DATEV
Germany
EU
DATEV is a German IT cooperative headquartered in Nuremberg. Tax advisers founded it in 1966, and it is organised as a registered cooperative (eG) with more than 40,000 members. DATEV states that...
European Accounting Software
e-conomic
Denmark
EU
e-conomic is a cloud accounting program from Copenhagen. The company was founded in 2001, was bought by the private equity firm HgCapital in 2013 and has belonged to the Norwegian software group...
Exact
Netherlands
EU
Non-European Parent Company
Exact is a Dutch business software company headquartered in Delft and founded in 1984. It was listed on Euronext Amsterdam until 2015, was then taken over by investors led by Apax, and...
Fortnox
Sweden
EU
Fortnox is a Swedish cloud software company headquartered in Växjö. Founded in 2001, it supplies bookkeeping, invoicing and payroll programs to small businesses and to the accounting firms that serve them. Fortnox...
Lexware Office (lexoffice)
Germany
EU
Lexware Office, formerly lexoffice, is a cloud accounting program from Lexware, the small-business software brand of the Haufe Group in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Lexware was founded in Freiburg in 1989 and...
Odoo
Belgium
EU
Open Source
Self-Hostable
Odoo is a comprehensive suite of open-source business applications that cater to various operational needs, including sales, CRM, project management, manufacturing, inventory, and accounting. Founded in Belgium, Odoo's mission is to provide...
Pennylane
France
EU
Pennylane is a French accounting and financial management platform based in Paris. The company launched at the end of 2019 and has grown quickly. According to French trade press it works with...
Sage
United Kingdom
Sage is a British software company headquartered near Newcastle upon Tyne. It was founded in 1981 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a FTSE 100 member. Sage describes itself...
sevdesk
Germany
EU
Non-European Parent Company
sevdesk is a German cloud accounting program from Offenburg, founded in 2013 for freelancers and small businesses. It states that more than 160,000 companies use it. In 2025 the French software group...
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Submit SuggestionEuropean accounting software covers bookkeeping, invoicing and tax tools from companies headquartered in Europe. This page lists Sage from the UK, Lexware Office, sevdesk and DATEV from Germany, e-conomic from Denmark, Fortnox from Sweden, Pennylane from France, Exact from the Netherlands and Odoo from Belgium.
European accounting software at a glance
| Product | Country | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Sage | United Kingdom | Accounting, payroll and HR for small to large companies, UK tax rules |
| Lexware Office | Germany | Cloud bookkeeping for freelancers and small companies |
| sevdesk | Germany | Invoices and bookkeeping for freelancers and small companies |
| DATEV | Germany | Software for tax advisers and the companies they advise |
| e-conomic | Denmark | Online accounting for Danish businesses and accountants |
| Fortnox | Sweden | Bookkeeping, invoicing and payroll for Swedish small businesses |
| Pennylane | France | Accounting platform for companies and their accountants |
| Exact | Netherlands | Cloud accounting and ERP, strong in the Benelux |
| Odoo | Belgium | Open source business suite with an accounting app |
Choosing accounting software in Europe
Accounting is regulated nationally. VAT returns, e-invoicing formats, bank connections and the interface to the tax office differ from country to country, so most tools here are strongest at home: Lexware Office, sevdesk and DATEV follow German rules such as ELSTER and the DATEV export, Fortnox and e-conomic are built for Swedish and Danish practice, and Sage follows UK rules including Making Tax Digital. Freelancers with simple needs usually start with Lexware Office or sevdesk. Companies that work closely with an accountant look at DATEV, Pennylane or Fortnox. Exact and Odoo cover wider business processes beyond accounting.
Ownership notes
sevdesk belongs to the French group Cegid, which is majority-owned by the US investor Silver Lake, and Exact is majority-owned by the US investor KKR. Both are marked as having a non-European parent. e-conomic belongs to the Norwegian group Visma, whose largest owner is the British investor HgCapital, and Fortnox is owned by the Swedish investor EQT.
What Europe does not offer
There is no single European accounting package for the whole continent, because tax rules stay national. Anyone leaving a US tool should read the page about European alternatives to QuickBooks, and payroll and personnel administration are covered by HR software.