Lexware Office vs sevdesk (October 2026): bookkeeping tools compared for DACH

Lexware Office or sevdesk: the verdict

Lexware Office vs sevdesk: comparison table

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Lexware Office vs sevdesk: what it costs per year

Pricing: Lexware Office stacks modules, sevdesk stacks contract terms

Lexware Office sells four plans that each add a layer, all with monthly cancellation. Plan S covers receipt capture and archiving at 7.90 euros a month. M adds quotes, invoices and reminders at 12.90 euros. L adds bookkeeping, tax returns and VAT handling at 21.90 euros, and XL adds EU invoices, installment billing and API access at 32.90 euros. Prices are net, as of October 2026.

sevdesk stacks terms instead. The free plan allows 3 invoices a month. The paid plans are Rechnung, Buchhaltung and Buchhaltung Pro. They cost 11.90, 25.90 and 34.90 euros on monthly billing. Annual billing brings 9.90, 22.90 and 30.90 euros, and a 24 month term 8.90, 19.90 and 27.90 euros. We could not confirm from the pricing page whether these figures are net, so check the checkout.

Both vendors advertise discounts. Lexware Office shows 50 percent off for 3 months, which halves plan S to 3.95 euros at the start. sevdesk shows up to 50 percent off, for example 9.95 euros for Buchhaltung, without a visible end date. Compare list prices, because the discounted figure is not what you pay in year two.

The regular price is also not stable. OMR reviewers of Lexware Office mention repeated price increases, and its review page still listed plan S at 6.90 euros, against 7.90 euros on the vendor page today. sevdesk's own Austrian site shows Rechnung from 12.90 euros, while the German page shows 11.90 euros. Treat any price you read elsewhere as a lead and confirm it at checkout.

Users and total cost: sevdesk charges per seat, Lexware Office does not

Seats change the math more than the headline price. Lexware Office states that further users cost nothing in any version, with roles such as contributor, accounting specialist, administrator and payroll handler. The advisor login is free in every plan too. A team of 3 therefore pays 21.90 euros a month for plan L.

sevdesk includes 1 user in every plan and charges 5.90 euros a month for each additional user. Three users on Buchhaltung cost 31.70 euros on a 24 month term, 34.70 euros on annual billing and 37.70 euros on monthly billing. The gap to Lexware Office L is 9.80 to 15.80 euros a month, before any discount.

Over a year, plan L costs 262.80 euros net with Lexware Office. One sevdesk Buchhaltung user costs 238.80 euros on a 24 month term and 274.80 euros on annual billing. A solo founder with a long term can therefore pay less at sevdesk. A team cannot.

Payroll is a separate point. Lexware Office offers Lohn und Gehalt as a module that starts at 12.90 euros a month and scales with the number of employees. We found no payroll product on sevdesk's pricing page, so a company that wants payroll in the same login has one option here.

Contract and exit: monthly cancellation against automatic renewal

Lexware Office has no minimum term and can be canceled monthly. After cancellation, the account stays readable, but you can no longer edit or add data. Lexware Office says it stores the data with read access for 10 years because of retention duties. The service is free for now, and Lexware reserves the right to charge for it later. You can also ask for deletion or export.

sevdesk sells fixed terms of 1, 12 or 24 months. According to its terms, the contract renews for the same term unless you cancel with 2 weeks' notice. You can cancel in the customer account, by email or in writing. The cheapest rates therefore depend on a commitment, and a missed deadline starts another term. Independent reviewers name contract and price clarity as a recurring complaint.

The terms let sevdesk raise fees twice a year with 1 month's notice. If an increase exceeds 10 percent above the consumer price index, you may cancel within 2 weeks. Lexware Office's price changes are not described on the pages we read, so ask for the clause in writing.

Data after the end differs too. sevdesk provides data for download until the contract ends and deletes the rest by the end of the following tax year. It names a retention duty of 6 to 10 years for tax documents and leaves that duty with you. Export receipts and bookings before the last day, whichever tool you leave.

AI features: both read receipts, the entry point differs

Lexware Office describes its receipt capture as more than classic OCR. It reads amount, document number and date, tells an invoice date from a due date and gross from net, and proposes accounts under the SKR03 or SKR04 charts. That includes entertainment costs, fixed assets, reduced VAT rates and reverse charge cases. Recurring supplier invoices are captured on their own. Capture works with the app, and up to 20 trusted sender addresses can feed invoices by email.

The vendor's automation page adds booking suggestions for every income and expense, automatic matching of receipts to bank transactions, and learning from corrections. It claims about 70 percent less manual work, which is a vendor claim, not a measurement. Receipt capture and booking suggestions are named for all four plans.

sevdesk names AI-supported receipt capture, AI booking suggestions that learn from your choices, intelligent bank matching and AI-supported posting of incoming payments in its banking module. The pricing page lists AI receipt capture from the Buchhaltung plan, not from Rechnung or the free plan. Paid plans also list a 24/7 AI agent called Sevi for support questions.

On accuracy we have no verifiable figure from either vendor. Reviewers on OMR praise Lexware Office's automation and name occasional bank connection breaks. For sevdesk they report inaccurate receipt recognition and unreliable bank matching in some cases. Treat suggestions as drafts, because responsibility for the books stays with the company.

Tax advisor, GoBD and e-invoices: the legal part is the same for both

Lexware Office includes the DATEV interface in every plan. It supports the DATEV cloud services Rechnungsdatenservice, for advisors who book, and Buchungsdatenservice, for firms that book themselves. A classic DATEV export and an IDEA export for tax audits also exist. sevdesk offers a DATEV and ADDISON compatible export in its paid plans and a portal where advisors see client data. OMR reviewers report faulty DATEV exports at sevdesk in some cases.

Both vendors call their archiving GoBD compliant. GoBD are the federal principles for keeping digital books. A letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance dated July 14, 2025 states that for received e-invoices, storing the structured data set is enough. Whether your setup passes an audit also depends on your own process documentation, not only on the tool.

Since January 1, 2025, German businesses must be able to receive e-invoices. Under § 27 (38) of the VAT Act, issuing paper invoices stays allowed until December 31, 2026. For firms with prior year turnover up to 800,000 euros it stays allowed until December 31, 2027. Lexware Office's help article says creating e-invoices is possible from plan M and must be enabled by an administrator. XRechnung also needs a buyer reference (Leitweg-ID) and bank details in the layout.

sevdesk lists ZUGFeRD and XRechnung already in the free plan. If you issue many invoices to public bodies or large customers, test one sent and one received e-invoice in the trial with your real data before you commit.

Country fit: Germany first, Austria possible, Switzerland not covered

For companies in Germany, both fit. Lexware Office states that its data sit in German high security data centers near Frankfurt. It says it is ISO 27001 certified and verified by TÜV Süd, and names more than 450,000 customers. sevdesk states a deliberate server location in Germany on AWS, publishes its data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR and a list of subprocessors, and offers optional two factor login. Its security page names no ISO or TÜV certificate, so we dropped an older TÜV claim.

For companies in Austria, the vendors differ clearly. Lexware Office's help article says the application is exclusively suitable for use in Germany and cannot use valid country specific tax rates, currencies or online banking outside Germany. sevdesk runs sevdesk.at and says it is built for people and companies based in Germany or Austria. We found no verified list of Austria specific tax features, so ask about Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung and your advisor's format.

For companies in Switzerland, neither tool is a fit. Lexware Office excludes it by its own statement. sevdesk.ch says the product is made for companies based in Germany or Austria and lists no Swiss QR bill, Swiss VAT or franc accounting. Look at tools built for Swiss accounting instead.

Under § 87 Abs. 1 Nr. 6 BetrVG, a works council co-determines technical systems that can monitor behavior or performance. A multi-user bookkeeping tool with logs may fall under that rule. Neither vendor publishes works council guidance, so involve the council early if you have one. Neither names a statement under the EU AI Act for its AI features either.

Ownership and switching: Haufe against Cegid, and what to test

Lexware Office is operated by Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG, part of Haufe Group in Freiburg, and was renamed from lexoffice in 2024. sevdesk, founded in Offenburg, was acquired by the French software group Cegid, which announced the closing in February 2025. Its co-founder Marco Reinbold became General Manager DACH. Neither change altered the products we compared, but owners set price and plan structure over time.

Moving between the two is possible but manual. Both export bookings and receipts, and the DATEV format is the common ground. Run one parallel month before you cancel the old tool, and keep the archive of the old tool for the full retention period of 6 to 10 years.

For the trial, take eight real tasks. Upload 20 receipts, connect your business account, send and receive one e-invoice, run a VAT return draft, and let your advisor open the data. Review sites such as selbststaendigkeit.de suggest the same approach. For the wider field, see our accounting category.

Who should pick Lexware Office and who sevdesk

The bottom line

Count your users and your country before your invoices. A German team that wants flexibility and many logins is cheaper and simpler at Lexware Office L. A solo freelancer who mostly invoices, or any company in Austria, should start on the sevdesk free plan and note the renewal date. Swiss companies need a different tool.