Lexware Office vs sevDesk

Lexware Office

The captured help pages show a real double-entry base: SKR03 or SKR04 selectable with existing bookings auto-migrated when the chart is switched, calendar-month booking periods tied to document dates, and a monthly hardening that freezes everything booked through the second-to-last month. We found no public information on manual free postings, opening balances, cost centres, accruals or multi-year comparatives, so the ledger beyond the basics stays dark.

sevDesk

The evidence claims "einfache und doppelte Buchführung" with cashbook, trial balance, EÜR/GuV and depreciation, and cost centres plus BWA in Buchhaltung Pro — real ledger territory. But nowhere is a chart of accounts (SKR03/SKR04), journals, opening balances or any period close with locking evidenced, which is what separates rubric level 5 from real bookkeeping.

Lexware Office

Immutability is engineered rather than just claimed: an automatic monthly Festschreibung described as GoBD-conform, a manual lock to a freely chosen date, a protocol of every lock with timestamp, and bookings frozen as soon as a VAT pre-registration is transmitted. We found no public information on a supplied Verfahrensdokumentation, a stated statutory retention period, or a GoBD-compliant data export for the auditor, which is what separates a working lock from full audit readiness.

sevDesk

Total silence: the feature inventories on homepage and pricing page list dozens of capabilities without one word on GoBD, immutability, retention period or a Verfahrensdokumentation. For a 170,000-customer bookkeeping product that absence speaks loudly, and rubric level 0 is exactly that: no GoBD claim, no retention statement, no documentation.

Lexware Office

The VAT pre-registration loop is fully wired: transactions auto-fill the correct positions, one-click transmission with ELSTER feedback, payment by SEPA direct debit or bank transfer from the generated voucher, and the period locks on submission, with Ist/Soll timing including Mindest-Ist, §13b reverse charge, intra-community supplies and Dauerfristverlängerung all documented. Destination-country taxation is explicitly routed to OSS or a separate registration rather than the product, and we found no public information on EÜR, a balance sheet, Zusammenfassende Meldung or small-business §19 handling, with retroactive filings capped at the second-to-last year.

sevDesk

UStVA goes directly to the Finanzamt through an integrated ELSTER interface with no extra certificate, and EÜR plus GuV are listed — the core of rubric level 5 is there. But reverse-charge, intra-community supply, OSS, Zusammenfassende Meldung and correction filings appear nowhere, so I can't go above the middle.

Lexware Office

Bank transactions are fetched and automatically receive matching suggestions on each refresh — by exact document number in the remittance text, contact name or customer number — checked in both directions with receipts linked to their postings, and connected bank accounts are demonstrably part of the account. We found no public information on OCR for captured receipts, user-definable matching rules with learning, or inbound ZUGFeRD/XRechnung handling, so the evidence chain stays at suggested matches.

sevDesk

Over 4,000 banks connected with transfers straight out of the app, AI receipt capture with automatic category recommendation, and e-invoicing in ZUGFeRD/XRechnung both directions in every plan — the pipe from money and evidence into the books is genuinely built. What's missing is the reconciliation half: no rule-based automatic matching with learning, no ersetzendes Scannen, no archiving of the digital original.

Lexware Office

The DATEV handoff is the best-documented part of the product: scenario-based exports for Buchungsmandant versus Selbstbucher, automatic background transfer via DATEVconnect online to the Buchungsdatenservice, receipt images and booking data coordinated so the booking links to the receipt image after import in DATEV Kanzlei Rechnungswesen, plus Rechnungsdatenservice and ADDISON OneClick, and the adviser seat is explicitly free. Access is all-or-nothing — the captured help page states granular restriction is not possible and the adviser sees everything including bank accounts — and we found no public information on corrections flowing back from the Kanzlei.

sevDesk

DATEV and ADDISON interfaces are named, assigned to a concrete paid tier and framed as "Verknüpfung zu deiner Steuerberatung", and the adviser can be invited into the account to work — that meets rubric level 5. But the export's contents (receipt images, linking) are undocumented, the adviser seat is unscoped and unaudited, and corrections flowing back is pure speculation on this evidence.

Lexware Office

The imprint names a Freiburg company and separate privacy statements exist for the cloud product, but the captured pages give no statement of hosting location, no subprocessor list and no certification, so I cannot place the books on named European infrastructure from public information. The one durable fact is the manual export of vouchers and booking data that still works after cancellation — a partial answer to whether retention survives leaving the vendor.

sevDesk

The vendor's own pages state German server location, the imprint confirms a German GmbH under Amtsgericht Freiburg, and the privacy page publishes a subprocessor list, AVV and TOM — rubric level 5 territory. But nothing is independently verified (the pipeline flags every attribute unknown), the infrastructure is unnamed, and there is no stated export that keeps statutory retention alive if the contract ends.

Lexware Office

The only priced fact I found is that the tax adviser access is 'komplett kostenlos' for client and Kanzlei alike. Beyond that we found no public information on tier prices, booking or document limits, billing period or VAT treatment, so a business cannot compute a real annual invoice from the captured pages.

sevDesk

Structure is public: 1/12/24-month terms with "ab" prices valid only for 24-month terms, an explicit free tier with a 3-invoice limit, and the DATEV tier identifiable. But a business still can't compute its real invoice: one user per plan with no extra-seat or adviser price, marketplace partner costs explicitly "nicht inkludiert", discount promos of "bis zu 70%" muddying the headline, and no euro figures or VAT treatment captured at all.