28.04.2025
Visma invests in Accountable with plans of complete acquisition
Another independent bookkeeping and tax software in Europe is to be swallowed: In a LinkedIn media blitz, a Handelsblatt report and a press statement from Visma, it was announced that the Belgian and German bookkeeping and tax software for the self-employed, Accountable, receives an investment from Norwegian group Visma, supposedly valuing the Belgian company at a high two-digit million euro valuation.
Part of the undisclosed investment will pay out the existing VC investors, the founders and the current employees. A complete acquisition of Accountable by Visma is reportedly planned at a later date.
About Visma, a major player
Visma is a privately held Norwegian company operating in Europe and Latin America, offering accounting, payroll, invoicing, and HR software. Owned by London-based majority shareholder Hg, Visma is backed by private equity and has operated in its current form since 1996. In 2024, it generated 2,8 billion euro in revenue, resulting in an EBITDA of more than 890 million euro.
But, yes, you should’ve heard of Visma, as they’re constantly buying and investing globally: Recently, Austrian Finmatics, a pre-accounting software provider with over 1.200 business customers in Austria and Germany, was acquired, strengthening Visma’s European bookkeeping offerings.
Even more interesting is a German acquisition that already dates back two years. In early 2023, Visma acquired bookkeeping software BuchhaltungsButler. Back then, the first acquisition in Germany.
About Accountable, a rising star
Founded in 2019, Accountable is widespread software for the self-employed in Belgium and is also slowly but surely entering the German market successfully.
Focusing on the self-employed in Germany, Accountable, offering a bank account through its partnership with Swan, is now basically a substitute for unsatisfied Kontist by Ageras users. Yes, Kontist still offers solid business banking by partnering with Swan’s German competitor Solaris SE, but the bookkeeping and tax tools – in direct comparison – could need a breath of fresh air.
Besides banking, Accountable’s team has consistently released innovative solutions over the past years. They score points with their (tax) support and features like tax buckets, a tax calculator, a “tax guarantee” and a 24/7 AI tax advisor.
So, what do we think of all this?
Well, the immediate comparison to this investment is the 2022 acquisition of German Kontist by the Danish Ageras Group: Same market, a Nordic business group, and the promise to keep everything unchanged.
While Ageras aims to unify everything under one technical and visual umbrella, Visma seems to be more at ease with its acquired software companies, leaving the existing brands as is and is further supporting their original visions.
However, when it comes to Visma’s strategy, the past might not always be a good indicator for the future: Having two complementary accounting and tax tools in your portfolio could generate pleasant synergies, with Accountable offering a newly introduced banking product and a user-friendly interface for small businesses and BuchhaltungsButler having a double-entry bookkeeping solution ready to take on more complicated cases like German GmbHs.
Meanwhile, the third foreign contender, French Cegid, that acquired sevdesk for a reported triple-digit million euro figure in March, is looming in the background.
With Ageras (Kontist) and Cegid (sevdesk) as direct competitors and the German solutions from Lexware, Pennylane (soon), and Qonto all around, it seems the current mood in this software market is to aim for one all-encompassing software solution for small- and medium-sized businesses in Germany (and beyond). That means offering a bank account, bookkeeping, the ability to send business and private tax returns directly from the software, lending possibilities, and (e-)invoicing. Add direct access to a tax advisor service for good measure.
It is not black and white
The combination of these two acquisitions (BuchhaltungsButler and Accountable) by Visma might play into the current mood, while having a good starting point to support limited liability companies with a combined bookkeeping and tax product. On the other hand, it is said that Accountable remains an independent entity, with the founders remaining in the company, currently serving over 26.000 customers.
In the end, the natural move feels like going all in for a German all-in-one bookkeeping and tax solution for small- and medium-sized businesses to be able to compete with everything that is out there. But in a complex market like Germany, it might be wise to show some restraint and reap the potential rewards more slowly.
🚀 NEWS
German publisher Verlag C.H.Beck GmbH & Co. KG becomes leading investor in legal AI Noxtua in 80,7 million euro Series B. (Link)
Dr. Roger Gothmann starts new weekly newsletter “Skin in the Game” on LinkedIn, offering insights into Taxdoo’s goal of reaching 100 million annual recurring revenue over the next four years. (Link)
Private equity firm KKR invests in German IT service provider DATAGROUP, after previous investment into ETL-Gruppe, that could broaden the IT expertise next to ETL-Gruppe’s eurodata AG. (Link)
Hypofriend’s founder Nick Mulder announces new taxtech venture, partnering with an undisclosed tax software provider and some tax advisors, aiming at private individuals in Germany. (Link)
Norman starts offering Norman Finance MPC Server to enable LLMs to interact with the Norman Finance API directly. (Link)
project b., the AI for professional payroll accountants, releases new website with more information than previous landing page. Offers booking of demo and connecting with German payroll offices. (Link)
📚 READS
Dr. Roger Gothmann @ Gründerszene: Customs duties, withholding tax, documentation: These four start-ups show how you can earn money from regulation (Link)
Daniel Spieker @ tax&bytes: How will AI change tax consulting? (Link)
🤝 SUPPORT
TaxTech News is supported by: wundertax CEO and founder Daniel Hanemann. wundertax offers a do-it-yourself tax filing solution in Germany.
Another independent bookkeeping and tax software in Europe is to be swallowed: In a LinkedIn media blitz, a Handelsblatt report and a press statement from Visma, it was announced that the Belgian and German bookkeeping and tax software for the self-employed, Accountable, receives an investment from Norwegian group Visma, supposedly valuing the Belgian company at a high two-digit million euro valuation.
Part of the undisclosed investment will pay out the existing VC investors, the founders and the current employees. A complete acquisition of Accountable by Visma is reportedly planned at a later date.
About Visma, a major player
Visma is a privately held Norwegian company operating in Europe and Latin America, offering accounting, payroll, invoicing, and HR software. Owned by London-based majority shareholder Hg, Visma is backed by private equity and has operated in its current form since 1996. In 2024, it generated 2,8 billion euro in revenue, resulting in an EBITDA of more than 890 million euro.
But, yes, you should’ve heard of Visma, as they’re constantly buying and investing globally: Recently, Austrian Finmatics, a pre-accounting software provider with over 1.200 business customers in Austria and Germany, was acquired, strengthening Visma’s European bookkeeping offerings.
Even more interesting is a German acquisition that already dates back two years. In early 2023, Visma acquired bookkeeping software BuchhaltungsButler. Back then, the first acquisition in Germany.
About Accountable, a rising star
Founded in 2019, Accountable is widespread software for the self-employed in Belgium and is also slowly but surely entering the German market successfully.
Focusing on the self-employed in Germany, Accountable, offering a bank account through its partnership with Swan, is now basically a substitute for unsatisfied Kontist by Ageras users. Yes, Kontist still offers solid business banking by partnering with Swan’s German competitor Solaris SE, but the bookkeeping and tax tools – in direct comparison – could need a breath of fresh air.
Besides banking, Accountable’s team has consistently released innovative solutions over the past years. They score points with their (tax) support and features like tax buckets, a tax calculator, a “tax guarantee” and a 24/7 AI tax advisor.
So, what do we think of all this?
Well, the immediate comparison to this investment is the 2022 acquisition of German Kontist by the Danish Ageras Group: Same market, a Nordic business group, and the promise to keep everything unchanged.
While Ageras aims to unify everything under one technical and visual umbrella, Visma seems to be more at ease with its acquired software companies, leaving the existing brands as is and is further supporting their original visions.
However, when it comes to Visma’s strategy, the past might not always be a good indicator for the future: Having two complementary accounting and tax tools in your portfolio could generate pleasant synergies, with Accountable offering a newly introduced banking product and a user-friendly interface for small businesses and BuchhaltungsButler having a double-entry bookkeeping solution ready to take on more complicated cases like German GmbHs.
Meanwhile, the third foreign contender, French Cegid, that acquired sevdesk for a reported triple-digit million euro figure in March, is looming in the background.
With Ageras (Kontist) and Cegid (sevdesk) as direct competitors and the German solutions from Lexware, Pennylane (soon), and Qonto all around, it seems the current mood in this software market is to aim for one all-encompassing software solution for small- and medium-sized businesses in Germany (and beyond). That means offering a bank account, bookkeeping, the ability to send business and private tax returns directly from the software, lending possibilities, and (e-)invoicing. Add direct access to a tax advisor service for good measure.
It is not black and white
The combination of these two acquisitions (BuchhaltungsButler and Accountable) by Visma might play into the current mood, while having a good starting point to support limited liability companies with a combined bookkeeping and tax product. On the other hand, it is said that Accountable remains an independent entity, with the founders remaining in the company, currently serving over 26.000 customers.
In the end, the natural move feels like going all in for a German all-in-one bookkeeping and tax solution for small- and medium-sized businesses to be able to compete with everything that is out there. But in a complex market like Germany, it might be wise to show some restraint and reap the potential rewards more slowly.
🚀 NEWS
German publisher Verlag C.H.Beck GmbH & Co. KG becomes leading investor in legal AI Noxtua in 80,7 million euro Series B. (Link)
Dr. Roger Gothmann starts new weekly newsletter “Skin in the Game” on LinkedIn, offering insights into Taxdoo’s goal of reaching 100 million annual recurring revenue over the next four years. (Link)
Private equity firm KKR invests in German IT service provider DATAGROUP, after previous investment into ETL-Gruppe, that could broaden the IT expertise next to ETL-Gruppe’s eurodata AG. (Link)
Hypofriend’s founder Nick Mulder announces new taxtech venture, partnering with an undisclosed tax software provider and some tax advisors, aiming at private individuals in Germany. (Link)
Norman starts offering Norman Finance MPC Server to enable LLMs to interact with the Norman Finance API directly. (Link)
project b., the AI for professional payroll accountants, releases new website with more information than previous landing page. Offers booking of demo and connecting with German payroll offices. (Link)
📚 READS
Dr. Roger Gothmann @ Gründerszene: Customs duties, withholding tax, documentation: These four start-ups show how you can earn money from regulation (Link)
Daniel Spieker @ tax&bytes: How will AI change tax consulting? (Link)
🤝 SUPPORT
TaxTech News is supported by: wundertax CEO and founder Daniel Hanemann. wundertax offers a do-it-yourself tax filing solution in Germany.