From Paper Receipts to DATEV Integration

‍The Challenge

Omio is a European booking platform for train, bus, and flight travel. Approximately 300 employees from over 50 countries work at locations in Germany, the UK, and the Czech Republic. Many of them travel regularly for the company, making a reliable travel expense process crucial.

Before Circula, expense reporting was entirely paper-based. Employees collected receipts in envelopes, scanned them, transferred the data to an Excel spreadsheet, printed the documents, and submitted them to the finance department. If a report was lost, the process had to be restarted.

From initial recording to final settlement, several weeks regularly passed. Accounting and controlling had to manually review and transfer data, while employees had little transparency regarding the status of their reimbursement.

With multiple countries, cost centers, currencies, and tax requirements, this process was no longer scalable.

The Solution

When selecting a new solution, two requirements were crucial for Omio: an easy-to-use mobile app for employees and a direct DATEV integration that allows booking entries and receipt images to be exported together.

On December 30, 2018, Circula first went live for the German entity. Cost centers, entities, and individual approval processes were mapped in the system. This includes, for example, a dedicated approval routing for the "Education Benefit," which automatically forwards relevant expenses to the responsible group.

The master data for approximately 300 employees was imported via a structured file. New employees can be added in the same way ever since. 

Today, employees submit their receipts directly via the app. After review and approval, booking entries and receipt images are transferred together to DATEV. This eliminates separate manual steps in accounting.

The Results: Faster Approvals and Less Manual Work

Approval and Documentation in 36 to 48 Hours

What used to take more than two weeks is now processed significantly faster. Approval and documentation are typically completed within 36 to 48 hours.

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Receipts directly via app instead of in a paper envelope

Employees now submit receipts directly via mobile after purchase. Accounting sees new expense reports immediately and no longer has to wait for physical documents.

Only a few days pass from submission to the final DATEV export. This includes not only documentation but also internal review and approval steps.

Journal entries and receipt images together in DATEV

Circula transfers journal entries and the associated receipt images together to DATEV. What used to be prepared separately and transferred manually is now consolidated into a structured export process.

One process for three countries

Omio currently uses Circula productively in Germany, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. Each entity operates with its own cost centers and approval rules, while Finance can centrally manage the process. 

‍Conclusion

With Circula, Omio has replaced a paper-based travel expense process with a digital workflow. Employees submit receipts via mobile, approvals and documentation are completed within 36 to 48 hours, and journal entries and receipt images are transferred to DATEV in a structured manner.

This allows Omio to gain not only speed but also transparency and scalability across multiple countries and entities.