Every business needs clean books, but not every business works the same way. A salon’s cash flow looks nothing like a SaaS startup’s; a clinic’s data rules aren’t a café’s; a contractor’s invoices don’t behave like a retailer’s. Lexware Online Accounting is built around that reality. It gives you a core set of reliable accounting tools—billing, receipts, taxes, payroll, inventory—and lets you adapt them to how your industry operates day to day.
Instead of juggling spreadsheets, paper receipts, and half a dozen apps, you bring money in and money out into one clean system. More accuracy, less admin, smoother audits, and a lot fewer “Where did that invoice go?” moments.
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Why Online Accounting Beats “Spreadsheet + Hope”
Manual accounting scales…until it doesn’t. As soon as you hire, sell in more than one channel, or need reliable reports for financing, your time vanishes into reconciliation and error chasing.
Lexware centralizes the essentials:
- Professional invoices and quotes with your branding
- Bank feeds and automated matching for faster reconciliation
- VAT handling and clear tax summaries
- Payroll with the right contributions and filings
- Inventory tracking and supplier management
- Project/job costing and time tracking where relevant
- Reports you can actually read, not dread
This is the difference between “numbers that exist” and “numbers you can trust to make decisions.”
How Lexware Works Day to Day
Think of the platform as a flow—capture, categorize, comply, report.
- Capture
Create quotes, convert to invoices in a click, attach receipts by snapping photos, pull bank transactions automatically, and import sales from your POS or online shop. - Categorize
Rules and templates classify income/expenses to the right accounts, track VAT, and tag projects or cost centers. Less manual typing, fewer slip-ups. - Comply
Generate VAT returns, payroll contributions, and year-end summaries with built-in checks. Keep document trails linked to each transaction for auditor-friendly books. - Report
See real-time dashboards on cash flow, aged receivables, sales by product/service, gross margin, and profit. Share access with your accountant so they can adjust without email ping-pong.
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Industry Playbooks: What Changes and What Stays the Same
The core accounting rules don’t change. The workflows do. Here’s how different sectors typically set up Lexware for speed and sanity.
Beauty, Wellness, and Health Services
- Recurring services and memberships: Turn standing appointments or treatment plans into recurring invoices.
- Retail add-ons: Track retail product sales (shampoos, skincare) with VAT handled correctly; manage basic stock and supplier reorders.
- Staff scheduling → payroll: Sync worked hours, tips, commissions, and therapy sessions to payroll cleanly.
- Aftercare & materials: Track consumables per service to understand true margins.
Retail & eCommerce
- Multi-channel sales: Import orders from your online shop/marketplaces; match payouts from payment providers to orders automatically.
- Returns and exchanges: Create credit notes and link them to original invoices; keep inventory counts accurate.
- Supplier control: Monitor lead times and stock thresholds; group reorders to improve margins.
Hospitality & Food
- Daily Z-reports: Map POS totals to accounts by tax rate and payment method, closing days in minutes.
- Waste & COGS: Track write-offs and compare recipe costs to menu pricing for margin control.
- Seasonality: Forecast cash based on upcoming reservations and historical patterns.
Professional Services & Agencies
- Time → invoice: Turn tracked time and expenses into itemized invoices by project or retainer.
- Deposits & milestones: Manage partial billing without messy spreadsheets.
- Utilization dashboards: Watch billable hours, collection times, and project profitability.
Trades & Construction
- Quotes to change orders: Convert estimates to invoices, handle variations easily, and track job costs by phase.
- Progress billing: Bill % complete without losing audit trails.
- Equipment & subcontractors: Track rentals, subs, and materials against each job.
Invoicing That Gets You Paid Faster
Cash flow isn’t just about sales; it’s about speed to cash. Lexware helps you:
- Send branded invoices in seconds with smart numbering and saved items
- Offer multiple payment methods and place a “Pay now” button on invoices
- Set automatic reminders for overdue bills that sound polite, not robotic
- Use deposits, partial payments, and credit notes without breaking your ledger
- Track which customers chronically pay late and adjust terms accordingly
Pro tip: adopt a “quote → deposit → delivery → final invoice” cadence for larger jobs to keep cash moving.
Expenses Without the Shoe Box
Snap a photo of a receipt, and it’s stored, read, and suggested to the right account. Vendor bills can be forwarded from your email, paired with purchase orders, and scheduled for payment. When month-end hits, most of the classification is already done, and your accountant doesn’t chase you for missing paperwork.
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Payroll, Benefits, and the Human Side of Books
Whether you pay hourly or salary, payroll should be boring—in the best way. Lexware structures payroll data so taxes, contributions, and payslips run predictably. Track time, overtime, leave balances, tips/commissions, and reimbursements in one view; run payroll on schedule with fewer edge-case surprises.
Inventory and Cost of Goods
If you sell products or use consumables, inventory math shouldn’t live in your head. Lexware tracks counts and movements, supports reorder points, and calculates cost of goods sold so margins are real, not guessed. For kits or services with included materials, bundle items to see true profitability.
Reports You’ll Actually Read
Numbers aren’t helpful if they’re cryptic. Expect clean dashboards and drill-downs for:
- Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow
- Sales by product/service, channel, customer, and period
- Aged receivables and payables with “who owes what, how long”
- Project/job profitability and utilization
- VAT summaries and period-end packs for quick reviews
Share view-only links or invite your accountant to make adjusting entries directly.
Security, Privacy, and Compliance
Accounting is where your most sensitive data lives. Lexware’s cloud approach centers on encrypted data storage, role-based access (owner, accountant, staff), and audit-friendly logs. You decide who sees what—sales teams don’t need payroll; contractors don’t need bank balances. Backups run automatically; documents stay attached to transactions for compliance checks.
Migration: Getting In Without Losing Your Mind
Moving systems feels scary until you break it into steps:
- Export current contacts, items, and opening balances.
- Import to Lexware using templates; spot-check 10 random records.
- Connect bank feeds and payment processors; reconcile the current month.
- Bring over open invoices and bills; close them as they’re settled.
- Invite your accountant and agree on a new month-end checklist.
Start the migration at the beginning of a month or quarter for the cleanest cutover.
Everyday Habits That Keep Books Clean
- Close your cash register or online sales daily; reconcile weekly.
- Snap every receipt immediately; tag vendor and category once.
- Send invoices the same day the work ships or the service is rendered.
- Use automatic reminders at 7, 14, and 30 days overdue.
- Review dashboards every Friday—five minutes beats a monthly panic.
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Troubleshooting: Fast Fixes When Real Life Happens
- Invoice sent to the wrong email? Duplicate, fix the address, and resend with a short apology note.
- Client claims they paid? Match the bank feed by amount/date; if it’s off by fees, record the fee to the right expense and mark as paid in full.
- VAT posted at the wrong rate? Reverse the entry, repost at the correct rate, and attach a note.
- Staff hours look odd? Lock schedules weekly, not monthly, and require approvals before payroll run.
- Stock counts drifting? Schedule a monthly mini-count of top 20 SKUs; let the long tail reconcile quarterly.
Conclusion
Good accounting software should help you spend less time doing accounting and more time running your business. Lexware Online Accounting brings invoices, expenses, payroll, inventory, VAT, and reporting into one clean workflow that adapts to your industry—whether you cut hair, sell online, build kitchens, serve meals, or consult.
Set up the basics, automate what you can, and make short weekly check-ins a habit. The payoff is a calmer month-end, faster payments, sharper margins, and financials you can trust when big decisions show up.
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FAQ
- What is Lexware Online Accounting?
A cloud accounting platform for small and medium businesses that handles invoicing, expenses, payroll, inventory, VAT, and reporting in one place. - Is it suitable for my industry?
Yes. The core engine is the same, but workflows are adapted for sectors like beauty & health, retail/eCommerce, hospitality, professional services, and trades, so you can run day-to-day tasks the way your business actually operates. - Can I issue professional quotes and convert them to invoices?
Absolutely. Create branded quotes, convert to invoices in a click, handle deposits and progress billing, and send automatic reminders for overdue payments. - Does it connect to my bank and payment processors?
Yes. You can import bank transactions automatically and match payouts from processors, which accelerates reconciliation and reduces manual data entry. - How does Lexware help with VAT and compliance?
VAT rates and rules are baked into transactions and reports. You can generate VAT summaries and export documents with audit-friendly trails linking every receipt and invoice. - What about payroll?
Track hours, tips/commissions, and leaves; run payroll with the right contributions and generate payslips. Role-based access keeps payroll data private from non-HR staff. - Can I manage inventory?
Yes. Track stock, set reorder points, manage suppliers, and calculate cost of goods sold so your margins are accurate, not approximated. - How hard is it to migrate from spreadsheets or another system?
Most businesses import contacts, items, and opening balances in an afternoon. Connect your bank, bring in open invoices/bills, and invite your accountant to sanity-check the first month. - Is my data secure?
Data is encrypted with role-based permissions and automatic backups. You control user access and can restrict who sees payroll, bank balances, or sensitive reports.
