SelectLine

SelectLine is a Magdeburg-based German ERP and accounting product family operated by SelectLine Software, founded in 1990 and majority-owned by the Swiss BSE Software group since 2014. The product's defining commercial characteristic is its broad reseller network in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, which carries the product into the small-business and lighter Mid-Market (mid-market) segment through several hundred independent resellers and tax advisers. SelectLine is rarely the first product to come to mind in modern cloud-ERP discussions but it carries a substantial DACH SMB installed base, particularly in trade, services and light manufacturing, with the unusual strength of a relatively mature production module at SMB price points.

Modular structure

SelectLine is genuinely modular and is commonly sold as a starter package (typically accounting plus invoicing) that customers extend over time. Core modules cover financial accounting, payroll, invoicing and merchandise management. Production and the warehouse-management module are paid extensions. The financial-accounting and payroll modules are sometimes used standalone by tax advisers and small businesses that do not need a full ERP, which contributes to the broad reseller distribution. The integration between modules is tight, which makes the typical growth path (accounting first, then add merchandise management, then add production) operationally smoother than starting with separate products.

Production module

SelectLine's production module is unusually capable for its price segment. It covers BOMs, work plans, capacity-aware scheduling, work orders, basic shop-floor data capture and quality. For lighter Mid-Market manufacturers with up to roughly 50 production users, this module reaches functional depth that approaches more expensive products such as Business Central with KUMAVISION manufacturing extensions, at materially lower TCO. The trade-off is that the user experience and ecosystem are less modern than at higher price points, and partner depth in specific manufacturing sub-segments (precision engineering, automotive supply) varies meaningfully across the reseller network.

Deployment and architecture

SelectLine runs on a Windows/Microsoft SQL Server stack, traditionally customer-managed on-premises. Several SelectLine partners operate hosted-cloud editions, and SelectLine itself offers SelectLine Cloud as a partner-hosted managed-cloud delivery. There is no native multi-tenant SaaS edition; the customer base's appetite for industry customisation and the broad reseller-led commercial model are not naturally compatible with strict multi-tenancy. For new customers, the partner-hosted cloud option has become increasingly popular, particularly in the smaller end of the market where internal IT capacity is limited.

DACH localisation and DATEV

SelectLine's DACH localisation is deep and native, reflecting the product's German SMB-and-tax-adviser origins. GoBD compliance (the German principles for proper digital bookkeeping) is built in and certified. DATEV (the German payroll and accounting standard) integration is native and one of the more seamless implementations in the DACH SMB segment, partly because of the strong tax-adviser presence in the reseller network. ZUGFeRD and XRechnung e-invoicing are covered. The Austrian and Swiss localisations are mature; the Swiss localisation is supported by the parent BSE Software group's Swiss home market.

Pricing and selection considerations

SelectLine is licensed in the traditional perpetual model with annual maintenance, with subscription pricing available for the SelectLine Cloud edition. Pricing is generally lower than equivalent international SMB ERPs. For a 30-user SMB deployment with merchandise management and production, all-in TCO over five years typically lands between 80,000 and 250,000 euro, with implementation services representing 0.3 to 0.8 times the first-year licence cost. SelectLine is the natural choice for DACH SMB businesses that want a German-native product with a strong production option at low TCO, particularly those with a long-standing tax-adviser relationship that already knows the product. It is less compelling for upper-Mid-Market buyers above 100 users (where Business Central, Sage 100 or weclapp offer more), for e-commerce-first businesses (Xentral, JTL-Wawi, weclapp fit better), or for organisations explicitly seeking modern cloud SaaS.

Vendor homepage of SelectLine

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

Screenshot of the homepage of SelectLine

Direct comparisons with SelectLine

See SelectLine in structured direct comparison against other ERP systems — feature scope, target audiences, strengths and weaknesses.

Reviews for SelectLine

No published reviews yet for SelectLine on erp-software.org yet.

Be the first to write a review →

Write your own review for SelectLine schreiben

Share your experience with SelectLine. We publish reviews after a brief editorial check in 1–3 business days. Fields marked with * are required.

Häufig gestellte Fragen

Which modules does SelectLine offer?

SelectLine typically includes modules for financial accounting, order management, warehousing, purchasing and master data. Industry-specific extensions (PPS, CRM, DMS) are often optional — the vendor profile above shows the exact scope of functions. The exact arrangement depends on the industry, company size and customising depth of the specific ERP setup.

What hardware requirements does SelectLine have?

For cloud deployment, modern browsers are sufficient. For on-premises installations, server requirements vary with the number of users and document volume — the vendor provides detailed system requirements, often with recommended configurations for 25, 50, 100 or 250 users. The exact arrangement depends on the industry, company size and customising depth of the specific ERP setup.

How does data migration from an old ERP to SelectLine work?

Data migration typically runs in 3 phases: mapping (old vs new data model), cleansing (duplicates, master data quality) and a test migration with validation. Specialised migration service providers: ERP integration providers. The exact arrangement depends on the industry, company size and customising depth of the specific ERP setup.

How expensive is annual maintenance for SelectLine?

On-premise maintenance typically runs at 18–22% of the licence costs per year and covers updates, hotfixes and phone support. Cloud ERPs include maintenance in the subscription price, so there is no separate maintenance contract. Over a typical system lifetime this recurring cost adds up to a significant share of the total cost of ownership, so budget for it from year one.

Which well-known reference customers does SelectLine have?

The vendor usually lists reference customers on its own website — for specialised industry ERPs, 10–50 showcase customers are well known. Industry-specific references should be requested specifically before making a selection. The exact arrangement depends on the industry, company size and customising depth of the specific ERP setup.