2026 comparison · Honest & independent
The best Shopify invoicing app depends on your compliance obligations. For German and EU merchants, what matters is GoBD-compliant archiving, the right VAT on every order, e-invoicing (ZUGFeRD) and a clean export to the accountant. This guide compares Easy Invoices, Sufio, Order Printer Pro, Billbee, lexoffice and the classic DATEV path via an accountant honestly – across automation, compliance, Shopify integration and price.
Transparency note: this comparison comes from us, the vendor of Easy Invoices – so we are not a neutral party. The details on other vendors come from their public sources (Shopify App Store, vendor websites) as of 2026; check the current status with the vendor before choosing.
| Solution | Auto invoicing | Audit-proof archiving | E-invoicing | DATEV export | Shopify-native | Pricing model | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy Invoices Our pick for DE/EU | Yes, on payment (incl. advance payment) – with cancellations, credit notes and buyerless TikTok Shop orders | Yes, unalterable, 10 yrs (while the subscription runs) | Yes (ZUGFeRD 2.x, EN 16931) | PDF archive (ZIP) + Z3; EXTF booking batch & CSV in closed beta | Yes, in Shopify Admin | from $9.99/mo | DE/EU merchants needing compliance |
| Sufio | Yes, automatic | No audit-proof archiving documented (as of 2026) | Limited | No (CSV only) | Yes, in Shopify Admin | from $7/mo | International invoice design |
| Order Printer Pro | Partial (templates) | No archiving – document printing only (as of 2026) | Not documented (as of 2026) | No | Yes, in Shopify Admin | free / from $12.99 | Simple document & PDF printing |
| Billbee | Yes (multichannel) | Yes (via DATEV/export) | Partial | Yes, DATEV export | No (external middleware) | from €9/mo + transactions | Multichannel order management |
| lexoffice / lexware | Via connector | Yes (accounting software) | Yes | Yes, DATEV interface | No (sync via connector) | from €11.90/mo | Full financial accounting |
| DATEV path (via accountant) | No (manual) | Yes | Yes | Native | No | Accountant fees | Bookkeeping done by your accountant |
GoBD-first, native to Shopify Admin
Easy Invoices is built for the German and EU market. Invoices are generated fully automatically when a Shopify order is paid (incl. advance payment); cancellation invoices (Storno) and credit notes follow cancellations, edits and refunds – with gap-free sequential numbering, a separate credit-note sequence and a § 17 UStG correction on Shopify Payments chargebacks. The app determines the VAT of every order: domestic, OSS with destination VAT, intra-community supply (§ 6a), reverse charge (§ 13b), tax-free export or destination tax where registered (Switzerland, UK, US), small business (§ 19) and margin scheme (§ 25a). TikTok Shop orders that reach Shopify without a buyer become a small-amount invoice automatically up to €250 (DE) or €400 (AT).
Documents go to the customer from your own domain with DKIM; e-invoices are produced on request as ZUGFeRD 2.x (EN 16931) in a PDF/A-3. Your accountant receives the password-protected PDF archive as a ZIP via download link and the Z3 export for a tax audit – and, in the closed beta, an import-ready DATEV booking batch (EXTF) with an optional payment settlement or a configurable CSV. Where a detail is missing, the app opens an item instead of guessing a tax rate. GoBD-compliant, audit-proof (revisionssicher) archiving for 10 years for as long as your subscription runs; hosted in Germany, GDPR-compliant. Ideal when compliance is a requirement, not an afterthought.
Trade-off: it is not a full inventory or accounting system – instead it is lean, affordable and focused precisely on the invoicing and export job.
Sufio automatically generates professionally designed invoices and is strong internationally (multi-language, EU VAT validation). The vendor does not advertise a DATEV booking batch – if you must archive audit-proof and export to your accountant, check the current feature scope with the vendor directly.
Order Printer Pro is ideal for straightforward printing of receipts, packing slips and PDF invoices with customizable templates. The vendor does not advertise audit-proof archiving, e-invoicing or a DATEV export. A good choice if you only need clean PDFs and handle accounting elsewhere.
Billbee is a multichannel order-management system with fulfillment, shipping and invoicing across many channels – including DATEV export. It runs as external middleware, not natively in Shopify Admin. Worth it if you sell across multiple marketplaces and need centralized order management.
lexoffice is full accounting software with e-invoicing and a DATEV interface. It connects to Shopify via a connector or sync service. Ideal if you want to run your entire financial accounting in one tool – but for pure in-store invoice automation it is heavier than a native app.
The classic route: documents are collected and posted into DATEV by your accountant. Maximum bookkeeping safety, but without automation at the store level. Combined with an app like Easy Invoices that delivers a ready-to-hand PDF-ZIP document export and – in the closed beta – an import-ready DATEV EXTF booking batch, this route becomes considerably more efficient.
All 13 capabilities, each with a page of its own – which also says where its limits are.
Invoice, cancellation and credit note on every paid order – no clicks.
Small-amount invoice without a buyer name – automatic up to €250 (DE) or €400 (AT).
PDF/A-3 with embedded EN 16931 XML – one switch, every document.
From your domain, with DKIM – 15 SMTP presets and a DNS wizard.
Print and flag EU distance sales with destination VAT correctly.
EU B2B without VAT – with both VAT IDs and the right legal note.
Switzerland, UK, US: tax-free export or destination tax – depending on your registration.
§ 19 small-business rule and margin scheme with the legal note – automatically.
Import-ready booking batch with the receivable and its settlement – monthly, automatically.
Pick columns, set the order, upload a template – for any accounting tool.
Password-protected PDF archive to your accountant every month, Z3 data carrier for audits.
Immutable documents, gap-free numbers, sealed audit log – hosted in Germany.
No document with a guessed tax rate: the app asks, you click, done.
Selling in DE/EU and need gap-free, GoBD-compliant invoicing with audit-proof (revisionssicher) 10-year archiving and a clean document export for your accountant? Choose Easy Invoices – native, affordable, compliance-first, with e-invoicing and the DATEV booking batch (EXTF) in closed beta.
Multi-language, visually polished invoices for international customers? Sufio is strong here – verify DE compliance separately.
Selling with the official TikTok app in Shopify? Easy Invoices issues small-amount invoices automatically for orders without a buyer name (up to €250 in DE, €400 in AT) and asks you for the recipient above that – how it works.
Selling across marketplaces outside Shopify (such as Amazon) with centralized inventory? Billbee or a lexoffice connection make sense.
For German Shopify merchants subject to GoBD, the key features are audit-proof (revisionssicher) archiving, sequential invoice numbering and a document export for your accountant. Easy Invoices is purpose-built for the German and EU market: gap-free sequential numbering, GoBD-compliant, audit-proof (revisionssicher) archiving for 10 years and a document export as a PDF ZIP (all invoices & credit notes for a period, organized by year/month) emailed as a download link to your accountant, and e-invoicing as ZUGFeRD — natively inside Shopify Admin. The import-ready DATEV booking batch (EXTF) and the configurable CSV export are currently in a closed beta. On top, the app determines the VAT treatment of every order – domestic, OSS, § 6a, § 13b, export, § 19 and § 25a – and also invoices TikTok Shop orders that reach Shopify without a buyer. Other apps set other priorities: Sufio on international invoice design, Order Printer Pro on document printing, Billbee and lexoffice on processes outside the Shopify admin. Which one fits depends mostly on whether you want the bookkeeping inside the shop or in a system of its own — the table above sets the differences side by side.
GoBD (German principles for the proper keeping and retention of books) requires, among other things, unalterable audit-proof documents, gapless sequential numbering and the retention of the vouchers – for invoices eight years rather than ten since 2025 (§ 147 Abs. 1 Nr. 4 in conjunction with Abs. 3 AO). Not every Shopify app brings this along: apps that only offer document printing are no substitute for audit-proof archiving. Easy Invoices archives the documents created in the app audit-proof and, for as long as your subscription runs, for 10 years, with gap-free numbering and traceable corrections via cancellation invoices (Storno) and credit notes. Whether your bookkeeping as a whole is GoBD-compliant also depends on processes outside the app and is for you and your tax adviser to confirm.
Since 1 January 2025, German B2B companies must be able to receive e-invoices in ZUGFeRD or XRechnung format; staggered transition periods for sending them run until 2028. For B2B sales through Shopify, an app that generates structured e-invoices is therefore advisable. Easy Invoices optionally embeds a ZUGFeRD 2.x XML (EN 16931) into every invoice, credit note and cancellation and delivers the PDF as PDF/A-3 — an e-invoice format recognised by the German Ministry of Finance. XRechnung for public authorities is not produced. On top come GoBD-compliant archiving and the PDF archive for your accountant; the DATEV booking batch (EXTF) and CSV export are in a closed beta.
Native apps such as Easy Invoices, Sufio or Order Printer Pro run directly inside Shopify Admin without extra middleware. Solutions like Billbee or lexoffice require a connector or an external inventory system. Native apps are simpler to set up and maintain; external systems pay off mainly for multichannel selling or full financial accounting.
Selling beyond Germany takes more than 19 % and 7 %: EU distance sales to consumers above the €10,000 threshold with destination VAT (OSS), tax-free intra-community supplies to businesses (§ 6a UStG) and reverse charge on services (§ 13b UStG) with both VAT IDs, tax-free exports to non-EU countries such as Switzerland (§ 4 Nr. 1a UStG) or the destination country’s VAT where you are registered there, plus small businesses (§ 19 UStG) and the margin scheme (§ 25a UStG). Easy Invoices decides this per order and prints the matching legal note. Where a detail is missing – say an EU business customer’s VAT ID – the app holds the document and opens an item instead of guessing a tax rate. It does not file the OSS return itself.
TikTok does not pass the buyer’s name and address on to Shopify, so no § 14 UStG invoice can be issued. Easy Invoices recognises orders from the official TikTok app in Shopify and automatically issues a small-amount invoice without a recipient up to €250 gross (store based in Germany, § 33 UStDV) or €400 (store based in Austria, § 11 Abs. 6 UStG) – from the normal number sequence. Above that, and for OSS, § 6a or § 13b, the app opens an item where you add the recipient. Orders through third-party connectors are not recognised as TikTok orders.
Software, not tax advice: We are not tax advisers: Easy Invoices applies the rules you configure to your shop’s data – checking your documents for tax correctness stays with you and your accounting firm. Details in § 2a of the terms
Retention: what we do, what stays with you: Easy Invoices keeps your documents immutable for 10 years while your subscription runs – longer than the 8 years § 147 AO has required for invoices since 2025. The duty itself is yours as the issuer: after cancellation you have 90 days to export for as long as the App stays installed – uninstall it and Shopify’s deletion instruction wipes the data about 48 hours later. The yearly scheduled export does that for you. Details on data retention