Dexxter alternative for Belgian self employed people

Why people start looking for a Dexxter alternative

Dexxter made a clear choice: serve the individual who handles their own books, in Dutch first, with an interface that scares nobody. That choice explains its success and it also explains its limits. The people who write to us almost never complain about the tool itself, they hit one specific wall.

Three walls keep coming back. The first is the company: you incorporate a BV or an SRL, and a tool built for the sole proprietorship stops keeping up. The second is direct selling: a till, a Bancontact terminal, product references to track in stock. The third is working with other people, as soon as a partner or a first employee needs to get into the same documents.

If none of those three walls applies to you, the rest of this page will probably convince you to stay where you are. Better to say that up front.

The common ground between the two tools

On the everyday work of a Belgian freelancer, the two tools hold their own. Sending a clean invoice, preparing the quarterly VAT return, scanning a restaurant receipt, passing the lot to your accountant: none of that seriously separates Novadesko from Dexxter.

Electronic invoicing does not either, and that makes sense. Peppol is a European standard, not an in house invention. Software either follows it or it does not, and both follow it.

• Peppol electronic invoicing in BIS 3.0 format, sending and receiving
• Quarterly VAT return preparation
• Quotes, order forms and conversion into an invoice
• Scanning and automatic booking of expenses
• Sharing documents and entries with your accountant
• Mobile app to invoice and photograph a receipt
• Suited to sole proprietorships, side activities and student entrepreneurs

Where the two tools genuinely part ways

The dividing line is sharp: Dexxter supports a self employed individual, Novadesko supports a business whatever its legal form. That is not a marketing nuance, you see it the moment you sign up.

With us you can open a file for a company or a non profit just as easily as for a sole proprietorship. You plug in a certified cash register with its payment terminal if you sell over the counter. You track stock references linked to your sales and purchases. You invite a partner, an employee, your accountant, each with their own rights. And you invoice through our own Peppol access point, with no third party operator in the chain.

The flip side is real and we will name it: Novadesko is a broader tool, so there are more screens. A student entrepreneur sending six invoices a year will find Dexxter more direct, and they will be right.

• Companies and individuals in the same tool, no software change halfway through
• Certified cash register and point of sale, with Bancontact terminals
• Stock management linked to sales and purchases
• Built in CRM: contacts, opportunities, commercial follow up
• Several users on the same file, each with their own rights
• Cash flow dashboard projecting the payments you expect
• Our own Peppol access point, no intermediary to contract with

What you pay on either side

Lining up two amounts helps nobody when the scope differs. What counts is what you will spend over twelve months in total, across every tool.

Novadesko starts at 19 € excl. VAT per month, with no minimum term, Peppol invoicing included and no document counter. You switch modules on according to what you actually do: you do not pay for the till if you never sell over the counter. Dexxter works on a deliberately low yearly subscription, which fits the audience it was built for.

Here is the honest sum. Take your current subscription, add whatever you pay on the side to keep stock in a paid spreadsheet, for your till, for your client follow up. Compare that total against ours. If you pay nothing on the side, Dexxter stays cheaper and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

When to stay with Dexxter, when to switch

Here is what we would say on the phone, including when the answer does not suit us.

Stay where you are if you trade as an individual, invoice services at a calm pace, have no counter, no stock and no partner, and the tool suits you. Changing software costs time and attention. A tool that does the job and that you know inside out is worth something.

Switch if one of the three walls is getting close. A company in the making, a shop about to open, a first employee: in those cases moving now saves you a second relocation eighteen months from here, with twice as much history to carry over.

• Student entrepreneur, a handful of invoices a year: Dexxter, no hesitation
• Side activity in services with no extra needs: either works, look at the price
• Sole proprietorship that also sells over the counter: Novadesko, for the certified till
• Incorporation planned: Novadesko, so you do not move twice
• Selling products with stock tracking: Novadesko, for the stock, sales and purchase link
• A partner or first employee joining the documents: Novadesko, for multi user access

Moving your data without breaking anything

Fear of the move holds far more people back than price does. It is understandable and also badly overstated when both tools export to common formats, which is the case here.

Your clients, items and invoices export out of Dexxter and import into our side. Your numbering picks up where it left off: no gap in the sequence, your accountant will thank you. Your Peppol identifier does not change, it is your company number, it follows you from one vendor to the next and only the network registration is updated.

The most comfortable moment is still the start of a quarter, once the previous VAT return has been filed. Switching mid quarter works too, you simply keep access to your old file during the transition.

Frequently asked questions