DATEV eG, a cooperative based in Nuremberg, describes itself as the software house and IT service provider for tax advisors, auditors and lawyers and for their clients.[5] Its customers are therefore of two kinds. Members are the professionals who own shares in the cooperative; clients (Mandanten) are the companies those members advise, who contract with DATEV only through an existing mandate and with the member’s consent.[1] The same software and cloud applications are priced in two documents: a price list for firms (Kanzleien, Stand 10/2025) and a price list for companies (Unternehmen, Stand 08/2026).[2][3] Both are updated about twice a year, and a new edition voids the earlier prices.[2]
DATEV software is not sold as a perpetual licence. The documents describe running fees (monthly, annual or usage-based) under the Geschäftsbedingungen, with use rights that are non-exclusive and, for time-limited licences against running fees, non-transferable.[1] The metric depends on the product: a user licence, a PC count per location, a client file per month, an employee per payroll month, a hosted user, or a gigabyte of document storage. A structural change is under way. DATEV is replacing location-based licence types with the Benutzerlizenz and has announced the end of the former types on 2027-12-31.[4]
Editions
DATEV does not use edition names across the portfolio. The price lists group products by task area, and many programs come in “comfort”, “classic” or “compact” variants of the same program with different scope. The table maps the main product lines to the deeper articles.
| Product line | How DATEV documents counting | Deeper article |
|---|---|---|
| Firm packages: Basis-Angebot, Mehrwert-Angebot, Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen, DMS | Tiered monthly price by number of users (Benutzerlizenz Set) or PCs; add-on modules priced per tier[3] | Firm offers and membership |
| Company cloud: Unternehmen online, Belege online, Auftragswesen next, Mittelstand Faktura | Unlimited-user flat price per application; per client file and month for Belege online[2] | Unternehmen online and cloud services |
| Payroll: LODAS comfort, Lohn und Gehalt comfort, Arbeitnehmer online, Personal | Software licence plus a charge per employee and month; volume bonus[2][3] | Payroll and hosting |
| Hosting: DATEVasp, DATEV-SmartIT | Per hosted user, mailbox, server or module; programs licensed separately[2][7] | Payroll and hosting |
| Licence types and conversion | Benutzerlizenz Einzelanwendung, Set, unbegrenzt; Betriebsstätten-, Netz- and PC-Lizenz until 2027-12-31[2] | Licence types and conversion |
| Contract terms | Geschäftsbedingungen with Besondere Bedingungen[1] | General terms |
Metrics
The price list for companies names the licence types in a section called Lizenzierung. Three are user-based and three are location-based.[2]
| Metric | Unit | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Benutzerlizenz Einzelanwendung | One licence per person using an application | Current |
| Benutzerlizenz Set | Benutzer-Zähler for a set of applications, shareable between persons | Current; available after conversion |
| Benutzerlizenz unbegrenzt | Unlimited persons; free or flat price | Current |
| Betriebsstättenlizenz | PC-Zähler per location | Cancelled effective 2027-12-31 |
| Netzlizenz | Concurrent users per location | Cancelled effective 2027-12-31 |
| PC-Lizenz | One PC per location | Not orderable since 2024-01-01; cancelled effective 2027-12-31 |
Beyond the licence types, cloud services use their own units. Mandant (Mand/Mon.) is a client file per month, for example for Belege online. Arbeitnehmer (AN) is an employee per payroll month. Nutzer (DATEVasp Basismodul) and Administrierter Nutzer (DATEVasp Zusatzmodul) count hosted users, and GByte Dokumentenspeichervolumen counts stored document volume.[2] Each is defined in the catalog with its price-list wording.
Counting / floors
User licences. For a Benutzerlizenz Einzelanwendung, the highest number of licences set in the calendar month for the application across all locations is billed. For a Benutzerlizenz Set, the highest Benutzer-Zähler value set in the month is billed.[2] DATEV states that persons can be assigned to a set licence permanently or dynamically so that licences can be shared.[2]
Location licences. A Betriebsstättenlizenz counts PCs per location. A change of the PC-Zähler is available immediately from the licence pool but reaches the invoice only in the following month.[2] A location is the head office plus its legally dependent branches.[2]
Minimum terms. Products with monthly fee intervals can first be cancelled at the end of twelve months after contract conclusion unless the service description differs; products with annual intervals can be cancelled at year end.[1] Hosting under DATEVasp likewise can first be cancelled after twelve months.[7]
Escalation. Running prices rise by 3 percent each 1 January under Ziffer 8.2, DATEV may go beyond that when the German consumer price index has risen more, and price increases are announced two months ahead with a one-month right to cancel.[1] A supplementary clause for Fachmodule limits market-based increases to once a year and not before twelve months after the last one.[8] The price list states that the 3 percent step applies from 2027.[2]
Virtualization & partitioning
The retrieved documents contain no processor, core or hard-partitioning rule. Licensing follows persons, workplaces or PCs per location, client files or hosted users. DATEV offers its own hosting platforms, DATEVasp and DATEV-SmartIT, in which DATEV runs the servers; the price list says every user of DATEV-SmartIT needs a DATEV SmartCard.[2] For DATEVasp, the hosting fee does not include the use fee for the DATEV programs, which the customer must license separately.[7]
Cloud / BYOL
DATEV cloud applications are accessed remotely only, and passing on credentials, media or personalised access hardware to third parties is not allowed; DATEV may block accesses in case of abuse.[1] Several cloud services have dependencies: DATEV Unternehmen online is a prerequisite for Belege online, Belegfreigabe online and Auftragswesen next, and an access medium (SmartLogin, mIDentity or SmartCard) is required.[2] The Microsoft licences resold with DATEVasp are billed per administered user and follow the third party’s consumer prices.[1][2] Customers who host third-party software in DATEVasp must hold the use rights themselves.[7]
Programs
- DATEV eG membership: eligible professions and three shares of EUR 255.[5]
- Conversion to the Benutzerlizenz (2027-12-31): conversion from location licences to the Benutzerlizenz by 2027-12-31, with no extra cost expected while number and use stay the same.[6]
- Annual 3 percent price increase and Fachmodule price adjustment clause: price escalation rules.[1][8]
- Kooperationsmodell für Kanzleiverbünde und Kanzleigruppen and Mitgliedsübergreifende Nutzung des Mehrwert-Angebots: group pricing of the Mehrwert-Angebot only with DATEV’s consent.[3]
- Abrechnungsbonus (payroll volume bonus): payroll volume bonus counted across a firm and its clients.[3]
- MyDATEV free document storage volume: free document storage volume that grows with invoice amounts.[2]
Members, clients and affiliates
Members may use products only within their professional activity and may open use to client companies in a Leistungsverbund; clients may use services only for their own company and for internal, non-commercial purposes.[1] Use in affiliated companies of a client needs DATEV’s consent unless the service description allows it.[1] Sharing firm licences with clients through a connection follows licence rules DATEV sets for the individual case, and the Mandantenanbindung product grants the right to provide a firm’s licences to a connected client, including licence sharing between client companies.[1][2] A member’s use rights end with the membership.[1]
Audits and compliance
The Geschäftsbedingungen contain no audit clause in the usual sense. Customers state the intended scope of use before using a product, must answer DATEV’s requests for information on the use of the products and must report changes that affect the licensing basis without delay.[1] DATEV may take technical protection measures against use that does not comply with the contract.[1] A culpable breach of the use limits or the ban on passing services to third parties triggers a contractual penalty of EUR 10,000 per case, a minimum that does not exclude proof of lower damage or further claims by DATEV.[1] The price lists add that the DATEV software protection module supplied with the Grundpaket Basis is included for the duration of program use.[2]
Programs shipped with a third-party component can carry additional terms. DATEV states, for example, that the Microsoft SQL Server 2022 supplied with DATEV programs is governed by Microsoft’s end-customer terms after the DATEV terms.[9]
Out of scope
DATEV Austria (a separate company with its own terms), the content databases and publishers’ media sold through the DATEV shop (for example LEXinform, juris and NWB), seminars and consulting, municipal (Public Sector) software and the Microsoft products’ own licensing are not covered here. The retrieved documents give no public rule on audit rights, and the catalog states none.