Lexware Inventory Management — entry-level commercial ERP for German small business

Lexware Inventory Management is the inventory and order-management product from Lexware, the Freiburg-based SMB-software brand owned by Haufe Group (the same group that owns Lexoffice). The product targets German small businesses with simple-to-moderate inventory and order workflows — one-person businesses, small retailers, light distribution operations — that need more than basic invoicing but less than a mid-market ERP. Lexware Inventory Management is tightly integrated with the rest of the Lexware portfolio (Lexoffice, Lexware Accountant, Lexware Faktura) and with DATEV through the established DACH SMB-software conventions. Pricing and complexity are deliberately at the entry-level end of the spectrum, far below Sage 100 or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Overview

Lexware sits at the small end of the German SMB-software market, alongside Sage 50, DATEV Mid-Market and various small-business cloud accounting products. The Inventory Management (inventory management) module extends the core Lexware accounting and invoicing functionality with stock control, order management, simple bills of material and basic warehousing — functionality a one-person business will not need but a growing trade or small retailer increasingly will. The product is delivered as a Windows-client application with cloud extensions, with the broader Lexware portfolio offering pure-cloud alternatives (Lexoffice) for businesses that prefer browser-only access. Customer size is one to roughly 15 employees, with the typical user base being trades, light retail, small distribution and small e-commerce sellers. Distribution is heavy in retail (the Lexware product is one of the SMB-software products commonly sold at electronics retailers in Germany).

Functional sweet spot

Order management is the strongest pillar: quotes, sales orders, delivery notes, invoices and a clean order-to-cash workflow that small businesses can understand without ERP-grade training. Inventory management covers stock levels, simple bills of material, multi-warehouse-light scenarios and basic stocktaking. Procurement is supported with purchase orders against suppliers, stock-replenishment workflows and inbound receipting. Financial accounting integrates with Lexware Accountant for GoBD-compliant journals; DATEV export functionality is native, allowing the tax adviser to import postings on a regular cadence. ZUGFeRD and XRechnung outbound invoicing are supported for German B2G and increasingly B2B scenarios. Reporting is at SMB level — standard reports for stock, sales and supplier analysis, without the analytical depth a mid-market ERP would provide. Manufacturing is not a target functional area — production-driven businesses should look elsewhere.

DACH positioning

Lexware Inventory Management has substantial DACH presence among the smallest German Mid-Market businesses and the upper end of the “one-person company” segment. Customer profiles concentrate in trades (Trades & Crafts), small distribution, light retail and small e-commerce sellers. The product is distributed both directly through Lexware's website and Haufe Group channels and through reseller and partner networks, with strong retail-shelf presence at consumer-electronics retailers (Saturn, MediaMarkt) historically. GoBD compliance is delivered out of the box, with audit trail and journal export that examiners are familiar with. DATEV connectivity is mature and native. The localisation for Austria and Switzerland exists but is lighter than the German edition — the product is essentially built for German fiscal practice. ZUGFeRD and XRechnung outbound invoicing are supported.

Pricing and implementation

Lexware Inventory Management is priced as a perpetual licence with annual maintenance or as a subscription, with bundles depending on functional scope (Standard, Plus, Premium, Pro). Typical subscription pricing sits in the range of approximately 20 to 60 EUR per user per month, with discounts for annual commitments. Total annual cost for a typical three-user implementation is in the low four figures — well below cloud-first mid-market ERPs. Implementation is straightforward: the product is designed to be installed and configured by the small-business owner or a local Lexware partner in days rather than months. Template chart-of-accounts and standard process configurations match typical small-business needs without modification. Data migration from spreadsheets or simpler invoicing products is a routine operation. Customisation is limited — the product is designed for fit-to-standard adoption.

Selection considerations

Choose Lexware Inventory Management if you are a small German business (1 to 15 employees) with simple inventory and order workflows, your tax adviser is DATEV-based and you value low cost and fast time-to-implementation. Choose it especially if you are already using Lexware Accountant or Lexware Faktura and you want to add inventory and order management on the same data backbone. Skip Lexware Inventory Management if you are growing beyond roughly 15 users — the operational ceiling will hit, and migrating later is more painful than picking the right product earlier. Skip it for manufacturing-driven businesses. Skip it for cloud-first scenarios where the Lexoffice line or non-Lexware cloud-native SMB products fit better. Against Sage 50 Connected, both are credible — the choice often comes down to which product the local tax adviser is comfortable with and which user interface the business owner prefers.

Related Topics

• DATEV
• ERP consultants

Vendor homepage of Lexware Inventory Management

Current view of the website https://www.lexware.de/