Finance where I'm from: Running Microsoft Dynamics AX & D365 for Finance and Operations in Germany, Part 1

Editor's Note: This article is part of an occasional series featuring financial management experts from different countries and regions who work with Dynamics solutions.

As a Microsoft Dynamics AX and Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (D365FO) consultant located in Germany, I am regularly working on projects where German-specific requirements need to be configured for these two solutions. Those German country-specific requirements can in general be classified into three major groups: payment system related requirements, value added tax (VAT) related requirements and data export specific requirements.

This article will examine payment system requirements, while part two will look at VAT-related requirements.

Payment system

When it comes to payment system related features for Germany, a difference between vendor and customer payments can be made. This differentiation is applied in the following.

Vendor payments

A common characteristic of vendor payments in Germany is that they are commonly made electronically. That is, check payments, letters of credit, and other non-cash related methods of payment (other than electronic payments) are hardly used in German business practice.

Electronic vendor payments that are made in Germany can be differentiated by the recipient of the payment. Payments made to vendors in the Single European Payment Area (SEPA) can be differentiated from payments that are made to vendors outside of that region.