Lexware Inventory Management versus SelectLine
Lexware Inventory Management and SelectLine are two long-established German entry-level ERP products with overlapping target segments but quite different centres of gravity. Lexware Inventory Management, the inventory module of the wider Lexware family from Haufe Group, is built around tight integration with Lexware accounting (lexoffice, Lexware Accountant, Lexware Faktura). SelectLine, developed by SelectLine Software GmbH in Magdeburg since 1990, is an independent German SMB ERP that has traditionally offered more depth in production, assembly and customer-specific pricing than its entry-level peers. Both products serve the German KMU segment (kleine und mittlere Unternehmen, the official tax-and-statistics category for businesses under 250 employees), both are GoBD-certified, both ship a native DATEV interface. The differentiation is between Lexware's ecosystem-coupling for accounting-driven small businesses and SelectLine's functional depth for SMBs with light-production or assembly needs.
Overall positioning
Lexware Inventory Management: the inventory layer of the broader Lexware product family from Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG (Freiburg). Targets very small German trade and service operations, typically one to fifteen employees, who already use Lexware accounting and want a consistent ecosystem. The product's reason for existing is largely the upsell to an existing Lexware-accounting installed base; standalone wins against full ERP competitors are rare. SelectLine: a German SMB ERP from SelectLine Software GmbH (Magdeburg), in market since 1990 with a long and stable customer base in the German Mid-Market (broadly twenty to two hundred employees). Sells through a dense German partner network of system houses and resellers. Customer base concentrated in trade, distribution and light manufacturing — including a meaningful share of organisations with simple BOMs and assembly workflows. Where they overlap: both target German-only buyers, both compete in the lower-end of the SMB segment, both offer a similar core feature set for trade and inventory. The customer-fit divide opens up around production complexity: organisations with any meaningful BOM or assembly workflow gravitate to SelectLine; pure-trade organisations already on Lexware accounting tend to stay with Lexware Inventory Management.
Functional comparison
Lexware Inventory Management strengths: very tight integration with the wider Lexware suite, polished invoicing, simple multi-warehouse, clean DATEV export, and a low barrier to entry for organisations already paying for Lexware Accountant or lexoffice. The product covers articles, purchasing, sales and basic warehouse comprehensively for very small operations. SelectLine strengths: noticeably deeper trade-and-distribution functionality including multi-level price lists, customer-specific conditions, rebate structures and quantity-discount logic. The production module covers multi-level bills of materials, production orders with consumption posting and simple capacity planning — capabilities that Lexware Inventory Management does not include even with add-ons. Native financial accounting is built into SelectLine (the Rechnungswesen module), and the DATEV interface is direct. Compliance parity: GoBD certification, ZUGFeRD and XRechnung support, electronic invoice handling and standard German tax behaviour are present in both products. Where parity collapses: any organisation with assembly, simple production routing, or customer-specific pricing complexity will find Lexware Inventory Management frustratingly thin and SelectLine substantially more capable. Conversely, a pure invoicing-and-stock operation on the very small end finds SelectLine over-equipped and Lexware exactly right-sized.
Architecture and deployment
Lexware Inventory Management architecture: a Windows desktop application with local SQL Server back-end, extended with Lexware Cloud delivery for selected workflows. Most installations still run on a fat client per desk. Subscription pricing starts around twenty-seven euro per user per month. Customisation is intentionally shallow. SelectLine architecture: similarly a Windows client-server product with Microsoft SQL Server back-end — the standard German SMB stack. Customer-managed on-premises is the historical default; partner-hosted cloud delivery has become more common. Pricing typically runs forty-five to ninety euro per user per month. Customisation via SelectLine's integrated Toolbox is deeper than Lexware's. Partner network: SelectLine has a substantially deeper German implementation-partner network than Lexware — reflecting its positioning as a proper SMB ERP rather than an inventory module. Cloud posture: neither is cloud-native. Organisations needing a browser-only ERP move beyond either to myfactory, weclapp or Business Central.
Selection considerations
Choose Lexware Inventory Management if: your operation is accounting-driven (Steuerberater works in Lexware, monthly accounting dominates the IT pattern), you already pay for Lexware Accountant or lexoffice, your scope is genuinely small (one to fifteen employees), and your product range does not involve assembly, BOMs or customer-specific pricing complexity. Choose SelectLine if: you need a more capable standalone ERP at a comparable price point; you have any meaningful production, assembly or BOM scope; your trade workflow involves customer-specific pricing, rebates or quantity discounts; or you anticipate scaling into the thirty-to-one-hundred employee range where Lexware will become structurally limiting. Implementation effort: Lexware is typically a self-service or one-to-two-day setup; SelectLine is a three-to-eight-week implementation with a German system house. Migration paths: SelectLine has a longer practical runway — many customers stay with it from twenty to one hundred-plus employees — whereas Lexware Inventory Management is a stepping-stone to Sage 100, myfactory or Business Central as the organisation grows.
Related Topics
Frequently Asked Questions
Does SelectLine include production?
Yes — SelectLine's production module covers multi-level bills of materials, production orders with consumption posting and simple capacity planning. It is not a full APS / shop-floor system, but for simple assembly and light-manufacturing workflows it is meaningfully more capable than Lexware Warenwirtschaft, which does not cover production beyond very rudimentary BOM concepts.
Which integrates better with DATEV?
Lexware Warenwirtschaft has the more culturally embedded DATEV workflow because the wider Lexware suite is often used by both the business and the Steuerberater in a continuous monthly process. SelectLine ships a clean DATEV interface but it is typically operated as a periodic export-import. Both meet the practical Steuerberater-handoff requirement.
Can SelectLine run in the cloud?
SelectLine's cloud delivery is partner-hosted rather than multi-tenant SaaS — effectively a managed-hosting model on top of the on-premises product. It is workable but not equivalent to a cloud-native ERP like myfactory or weclapp. Organisations that want genuine SaaS should look beyond SelectLine.
How does the GoBD-Verfahrensdokumentation differ between the two?
The GoBD-Verfahrensdokumentation — the German tax authorities' required procedural documentation describing how transactions are captured, stored and protected from tampering — is the customer's responsibility for both products. Both vendors publish templates that customers adapt; the Steuerberater typically signs off the final document. The product choice does not materially affect the GoBD-Verfahrensdokumentation effort.