How to choose an accounting system (Accounting)
How to choose an accounting system in 2023 in Denmark
Earlier this year, I wrote an article on How to start a startup in Denmark in 2023.
I had only listed the two accounting solutions that I looked at, but one reader, reminded me of other interesting solutions to manage your business that deserved being mentioned. So here it is.
Disclaimer
- I am strongly biased. This is based on my own experience.
- I have not tested all of these solutions.
- I am not looking at big complex systems for enterprises.
- There might be solutions that I am not aware of.
- I do believe that this is a pretty good selection.
A lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners don’t know anything about accounting and when I ask them which system they are using, the answer is “I don’t know. Ask my partner.” Or “My accountant is dealing with it.” In my opinion, that is a mistake. You should be interested, you should care and you should know a minimum about it. Don’t completely leave it in the hands of others. It is your business.
Now the good news is that it has never been easier. Many new systems are super easy to use and even some of the legacy systems are getting better.
Try it out
All these solutions, I mention below are available online and have free trial versions. That is an opportunity for you to validate which solution fit your needs.
Each solution has something special and you have to know what you need. Talk to your accountant if you don’t.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Aka Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Navision
The success of Navision, as I like to call it for nostalgic reasons and because it is shorter, lies in the simple fact that every customer has a different version. Business Central and Navision has been customizable since 1987. I started at Navision in Vedbæk in 1994 as a developer and loved it from the beginning. Back in the late 1980s it was a relatively small solution starting with just one user. That has changed. Microsoft bought Navision in 2003.
Today Business Central is for medium size and big companies which need some degree of customization and access to a wide selection of extensions and apps from the Microsoft Appsource.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Dinero
I have used Dinero since 2018. I rent out a few apartments and Dinero is a good match for the activity.
Dinero is headed by the famous entrepreneur and investor Martin Buch Thorborg. I think he has done an outstanding job with Dinero.
These are the features I use the most.
- Recurring invoicing (abonnement). In my case the rent.
- General ledger (Danish: kassekladde).
- Bank integration which ensures that nothing is forgotten.
- I can send an email to Dinero with a purchase document and it gets uploaded.
- Accountant access
You can integrate with Dinero through its RESTful API developer.dinero.dk.
An OpenAPI Specification is available for download. 
e-conomic
I worked at e-conomic in 2015 just before they were bought by Visma. They employed me as an International Program Manager to work on the Spanish version. A lot has happened since. e-conomic managed to convert a lot of Microsoft C5 customers.
This is how I see it
- e-conomic is a more advance accounting system
- They have a lot of add-ons in their store
- They are widely recommended by accountants
You can integrate with e-conomic through its RESTful API apis.e-conomic.com. An OpenAPI Specification is available for download.
Billy
I have not worked with Billy myself, but I noticed that several of my professional craftsmen (Danish: håndværkere) where using Billy. The CEO of Billy is Alessandro Justesen Leoni with whom I worked at both Navision and e-conomic.
A nice feature is that when you receive an invoice from a vendor using Billy, you can click a button in the email and consult all of your current and past invoices from your vendor. You can see if they are paid, due, or not paid. Really nice.
You can integrate with Billy through its RESTful API www.billy.dk/api. I did not find an OpenAPI Specification, but the documentation seems quite comprehensive.
Uniconta
Uniconta is made by Erik Damgaard and he is on a mission to get his C5 customers back from e-conomic and more. It is impressive how fast he has developed a full-blown ERP system competing against Microsoft Business Central and e-conomic. I have tried it a long time ago. You have to download a client. That is, it is not online.
You can integrate with Uniconta through its Uniconta API. I don’t think the integration is RESTful.
Sumup aka Debitoor
Debitoor started as a spinoff from Dinero in 2015 and was headed by Alessandro Justesen Leoni who is now the CEO of Billy. Alessandro and I both worked at Navision.
I used Debitoor from 2017 to 2019 for my French freelance business. At that time it was too limited for me. It was more an invoicing solution and I also need the general journal. I admit that I have not looked at Debitoor since it became Sumup.
I integrated my French bank Qonto and Debitoor by using Zapier.
Kontolink
Kontolink is not an accounting system, but they are on a mission to make your life easier. Kontolink is started by two former e-conomic managers Kim Agger and Jens Sørensen. Jens was my manager at e-conomic.
Kontolink is a kind of intelligent OCR robot looking for accounting documents to match with every entry in your bank account.
- Money arrived on the account. Kontolink attempts to find and match a corresponding sales invoice.
- Money left the account. Kontolink attempts to find and match a corresponding receipt or purchase invoice.
This should save you some time. Of course the more activity you have, the bigger the benefit.
You can take pictures of receipts with the app on your phone or you can drag and drop documents from your computer to the Kontobox.
Kontolink is turbo charging four of the business solutions I have mentioned here:
- e-conomic
- Uniconta
- Dinero
- Billy
OpenAPI Specification
Why is it important that the API is RESTful and comes with an OpenAPI Specification (OAS) or a swagger file?
The OpenAPI Specification is a standardized way of documenting your API.
More on that in this article on Code Generation that also talks briefly about what you can do with an OpenAPI Specification.