Intake and accounting are two things
Here lies the most common misunderstanding. The e-invoicing obligation governs the format and the receiving of invoices. It does not prescribe which system you post with.
Your tax advisor, your DATEV connection, your accounting software can stay. What changes is the stage before that: how an invoice arrives and is checked.
The intake is upstream, not replacing
A modern invoice intake slots in front of your existing system instead of replacing it. It accepts the e-invoice, makes it readable, validates it, archives the original — and then hands to exactly the route you already use today.
For your accounting the input changes: it gets cleaner and checked. The system behind it stays.
Why “not switching” is often the smarter choice
A system switch is expensive, risky and ties up staff. Triggering it just because of the e-invoice enlarges the problem instead of solving it.
The obligation requires a working intake, not new accounting. Whoever mixes the two delays compliance and takes on unnecessary risk.
What concretely stays untouched
As a rule you do not have to touch:
- Your accounting software or your DATEV setup.
- The collaboration with your tax advisor.
- Your chart of accounts and familiar posting routes.
- Your bank and payment processes.
- Only how invoices come in, are checked and archived changes.
The pragmatic path
The order that avoids stress: first set the intake up cleanly — fixed address, validation, original archive. Then connect the existing hand-over route to accounting or the firm to it.
No big bang, no data migration project. You modernize exactly what the obligation requires and leave the rest alone.