Frienton
Frienton provides a cloud-based Financial Operating System for German SMEs, connecting multi-banking, automated bookkeeping, live financial reporting, and tax workflows via PSD2, DATEV/ADDISON, and GoBD-compliant archiving. It serves e-commerce merchants, agencies, tech startups, and holding companies in Germany exclusively.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersMunich, Germany
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Frienton does
Frienton GmbH, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Munich, operates a cloud-based Financial Operating System (FOS) that connects multi-banking, automated bookkeeping, live financial reporting, controlling, and tax workflows for German small and mid-sized enterprises. The platform is engineered specifically for the German regulatory and accounting environment: it connects all German banks via PSD2 through the BaFin-licensed account information service finAPI; posts automatically into SKR03/04 with tax keys, accruals, and open-item logic; archives documents in a GoBD-compliant manner through d.velop; and delivers a pre-booked accounting batch to existing DATEV or ADDISON environments at the customer's tax firm. Core product modules are Multibanking, Bookkeeping, Planning & Controlling (Live-BWA, cashflow, liquidity planning), and Tax (VAT and corporate tax estimates with automated declarations). The company offers three subscription tiers (Essential Cash starting at €149/month, Smart Bookkeeping from €198/month plus a €300 onboarding fee, and Professional Tax from €333/month) along with vertical packages — a Startup Program with up to 75% first-year discounts, a Holding Companies all-inclusive package from €900/year, and a usage-based E-Commerce plan priced by monthly order volume.
Revenue is generated primarily through tiered monthly subscriptions scaled by expenditure or document volume, complemented by professional services (onboarding, migration, end-of-year closing from €2,500/year) and usage-based fees on the e-commerce plan above 100 orders/month. Go-to-market combines self-serve product-led registration with a free trial covering the first VAT pre-declaration period (up to 4 weeks), inside sales for 30-minute introductory calls and personal specialist onboarding, and a structured Premium Tax Advisory Firm partner program in which licensed Steuerberater recommend Frienton to clients. Distribution channels include content marketing via a German blog, YouTube tutorials, LinkedIn, public webinars, SEO comparison pages (against DUO, Lexware Office, Pennylane, sevdesk, BuchhaltungsButler, Pathway Solutions), and tax-firm referrals. The platform carries native no-extra-fee integrations with Shopify, Amazon, Shopware, Stripe, PayPal, MOCO, Easybill, Billbee, Chargebee, AMEX, and Pliant, with Klarna, GoCardless, eBay, and TikTok Shop listed as in-progress. The company has 11–50 employees operating remote-first across Germany, Canada, England, France, Ukraine, and the USA, and is funded primarily through German government grants (BMBF, BAFA, Gründerland Bayern), the BSFZ research premium seal, and a small 2023 seed round from Tenity.
Frienton firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Frienton
- Legal name
- Frienton GmbH
- Website
- https://frienton.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Frienton provides a cloud-based Financial Operating System for German SMEs, connecting multi-banking, automated bookkeeping, live financial reporting, and tax workflows via PSD2, DATEV/ADDISON, and GoBD-compliant archiving. It serves e-commerce merchants, agencies, tech startups, and holding companies in Germany exclusively.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Frienton industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cloud Accounting and Financial Operations Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) & FP&A Platforms (HDAEAEAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- General Ledger & Close (Journal Entries, Month-End Close, Reconciliations) (BPAAAGAC), Accounts Payable (Invoice Processing, 2/3-Way Match, Vendor Payments) (BPAAAGAA)
Keywords
Where Frienton is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Munich
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Frienton business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription Software (Essential Cash): Monthly or annual subscription covering multi-banking, liquidity management, and cashflow reporting. Base tier starting at €149/month, scaling with expenditure volume.
- Subscription Software (Smart Bookkeeping): Mid-tier subscription covering automated bookkeeping, live financial reporting, invoicing, payment management, e-invoicing, and tax interface. Starting at €198/month plus €300 one-time onboarding fee, scaling with document volume.
- Subscription Software (Professional Tax): Top-tier subscription matching Smart Bookkeeping features plus mandated tax accountant services through premium partner tax firms. Frienton portion starts at €333/month; tax firm services invoiced directly by firm.
- E-commerce Usage-based (PAYG): Usage-based pricing scaling with monthly order volume. Up to 100 orders included; above that, price grows with volume. No extra fees for integrations.
- Startup Discount Program: Discounted entry conditions: up to 75% off in first year, 50% off in second year, 25% off in third year for eligible startups. Entry starting from €38/month.
- Holding Companies Package: All-inclusive fixed-price package for holding and investment companies starting at €900/year including year-end reporting, tax filing, and personal advisor support.
- Professional Services (End-of-year closing): End-of-year closing services through tax partners. Trade and tax balance, Bundesanzeiger publication. Starting from €2,500/year for standard cases.
- Onboarding and Migration Services: Optional separate services: contact import, personal expert onboarding, document migration. Provided at fixed prices, typically live within few working days.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Essential Cash - Multi-banking and liquidity management |
| Subscription | Monthly | Smart Bookkeeping - Automated accounting with tax interface |
| Subscription | Monthly | Professional Tax - Full tax handling via partner firms |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | E-commerce PAYG - Order volume-based pricing |
| Subscription | Annual | Startup Bootstrapping - Up to 75% off first year |
| Subscription | Annual | Holding Companies - All-inclusive package |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Frienton product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Frienton provides a cloud-based Financial Operating System (FOS) for German SMEs that connects multi-banking, automated double-entry bookkeeping, live financial reporting (Live-BWA, cashflow, balance sheet), controlling, invoicing, and tax workflows in one integrated platform. It uses PSD2 banking connectivity, OCR document recognition, and SKR03/04 auto-posting to deliver a pre-booked accounting batch to tax firms via DATEV or ADDISON interfaces, eliminating fragmented finance tools.
Product overview
Frienton is a Financial Operating System (FOS) — a unified platform connecting multi-banking, automated bookkeeping, live financial reporting, controlling, and tax workflows. The core portfolio consists of three subscription plans (Essential Cash, Smart Bookkeeping, Professional Tax) alongside vertical-specific offerings (E-Commerce Plan, Startup Program, Holding Companies Package). The platform is built around four integrated product modules: Multibanking (connects all German banks via PSD2 plus Stripe, PayPal, credit cards), Bookkeeping (automated double-entry with SKR03/04, GoBD-compliant archiving), Planning & Controlling (Live-BWA, cashflow, liquidity planning, plan-vs-actual), and Tax (VAT/corporate tax estimates, automated declarations via DATEV interface). Frienton operates as an open platform with native integrations to Stripe, Shopify, Shopware, Amazon, Easybill, Billbee, Chargebee, MOCO and others, and delivers a pre-booked accounting batch in DATEV or ADDISON format to existing tax firms. The product is developed and operated by Frienton GmbH, runs GoBD-compliant on German infrastructure, and connects via PSD2 through the BaFin-licensed Munich-based banking partner finAPI.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Essential Cash Entry-level liquidity management and multibanking subscription plan covering real-time financial cockpit, cash flow statement, multi-banking connections including PayPal, planning and liquidity management, auto-categorization of transactions, reports with data export, multi-user with role-based rights, and payment approvals. Starting from €149/month.
- Smart Bookkeeping Mid-tier automated accounting and live financial reporting plan that includes everything in Essential Cash plus corporate financial overview (Live-BWA), digital bookkeeping and accounting, auto-categorization and document matching, e-invoicing, integrations with Stripe and Shopify, GoBD-compliant archive, and DATEV/ADDISON tax interface. Starting from €198/month plus €300 one-time onboarding fee.
- Professional Tax Full-service tax accounting plan through Frienton premium-partner tax firms including everything in Smart Bookkeeping plus mandated tax accountant, VAT and corporate tax handling, Frienton accountant access, and personal mail and chat support. End-of-year closing from €2,500/year. Frienton portion from €333/month.
- Startup Program Discounted entry conditions for startups and bootstrapping companies offering up to 75% off in year one, 50% off in year two, and 25% off in year three. Eligible companies include tech startups and scaleups in or after a funding round, SaaS companies with recurring revenue, and growing tech companies with several banks and investor-reporting needs.
- Holding Companies Package
- E-Commerce Plan Usage-based pay-as-you-go pricing model for e-commerce merchants that scales by monthly order volume with up to 100 orders/month included and no extra cost for integrations. Native Shopify, Amazon, and Shopware integration with automated Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon payout booking.
- Multibanking Module Module providing a comprehensive overview of all business finances by connecting all German banks via PSD2, credit cards including AMEX, PayPal, Amazon, Shopify, and Stripe. Features include smart online banking, one-click payments, standing orders, and access to integrated banking products like instant payouts (factoring), loans, and credit cards.
- Bookkeeping Module Automated double-entry bookkeeping module delivering public-company-level accounting to SMEs with fully digital document management, GoBD-compliant archiving, professional invoicing and accounts receivable/payable management including dunning, automated matching of invoices and receipts with associated transactions and tax-ready categories, and Stripe, Shopify, and Amazon integrations.
- Planning & Controlling Module Financial planning and control module with daily updated dashboards for monitoring financial data with customizable KPIs and flexible analysis tools. Provides Live-BWA, cash flow statement, balance sheet with zoom functionality down to transaction level, and liquidity controlling including target-actual and peer comparisons.
- Tax Module Tax management module providing real-time VAT and corporate tax estimates including advance returns handling, automated VAT and corporate tax declarations with one-click fulfillment powered by professional tax partners and DATEV interface, individual tax saving tips, and a built-in tax accountant interface.
Quantifiable outcome
- Monthly closing ready on the second workday of the following month (dataLoom case study)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Frienton
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Frienton technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration21 records
AI capability6 records
Feature9 records
Frienton partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- finAPIcoreBaFin-licensed Munich-based account information service and payment initiation service provider. Enables PSD2-compliant connectivity to all German banks including Sparkassen, Volksbanken, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, N26. Also provides long-term Schufa partnership.
- d.velopcoreGoBD-compliant document management and archiving provider. Certified solutions for >13,000 customers. Provides audit-proof storage of all business documents (invoices, receipts, tax papers) for required duration up to 10 years.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreCloud hosting partner. Enterprise cloud for leading German companies with highly secure data center in Frankfurt am Main.
- ShopifycoreNative integration with Shopify stores. Fully automatic workflow: reading out, matching & booking of all payouts and receipts. If invoices created directly in Shopify, automated bookkeeping works without separate invoicing tool.
- AmazoncoreIntegration of Amazon Seller account into Frienton. Automatic reading and booking of Amazon marketplace settlements, fees, refunds.
- StripecoreNative Stripe integration. Automatic breakdown of settlements into gross revenue, fees, refunds, payouts, and currency conversion. Central differentiator for e-commerce clients.
- ShopwarecoreIntegration of Shopware account into Frienton. Fully automatic workflow for Shopware orders and payouts.
- DATEVcoreCertified DATEV interface partner. Direct transfer of pre-booked bookkeeping and metadata to DATEV. Considers simplification of workflow between tax accountant and Frienton. Firm keeps existing DATEV or ADDISON environment.
- ADDISONcoreAlternative tax software compatibility. Direct transfer of pre-booked bookkeeping to ADDISON (Wolters Kluwer).
- PayPalmajorIntegration of PayPal account into Frienton. PayPal transactions included in multi-banking view and automated booking.
- MOCOmajorIntegration of MOCO account into Frienton. Project and agency software data flows seamlessly into books with no media break or manual exports.
- EasybillmajorIntegration of Easybill account into Frienton. Fully automatic workflow for reading, matching, and booking of all invoices.
- BillbeemajorIntegration of Billbee account into Frienton. Fully automatic workflow for reading, matching, and booking of all invoices.
- ChargebeemajorIntegration of Chargebee account into Frienton. SaaS subscription billing data flows into automated bookkeeping.
- PliantmajorCompany cards provider. Frienton is a Pliant partner. Pliant replaces MOSS and Pleo 1:1 on comparable feature set (virtual cards, team management, spend controls) with API depth needed for integration.
- Premium Tax Advisory FirmscoreNetwork of licensed tax advisory firms offering services through Frienton Professional Tax package. Firms meet Premium Partner standards and can use Frienton Premium Partner label. Includes personal support from experienced tax advisors.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Frienton competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- sevDesk: sevDesk is a German cloud-based accounting SaaS for SMBs and freelancers, offering bookkeeping, invoicing, and DATEV export — directly competing with Frienton's Smart Bookkeeping tier for the same German SMB customer.
- BuchhaltungsButler: BuchhaltungsButler is a German automated bookkeeping platform for SMBs with bank transaction categorization, receipt management, and DATEV interface — competing head-to-head with Frienton's automated bookkeeping module for similar customers.
- Candis: Candis is a German B2B finance automation platform targeting SMBs with invoice processing, approval workflows, and bookkeeping — closely aligned with Frienton's automated AP/AR and approval workflow functionality.
Broad incumbents
- Lexware Office: Lexware Office (Haufe Group) is an established German accounting and ERP suite with deep penetration among German SMBs and tax advisors — Frienton explicitly maintains a comparison page against this incumbent.
- DATEV: DATEV is the dominant German tax and accounting software infrastructure used by virtually all German tax advisory firms — Frienton is a certified DATEV interface partner, but DATEV also represents the entrenched incumbent Frienton's channel partners already use.
Emerging players
- Pennylane: Pennylane is a well-funded French accounting and financial management SaaS for SMBs that is expanding into Germany — Frienton has a dedicated comparison page (Frienton vs. Pennylane) signaling direct competitive overlap as Pennylane enters the DACH market.
- Agicap: Agicap is a European treasury and cash flow forecasting SaaS targeting SMBs and mid-market — overlapping with Frienton's Planning & Controlling / Live-BWA cashflow functionality for similar European SMB customers.
Others
- Pleo: Pleo is a European corporate card and spend management platform — Frienton's partnership with Pliant (which Frienton positions as replacing Pleo 1:1) shows direct competitive positioning in the company cards space adjacent to Frienton's multi-banking offering.
- Moss: Moss is a European corporate cards and spend management platform serving SMBs — adjacent to Frienton's spend and banking workflows, with overlapping target customers in the German and European SMB segments.
- finAPI: finAPI is a BaFin-licensed German PSD2 account information and payment initiation service provider that Frienton relies on for all bank connectivity — comparable as the underlying infrastructure layer powering Frienton's multi-banking product.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Frienton social profiles
Digital presenceFrienton compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Frienton financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Frienton leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Frienton funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frienton M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Frienton
What does Frienton do?
Frienton provides a cloud-based Financial Operating System (FOS) for German SMEs that connects multi-banking, automated double-entry bookkeeping, live financial reporting (Live-BWA, cashflow, balance sheet), controlling, invoicing, and tax workflows in one integrated platform. It uses PSD2 banking connectivity, OCR document recognition, and SKR03/04 auto-posting to deliver a pre-booked accounting batch to tax firms via DATEV or ADDISON interfaces, eliminating fragmented finance tools.
Is Frienton a public or private company?
Frienton is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Frienton founded?
Frienton was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Frienton based?
Frienton is headquartered in Munich, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Frienton make money?
Eight revenue lines are on record. Subscription Software (Essential Cash) is the primary driver. The others are subscription Software (Smart Bookkeeping), subscription Software (Professional Tax), E-commerce Usage-based (PAYG), startup Discount Program, holding Companies Package, professional Services (End-of-year closing) and onboarding and Migration Services.
Who are Frienton's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are sevDesk, BuchhaltungsButler and Candis. Broad incumbents are Lexware Office and DATEV. Emerging players are Pennylane and Agicap. Others are Pleo, Moss and finAPI.
Does Frienton have an API?
No public API is recorded for Frienton.
What industry is Frienton in?
Frienton's product category is Cloud Accounting and Financial Operations Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAEAK, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) & FP&A Platforms, with a secondary code of BPAAAGAC, General Ledger & Close (Journal Entries, Month-End Close, Reconciliations). Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7372.