Odoo vs Lexware – When to Move from Lexware to a Full ERP Platform

Odoo vs Lexware – When to Move from Lexware to a Full ERP Platform

For more than three decades, Lexware has been the undisputed standard for very small businesses in Germany. Tax advisers know the software, bookkeepers learned on it, and for a three-person agency, a tradesperson, or a small online retailer, Lexware Office, Plus, or Premium delivers exactly what's needed: a GoBD-certified, DATEV-ready, German-maintained accounting and order solution.

But once a company grows past 10 to 20 employees, develops several business areas, or moves into manufacturing, B2B sales, or e-commerce, Lexware customers regularly hit limits. This guide explains when a move to a full ERP platform like Odoo makes economic sense – and when Lexware remains the right choice.

Quick verdict: Lexware is an excellent solution for very small businesses with 1 to 15 employees, classic accounting, and modest order processing. Odoo is the right pick the moment you need integrated modules for inventory, manufacturing, CRM, marketing, or e-commerce; multiple sites; more than a few hundred items; or international operations. The economic switch-over point typically lands at 15 to 25 employees.

Who uses what?

Lexware – the classic for small German businesses

Lexware is developed by Haufe Group, headquartered in Freiburg im Breisgau – our own neighbourhood. The product family covers different sizes and requirements:

• Lexware Office (formerly Lexoffice): cloud bookkeeping with invoicing and basic banking, from ~€12/month
• Lexware Plus and Lexware Premium: desktop programs with extended accounting, payroll, inventory; ~€500 to €1,300 perpetual licence plus maintenance
• Lexware financial office: all-in-one bundle for accounting, payroll, fixed assets
• Lexware ERP: Lexware's foray into the ERP space; in practice still focused on accounting and orders

Strengths: native DATEV connection, GoBD certification, annually updated payroll tax tables, very strong tax-adviser acceptance, German-language training material, established support.

Weaknesses: limited module breadth, architecture primarily single-user or small-team, no professional CRM, no MRP, no integrated webshop, limited multi-site logic.

Odoo – the open ERP platform for growing businesses

Odoo Enterprise is a complete ERP platform with more than 80 native modules. Unlike Lexware, Odoo doesn't just cover accounting and orders – it models every business process in one coherent data model: CRM, sales, purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, HR, e-commerce, helpdesk, project management.

Crucially for German users: Odoo Enterprise also ships with a complete German localisation – GoBD-compliant accounting, DATEV export, SKR03/SKR04 charts of accounts.

Functional comparison

Accounting and payroll

Lexware is in its own league here. The software has been optimised for German bookkeeping requirements over 30+ years: SKR03/04 charts of accounts with Lexware-specific extensions, fixed-asset accounting with GWG thresholds, real-time payroll with current tax rates, automatic social-security filings, ELSTER integration for VAT pre-returns.

Odoo Enterprise covers German accounting fully: GoBD certificate, DATEV export, SKR03/04, fixed-asset accounting, UStVA, E-Bilanz. Payroll itself in Germany almost always runs at the tax adviser (DATEV LODAS) – Odoo exports pre-payroll data there. Companies that run payroll in-house remain faster productive on Lexware.

Orders, inventory, and warehouse

Lexware Plus and Premium offer basic inventory with item master data, order processing, delivery notes, and invoices. Once requirements grow – multiple warehouses, lot or serial numbers, automated procurement, cross-docking – the depth runs out. More complex logistics scenarios usually get supplemented with Excel side-systems.

Odoo provides full inventory with routes and pull/push rules, multi-warehouse, multi-site, lot and serial tracking, consignment, cross-docking, and smartphone-based barcode scanning.

Manufacturing

Lexware has no MRP functionality. Companies producing their own goods, managing multi-level BOMs, or scheduling work centres are fundamentally not served by Lexware.

Odoo MRP covers multi-level BOMs, work centres, routings, quality management, maintenance, and IoT integration. A genuine industrial platform.

CRM, sales, and marketing

Lexware doesn't offer a CRM at the depth needed for serious sales. Pipeline management, email marketing, or marketing automation are missing or supplemented by third-party tools.

Odoo includes pipeline, email marketing, lead scoring, and marketing automation as integrated modules.

E-commerce

Lexware is not a webshop platform. Online retailers using Shopify, Shopware, or WooCommerce maintain a separate connection via connectors or manual import.

Odoo includes a webshop and website builder as integrated modules – product data lives once in the ERP and surfaces automatically in the storefront.

People and HR

Lexware Lohnautopilot is strong in payroll. For broader HR requirements (recruiting, attendance, leave, expenses), integrated modules are missing.

Odoo provides recruiting, employee records, attendance, leave, and expenses as integrated modules – payroll itself runs at the tax adviser.

Cost comparison

Lexware

In practice, total cost for a 5-person team on Lexware Premium runs roughly €2,400 to €3,600 in year one and €1,200 to €1,800 in annual maintenance thereafter.

Odoo Enterprise

Odoo Enterprise costs ~€25 to €40 per user per month on cloud hosting; all modules included. For 10 users: ~€3,000 to €4,800 per year. Implementation cost depending on scope: from €8,900 (Quick Start) or €22,000 (full implementation).

Three-year view: Lexware is materially cheaper for pure bookkeeping setups up to 5 users. From 10 users and several modules onward, the gap closes; from 15 users and integrated requirements, Odoo overtakes Lexware in feature breadth at comparable cost.

When is Lexware the right choice?

We continue to recommend Lexware unreservedly in these cases:

• You're a very small business with 1 to 10 employees
• You run accounting and payroll in-house and Lexware fully covers your requirements
• You sell standard products in a single sales channel without webshop integration
• You have no manufacturing and no complex inventory needs
• You don't want to learn a new system and don't want implementation effort
• Your tax adviser has worked with Lexware for years and a switch would create effort there that can't be justified

When should you move to Odoo?

We typically see the economic switch-over point triggered by one of these:

• You grow to 15 or more employees and Lexware multi-user setups become expensive and inflexible
• You open a webshop or B2B channel and need integrated product data
• You introduce in-house manufacturing or build a warehouse with more than two or three locations
• You want a professional CRM with pipeline, forecast, and marketing automation
• You expand internationally (Austria, Switzerland, France) and need multi-company consolidation
• You're planning investor rounds or a sale, and data consistency becomes critical
• Your Lexware maintenance cost rises annually without the features you actually need being added

Migration from Lexware to Odoo

Migrations from Lexware are methodically straightforward because Lexware offers complete data exports:

1. Master-data export: customers, suppliers, items, accounts, prices via Lexware CSV export
2. Mapping: transfer into the Odoo data model, with focus on the German chart of accounts and Lexware-specific fields
3. Transactional data: open orders, open items, inventory as opening balances at cutover; older documents archived as historical data
4. Payroll handoff: if you continue running payroll in-house with Lexware, Lexware remains in parallel for payroll only; all other areas migrate fully
5. Cutover: clean cutover at quarter- or year-end

Typical project length: 8 to 14 weeks for a 10–25-person setup. Effort: €18,000 to €35,000.

Final take

Lexware is an excellent tool for a clearly defined target group: small German businesses with manageable accounting, payroll, and basic order-processing needs. The software has matured over three decades, is maintained in Germany, and is well accepted by tax advisers. A switch is not "better" or "more modern" – it makes sense exactly when your business breadth outgrows the Lexware architecture.

We assess honestly whether that applies to your case.

Schedule a free Lexware migration consultation →