Choose the right solution for your business
Frienton: Complete financial operating system
Best for:
✅ Growing companies setting up scalable finance processes
✅ Agencies, consultancies and SaaS companies with complex payment flows
✅ E-commerce companies running Shopify, Amazon and multiple payment providers
✅ Companies with an existing DATEV or ADDISON tax firm
✅ Anyone who wants multi-banking, bookkeeping, live reporting, liquidity steering and tax in one system
Pennylane: Cloud accounting on its own platform
Best for:
✅ Companies whose tax firm is ready to fully switch to Pennylane
✅ Companies with French ties or an existing Pennylane setup at parent level
✅ Setups with a high share of standard international processes
✅ Use cases where liquidity management and plan-vs-actual reporting are not a priority
Frienton vs. Pennylane | Overview
Features
Frienton
Pennylane
System approach
Financial Operating System built for the German tax ecosystem
All-in-one platform with its own bookkeeping workspace
Target market
Germany, focused on growing companies
France (home market since 2020), German launch since Nov 2025
Tax firm collaboration
Pre-booked accounting batch delivered into DATEV or ADDISON — no system switch for the firm
The firm works on the Pennylane platform — DATEV-based firms are not directly compatible
Bank connectivity
All banks via PSD2, credit cards (e.g. Amex) and payment providers (e.g. PayPal, Stripe)
Bank connectivity via PSD2; credit cards and payment providers not publicly documented
Live financial steering
Live BWA, cashflow, liquidity and plan-vs-actual reporting in real time
Cashflow, BWA, P&L available; budgeting and plan-vs-actual not available (as of March 2026)
Bookkeeping automation
Automatic posting in SKR03/04 incl. German tax codes, accruals and open items
AI-driven suggestions for categorisation and posting
E-commerce & payment integrations
Native integrations for Shopify, Amazon, Shopware, Stripe, PayPal and others
Stripe and PayPal native; Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Wix via integrator partner Chift; Amazon and Shopware not listed
Special features for tax advisors
Features
Frienton
Pennylane
Firm keeps its existing software (DATEV, ADDISON)
Pre-booked accounting batch in DATEV format
available daily
Compatible with the typical DATEV mandate portfolio
Firm ↔ client collaboration
Direct multi-user access in Frienton for both sides: review reports, correct postings, comment per posting — comments are exported into DATEV
One shared system for firm and client — provided the firm works on Pennylane
Structural differentiator
Additive model — the firm stays in the DATEV/ADDISON ecosystem, the client uses a Financial Operating System, shared view via multi-user
Disruption model — the entire bookkeeping production moves onto Pennylane
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In practice, this means:
Pennylane brings firm and client into one system — a strong setup when both sides work on the platform together. Frienton takes a different route: the firm stays in its familiar DATEV or ADDISON environment and receives a pre-booked accounting batch. At the same time, both client and firm have direct multi-user access to the Frienton workspace and can leave comments per posting. In practice, the client typically uses these comments to ask questions or flag context to their tax advisor on individual postings — the comments flow into the DATEV export and are visible to the firm directly in DATEV. The result is genuine collaboration across both systems: Frienton on the client side, DATEV or ADDISON on the firm side, without either side having to change its tools.
Unlike Pennylane, Frienton delivers a pre-booked accounting batch directly into the tax firm's existing DATEV or ADDISON system — without the firm having to switch its production software. Unlike Pennylane, Frienton ships plan-vs-actual reporting and live liquidity steering as part of the standard scope, rather than as a roadmap item. Unlike Pennylane, Frienton connects all banks via PSD2, credit cards (e.g. American Express) and payment providers (e.g. PayPal, Stripe) in one multi-banking layer.
Frienton vs. Pennylane | Details
Beyond cloud accounting: how Frienton's Financial Operating System compares with Pennylane — feature by feature.
Features
RECOMMENDED
Frienton
All-in-one platform
Pennylane
BANKING & PAYMENTS
Multi-banking — all banks via PSD2
Credit card integration (e.g. American Express)
Open banking aggregator
finAPI (PSD2-licensed Munich-based provider; covers bank accounts and PayPal)
Powens and Bridge (French aggregators); list of supported German banks not publicly documented
Batch payments & approval workflows
Batch payments available
Cash discount (automatic posting incl. VAT correction)
REPORTING & CONTROLLING
Live BWA, updated daily
BWA available
P&L, balance sheet
Budgeting & plan-vs-actual reporting in real time
Cashflow & liquidity planning, runway & burn rate
Cashflow overview and forecast available
ACCOUNTING & TAX
Cost centres / tags & analytical accounting
Automatic posting in SKR03/04 incl. tax codes, accruals, open items
AI-driven posting suggestions
Pre-booked accounting batch in DATEV format to the firm
OSS-relevant e-commerce reporting for German BZSt
Not publicly documented for Germany
INTEGRATION & INVOICING
Native integrations: Shopify, Amazon, Shopware, Stripe, PayPal, MOCO, easybill, Billbee, Chargebee, GetMyInvoices, d-velop
Native for Stripe, PayPal, GetMyInvoices, GoCardless among others; e-commerce platforms via integrator Chift; Shopware and Amazon not listed
Invoicing — quotes, invoices, reminders
E-invoicing (XRechnung, ZUGFeRD)
TEAM & SECURITY
Multi-user with role & permission concept
Hosting & data storage
Hosted in Frankfurt/Germany (Google Cloud, ISO 27001); receipts archived in GoBD-certified storage at d.velop (Germany); AES-256 at-rest, TLS 1.2/1.3 in-transit
EU hosting, ISO 27001 certified