When can I delete an invoice?

It is discussed again and again whether an invoice can be deleted from the construction site account or not. The requirements of the GOBD are opposed to the purely practical requirements of everyday work. Here are a few practical tips and hints: Pure drafts of commercial or business letters are not required to be retained, ie if an invoice has not yet been sent, you can delete it in your software system without further ado.

What can you do to avoid incorrect bookings and to prove compliance with the GoBD to the tax authorities?

• Use the print preview and test print
  Even if an invoice has only been printed out but not yet sent, problems quickly arise when deleting it, for example if the invoice number used is not reassigned and there is a gap in the document number range. Avoid all misprints as far as possible by performing a careful visual check in the print preview on the screen and, depending on the software used, using a test print function without a receipt number.

• Set permissions
  Make sure that only appropriately qualified employees are authorized to print invoices, ideally via the appropriate settings in your software system, or alternatively via fixed organizational measures. Restrict the authorization to delete invoices even further.

• Record the deletion of invoices
  The GoBD stipulates that the deletion of receipts and bookings must be logged. In your procedural descriptions, specify that the date, user name and reason are logged when invoices are deleted or use the corresponding functions in your software system.

• Create a cancellation invoice
  As soon as an invoice has already left your house, e.g. in the form of a letter, fax or e-mail, you can no longer delete the invoice, but only cancel it with a cancellation invoice (earlier credit). The corresponding financial postings must not be deleted either, but must be corrected by entering a cancellation / reduction.

Delete invoices with DATAflor BUSINESS
In order to meet the requirements of the GOBD, DATAflor BUSINESS only users with special user rights can delete invoices. At the beginning of 2020, the deletion of invoices was expanded to include a log function. This saves the date, user name and a manually entered reason for deletion with at least 10 characters. This data can be output as a log if required. A deletion with the user DATAflor is not possible anymore.