GoBD compliance

GoBD compliance means complying with the German “principles for the proper keeping and storage of books, records and documents in electronic form and for data access” (GoBD). The GoBD are a letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF). They apply to all companies, self-employed people and freelancers in Germany who record or process tax-relevant data electronically, so practically to everyone. The GoBD are therefore mandatory, even though they are guidelines of the tax administration rather than laws.

Principles and requirements of the GoBD

• Unalterability: entries must not be changed or deleted in such a way that the original content can no longer be determined.
• Traceability: every business transaction must be traceable from its origin to the booking.
• Timely recording: non-cash transactions should be recorded within ten days, cash transactions daily.
• Completeness and accuracy: all tax-relevant data must be complete and correct.
• Retention: accounting records, including travel expense receipts, must be kept for eight years since 2025, books and annual financial statements for ten years (§ 147 AO). Digital documents must remain readable and analysable during this time.
• Process documentation: it must be described how receipts are captured, checked, booked and stored.

GoBD in practice

The GoBD concern all processes around invoices, travel expenses, cash and digital receipts. They are particularly important for software for capturing receipts, such as apps or cloud solutions. A GoBD-compliant travel expense receipt is complete, legible, assigned to the trip and stored unaltered. Violations can lead to the accounts being rejected and estimated during a tax audit.

GoBD compliance with Spesenfuchs

Spesenfuchs supports you in complying with the GoBD: receipts are captured in a structured way and stored centrally, approvals are traceable, and the data goes completely to accounting. Not every requirement can be met by software alone. The process documentation and storage in the company remain your responsibility, but Spesenfuchs makes implementation easier in everyday work.

Current version of the GoBD

The GoBD were last amended by a BMF letter of 14 July 2025 (2nd amendment, among other things because of e-invoicing). For e-invoices, it is now sufficient to keep the structured part, provided the image does not contain any further tax-relevant details.

Legal basis and sources: BMF letter of 14 July 2025 (GoBD, 2nd amendment), § 147 AO: retention of documents