The DATEV-compatible Financial Operating System for your tax firm and your modern clients.
Frienton delivers a pre-booked accounting journal directly into your existing tax software — DATEV, ADDISON, or another established German bookkeeping system. Your firm keeps its tools, its processes, its client portfolio. You gain an additive platform that reduces repetitive work and increases your margin per client. With the Delta Export, Frienton only transfers the changes since the previous period — no duplicates, exportable any time (e.g. daily).
Compatible with DATEV, ADDISON and more · GoBD-compliant · German infrastructure · Multi-user access for tax firm, bookkeeping office and client
The market is changing. So are your clients
Growing clients now expect live reporting, multi-banking and communication directly in the system — not monthly closes that arrive weeks late. Firms that can't deliver this operationally quietly lose trust, and in some cases the client.
Skilled labour shortage
Bookkeeping capacity is the scarcest resource in the industry. Every hour spent on repetitive data entry is an hour not spent on advisory work.
Operational friction
Credit card reconciliation, PayPal movements and AMEX transactions have been a recurring pain point in DATEV workflows for years. For e-commerce clients, the breakdown of Stripe settlements adds to this — fees, refunds, payouts and exchange rates broken down manually cost hours per month.
Frienton is the additive answer
Your firm or bookkeeping office stays in DATEV, ADDISON or the established system. Your clients get a modern platform. You receive a pre-booked accounting journal every month.
How Frienton works in your collaboration
At the client: Frienton as Financial Operating System
✅ Multi-banking via PSD2 — all German banks
✅ Credit cards including AMEX and Pliant (Pliant replaces MOSS and Pleo 1:1 — see below)
✅ Payment providers: Stripe, PayPal and more
✅ Automated bookkeeping under SKR03/04 including tax codes, accruals by service period, open items (OPOS), and cash discounts (Skonto)
✅ Categories from the client's financial plan — Frienton automatically translates these into bookkeeping accounts and tax logic. The client does not need to build accounting knowledge.
✅ Cost centre mapping available
✅ Live P&L, cashflow, liquidity, budget vs. actual reporting in real time
✅ Native e-commerce integrations: Shopify, Amazon, Shopware — including clean Stripe settlement breakdown
What arrives at your firm
🚀
Delta Export (releasing soon)
Only changes since the previous period — no duplicates, no manual reconciliation, exportable any time (e.g. daily).
✅ A pre-booked accounting journal for monthly and annual closes — delivered via established interfaces
✅ Native delivery to DATEV and ADDISON; further established German bookkeeping systems are also supported
✅ Document recognition with confidence logic — ambiguous entries are flagged with a yellow indicator for manual review. Everything else passes through automatically.
✅ Comments per transaction — clients raise queries directly in the system, your team sees them in the context of the booking. End of email back-and-forth.
✅ Multi-user access with roles and permissions, including 'Bookkeeper' and 'Tax Advisor' roles — with access to chart-of-accounts, account creation and balance sheet entries
✅ OSS data export for e-commerce clients
✅ Immediate access to receipts, transactions and postings — no delays, no email requests
Unlike Pennylane, Frienton does not require the tax firm or bookkeeping office to switch systems. The firm stays in DATEV, ADDISON or its established bookkeeping system; the client works in Frienton; and the pre-booked stack flows automatically into the firm's existing environment every month.
What changes for your firm
📈 Higher margin per client
Less repetitive data entry, fewer email queries, less document chasing. Hours per client decrease while the mandate value holds — or grows through add-on services.
⏱️ Relief despite the talent shortage
Frienton takes care of the bulk of pre-classification. Your team focuses on review and advisory — the work clients actually pay you for.
✨ Retain existing clients — and appear digitally capable
Clients today pay attention to whether their firm is digitally up to the task. With Frienton, you offer a modern tool that fits the client — live reporting, multi-banking, integrated workflows. Your firm looks digitally capable from the outside without changing anything internally.
💳 Credit cards, PayPal, AMEX — finally clean
Frienton books card and payment provider transactions automatically and correctly into the DATEV journal. Stripe settlements are also broken down properly — fees, refunds, exchange rates.
🧩 Add-on revenue
Payroll, year-end close support, management accounting advisory — all of these can be built cleanly on the Frienton data foundation and billed separately.
🤝 No upfront investment, clear rules
No platform licence. No setup fee. Onboarding, training, DPA and partner agreement are all standardised.
Frienton compared with other tools
This overview is deliberately condensed. Each tool has a dedicated comparison page (links further below). The most important distinction is in the booking logic: Frienton creates bookings automatically. Ambiguous entries are flagged with a yellow indicator — everything else passes through. Most other tools generate booking suggestions that the user must review and confirm.
From the firm's perspective
RECOMMENDED
Frienton
DATEV Unternehmen Online
Lexware Office
sevDesk
BuchhaltungsButler
Firm keeps its existing software
Typical client type
Balance-sheet KapGes, accrual accounting
Mixed, document transfer focus
Small businesses, often EÜR
Freelancers, small businesses, EÜR
Classic bookkeeping, automated
How are bookings created?
Automatically booked — ambiguous entries flagged for review
Documents transferred, booked at the firm
Booking suggestions for confirmation
Booking suggestions for confirmation
Booking suggestions for confirmation
Does the client need accounting knowledge?
No — categories from financial plan, auto-translated. Bookkeeper and tax advisor roles with chart-of-accounts access available.
Firm guidance required
Yes — chart assignment by user
Yes — chart assignment by user
Yes — coding suggestions must be reviewed
Multi-banking incl. AMEX, Pliant, Stripe, PayPal
Limited
Limited
Limited
Limited
Native e-commerce (Shopify, Amazon, Shopware)
Limited
Partial
Per-transaction clarification in the system
Limited
Partial
Partial
Partial
Frienton vs. Pennylane | Strategic comparison
From your firm's perspective
Frienton
Pennylane
Firm keeps its existing software
Yes — Frienton delivers into the existing system
No — firm switches to Pennylane for production
Strategic model
Additive to the firm's existing software
Disruptive — entire bookkeeping production moves to one platform
How are bookings created?
Automatically booked, delivered to the firm
Within the Pennylane platform by the firm
Alignment with German market reality (DATEV/ADDISON)
Fully compatible
Requires platform switch at the firm
When to recommend Frienton
A quick check against your client portfolio: which clients are worth a Frienton recommendation — and which are not.
Good fit
✅ Growing Kapitalgesellschaft (UG, GmbH, AG), subject to balance-sheet accounting
✅ GmbH & Co. KG with capital-company characteristics
✅ E-commerce client with Shopify, Amazon or Shopware
✅ Client with multiple bank accounts or payment providers (Stripe, PayPal, AMEX, Pliant)
✅ Client actively asking for live reporting, cashflow visibility, more up-to-date P&L
✅ Client without deep accounting knowledge — Frienton translates financial plan categories automatically into accounts and tax logic
✅ Your firm currently receives too many queries, too many emailed documents, too much manual pre-classification
Not a fit
❌ Solopreneur, freelancer with low transaction volume — Lexware Office or sevDesk is usually the better fit here
❌ Pure EÜR mandate / cash-basis taxpayer with low volume
❌ Association (Verein) or non-profit organisation
❌ Company with an ERP already in productive use covering the finance layer (Odoo, Xentral with FiBu module, SAP) — parallel operation is possible but an edge case (see FAQ)
❌ Large enterprise with its own finance department or ERP-based finance layer
❌ Client without a digital mindset — Frienton only works when the client actively engages
What to know upfront
MOSS and Pleo cannot currently be connected
Neither provider offers open interfaces that enable a clean multi-banking integration. Pliant replaces both MOSS and Pleo on a 1:1 basis — comparable feature set (virtual cards, team management, spend controls), with the API depth that Frienton clients need. Frienton is a Pliant partner. Clients currently using MOSS or Pleo can be migrated cleanly to Pliant — this is part of the onboarding path.
Everything else
All German banks, AMEX, Pliant, Stripe, PayPal and other relevant payment providers are connected through Frienton. Specific BIC or card connectivity can be confirmed in the first call or directly via the Frienton helpdesk.
From first call to active partner — four steps
First call (30 min)
You speak with Frienton's partner management. We work through together: which clients are a fit, what your digitisation strategy looks like, where there is operational friction today (credit cards in DATEV, Stripe settlements, Pennylane enquiries).
Partner agreement and onboarding (1–2 weeks)
Standardised partner agreement, DPA, quality standards. You receive access to the partner workspace, onboarding materials, and — if the Premium Partner Standards are met — the Frienton Premium Partner label and usage guidelines.
First pilot client (4–6 weeks)
You select a well-suited client. We support setup, bank connection, chart-of-accounts mapping (SKR03/04, cost centres) and the first journal transfer into your firm's environment. You see the result before you scale.
Scaling
Additional clients follow the same standardised path. Your contact in partner management remains consistent. Quarterly review calls, roadmap visibility, your feedback feeds directly into the product.
Three typical client profiles
Profile 1 — The growing agency
Balance-sheet GmbH, Stripe + PayPal + two bank accounts, AMEX Corporate.
🔎 Symptom
Managing director asks every month "Where are we with liquidity?" and receives the answer two weeks late. AMEX entries require special handling.
🛠️ With Frienton
Liquidity up to date daily, live P&L, Stripe payouts posted automatically, AMEX correctly allocated, journal delivered to your firm monthly.
Profile 2 — The e-commerce client
GmbH, Shopify + Amazon, high order volume, OSS obligation, three payment providers.
🔎 Symptom
Your team spends hours each month manually breaking down Stripe settlements and Amazon payouts — fees, refunds, exchange rates.
🛠️ With Frienton
Native Shopify and Amazon integration, Stripe settlement breakdown automatic, OSS export, a clean journal instead of numerous individual PDFs.
Profile 3 — The post-Series A scale-up
GmbH, CFO on board, three banks, AMEX and Pliant Corporate, in-house bookkeeper.
🔎 Symptom
Bookkeeper wants to move away from Excel and DUO, CFO wants live plan vs. actual, your firm wants a clean monthly close.
🛠️ With Frienton
Bookkeeper works in Frienton, CFO sees live reporting, your firm receives a reviewed journal — and can deepen its advisory involvement.
Frequently asked questions
Frienton premium partner standards
Frienton Premium Partner firms and bookkeeping offices stand for a fast, transparent and digital all-in-one experience. The following standards describe the shared commitment. They are an aspirational benchmark, not a hard gate — firms that meet them gain prominent visibility (logo listing, recommendation priority for client enquiries from the Frienton stream) and may use the Frienton Premium Partner label in their own marketing.
1
Fast and reliable response
Enquiries from Frienton clients are answered within 24 hours on business days. A first call or clearly defined next step is provided within 3 business days. After the first call, an offer or clear response is sent within 2 business days.
2
Digital and streamlined proposal process
The enquiry, scheduling and proposal process is built digitally. Proposals are sent digitally and can be accepted easily. Standardised templates and workflows exist for standard cases.
3
Transparent and comprehensible pricing
Prices and scope are communicated early, clearly and plainly. Fixed prices are offered for standard cases (bookkeeping, annual close, payroll). Additional services and potential extra costs are clearly defined upfront.
4
Fit with the Frienton target group
The firm is familiar with typical Frienton client profiles. Standard structures such as holdings and digital business models are handled routinely.
5
Digital first in collaboration
Client collaboration is digital and free of unnecessary media breaks. Communication, documents, approvals and coordination are simple, fast and professionally organised.
6
Simple and professional onboarding
New client onboarding is clearly structured, standardised and efficient. Since Frienton already handles many onboarding topics, we recommend waiving separate onboarding and setup fees for standard cases.
7
Consistent client experience
The firm's experience matches the Frienton user experience: fast, clear, intuitive, digital and reliable. The goal is an end-to-end process that feels seamless from the client's perspective.
8
Reliable partnership
Collaboration with Frienton is reliable, solution-oriented and aimed at a shared client experience. Queries, handovers and operational coordination happen promptly and consistently.
About Frienton
Frienton is the Munich-based Financial Operating System for growing companies in Germany. Funded by BMBF, BAFA and Gründerland Bayern, awarded the BSFZ research premium seal. Operating exclusively under German law, with German infrastructure and in full compatibility with the established tax ecosystem.
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