Poool

Poool is a DACH-native cloud ERP built specifically for knowledge-driven service businesses — agencies, consultancies and planning offices. Unlike horizontal ERPs that try to cover every industry vertically and end up shallow in each, Poool is built tightly around the operational reality of project-billable service firms: hourly rates, fee models, project costing, utilisation analytics, time tracking and project-driven invoicing. The product targets DACH Mid-Market — the broad mid-market segment — with approximately 5 to 250 employees, and is operated exclusively as multi-tenant SaaS in German data centres at Hetzner Online.

Functional scope

Poool covers the typical processes of a project-services organisation on one data foundation. The core is project and order management: quotes, orders, invoices, task management, resource and utilisation planning, and integrated time recording. CRM handles lead, opportunity and workflow management. The HR layer covers personnel master data, working-time recording, holiday and absence requests with approval workflows. A controlling module provides reporting and management metrics on utilisation, project margin and recovery rate. Finance covers AR/AP, bank-account integration and DATEV-style export to the customer's tax advisor.

Target audience and verticals

The primary audience is service providers and agencies with approximately 5 to 250 employees. Vertical concentration: advertising and digital agencies, marketing and PR consultancies, business consultancies, IT consulting firms, architecture and engineering offices, planning and surveying practices, plus specialist service organisations. The product fit is strongest where the business model is project-billable rather than product-driven, and where utilisation, project margin and recovery rate are central management metrics.

Cloud architecture

Poool is pure SaaS and cannot be installed locally. Users access exclusively through the browser, with supplementary apps for mobile scenarios. Hosting runs exclusively at Hetzner Online GmbH in Germany; the data centres are ISO-certified. Architecturally Poool follows an API-first approach: all functions are reachable via a documented REST API, which simplifies integration with the rest of an agency's tooling stack. Webhooks enable event-driven workflows — an example is automatic invoice creation when a milestone is approved.

DACH localisation and DATEV

Poool is built specifically for German service-business tax and finance workflow. DATEV integration — DATEV is the cooperative of German tax advisors whose data format is the SME finance-exchange standard — is supported through standard exporters, so the customer's external accountant can continue working in DATEV without re-keying. GoBD compliance — the German principles for proper digital bookkeeping — is addressed through audit-trail and revision-safe archiving features. ZUGFeRD and XRechnung e-invoicing are covered. German Hetzner hosting plus DSGVO-aligned data processing (DSGVO being the German implementation of GDPR) are the default for the typical agency customer base.

Competition and selection

Poool is not a classical production or trading ERP — warehouse, MRP-II, deep BOM logic and stock management are absent because they don't fit the target audience. Customers running a hybrid consulting-plus-products model will need to combine Poool with a separate tool. Poool competes in the DACH agency-software market with EasyJob, awork, MOCO, troi and Teamleader. The difference lies in the depth of ERP functionality: where many competitors are strong in project and time management, Poool additionally integrates bookkeeping, HR, controlling and CRM. Subscription pricing is per package and per user; trials and demo environments are available.

Related Topics

• awork
• MOCO
• ERP for service companies

Fazit

Poool ist eine ausgereifte, branchenspezifische ERP-Software für wissensbasierte Service providers in Germany, Switzerland and Austria-Raum. Strengths sind der enge Fit für Agenturen, Beratungen und Planungsbüros, das deutsche Hosting, die DSGVO- und ISO-Konformität sowie eine offene API für die Integration in moderne Tool-Landschaften. Wer ein Handels- oder Produktions-ERP mit Lagerführung, Disposition und MES sucht, wird andere Plattformen evaluieren. Für Agenturen, Beratungen, Architektur- und Ingenieurbüros mit fünf bis mehreren hundert employees gehört Poool jedoch zu den prüfenswerten Optionen im deutschsprachigen Markt – insbesondere dann, wenn integrierte Projekt-, Buchhaltungs-, HR- und Controlling-Funktionen aus einer Hand und mit klarem DACH-Fokus benötigt werden.

Vendor homepage of Poool

Current view of the website https://www.poool.cc/