Accounting software or invoicing software?
The same search hides two very different needs. One person wants invoices out of the door and no further thought about them. The other wants to run the whole set of books, depreciation and annual accounts included. The gap between those two, in price and in learning curve, is wide.
Belgian packages usually cover three layers: the invoices you send, the expenses that come in and the preparation of your VAT return. Above that, posting entries in double entry bookkeeping and filing the annual accounts stays with an accountant in most cases. A vendor promising you will never need one again deserves a healthy dose of scepticism.
So start by writing down which part you want to handle. A sole trader on simplified bookkeeping does not need the same tool as a limited company that files accounts and works with several users. That single sentence already settles half of your choice.
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Invoicing and tracking who paid: an invoicing tool is enough.
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Invoicing plus scanning expenses and preparing your VAT: the classic territory of accounting software for the self employed.
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Posting to account numbers yourself, with a balance sheet and profit and loss: that is where your accountant or a heavier package comes in.
Torn between the two? Call your accountant before you buy anything. Five minutes on the phone often saves a subscription cancelled three months later.
The eight points you compare
Feature lists on vendor sites sometimes run to a hundred rows. In a useful comparison, only eight points touch your daily work. The rest is scenery.
Go through the table below with your own business in mind and test whatever can be tested during the trial. Anyone who only reads the brochures is buying thin air.
The eight points and how to test them
| What you look at |
Why it matters |
How to test it |
| Sending via Peppol |
Mandatory between Belgian VAT registered businesses since 2026 |
Send one real invoice to a client and ask whether it arrived |
| Expense scanning |
Decides how much time you lose on receipts each month |
Scan five receipts and count how much you have to correct |
| VAT summary |
You need to see VAT payable and deductible without a spreadsheet |
Open the screen with your own figures from last quarter |
| Access for your accountant |
Saves the quarterly back and forth by email |
Invite them during the trial and ask for their verdict |
| Export of your data |
You want to be able to leave without an argument |
Request a full export and open the file yourself |
| Language of tool and support |
In this country you rarely work in a single language |
Ask a question in your language and time the answer |
| Point of sale and payment terminal |
Decisive as soon as you take payment over the counter |
Check whether the registered cash register sits in the same subscription |
| Total cost after one year |
The monthly figure hides users and modules |
Price your target setup, not the one you have today |
What you handle, what your accountant handles
This is where most disappointments start. You pick a tool you like, your accountant works with another system, and every quarter the same argument restarts over exports that do not add up.
Simply ask which format they want your documents in and whether they would like direct access to your file. Some firms happily work inside their client's tool, others prefer a clean file landing in their own. Both work, as long as you know it before you start.
Check as well that your accountant's access is not billed as an extra user. At Novadesko that access sits inside the subscription; elsewhere it is sometimes an extra line.
Working in English or French with an accountant who posts in Dutch, or the other way round? Check whether the tool is genuinely multilingual, and not only on its home page.
Peppol and the VAT return
Since 1 January 2026, an invoice between two Belgian VAT registered businesses travels as a structured electronic document over the Peppol network. A pdf attachment no longer counts for those exchanges. Every package you consider today has to handle it.
The difference lies in how. Some vendors are a registered access point with OpenPeppol themselves, others rent that role from a technical partner. You notice it the day an invoice fails to arrive: with its own access point, the vendor reads the delivery receipts directly and answers you within the hour.
For VAT, look at something else: can the tool show your VAT payable and deductible per period without you reaching for a spreadsheet, and does that screen match the boxes your accountant fills in. During the trial, simply open that screen once with real figures in it.
Ask which Peppol identifier you are registered under and check it yourself in the OpenPeppol directory. A serious vendor gives you that in thirty seconds.
The price over a year, not per month
Lining up monthly amounts taken from home pages says very little. Work out what you actually pay after twelve months, in the setup you are heading towards rather than today's.
Add the users you will switch on along the way, the modules that looked optional at first, your accountant's access and any per document charges. A package that starts cheap and bills per invoice can end up above a flat subscription as soon as your volume picks up.
Novadesko charges 19 EUR excl. VAT per month, no commitment, modules included. Other vendors think per user and per application, or in tiers based on document volume. None of those models is dishonest, they simply target a different kind of customer.
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What do you pay with two extra users?
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Does your accountant's access cost anything?
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Are there charges per document sent or received?
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What happens to your rate after the first year?
The Belgian vendors side by side
Five names surface in almost every search in this country. They do not target the same profile, which is why asking which one is best matters less than asking which one fits you.
The table below stays deliberately short. For the full row by row comparison, the detailed pages per vendor are listed at the bottom.
Who targets which profile
| Name |
Where the package is strong |
Who it suits |
| Novadesko |
Invoicing, VAT, point of sale, stock and CRM in one subscription, with its own Peppol access point |
Self employed people and SMEs who want everything in one place |
| Billit |
Document transport and Peppol, its original trade |
Companies and firms with heavy document traffic |
| Dexxter |
Simplicity for people doing their own books, with an active Flemish community |
Sole traders, side businesses and student entrepreneurs |
| Accountable |
Bookkeeping and taxes from the smartphone |
Mobile self employed people with few documents |
| Odoo |
Very broad and configurable, far beyond accounting |
Organisations with an integrator and a real configuration budget |
Novadesko writes this page, and we say so straight away. The comparison still holds up because it starts from what each vendor announces publicly, and because several of these tools are excellent in their own lane.
Four mistakes that keep coming back
After hundreds of conversations with Belgian business owners, the same missteps return. They rarely cost money on day one, but they cost time over the following year.
The first is choosing on feature count. A tool with sixty modules you never open takes longer to learn than one cut to fit your work. The second is spending the trial admiring screens instead of working in them: create three real invoices, scan five real receipts and pull up your VAT summary.
The third concerns your data. Before you start, check how you get it back out, in which format, and whether that is free. The fourth is telling your accountant only after you have signed.
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Choosing on features instead of on your actual working day.
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Not filling the trial with real documents.
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Not checking how you export your data later.
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Involving your accountant too late.
Closing your shortlist in a week
There is no need to spend a month on this. A five day schedule is plenty.
On Monday you write down what you handle and what goes to your accountant. On Tuesday you keep two or three candidates, no more. Wednesday and Thursday you work in both trial accounts with real documents from your own business. On Friday you show your VAT summary and your export file to your accountant, and you decide.
If two packages both do the job and the doubt persists, take the one whose support answers in your language within the day. That will weigh more next year than any line in a feature table.
Novadesko can be tested for fourteen days without a bank card, with your real data and with your accountant looking over your shoulder if you want.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between accounting software and invoicing software?
Invoicing software is there to create, send and follow up your sales invoices. Accounting software goes further: your expenses go in, your VAT is prepared and your documents are ready for your accountant. In Belgium most tools aimed at the self employed cover both layers, while posting entries in double entry bookkeeping usually stays with an accountant.
Do I still need an accountant if I use this kind of software?
As a sole trader on simplified bookkeeping you can get quite far alone, especially for the VAT return and for tracking expenses. Once you run a company, file annual accounts or make tax choices, an accountant remains advisable. The software cuts down their work, and usually their invoice with it.
Does my accounting software have to support Peppol?
Yes, if you invoice other Belgian VAT registered businesses. Since 1 January 2026 that exchange has to happen as a structured electronic document over the Peppol network. If you invoice private individuals only, the obligation does not apply, though picking a tool today that cannot do it would be unwise.
What does accounting software cost in Belgium?
For a self employed person the market runs roughly from ten to fifty euros excl. VAT per month, depending on modules and user count. Novadesko starts at 19 EUR excl. VAT per month with modules included. Always work out the total over twelve months, because extra users and per document charges make the difference.
Can I move from Billit or Dexxter to Novadesko?
You can, and it happens regularly. You export your clients, items and history from your current tool, then import those files during setup. If in doubt, ask support to check your export before you switch, ideally between two VAT returns.
Does the software work in English if my accountant works in Dutch?
At Novadesko it does: you work in your language, your accountant opens the same file in theirs, and documents follow the language of your client. In Belgium that is not a luxury, it saves a great deal of confusion over how a line item is worded.
Read next
This guide is based on the vendors' public information as of August 2026. The Belgian market moves fast since the Peppol obligation: check prices and terms on each vendor's own site before you sign.
