99.5% DATEV export rate

GBA Group is growing internationally. With every new subsidiary, the group not only expanded in size but also in the complexity of its expense reporting: different entities, unique cost center logic, paper-based receipts, and multiple parallel workflows.

Since February 2022, the GBA Group’s central finance department has been using Circula as a unified solution for expense management. Today, employees submit receipts via the app, managers approve them on the go, and verified travel expenses are exported to DATEV almost entirely automatically.

The result: 3,283 submitted receipts, a 99.5% export rate to DATEV, 83% of receipts processed without manual intervention, and an NPS of 58.

Challenge: Growth turned expense reporting into a consolidation issue

GBA Group has always operated within the DATEV ecosystem. DATEV Unternehmen Online for accounting and DATEV LODAS for payroll were non-negotiable. That is precisely why any new expense solution had to fit into this existing infrastructure.

Before Circula, however, expenses were managed separately for each subsidiary in Reisekosten Classic. For the finance team, this meant multiple workflows, partially paper-based receipts, varying cost center logic, and no centralized view of all submitted travel expenses.

What was already time-consuming in day-to-day operations became increasingly complex with every step of growth. Each new entity meant new coordination, new process variations, and additional consolidation effort. As a result, the month-end closing consisted not only of auditing and posting but also of tracking, merging, and manual verification.

In short: The existing solution fit the DATEV ecosystem, but it no longer supported GBA Group’s group-wide scaling.

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The requirements: Centralized, DATEV-integrated, and scalable 

It was clear to GBA Group: A new solution could not be an isolated add-on system. It had to integrate into the existing finance and payroll landscape while simultaneously establishing a group-wide standard.

The focus was primarily on four requirements:

1. Centralized control across multiple entities
   Receipts, approvals, and exports should no longer run through separate workflows but rather through a single, unified system.
2. Seamless DATEV integration
   Since DATEV Unternehmen Online and LODAS were already established, the export had to fit reliably into the existing DATEV structure.
3. Easy to use for employees and managers
   The process shouldn't just work for Finance, but also for those submitting and approving expenses.
4. Scalability for new subsidiaries
   New entities shouldn't trigger a small IT project every time; they should be integrated into an existing standard process.

When DATEV recommended Circula, it was a major signal of trust for the GBA Group: the solution promised not just digital expense reporting, but seamless integration into the existing DATEV ecosystem.

Solution: A centralized expense process for the entire group

The GBA Group chose Circula at the end of 2021, and the holding company went live in February 2022. The close partnership between DATEV and Circula was a decisive factor in building that trust: the connection to Unternehmen Online and LODAS isn't just an add-on, but a core part of the concept.

With Circula, previously fragmented expense processes were consolidated into a unified workflow: employees submit receipts digitally via the app, managers review and approve them on the go, and Finance centrally verifies the details before exporting the validated data to DATEV.

This turned several parallel paths into one clear process:

Submission → Approval → Verification → DATEV Export

Daily life also became easier for managers. Approvals no longer require paper, email, or separate coordination; they can be handled on the go—even by the executive board, who now approve travel expenses directly via smartphone.

For Finance, this created one primary benefit: a single source for receipts, status updates, and exports. Instead of consolidating information from multiple entities, all relevant steps now converge in one system.

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Result: more transparency, less rework, and a more stable month-end closing

Four years after going live, the data shows three clear changes.

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One view instead of parallel paths. 

Since implementation, 3,283 receipts submitted via Circula. Receipts from all connected entities now converge in a single portal. Approval, verification, and export are no longer handled in separate structures, but through a seamless, end-to-end process.

For the GBA Group, this means that the source for the monthly closing is now a central platform rather than a multitude of parallel workflows.

The stability of the DATEV integration is particularly important: 99.5% of receipts were successfully exported to DATEV. For the finance team, this reduces manual rework and provides the assurance that verified expenses arrive reliably in the existing accounting environment.

Receipts are closed in the same month they are incurred.

In the expense process, it is not just about whether receipts are recorded correctly, but also when. The later travel expenses appear in the closing, the higher the effort for retroactive entries, follow-up questions, and period-end adjustments.

At the GBA Group, an average of less than five days passes between submission and DATEV export. In the spring of 2026, the same-month rate was over 90%. This means the majority of receipts are finalized in the same month they are incurred.

For the monthly closing, this is a clear advantage: fewer retroactive entries, less uncertainty, and a more predictable final stretch.

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Receipt quality improves over time. 

Another effect can be seen in the touchless rate. In April 2026, 83% of receipts were processed without correction during the verification stage.

For the accounting department, this is more than just a product metric. Every receipt that can be processed without correction means less manual review effort and fewer follow-up questions for employees.

At the same time, an NPS of 58shows that the process is not only accepted by Finance. Employees who regularly submit receipts also rate the experience positively.

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