The short version:
- What it takes over: quote, job, hours, measurements and invoice run in one system instead of on four bits of paper.
- What it costs: cloud subscriptions bill per user per month, ERP systems quote a price only after a call.
- Where it stops: the software calculates the job. The money and the reserves sit in the account.
The business runs, the paperwork does not. Quotes in the mail inbox, hours on a pad in the van, measurements in your head and the invoice on Friday night at the kitchen table. That is usually the point at which the question of trade software for small businesses comes up, and rarely out of enthusiasm for software, but because the office is eating the evening.
This guide sorts the field: which tasks such a program takes off your hands, what it costs per month and what the choice really turns on. There is no ranking here.
What a small business actually needs
Software for a trade business is rarely just an invoicing program. It strings together the steps that already belong together in the working day, and that is what decides whether a trade program saves office time or merely moves it. A complete trade software package takes the whole chain, a lean one covers half of it and leaves the rest to the tax adviser.
Not every trade program covers all six, and trade software for small businesses does not have to. What matters is that it holds the four processes that eat the most office time today.
An app for the site
The site app is often the real reason small businesses start at all. Hours get logged where they happen, photos hang on the job instead of in the camera roll, the customer signs on a tablet. One detail that tends to disappear on the pricing pages: with a cloud package a mobile app usually counts as its own licence.
Cloud or local installation
The decision is made on process depth, not on technology. A cloud package runs in the browser and on the phone, updates are included, and billing is per user per month. An ERP sits opposite: more scope, payroll and inventory in the same system, an implementation with consulting, price on request. The field splits almost evenly between those two routes.
Interim conclusion: a cloud subscription per user on one side, an ERP quoted on request on the other. What neither of them covers is the payment itself.
What the software costs per month
With trade software pricing the second look pays off, because the headline price is rarely the final one. Three billing models sit side by side: per user per month from around 15 €, packages by headcount from around 60 €, and the mix of a package plus extra users, where another office user costs 49,90 € and a mobile user 19,90 €. This is exactly where it is decided which model works out cheaper for a small business, because an office licence and a mobile licence are far apart. On top of that comes the modular build: add-on modules for warehousing, maintenance or payroll are billed per licence per user and rarely sit in the base price.
Trial periods and minimum terms
A full trade software package that is free and stays free does not exist in this market. What does exist are trials of one to four weeks; with an ERP the route runs through a demo appointment instead. The minimum term is usually in the small print, often 12 months, and the advertised price mostly applies only with annual prepayment. A free trial period reliably answers how the program handles, but not what support, training and onboarding end up costing. Both figures are worth asking for in the call, not just the one from the price calculator.
Trade-neutral or an industry package
Some packages are cut to individual trades, from electrical and plumbing through refrigeration and air conditioning to roofing, painting and construction. The other half of the field stays trade-neutral and expresses the trade through templates and the item master. As a rule of thumb: the more fixed the catalogue of services, the more an industry package pays off; the more varied the customer base, the better the trade-neutral route works.
What matters when choosing
Interfaces to bookkeeping
At the end of the chain sits the tax adviser. The shared format is called a DATEV interface or a document export, the requirement is called GoBD compliance, and on the outgoing side there are e-invoices and ZUGFeRD. Cloud packages carry this as standard equipment, ERP systems keep financial accounting and dunning in house. Anyone working with tenders also asks about GAEB data exchange and about interfaces to third-party systems through an API. The other side of that interface is the account, which is why the bookkeeping page is worth a look.
Trade software for small businesses at a glance
Seven providers, sorted alphabetically, with no score and no placement. Prices are net and refer to the cheapest payment option in each case.
Craftnote
Craftnote: cloud solution for project-based collaboration and time tracking, modular from 14,90 € per user per month, quotes and invoices from Büro Plus upwards.
HERO Software
HERO Software: cloud solution from Hanover, a standard licence currently 59 € instead of the regular 69 € per month on an annual contract.
pds
pds: ERP for trades and construction with maintenance management, warehousing plus dunning and payment handling, built for all trades, prices on request.
plancraft
plancraft: cloud solution from Hamburg from 59,90 € per month with annual prepayment, entry package aimed at sole traders, planning board and extra users billed separately.
STREIT
STREIT: ERP with office and site apps and integrated bookkeeping, tailored to electrical, plumbing, refrigeration and roofing, prices on request.
TAIFUN
TAIFUN: ERP in two lines by company size, with add-on modules per trade, from plumbing and heating through electrical and painting to roofing and construction.
ToolTime
ToolTime: cloud solution with packages by headcount from 79 € per month, DATEV interface and GoBD-compliant finances included, minimum term 12 months.
From the job to the payment
The software calculates the property and the job. The money sits somewhere else. A business account for small companies at Vivid can be split into any number of accounts, each with its own German IBAN, and that starts from 0 € a month. For a business with a season that means VAT, material purchasing and the winter reserve sit apart instead of mixed in one account.
Sub-accounts with their own IBAN separate VAT and material purchasing before the invoice is even written. Opening happens online, open to a GmbH and a UG too, with unlimited SEPA transfers and no per-item fee, and the DATEV interface plus document upload connect to the software above.
Conclusion on the interplay: software and account solve two different jobs. The seam between them is the export to bookkeeping, and that is exactly where the two should line up.
Conclusion: what works for small businesses
A sole trader with little office time is best served by a lean cloud subscription billed per user. Once a site team grows, the mobile licence and its price are what count. An established business with a warehouse and maintenance contracts ends up with an ERP, and there the implementation decides, not the list price. Trade software for small businesses is in the end the software that calculates the job. Paying for it happens through the account.
An account that grows with you
From 0 € a month, unlimited accounts each with their own German IBAN and a DATEV interface. Opened online, for a GmbH and UG too.
Frequently asked questions
What does trade software cost?
Cloud packages start in the low double digits per user per month, or as a package between 59,90 € and 79 €, in each case net and usually with annual billing. ERP systems publish no list price; there the route runs through a demo appointment.Is there trade software with no base fee?
There is no full solution that is permanently free of a base fee. Using trade software free of charge only works during a trial, which runs from one to four weeks.Which trade software suits a small business?
For sole traders and small teams a cloud subscription billed per user usually works out best, because there is no implementation to pay for. The alphabetical list above names which providers sit in that group.Cloud or local installation: which makes more sense?
Process depth decides. A cloud package fits when access from the site is what counts. An ERP fits when payroll, warehousing and maintenance contracts belong in the same system.Is there trade software with an app for the site?
A site app is standard in this category. Time tracking, photo documentation and signatures run through it. With a cloud package the app often counts as its own licence.
Details of features and prices of the programs named here can change. The current terms are on each maker site.
