Bookkeeping

Digital bookkeeping

Keeping accounting records in software rather than on paper, increasingly required by law together with digital submission to the tax authority.

What Digital bookkeeping means

Digital bookkeeping means that documents are captured electronically, entries are posted in software and records are stored in a format that can be searched, exported and audited. It replaces paper journals and manual retyping with data extraction, automatic categorisation, bank feeds and structured exports.

Several EU countries have moved from allowing to requiring it. Denmark obliges businesses to use a registered digital bookkeeping system with automatic e-invoice handling and bank reconciliation, phased in through 2026. Greece requires reporting through myDATA, Spain certifies invoicing software under Verifactu, Poland replaced VAT returns with the JPK file, and the ViDA package builds on the same foundation. Even where paper is still legal, the direction of every national reform is the same. Kontevia is designed as a digital bookkeeping system for the requirements of all 27 member states.

Related terms

E-invoice (electronic invoice)An invoice issued, sent and received in a structured electronic format that software can process automatically. A PDF is not an e-invoice under EU law.OCR (optical character recognition)Technology that turns a photo or scan of a receipt or invoice into text, so the amounts, dates and parties can be extracted and booked without retyping.Automatic categorisationAssigning each document to the right expense or income category and ledger account automatically, based on its content and the user's previous choices.SAF-T (Standard Audit File for Tax)An OECD-defined XML file of accounting data that tax authorities in several EU countries require for audits or as a periodic filing.Archive retentionThe legal duty to keep invoices and accounting records for a set number of years in a readable, authentic and unaltered form.

This entry is general information, not tax advice. Rules change; check the current position with your adviser or the tax authority of your country.

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Kontevia applies these rules for you

Rates, thresholds and e-invoicing formats come from the jurisdiction data of your country. You send the document, Kontevia books it and keeps the VAT summary ready.

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