Tax Software
DATEV: features, pricing and who it fits
Nuremberg cooperative whose accounting, payroll and tax software is the standard platform for German Steuerberater and their clients. Clients exchange documents with the Kanzlei through DATEV Unternehmen online. Prices are mostly on request, apart from the Startpaket compact at €50 per month for new firms, and membership is required.
Who DATEV is for
Best for
- Steuerkanzleien that want the platform most clients and other tools already connect to
- New Steuerberater founding a first Kanzlei, who can use the Startpaket compact with regional Kanzleigründungsberatung
- Firms that work with clients inside DATEV Unternehmen online
Look elsewhere if
- Firms looking for transparent public pricing: DATEV pages read show no price list apart from the Startpaket compact
- Buyers who want to start without a DATEV membership (membership is required to use DATEV software)
- Firms that mainly criticize usability: OMR Reviews lists the user interface as the most-mentioned theme
DATEV features
- Tax market
- Germany
- Business entity returns
- Tax-firm platform: DATEV Steuern for tax returns and Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen for bookkeeping and annual accounts (product scope per product names; feature pages not read)
- E-filing to IRS or ELSTER
- DATEV states it transmits data to over 200 authorities (datev.de 'warum DATEV')
- Data import
- Clients deliver receipts and bookkeeping data via DATEV Unternehmen online; data exchange with a Kanzlei offered for businesses with and without DATEV software (datev.de Datenaustausch page)
- Expert or Steuerberater help
- Personal advisors and round-the-clock online support (vendor, 'warum DATEV'); regional founder advisor during Startpaket funding period
- Tax firm workflows
- DATEV Unternehmen online as client portal for document and data exchange with the Kanzlei; DATEV Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen and DATEV Steuern as core Kanzlei software; the platform other tools connect to via DATEV interfaces (DATEV-Marktplatz linked on the about page); Startpaket compact for new firms. Deadlines, time tracking and StBVV billing modules not read on vendor pages (not confirmed by the vendor)
- Pricing model
- Membership-based licences; Startpaket compact €50 per month for founders; other prices on request
- Target company size
- Steuerberater, Wirtschaftsprüfer and Rechtsanwälte of all sizes, plus their business clients; vendor: more than 850,000 organizations use its solutions
DATEV pricing
| Plan | Price | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DATEV Startpaket compact | €50 | per month | For founders starting a tax-advisory practice for the first time (Einzelkanzlei or Berufsausübungsgesellschaft) bearing significant economic risk; includes regional Kanzleigründungsberatung during the funding period; contents not itemized on the page read |
| DATEV Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen | Preis auf Anfrage | No price on pages read | |
| DATEV Steuern | Preis auf Anfrage | No price on pages read | |
| DATEV Unternehmen online | Preis auf Anfrage | Client-side cloud app; no price on pages read |
EUR as published: 'Das DATEV Startpaket compact erhalten Sie schon für nur 50 Euro monatlich' (datev.de start-mit-datev page, checked 2026-11-02). No other DATEV price list was found on datev.de (the shop page showed no prices). not used as prices.
Prices as published by DATEV on the date above. Quotes for larger teams often differ, which is what a request on SaaSBid surfaces.
Integrations, security and hosting
- Implementation
- Founding team: free online intro meeting, ordering and installation by DATEV or a DATEV Solution Partner (Startpaket page)
Worth knowing before you buy
- Active DATEV membership (a cooperative, Genossenschaft) is required to use DATEV software; it can be applied for in advance
- Startpaket compact costs €50 per month for first-time Kanzlei founders and comes with a regional founder advisor; eligibility has to be shown (PDF linked on the page)
- DATEV does not publish a price list for Kanzlei-Rechnungswesen, Steuern or Unternehmen online on the pages read
- Cooperative model: members share in results through rebates on revenue (vendor, 'warum DATEV')
- OMR Reviews: 4.1 from 166 reviews; interface and pricing are the themes most often mentioned alongside integrations, but the page does not label sentiment so no praise or complaint themes are recorded
- Founded 1966 by tax advisors; more than 40,000 members, more than 9,000 employees, revenue EUR 1.51 billion in 2024
DATEV alternatives
Vendor dossier
Fit by company size
| Category | 1-10 people | 11-50 people | 51-500 people | 500+ people |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tax Software | Strong fit | Strong fit | Strong fit | Workable |
Strong fitWorkablePoor fitNo data from the vendor
How buying DATEV works
- How you buy
- Through sales
- Demo or quote needed for
- Kanzlei software (founding team contact form and intro meeting; other products on request)
- Contract
- Active DATEV membership required
About the company
- Founded
- 1966
- Headquarters
- Nürnberg, DE
- Ownership
- cooperative (eG), more than 40,000 members
- Employees
- more than 9,000 (2025)
- Customers (vendor figure)
- More than 850,000 organizations use its solutions (vendor)
Support and integrations
- Support
- Personal advisors and round-the-clock online support; regional founder advisor during Startpaket funding
- Notable integrations
- DATEV-Marktplatz
What vendors in this category ask before quoting
Answer these once in a SaaSBid request and DATEV and its alternatives quote against the same facts.
- Which country will the return be filed in, and are you also filing in a second one?Tax software serves one market, so a two-country setup usually needs two products.
- Are you a sole proprietor, freelancer, LLC, partnership or corporation?Entity type decides which edition and which forms are required.
- Is your VAT or Umsatzsteuer status small-business exempt or regular?Some German products cover only exempt or simple cases and treat VAT-liable users separately.
- How many returns and how many states or businesses do you need to file?Per-state fees and limits on returns per license change the total price.
- Do you want a person to review or prepare the return, or only software?Expert tiers cost more and can be priced per entity or as a share of a refund.
- If you run a tax firm: how many clients and staff do you have, and do you keep DATEV?Client bands, included users and the DATEV interface decide which plan and which add-ons are needed.