Amazon Vendor Central differs fundamentally from a conventional Seller Central model. In a typical Vendor or first-party process, Amazon creates a purchase order, the vendor confirms and ships the goods, and the vendor then invoices Amazon. Amazon matches the order, receipt and invoice, applies agreed commercial terms or claims where relevant, and pays the remaining amount.

In practice, however, the financial flow is far more complex than issuing a B2B sales invoice and receiving full payment. An Amazon Vendor payout almost never equals the face value of the original invoice. Amazon routinely offsets numerous positive and negative positions on the remittance advice. These deductions include marketing allowances (Werbekostenzuschuss / WKZ), co-op fees, damage allowances, freight allowances, price protection adjustments, return credit notes, shortage claims and operational chargebacks.

For tax advisers and accountants, Amazon Vendor accounting presents two core challenges:

Gross vs. Net Accounting: Deductions made by Amazon must not simply be netted against the receivable. Each deduction is classified by its legal nature: a separate marketing service from Amazon, a price reduction or a receivable that is still open.
Open-Item (OPOS) Reconciliation: Tracking hundreds of invoices against batch remittance payments requires item-level matching of invoice numbers, credit note IDs and deduction codes.

This guide explains how merchants and accounting firms can set up a traceable workflow for Amazon Vendor Central accounting, classify deductions based on the individual invoice or credit note, and hand the data over to DATEV.

Seller Central (3P) vs. Vendor Central (1P) Accounting

Understanding the legal and tax differences between Amazon Seller Central (3P) and Amazon Vendor Central (1P) is essential for correct bookkeeping:

Accounting Parameter	Seller Central (3P)	Vendor Central (1P)
Legal Relationship	B2C sales to end-consumers; Amazon is agent/marketplace	B2B wholesale sales directly to Amazon; the Amazon entity is named in the vendor agreement and on the purchase order
Invoicing Entity	Merchant issues invoice to end-buyer	Merchant issues B2B invoice to Amazon (or self-billing)
Primary Revenue Account	B2C Sales (19%, 7%, OSS)	Domestic B2B sales or intra-Community supplies, depending on the delivery route and invoice recipient
Main Settlement Document	Settlement Report (Flat File V2 / XML)	Remittance Advice (Payment Advice / Payment File)
Deduction Mechanism	Referral & FBA fees deducted from customer funds	Co-op, WKZ, allowances & shortage claims deducted from B2B payout

Which Amazon entity is your contracting party, and which one bills a given service, can differ: for example an entity in Luxembourg or a German branch with a German VAT ID. This determines whether an invoice shows German VAT or whether you owe the tax yourself under the reverse-charge mechanism (Section 13b UStG). What counts is always the issuer, the service and the VAT shown on each invoice or credit note, not a rule of thumb.

Common Vendor Central Deductions and Their Accounting Treatment

When Amazon issues a payment remittance advice, it provides a list of paid invoices alongside credit notes and deduction codes. The primary deduction categories include:

1. Co-op Fees and Marketing Allowances (WKZ)

Amazon charges mandatory or negotiated fees for placement, promotions, catalog maintenance and marketing campaigns:

Tax Treatment: If Amazon provides a separate marketing service, it is a service supplied to you. If an Amazon entity established elsewhere in the EU bills it without German VAT, you owe the tax under Section 13b UStG and, under standard VAT taxation, can usually deduct it as input VAT at the same time. If the invoice shows German VAT, normal input VAT deduction applies. If there is no separate service behind the deduction but a price reduction, it is a reduction of the consideration.
Posting: for a marketing service, for example Advertising Expense (SKR03 4600 / SKR04 6600) ➔ Credit Amazon Vendor Clearing / Debtor; your accountant sets the tax key to match the invoice.

2. Freight and Damage Allowances

Freight Allowance: Deductions for transportation services provided by Amazon.
Damage Allowance: Agreed percentage offset covering damaged or defective returns.
Posting: Freight and damage allowances represent agreed cost reductions or purchasing deductions. Depending on contractual structure, they are booked as distribution costs or sales deductions with proper tax adjustments.

3. Shortage Claims (Quantity Discrepancies)

If Amazon claims that fewer units arrived at the fulfillment centre than billed on the invoice, Amazon issues a shortage claim deduction.

Accounting Rule: Shortage claims must be tracked as disputed open items. If accepted, issue a credit note adjusting revenue; if disputed, maintain the open receivable until resolved or written off.

4. Vendor Returns and RTV (Return to Vendor)

Unsold, damaged or customer-returned items shipped back by Amazon generate a Return to Vendor credit note.

Posting: Debit Sales Returns / B2B Revenue Adjustment ➔ Credit Amazon Vendor Debtor Account.

The Remittance Advice Reconciliation Workflow

To keep Vendor Central bookings traceable, a structured four-stage reconciliation workflow helps:

[Invoice Issued to Amazon] ➔ [Remittance Advice Received] ➔ [Deduction & Tax Split] ➔ [DATEV OPOS Clearing]

Stage 1: Post B2B Outgoing Invoices

When goods are delivered to Amazon, post the full invoice face value to the Amazon Vendor Debtor Account (e.g. SKR03 10000 / SKR04 10000).

Stage 2: Parse Remittance Advice Data

Download the remittance advice from Vendor Central; depending on your setup, it can also be transmitted via EDI. The remittance connects bank deposits with specific invoice numbers, payment discounts (early payment discounts / Skonto), credit notes and deduction codes.

Stage 3: Separate Fees, Taxes and Net Payouts

Split every deduction into its legal category:

Invoice balances cleared.
Early payment discounts (Skonto) posted with Section 17 UStG tax adjustments.
Marketing services billed without German VAT by an Amazon entity established elsewhere in the EU fall under Section 13b UStG; with German VAT shown, normal input VAT deduction applies.
Shortage claims carried as open items.

Stage 4: Clear Open Items in DATEV

Import the structured EXTF posting batch into DATEV Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen. Match invoice numbers in Belegfeld 1 to clear the Amazon Vendor debtor balance to zero.

Transferring Amazon Vendor Data to DATEV

For German tax advisers using DATEV Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen, Vendor Central data must be structured into valid EXTF posting batches:

Belegfeld 1: Must contain the exact Amazon Invoice Number or Purchase Order Number (PO Number).
Belegfeld 2: Store the Remittance Advice ID for audit traceability.
Tax Keys (BU-Schlüssel): depend on the service, the invoice issuer and the VAT shown, and are set with your accountant. Implausible combinations of account, tax key and amount show up at the latest during import.

How KudTax Automates Amazon Vendor Central Accounting

Manually unravelling Vendor Central remittance advice files and matching hundreds of deduction codes in Excel is slow and error-prone.

Alongside Seller Central, KudTax supports Vendor Central and connects to Amazon through the official interface. Invoices, credit notes and payouts are reconciled with AI assistance; anything that does not add up stays visible as an open difference. From the reconciled data, KudTax creates journal entries based on SKR03 or SKR04 and hands them over via DATEV export. You agree the account assignment and tax keys for co-op fees, WKZ and allowances once with your accountant; year-end closing and tax returns stay with them.

Start with a closed month and the remittance advices that cause you the most work today. Vendor accounts receive individual offers: book a demo or create an account directly.

Official and further sources

This article provides general information for tax professionals and businesses and does not constitute formal legal or tax advice.

Amazon Vendor Central Accounting: Credit Notes & Co-op