Accounting software for Germany: E-Rechnung, GoBD, USt and the tax adviser

Accounting software for a German business in 2026 has to do three things that software from elsewhere often does not: produce and receive structured e-invoices — XRechnung or ZUGFeRD, not a PDF — because the E-Rechnungspflicht has made the structured file the invoice; keep records the way the GoBD expects, unalterable, traceable, complete; and hand the tax adviser what the tax adviser needs without a second system. It also has to be honest about what it does not do: it does not submit anything to the Finanzamt, it does not ship the DATEV charts of accounts, and it does not replace the Steuerberater. This page sets out what KRONENWERK does for a German company, with the limits stated as plainly as the capabilities.

The invoice is a file now

Since 1 January 2025 every business in Germany must be able to receive an e-invoice in a format that conforms to EN 16931 — an XRechnung XML or a ZUGFeRD PDF with embedded XML — and the obligation to issue them for domestic B2B sales arrives in stages through 2027 and 2028, with transitional rules for smaller businesses. KRONENWERK issues both: an XRechnung for a public-sector or corporate customer who asks for pure XML, a ZUGFeRD file for everybody else, because a ZUGFeRD is a PDF a human reads with the same data as XML inside it. Every issued document is validated against the EN 16931 business rules and the German CIUS before it gets a number; a violation is a refusal with the rule named, not a warning after the fact. The e-invoicing in Germany pages explain the obligation, the formats and the choice between them in detail.

Receiving is the half people forget. A supplier's ZUGFeRD or XRechnung arrives by e-mail; KRONENWERK reads the XML, shows the figures as the supplier wrote them, and records the bill with the file attached, awaiting your confirmation. The free e-invoice checker validates any file you are unsure about, without an account.

GoBD-shaped records

The GoBD ask for records that are complete, correct, timely, orderly and unalterable, with a procedure that lets an auditor follow every figure back to its document. KRONENWERK's design answers each: an issued invoice is frozen the moment it gets its number, kept as a snapshot with its PDF and XML; a correction is a credit note and a new invoice, never an edit; the ledger is append-only and every entry names the document it came from; every action carries who and when; and attachments — receipts, supplier bills, contracts — sit on the record they belong to, with the original filename kept beside the display name. What it does not do is claim a certificate for any of this: no product can certify your bookkeeping as GoBD-compliant, because compliance is a property of your process, and the responsibility stays with you and your adviser.

Umsatzsteuer, and the numbers on the document

Standard and reduced rates, tax-exempt and reverse-charge sales, intra-Community supplies with the customer's USt-IdNr. checked for form on the document and against VIES with the free checker, Kleinunternehmer invoices without VAT and with the required sentence: each is a category on the line, and the § 14 UStG particulars — the seller's Steuernummer or USt-IdNr., a consecutive number, the date of supply, the tax rate and amount per rate — are checked before issue. Rates are the company's to state; KRONENWERK ships no rate table and does not decide which rate applies to your supply.

What the software does not do: it does not prepare or submit the Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung through ELSTER. The figures per rate and per category are in the reports; the filing is on ELSTER or with your adviser.

The Steuerberater

Most German small businesses hand the year-end, and often the monthly VAT return, to a Steuerberater who works in DATEV. Two things matter here. First, the adviser can be invited into the company: with the practice plan they see every client on one screen and open yours with the rights you gave, the engagement being yours to grant and to end. Second, KRONENWERK does not ship SKR03 or SKR04 and has no DATEV interface. Its own German starter chart is explicitly not SKR03; a licensed DATEV chart can be entered or imported as a chart of accounts, but the DATEV export the adviser may expect does not exist today. If your adviser insists on DATEV, settle that before you move — it is the one sentence on this page most worth reading twice.

Where a German company gets the time back

• Belege. Photograph or forward receipts and supplier invoices; they wait in an inbox with the figures read as printed. With an AI assistant connected, "buche diese Rechnung auf Vorgang V2026-0142" is the whole task.
• Vorgänge. A job with its Angebot, Auftragsbestätigung, Lieferschein, Eingangsrechnungen, Fotos and Rechnung in one folder — one number, inside the accounting. See transactions.
• Mahnwesen. Receivables aged by lateness, reminders on a schedule the company owns (from the Business plan), and a payment page for customers who pay by card once enabled.
• Several companies. A GmbH and a holding, each with its own books and its own subscription, switched between on one screen (Scale plan and above).

What KRONENWERK does not do in Germany

• No transmission to any government portal or network: the XRechnung is produced here; you submit it where your customer receives invoices.
• No SKR03, no SKR04, no DATEV connection.
• No Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung, no ELSTER, no tax advice, and no assurance that your bookkeeping satisfies German law at every point.
• No signed-off bank connection. Statements are imported for reconciliation rather than fetched automatically.
• No payroll.

Switching from lexoffice, sevDesk or a spreadsheet

Export customers, suppliers, invoices, bills and a Summen- und Saldenliste as of a date; upload; map the columns once; compare the totals; approve. There is no dedicated lexoffice or sevDesk adapter yet, so the exports go through the generic CSV mapping — the switching guide shows the steps and what happens to old invoice numbers, which are kept.

How KRONENWERK handles this

SUPPORTED WITH LIMITATIONS XRechnung and ZUGFeRD issued and validated; incoming e-invoices read; § 14 UStG particulars checked before issue and VAT IDs checkable against VIES; frozen documents, append-only ledger, full audit trail; expenses, bills, attachments, transactions, receivables, payables and reports; an adviser's access through the practice plan; an AI assistant through the Enterprise plan. Not done: DATEV, SKR03/04, ELSTER filing, bank feed, payroll. The country page Germany lists the same limits; prices in euro are on the pricing page.