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Buhl 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your buhl:Konto

By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5

On this page
  1. Where 2FA works
  2. Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
  3. Keep the deactivation code safe
  4. If Buhl rejects your code
  5. Changing phones
  6. If you lose your authenticator
  7. Turning 2FA off
  8. Official Buhl help

Your buhl:Konto is the one account behind Buhl Data Service's products: WISO Steuer, finanzblick, WISO MeinBüro, MEINVEREIN, the Buhl shop and the customer center (Kundencenter). Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional. Buhl's account page lists it next to passkeys as a way to protect the account (Buhl).

The thing to know before you start: Buhl doesn't give you a list of backup codes. You get a single deactivation code (Deaktivierungscode), shown once and sent by email. That code is your way back in if your phone is gone, so plan where it goes before you turn 2FA on.

Buhl makes its own app, the buhl:Authenticator, but its help says you need an authenticator app such as that one, not that one in particular (Buhl). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Buhl steps come from Buhl's own help pages, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. Buhl's help center now lives at faq.buhl.de, and its articles only appear with JavaScript, so we read Buhl's FAQ articles in archived copies on web.archive.org from August to November 2025. We haven't tested them on a buhl:Konto, so a label may differ slightly, and the newer help center may word things differently. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Where 2FA works

Buhl's FAQ lists the apps where you can already sign in with 2FA: the Buhl shop and customer center, finanzblick, WISO Steuer-Web, the WISO Steuer phone and tablet apps, the desktop editions of WISO Steuer (Sparbuch, Mac, Start, Office, Berater) from certain versions, WISO vermieter:Web, WISO MeinBüro Online and MEINVEREIN (Buhl). That list dates from 2021. If you use an old desktop version, update it before you turn 2FA on.

One exception: if you sign in to the finanzblick app on Android or iOS with your fingerprint or face, that biometric sign-in takes the place of the 2FA code (Buhl).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Buhl's FAQ describes these steps (Buhl):

  1. Sign in to the settings area of your buhl:Konto at buhl.de.
  2. Next to Zwei-Faktor-Authentifizierung, click AKTIVIEREN.
  3. Enter your buhl:Konto password again to confirm it's you.
  4. Follow the steps on screen to connect your authenticator app.

Buhl's FAQ doesn't describe those screens, so it doesn't say whether you'll see a QR code, a text key or both. If there's a QR code, open Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead; see scanning a QR code on the same iPhone. If you only get a key, tap +, then Enter key manually, type a name such as Buhl under Service, your email under Account if you like, and the key under Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?

When setup is done, Buhl shows your deactivation code right away (Buhl). Don't close that screen until you've written it down.

Keep the deactivation code safe

This code turns 2FA off when you can't get to your authenticator app. Buhl shows it once, right after activation, and also emails it to the address on your account. Buhl suggests writing it down or printing it, filing it with your important papers, and then deleting the email. Buhl can't see your code and can't send it again (Buhl).

If you don't back up Novaz with iCloud backup or a backup file, its keys exist only on your iPhone, and this one code is your way back in. See 2FA backup codes for ways to store it.

If you lose the code but still have the app, Buhl's fix is to turn 2FA off for a moment and turn it on again. You get a new deactivation code when you do (Buhl).

If Buhl rejects your code

Buhl's FAQ doesn't cover rejected codes. The usual cause is the phone's clock: on iPhone, go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. If you've added Buhl more than once, make sure you're reading the newest entry. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Buhl lets you connect more than one device. In the settings area of your buhl:Konto, click Ändern, then the small triangle next to Zwei-Faktor-Authentifizierung, choose Weiteres Gerät hinzufügen, and follow the steps (Buhl). The FAQ doesn't say how to remove a device afterwards. Do this while the old phone still works. If Novaz is backed up through iCloud backup or a backup file, you can restore Buhl on the new iPhone instead of adding it again. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

With your deactivation code, you can get back in yourself (Buhl):

  1. Sign in with your buhl:Konto email address and password.
  2. When Buhl asks for a security code, click Gerät verloren? under the box.
  3. Enter your deactivation code.

That turns 2FA off, and you sign in with just your email and password. Buhl recommends turning 2FA back on afterwards.

Without the deactivation code, contact Buhl's support team. Buhl says it can only help if you still know your buhl:Konto email address and password (Buhl). It doesn't say what else it asks for or how long it takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

You turn it off in the settings area of your buhl:Konto. Have your authenticator app ready: Buhl asks for a code from it before 2FA goes off. After that, you sign in with your email and password only (Buhl). If Buhl is set up in Novaz, open the account there and tap Remove account once you're done.

Official Buhl help

Buhl's FAQ articles below are linked as archived copies, because the original addresses now redirect to the new help center.

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