Challenge

Demodesk launched in 2018 as the first virtual meeting platform built specifically for sales teams conducting online demos. The Munich-based SaaS company has relied on Stripe since day one to manage its payments and subscription billing for customers across Europe and the US.

But Demodesk’s one-person accounting team faced a monthly bottleneck: manually reconciling revenue for DATEV, the company’s accounting platform. Germany’s strict accounting standards required reformatting every Stripe payment into a DATEV-compatible format, converting amounts to euros when needed, and submitting everything via a specific template to an external accounting firm.

“We had to send a long list of all the invoices we sent via Stripe every month, which required a lot of billable work on our accountant’s side,” said Marta Abbadessa, team lead of finance and operations at Demodesk.

Demodesk spent about one hour per month collecting data. The accounting firm then took about five billable hours per month validating entries, converting currencies, and correcting manual errors. This process regularly delayed Demodesk’s month-end close by more than 30 days, preventing executives from using current financial data to understand the company’s true financial position.

Solution

In 2022, Demodesk implemented pathway solutions’ DATEV Export app from the Stripe App Marketplace to automate its month-end workflow. The app connects directly to Demodesk’s Stripe Billing data, and it generates fully structured export files that automate the booking of revenue, Stripe fees, and invoices into DATEV.

The automation handles two requirements: converting all dollar-based invoices to euros (DATEV’s required currency) and mapping nearly 50 Stripe data fields into DATEV’s specific reporting structure—ensuring compliance with German audit standards.

At the start of each month, DATEV Export automatically creates a full revenue report and sends it to Demodesk’s external accounting firm—with no manual data entry or spreadsheet creation required.

Results

15-minute setup, no engineering required

Demodesk quickly connected the DATEV Export app to its Stripe account without any technical support. “It was literally two clicks; one to connect it to Stripe and one for our accountant to connect it to DATEV. It was really easy and straightforward,” said Abbadessa.

Manual tasks eliminated during monthly close

Automating the preparation of Stripe revenue data for DATEV eliminated the time Abbadessa spent exporting and formatting invoices each month, plus the five billable hours the external accounting firm spent validating entries, correcting discrepancies, and converting currencies.

“The time savings helped us save money on billable hours while freeing up time to work on more strategic projects instead of manually processing invoices,” said Abbadessa.

No reconciliation errors

By automating the process, Demodesk eliminated the risk of manual errors while ensuring all data aligns with DATEV’s strict requirements.

“It gives us more peace of mind overall that all our data is being sent directly from Stripe,” said Abbadessa.

Month-end close 10 days faster

Because revenue data is now delivered in a consistently formatted, accurate file at the start of each month, Demodesk’s accountants no longer need to wait for templates, clarifications, or manual export. Combined with other automation initiatives, this cut 10 days from Demodesk’s month-close, giving business leaders access to accurate financial data sooner.

“This was a great win, and pathways played a huge part in speeding up the process,” said Abbadessa.

About pathway solutions

As a leading provider of DATEV integration technologies, pathway solutions helps more than 500 businesses on Stripe every month automatically export their Stripe sales into DATEV format. pathway solutions connects ecommerce businesses and tax advisors, streams financial data directly into DATEV, and eliminates manual bottlenecks so accounting is audit-ready and effortless.