

    1. Navigate to the Installment Type field of the Invoice object.
    2. In the Values section, click New.
    3. Type Service Month into the text area.
    4. Click Save.

    For details, see Adding Fixed Installment to Subscriptions or Invoices.

  1. Create a dedicated Installment custom setting record.

    To cover a quarterly installment interval, you need the following setting:

    Name Period Title
    Service Quarter Service Quarter Installment [PosNo]

    For details, see Creating Fixed Installment Custom Setting.

  2. Add the new installment type to the value picklist for the Installment Type field of the Invoice object.

    1. Navigate to the Installment Type field of the Invoice object.
    2. In the Values section, click New.
    3. Type Service Quarter into the text area.
    4. Click Save.

    For details, see Adding Fixed Installment to Subscriptions or Invoices.

Activating Booking Data Creation

In order to globally enable the creation of bookkeeping data, the feature must be activated in the global settings.

  1. Click to enter Setup, then open Custom Settings.
  2. Click Manage in the row of Global Settings.
  3. Click Edit in the Default row.
  4. Select the checkbox Create Bookkeeping Data.

  5. 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 taxes including 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
VAT 19% 3806 Collective 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.

  1. 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.

  2. Create a Collective Account setting for the tax bookings.

    To cover the outlined use case, you need the following setting:

    Name Booking Account Tax Code Type
    VAT 19% 3806 DE_19 Tax

    Depending on your requirements, your Collective Account setting may, in addition, need to define the Business Entity.

    For details, see Configuring Collective Accounts.

  3. 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
    10000    		 Deferred Revenue
    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.
    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.

  4. Enable the debtor account number.

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

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

    1. Navigate to the fields list of the Account object.

    2. 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.

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

    2. 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.

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:

  1. Navigate to the fields list of the corresponding object.

  2. Create the following new field.

    The setup differs depending on the applied installment interval:

    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. Permanent Month
    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. Permanent Quarter

Adjusting PDF Template Display

Adjust the relevant invoice template so that the produced PDF output explicitly marks the invoice as a permanent invoice.

  1. Add the text that marks the invoice as a permanent invoice to an appropriate text field, preferably, Info Right or Text 3.

    Click next to the Info Right or Text 3 field and specify this text:

    Permanent invoice under German VAT Act § 14

Produced Booking Details

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

# Booking Period Amount Debit/Credit Flag Booking Account Contra Booking Account Type
1 10/2025 70,97 H 4400 10000 Revenue
2 29,03 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
3 19,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
4 11/2025 29,03 H 4400 10000 Revenue
5 70,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
6 -29,03 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
7 30,00 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
8 19,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
9 12/2025 30,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
10 70,97 H 4400 10000 Revenue
11 -30,00 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
12 29,03 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
13 19,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
14 01/2026 29,03 H 4400 10000 Revenue
15 70,97 H 4400 10000 Revenue
16 -29,03 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
17 29,03 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
18 57,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
19 02/2026 29,03 H 4400 10000 Revenue
20 67,86 H 4400 10000 Revenue
21 -29,03 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
22 32,14 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
23 19,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
24 03/2026 32,14 H 4400 10000 Revenue
25 70,97 H 4400 10000 Revenue
26 -32,14 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
27 29,03 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
28 19,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
29 04/2026 29,03 H 4400 10000 Revenue
30 70,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
31 -29,03 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
32 30,00 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
33 19,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
34 05/2026 30,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
35 70,97 H 4400 10000 Revenue
36 -30,00 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
37 29,03 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
38 19,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
39 06/2026 29,03 H 4400 10000 Revenue
40 37,64 H 4400 10000 Revenue
41 -29,03 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
42 7,15 H 3806 10000 Tax
# Booking Period Amount Debit/Credit Flag Booking Account Contra Booking Account Type
1 10/2025 70,97 H 4400 10000 Revenue
2 229,03 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
3 57,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
4 11/2025 100,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
5 -100,00 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
6 12/2025 100,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
7 -100,00 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
8 01/2026 29,03 H 4400 10000 Revenue
9 70,97 H 4400 10000 Revenue
10 -29,03 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
11 229,03 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
12 57,00 H 3806 10000 Tax
13 02/2026 100,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
14 -100,00 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
15 03/2026 100,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
16 -100,00 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
17 04/2026 29,03 H 4400 10000 Revenue
18 70,97 H 4400 10000 Revenue
19 -29,03 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
20 167,64 H 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
21 45,15 H 3806 10000 Tax
22 05/2026 100,00 H 4400 10000 Revenue
23 -100,00 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue
24 06/2026 67,64 H 4400 10000 Revenue
25 -67,64 S 3900 10000 Deferred Revenue