sevDesk vs Lexware Office: German bookkeeping
Both run the books for German freelancers and small firms, with invoices, bank sync, payment reminders and VAT returns. Pick sevDesk if you want to start free and hand everything to a tax adviser in DATEV format. Pick Lexware Office, from €7.90 a month, if you file VAT yourself through ELSTER and need to receive e-invoices on any plan: it creates XRechnung and ZUGFeRD and reads the ones you upload, while sevDesk reads incoming e-invoices only from its Buchhaltung plan up.
Which one to pick
sevDesk suits a freelancer or small company in Germany that wants a free start, does the day-to-day bookkeeping itself and passes the year to a Steuerberater through the DATEV export.
Lexware Office suits a German small business that files its own VAT returns through ELSTER and wants full e-invoice handling, sending and receiving XRechnung and ZUGFeRD, on a low monthly price.
Side by side
Questions
How do sevDesk and Lexware Office prices compare?
sevDesk has a free plan, and paid plans are billed monthly in euros. Lexware Office has no free plan and starts at €7.90 a month. If you need to read incoming e-invoices, compare against sevDesk's Buchhaltung plan, since that is the first sevDesk tier that does it.
Is sevDesk's free plan enough for a freelancer?
It gets you started with invoicing in Germany, and every sevDesk plan creates e-invoices. Reading the e-invoices your suppliers send you needs the Buchhaltung plan or higher. Since German businesses must be able to receive e-invoices, most freelancers outgrow the free plan quickly.
Can I switch from sevDesk to Lexware Office?
Yes, but time it for the start of a financial year or quarter so your VAT periods stay clean. Export your contacts and past documents from sevDesk and keep the DATEV export for your adviser. Then set up bank sync and invoice templates fresh in Lexware Office.
Do both handle the German e-invoice rules?
Lexware Office creates XRechnung and ZUGFeRD and reads incoming e-invoices you upload. sevDesk creates e-invoices on every plan but reads incoming ones only from the Buchhaltung plan up. Check that the plan you pick covers both directions.
Can I use them if my business is outside Germany?
Both are built for German tax rules: ELSTER, Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung and DATEV. They make sense if you run a business registered in Germany, wherever you live. For a company in Spain, France or Italy, pick accounting software built for that country's tax office.