Anyone managing invoicing and accounting data digitally cannot ignore the GoBD, the German “principles for the proper keeping and retention of books, records and documents in electronic form”. A real requirements specification from the damage restoration sector shows how concretely this requirement is phrased in practice.
The requirement in its original wording
The specification stated, in essence: the data must be stored on an audit-proof storage medium within the meaning of the GoBD, with clearly defined retention periods. For commercial books, inventories, opening balance sheets, annual financial statements and individual financial statements, a retention period of ten years generally applies.
What “audit-proof” actually means in practice
- Subsequent changes to posted documents must be logged in a traceable way and must not simply be overwritten
- Cancellations create a new, linked posting record instead of deleting the original
- The retention period must be preserved even when switching systems or migrating data
A related topic from the same specification: automatic credit notes
The same document contained a related requirement: after an invoice is cancelled, it should also be possible to create a credit note automatically. This is not an end in itself but follows directly from GoBD logic — simply deleting an incorrect invoice is not permitted; a documented correction process is required.
Why this point gets short shrift in many requirement documents
In our experience, the GoBD requirement is often mentioned only in a brief subordinate clause in early drafts of requirement documents — until a vendor asks in a detailed discussion how exactly retention is implemented technically. Spelling this out early avoids rework later in the running project.
Frequently asked questions
Does the GoBD also apply to smaller companies?
Yes, the GoBD generally applies regardless of company size as soon as digital accounting data is processed.
Is a normal backup enough for GoBD-compliant retention?
Not automatically — what matters is that the data remains unalterable and traceable over the entire retention period, not just that it is backed up.
Want to make sure your invoicing processes are mapped digitally in a GoBD-compliant way? We will show you how this is implemented in 1Tool.
Are you drawing up a requirements specification yourself? Ask us for our free requirements specification checklist (PDF) — 7 topic blocks that no tender should be without.
Want to check your software systematically against the GoBD requirements? Ask us for our free GoBD checklist (PDF).
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