FinanzOnline-operations disrupted

We have just received notification of planned extensive maintenance work at the Austrian Federal Computing Centre. On Saturday, 21.05.2022, in the time between 07:00 and 22:00, the FinanzOnline service, among others, will not be available. Even outside this time window, there may be disruptions in the operation of FinanzOnline between Sat. 21.05, 0:00 hrs and Sun. 22.05.2022, 23:00 hrs.

We recommend that you plan accordingly for this when planning any commissioning of cash registers. During this time, FinanzOnline cannot process any notifications. The RetailForce system will forward any FinanzOnline-notifications received during the above-mentioned period as soon as possible.

EuroCIS 2022

The EuroCIS trade fair will soon open its doors again this year – somewhat later than usual. Since the 2021 fair did not take place for well-known reasons, we will be represented in Düsseldorf for the first time from 31 May – 2 June.

We are looking forward to welcoming you in person at our booth in Hall 9 – Stand D21 / D22.

Together with our partners, we are happy to be at your disposal for all topics relating to

  • international fiscalisation,
  • secure archiving of data and
  • digital receipts

.

Save the date!

We would be happy to make an appointment in advance. Simply send us an email to: office (at) retailforce.cloud or use the contact form.

We look forward to your visit

Your RetailForce Team

DSFinV-K new version valid from 1 July 2022

Last week, the German Federal Ministry of Finance announced the publication of a new version of the so-called “Digital Interface of the Tax Administration for Cash Register Systems (DSFinV-K)”. The specifications were published on the website of the Federal Central Tax Office. The current version, 2.3, must be used from 1st of July 2022.

RetailForce integrates the changes resulting from the new version into the Fiscal Middleware.

Changes

The majority of the changes are textual additions and clarifications, but a few more serious changes have also been fixed.

One of these significant changes to the DSFinV-K concerns the cash register number (KASSE_SERIENNR). Quote:

“For technical reasons, neither slashes (“/”) nor underscores (“_”) may be used in the cash register serial number.” [translated from the original German text]

DSFinV-K, annex E Nr. 3, p. 69.

In the RetailForce system, the cash register number is used for initialising the Fiscal Client and is entered in the “Terminal number” field in the Cloud Portal when a new terminal (= cash register) is created. We recommend not using slashes (“/”) or underscores (“_”) when assigning “Store number” (creation of a new store) and “Terminal number” (only numbers and letters – without separators).

Compared to the previous version, the payment method “rechargable value card” (not to confuse with credit cards!) has been described in much more detail. The explanation is based on the EU Directive 2015/2366 on payment services in the internal market. Important: These value cards are mere means of payment and are considered as such if they can be exchanged back for the amount originally paid (or the amount not yet used) at any time and without preconditions. They are therefore not equivalent to single-purpose vouchers.

Furthermore, a small but decisive textual adjustment was made to the receipt reference. The short description of the reference date (DSFinV-K field: REF_DATUM) was changed from: (v2.2) “Timestamp of the transaction being referenced” to: (v2.3) “Timestamp of the cash closure being referenced”.

In view of the changes to the KassenSichV, which were passed by the Federal Council last summer (see our article from July 2021), the section “Definition of the QR code for machine-verifiable cash receipts” was also revised. An edge length of at least 3 cm is prescribed for the display of the QR code. Further information on the QR code can also be found in our Solution Centre. An edge length of at least 3 cm is prescribed for the display of the QR code. Further information on the QR code can also be found in our Solution Centre.

From today’s perspective, all changes resulting from the new version of the DSFinV-K can be implemented by RetailForce without adapting the integration. Should there be any changes to this assessment, we will inform you in good time. The changes will be made available via a new version of the Fiscal Client, which is expected to be published by us at the beginning of the second half of May.

Extensive maintenance work BRZ

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance would like to inform you about upcoming extensive maintenance work at the Federal Computing Centre (BRZ). Due to maintenance work on the network, server and databases, FinanzOnline will only be available to a limited extent on Saturday 23 April from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday 24 April 2022 and will not be available at all between 5 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. thereafter. The FinanzOnline team asks for your understanding.

Please plan any commissioning of cash registers accordingly, as no FinanzOnline messages can be processed by the BRZ during this time. The RetailForce system will forward any FinanzOnline-notifications received during the above-mentioned period as soon as possible.

New version – Fiscal Client 1.2.12

In the download area of the RetailForce website you will find the latest version of our Fiscal Client (https://www.retailforce.cloud/downloads/).
The current release 1.2.12 includes functions for the countries Denmark and Bulgaria and is probably the last beta version for the two fiscal countries.
In addition to the country integrations, several improvements have been incorporated to increase the performance of the Fiscal Client – mainly for high-load systems.

RetailForce Cloud

Some changes that have been made to the RetailForce Cloud:

  • Simultaneously with the release of the new client version, configuration objects for Denmark and Bulgaria can now be created in the Cloud Portal.
  • The export of DSFinV-K files in CSV format is now much faster.
  • An additional caption field has been added to the customer entities “Organisation” and “Company” in order to be able to enter brand names of companies.
    We recommend filling the field “Caption 1” with the official company name and “Caption 2” with the brand name.

An overview of all enhancements, improvements and bug fixes can be found in the release notes at https://www.retailforce.cloud/downloads/Version%201.2.12/ReleaseNotes1.2.12.md.

FinanzOnline Offline

The FinanzOnline team of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance informs about upcoming maintenance work. This time the work will take place during the week, on the 06th of April 2022. On this day, FinanzOnline will not be available from 15:30 to 18:30. Furthermore, operations may be disrupted between 18:30 and 19:30.

Cash register notifications (registrations, deregistrations, failure notification of the signature creation unit) occurring during this period are buffered by the RetailForce Fiscal system and forwarded to FinanzOnline as soon as the portal is available again without restrictions. We recommend that planned cash register registrations are carried out at a later date, if possible.

Information on country implementations

We are currently working on the implementation of fiscalisation regulations in several countries. In the near future, RetailForce Fiscal Middleware can also be used to comply with fiscal laws in the countries of France, Denmark, Sweden and Bulgaria.

Denmark

Already with version 1.2.11, first preparations for the implementation of the Danish regulation on “Digital Sales Registration Systems” were provided. The upcoming version 1.2.12 of the Fiscal Client represents a first beta version for use in Denmark, the planned major version 1.3 will be the stable version. The RetailForce Fiscal middleware performs the required signing of the receipts, generates a data export in Danish SAF-T format and archives the data securely in the RetailForce Cloud Archive for the entire duration of the legal retention period.

France

As for Denmark, version 1.2.11 of the Fiscal Client contained changes needed for the implementation of the French fiscal regulations. RetailForce is currently working on the implementation of Infocert’s certification guidelines (NF525). The “Technical Journal” included in the above-mentioned version is required for the implementation of both the Danish and the French requirements. A first beta version for the French implementation will be made available in April. With this, the implementation work can be started and a certification process can be applied for at Infocert.

Sweden

By around the middle of the year, we will expand our portfolio with another fiscal country implementation. With the connection to a so-called control unit (Danish “Kontrollenheter”) we provide a solution to comply with the Swedish Cash Register Act. In addition to this connection, we archive the fiscal data in accordance with regulations in the secure RetailForce Cloud Archive. Please note: in addition to the use of a control unit, certification of the cash register is required in Sweden.

Bulgaria

After we had to pause the work on Bulgaria for the time being due to project reasons, we have now resumed the implementation work. A beta version will soon also be available for the transpositions of the Bulgarian regulations. The first pilot installations have already been commissioned.

Do you need help with the implementation of fiscal regulations in specific countries, or in one of the countries already covered by the RetailForce Fiscal Middleware? We will of course be happy to advise you! Simply write us a message or use the contact form.

Current release 1.2.11

The latest release of RetailForce Fiscal Middleware is available in the download directory. This version is dedicated to the preparation for the country extensions that will be available soon. You will soon find more information here in the news section of our website.

The most important innovations of this version are that with version 1.2.11:

Fiscal Module

Newly added are fields for company identification, which are used, among other things, to establish the cloud connection of the Fiscal Client. The new fields are:

  • Business identification number and
  • Statistical classification number.

and must be declared as mandatory in certain countries. The identifiers listed above have different meanings for each country. Further information on this can also be found in our Solution Centre: https://support.retailforce.cloud/hc/de/articles/4405772745617.

Technical Journal / Audit Log

As of the current version, the fiscal client can manage a technical journal, also called an audit log, which is required in certain countries. Various events can be transmitted to the middleware for this purpose.

Reprint Count

Some countries require that the number of voucher reprints be recorded. The new version 1.2.11 provides for print count management.

In the course of the extensive revisions of the Fiscal Client with the present version, many test units were also newly created and existing ones revised.

All changes and improvements of this release are listed in the release notes of the current version.

New Fiscal Client Version 1.2.10

The latest version of the RetailForce Fiscal Client is ready for use. Currently, the latest versions can be found, as usual, in the downloads section of the RetailForce website. With one of the next versions, the download area will be moved to its own website.

Main Features

Essentially, this version provides the following changes:

  • Austria: the automatic generation of the annual receipt in the cloud has been revised and improved.
  • General
    • One of the integrated validations of the Fiscal Clients checks whether the sum of the gross and net totals transferred from the POS system corresponds to the receipt total. In order to avoid error messages in case of deviations in this respect, a tolerance range of e.g. a few euro cents can now be defined.
    • With the method “UpdateClientByCloud”, configuration objects changed in the cloud can be updated on the client

As usual, you will find a summary of all changes in the release notes.

Release Version 1.2.9

Version 1.2.9 of the Fiscal Client is available in the downloads section of the RetailForce website. When upgrading to this version, please note the implementation instructions, which are also available as a Word document in the Downloads directory.

Migration tool

One of the main innovations in this version is that the middleware provides a migration tool for fiscal systems in Austria. This makes it possible to take over data collection logs (DEP7/DCL7) and AES keys from other fiscal middleware systems from other manufacturers without having to take the corresponding cash registers out of operation in FinanzOnline and then register them again. When switching to the RetailForce Fiskal middleware, it is possible to continue working seamlessly with the existing DEP7 / DCL7 (data collection log according to §7 Cash Register Security Ordinance – “RKSV”). The user key (AES-256 key) is also reused.

Fiscal Client

The Fiscal Client is now also available via NuGet. The packages can be found on the website https://www.nuget.org/profiles/RetailForceDevelopment.

Furthermore, as of now a backup copy of the Fiscal Client can be created and a restore can be carried out if required. More information can be found in the RetailForce Solution Centre in the following article:https://support.retailforce.cloud/hc/en-gb/articles/4421675764497-Moving-FiscalClient-from-one-computer-to-another.

FiscalAT

Further improvements to this version mainly concern the Austria variant of the Fiscal Client:

  • Documentation of the VAT positions was revised
  • Added call “GetStartReceipt”
  • Test methods for reporting status of cash registers, signature creation unit, annual receipt improved
  • Last added line in DEP7 can be checked against FinanzOnline (Document Verification)

FiscalDE

In the German version, Fiskaly’s cloud TSE was released for productive operation.

RetailForce Cloud

Some changes and improvements have also been made to the RetailForce Cloud Portal.

In the main menu (left), the menu item “Information” now shows the essential characteristics of the different fiscal countries. Here you can see at a glance which document types must be transferred in a certain country.

For Austria versions, the date of the first or the current last DEP entry is displayed in the terminal insights. For systems in Germany, the date of the first daily closing performed on the terminal – since the RetailForce Fiscal Middleware went live – and the last daily closing created are displayed.

All changes and improvements can be found in the release notes of this version.