Case Study | University of Bonn, Germany

Implementation of the ELSTER Connector for SAP

Compliance with legal requirements for the electronic transmission of payment notifications to the German tax office

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Implementation of the ELSTER Connector for SAP at the University of Bonn to comply with the requirements of the "Mitteilungsverordnung 2025" (Notification Ordinance 2025)

Nine months before the „Mitteilungsverordnung 2025“ came into effect, the University of Bonn decided to implement the SAP add-on ELSTER Connector for SAP together with PIKON. The objective was to efficiently and compliantly meet the new legal requirements for the electronic submission of payment notifications to the tax authorities. By initiating the project early, the University of Bonn ensured that all relevant tax reports could be transmitted on time, accurately, and directly from SAP to the tax authorities.

About “University of Bonn”

It is one of Germany’s eleven Universities of Excellence, the only university with six Clusters of Excellence, and over the past decades has produced more Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals than any other German higher education institution – the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn stands for internationally recognised, top-level research and academic excellence. For 200 years, the University has been shaped by outstanding scholars, research-oriented teaching, the international flair of Germany’s United Nations city, a dynamic and globally connected scientific region, and – not least – the unique quality of life in the Rhineland at the heart of Europe. With around 31,500 students, 6,575 doctoral candidates, nearly 700 professorships, 5,399 academic staff, and 1,988 employees in technical and administrative roles, the University of Bonn is one of Germany’s largest, most research-intensive, and most tradition-rich universities. Its broad range of subjects across seven faculties extends from agricultural sciences to dentistry, with many disciplines holding leading positions in international competition. In addition to its strong individual disciplines, six transdisciplinary research areas (TRAs) create spaces for exploration and innovation that address key scientific, technological, and societal challenges. The University of Bonn is guided by the conviction that science thrives best where research and teaching go hand in hand, and where excellent minds are free to develop their potential. Nobel laureates Wolfgang Paul (Physics, 1989) and Reinhard Selten (Economics, 1994) head the list of distinguished Bonn researchers – no other German university has produced two Nobel laureates in the past three decades. The university is also home to Gerd Faltings and Peter Scholze, the only German recipients of the Fields Medal.

Website University of Bonn

„With the PIKON ELSTER Connector for SAP and the expertise of PIKON consultants and developers, we managed to solve a problem in just three weeks that had seemed much bigger a few months earlier. This takes the pressure off our accounting department and allows us to benefit from the experiences of other customers in the future.“

Guido Schöpp

SAP Application Administrator, University of Bonn

The initial situationat the University of Bonn

Following the amendment of §93a of the Mitteilungsverordnung on 28 November 2024, the University of Bonn, like many other institutions in the public sector, was faced with the challenge of having to report payment transactions to private individuals electronically. From March 2026 at the latest, this will only be possible via the ERiC interface provided by the German tax authorities. Although the process had already been carried out electronically within the system, communication with the tax authorities had until then still taken place by post.

Our Solution for the University of Bonn

Our add-on “ELSTER Connector for SAP” offers the following solution for precisely this purpose: a general interface for transmitting data to the German tax authorities via ELSTER ERiC, but also a special version for notifications in accordance with the German Mitteilungsverordnung (Notification Regulation) with cash flow. On this basis, the existing paper-based solution was transformed into a digital interface in just three weeks from kick-off to successful testing. In addition, the University of Bonn now also receives feedback on individual notifications digitally.

Efficient digitisation of the notification regulation without additional infrastructure

As a result, the University of Bonn has not only complied with the regulations imposed on it by the “Mitteilungsverordnung”, but has also generated significant added value in the process. One of the main advantages is the reduction in manual effort: the manual enveloping and sending of several thousand letters to the tax office is no longer necessary. On the tax office side, the letters no longer need to be digitised.

Feedback on the notifications can now be evaluated directly in the system, without any media breaks. With our add-on, the University of Bonn has a cost-efficient and optimally suited basis for making the process leaner and more digital with minimal effort, without having to deal with the technical details of data transmission, additional server infrastructure or new software.