ERP and accounting software in Berlin

Doing business in Berlin

Berlin is home to about 3.7 million people and to a business mix that is unusual for Germany: agencies and software companies in Mitte and Kreuzberg, long-established property owners in Charlottenburg, research-driven firms in the Adlershof technology park, and a restaurant scene that trades seven days a week. Most of these businesses are GmbHs or UGs registered in the Handelsregister, with IHK Berlin as their chamber and a local Finanzamt that expects filings through ELSTER.

The administrative pain in Berlin is rarely the tax itself; it is the paperwork around it. A founder who registered through the Einheitlicher Ansprechpartner Berlin still has to keep a sequential invoice series, file Umsatzsteuer returns on time, prepare for e-invoicing and answer the Steuerberater's questions at year end. Skyline Nexus ERP keeps the source documents and the general ledger in one place, so those questions take minutes rather than evenings.

Modules Berlin businesses start with

• XRechnung / ZUGFeRD files
• Accounting and branches
• Property, units and leases
• Projects and job costing
• CRM

Start-ups and agencies from Kreuzberg to Adlershof

Berlin start-ups tend to grow into several legal entities quickly: a German GmbH, a holding, sometimes a subsidiary abroad. Skyline Nexus ERP treats each entity as its own business with its own chart of accounts, fiscal periods and audit trail, and the Consolidation screens bring the trial balances together, translate them into the group currency and eliminate intercompany balances for the investor pack.

Agencies in Mitte bill by project. In Skyline Nexus the Projects module carries tasks, milestones, budgets and contracts, and every journal line can be tagged with a project and a cost centre, so the margin per client shows up in the Cost Center Analysis report without a spreadsheet. The CRM records leads, follow-ups and proposals, and the accepted proposal becomes the invoice that posts to the ledger.

Hausverwaltungen and property companies in Berlin

Managing Altbau blocks in Charlottenburg or new-build units in Adlershof means many leases, deposits and Betriebskosten lines. The BMS module in Skyline Nexus ERP is property management in the literal sense: buildings, units and leases with their terms, not building automation. Each lease produces its periodic rent invoice, and receipts are matched against it so arrears are visible per tenant and per building.

Running costs are collected per building through cost centres, which is what a Berlin Hausverwaltung needs when the Nebenkostenabrechnung is prepared for the year. Fixed assets, depreciation and the maintenance work orders raised by caretakers sit in the same system as the rent ledger, and the Trial Balance in Skyline Nexus can be filtered by location so one owner's portfolio is reported separately from another's.

Restaurants and hospitality in Berlin

Berlin gastronomy runs on cash and card at the counter, and German law requires every cash register to carry a TSE. Skyline Nexus ERP does not replace that till; keep a TSE-equipped register for counter sales and post its daily totals into Skyline Nexus as a journal. What the ERP takes over is everything behind the counter: supplier invoices, stock per outlet, purchase orders and the general ledger.

A group with outlets in Kreuzberg, Mitte and Charlottenburg sets each one up as a business location with its own stock and its own invoice numbering, so catering and event invoices to corporate customers go out as proper § 14 UStG invoices, or as XRechnung files where a public-sector client requires one. Reduced and standard VAT rates sit side by side on the same bill through the tax rate table in Skyline Nexus.

Compliance for a Berlin business

As of October 2026 a Berlin business charges Umsatzsteuer at 19% or 7%, puts its Steuernummer or USt-IdNr., a sequential number, the supply date and the VAT per rate on every invoice, and may use a simplified Kleinbetragsrechnung up to EUR 250 gross. Kleinunternehmer whose previous-year turnover was at most EUR 25,000 show no VAT and add the exemption note instead. Invoices must be kept for 8 years, books and annual accounts for 10.

E-invoicing is phased: since 1 January 2025 every business must be able to receive e-invoices, from 1 January 2027 issuing becomes mandatory for domestic B2B invoices when the previous year's turnover exceeded EUR 800,000, and from 1 January 2028 it applies to everyone. Skyline Nexus ERP generates XRechnung 3.0 and ZUGFeRD 2.3 files once E-invoicing (Germany) is switched on in Business Settings, with the Leitweg-ID stored on public-sector contacts. A GiroCode payment QR is optional.

Getting started from Berlin

Migration from a Berlin Steuerberater's export or from an older system starts with the import templates: contacts with their opening balances, products and opening stock, and the chart of accounts as CSV or XLSX. GL opening balances are entered on one screen that must balance before it saves, which is a useful check in itself. Bank statements come in as CSV or XLSX files for reconciliation in Treasury.

The free trial opens the modules described on this page so a Berlin team can post real test invoices and run a trial balance before committing. Support is by WhatsApp, phone and e-mail in English; Skyline Nexus ERP has no office in Berlin, and sessions are arranged around Central European time. A business with several entities or a property portfolio should book a demo so the set-up is planned first.

1. Register for the trial and create your Berlin business with EUR as the base currency and a fiscal year with monthly periods.
2. Import contacts, products and opening stock from your current exports, then enter balanced GL opening balances.
3. Switch on the auto-post toggles for sales, purchases and payments and check the Data Verification report after the first week.
4. Enable E-invoicing (Germany), store Leitweg-IDs on public-sector contacts and generate a test XRechnung before 2027.

Questions from Berlin businesses

Can I issue an XRechnung to the Berlin Senate or a Bezirksamt from Skyline Nexus ERP?

Yes. Skyline Nexus ERP generates XRechnung 3.0 files in UBL or CII once E-invoicing (Germany) is enabled, and the Leitweg-ID that Berlin public bodies require is stored on the contact record. You download the file from the sale and deliver it the way the authority asks, usually by upload to its invoice portal or by e-mail. Skyline Nexus does not transmit the file for you.

When does a Berlin GmbH have to issue e-invoices?

As of October 2026 the rule is phased. Every German business, including a Berlin Kleinunternehmer, has had to be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025. Issuing becomes mandatory for domestic B2B invoices from 1 January 2027 if the previous year's turnover exceeded EUR 800,000, and from 1 January 2028 for all businesses. Skyline Nexus ERP produces XRechnung and ZUGFeRD files for both stages.

Does Skyline Nexus ERP work for a Hausverwaltung in Berlin?

Skyline Nexus ERP includes a property module with buildings, units and leases, so a Berlin Hausverwaltung can raise rent invoices per lease, track receipts and arrears per tenant and collect running costs per building through cost centres. Work orders for repairs and the fixed-asset register sit in the same system. Skyline Nexus does not provide building automation; the module is about the property ledger.

Can a Berlin restaurant use Skyline Nexus ERP as its cash register?

No. A cash register in Germany must have a TSE, and Skyline Nexus ERP does not provide one, so a Berlin restaurant keeps its TSE-equipped till for counter sales. Skyline Nexus handles the rest: supplier invoices, stock per outlet, purchase orders, B2B catering invoices with 19% and 7% lines, and the general ledger into which the till's daily totals are posted.

Is Skyline Nexus ERP available in German for a Berlin bookkeeper?

Skyline Nexus ERP is available in English and Arabic, with interface translations for many other languages including German, and anything not yet translated falls back to English. A Berlin business keeps its ledger in EUR and can invoice foreign customers in another currency at a rate entered on the document. Account names can be stored in two languages, which helps when a Steuerberater and an international investor read the same chart.

How do I move my Berlin company's data into Skyline Nexus ERP?

Skyline Nexus ERP provides import templates for contacts with opening balances, products, opening stock, the chart of accounts, sales, purchases, assets and budgets, all accepted as CSV, XLSX or XLS. GL opening balances are entered on a screen that must balance before it saves. A Berlin business usually migrates at a month end, imports the balances as of that date and keeps the old system available for reference.

Can a Berlin start-up with a holding and a subsidiary keep both in Skyline Nexus ERP?

Yes. Skyline Nexus ERP runs each legal entity as a separate business with its own chart of accounts, periods and audit trail, and the Consolidation screens group them with ownership percentages, snapshot each trial balance, translate it into the group currency and eliminate intercompany balances. A Berlin founder with a GmbH and a holding gets consolidated statements without re-keying anything.

Skyline Nexus ERP is a cloud service run by Skyline Industrial Solution. We have no office in Berlin; support is by WhatsApp, phone and e-mail.

Figures and rules on this page change. This is general information, not tax or legal advice: confirm the current position with the authority named above or your adviser.