Lexware Office (formerly LexOffice) is a web app that helps self-employed people, tradespeople and small businesses to organize their accounting processes efficiently. The software can be used to manage customer and supplier lists, create quotes, write invoices, process incoming documents and process payments.
However, any tool is only as good as the person using it. An experienced user can work much more efficiently with the right tricks. From my practical experience with clients who use Lexware Office, I have put together 11 valuable tips that will make your day-to-day work easier.
As a tax consultant, I advise many self-employed people who work with Lexware Office. The most important thing is that you find tools with which YOU can work efficiently. Many of the following tips can also be applied to other accounting systems. If you are interested in working with me or have your own experience with these tips, I look forward to hearing from you!
Cash posted although no cash register exists
The ‘Cash register’ function in Lexware Office is intended for a real store cash register or an open cash register with a cash book. If, as a freelancer, you only make private expenses from your wallet, upload the receipt as normal and mark it as privately paid.
Why is this important? If you have a cash register, the tax office can request a cash book and check your cash management. Without a cash book, this can lead to problems.
Salary posted instead of withdrawal
Freelancers and sole traders do not pay themselves a “salary”, but withdraw money from their business. The entry should therefore be made as a “withdrawal”, not under “salary”. The “Salary” account is intended exclusively for the wages of permanent employees.
Receipt uploaded twice
A common error: A receipt is entered twice, e.g. once with a bank debit and once marked as “paid privately”. As a result, the duplicate does not appear immediately in the open items, but can still lead to errors in accounting.
Only payment receipt uploaded, not the invoice
For card payments, you often receive two receipts: the actual invoice or receipt and the payment receipt. However, the payment receipt alone is not sufficient proof of operating expenses.
Tip: If you do not receive an invoice, create a replacement receipt.
No receipt uploaded
Without a receipt, neither input tax deduction nor deduction of business expenses is possible.
Important:
- There is no obligation to upload receipts to Lexware Office – they can also be archived externally.
- Thermal paper fades. Folders, receipts and files can be lost. Digital storage protects against the loss of important receipts.
- Regular documents (e.g. rental agreement) do not have to be uploaded every month.
Insurance tax booked as input tax
Insurance tax (19%) looks like VAT, but is not VAT and therefore cannot be deducted as input tax. Make sure you post insurance benefits correctly.
Input tax deduction without German VAT
Only German VAT is deductible as input tax. Invoices from abroad usually do not include German VAT.
Attention: Lexware Office often automatically suggests 19% input tax, even if only 7% or no input tax is shown. Special care is required here.
No documentation of the operational reason
An expense can only be recognized as a business expense if it is business-related. In many cases this is obvious, but in unclear cases you should document the reason for the business use.
Collecting customer used too much
It is advisable to create customers individually and to use the collective customer (e.g. “10001”) only rarely.
Why?
- Clear allocation of payments and invoices
- Better overview of accounting
Collective supplier used too much
The collective supplier (e.g. “70001”) should also only be used rarely for suppliers. Too many documents on a collective supplier make traceability more difficult and can lead to double bookings.
Attention: Lexware Office does not always recognize suppliers correctly and often suggests the collective supplier even though a supplier already exists, which can result in unintentional duplicate suppliers or a document being assigned to the collective supplier even though a supplier already exists.
Draft invoices deleted
Invoices must be numbered consecutively (e.g. RE001, RE002 etc.). The tax office may interpret missing invoice numbers as an indication of untaxed income.
Source of error: Lexware Office already assigns the invoice number when a draft invoice is created. If a draft is created (RE001) but not used and then deleted, this creates a gap that can later lead to questions from the tax office.
