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Accounting · head to head

DATEV vs Paycom

DATEV logo

DATEV

Accounting

German accounting, payroll and tax software built around the tax adviser rather than the business

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Paycom logo

Paycom

Payroll

HR and payroll technology led by employees

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DATEV dATEV does not publish transparent per-customer pricing the way a SaaS vendor does; your real cost is buried in your tax adviser's fee note, so comparing it against Lexware or sevdesk on price is genuinely hard.; Paycom no public API and no transparent integration capabilities
  • They diverge on capability: DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Paycom covers Payroll.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DATEV and Paycom actually diverge.

Attributes where DATEV and Paycom differ
AttributeDATEVPaycom
PlatformsWindows, WebWeb
CategoryAccountingPayroll
FoundedUnknown1998

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in DATEV

  • Unternehmen online
  • Lohn und Gehalt
  • Rechnungswesen
  • Jahresabschluss
  • DATEV DMS
  • Meine Steuern
  • DATEV-Schnittstelle

Only in Paycom

  • Payroll
  • Time and Attendance
  • HR Management
  • Talent Acquisition
  • Talent Management
  • Learning Management
  • Microsoft 365
  • Google Workspace

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

DATEV

  • A German GmbH that wants its Steuerberater to keep doing the books but wants receipts to stop travelling in a shoeboxnot Paycom
  • A payroll department that must file social insurance and wage tax returns to German statutory deadlines without an external bureaunot Paycom
  • An SME preparing an e-Bilanz and audit-ready GoBD document archivenot Paycom
  • A tax firm standardising dozens of client engagements on one chart of accounts and one document workflownot Paycom

Paycom

  • Payroll processing with employee self-verification through Betinot DATEV
  • Time and attendance tracking with schedulingnot DATEV
  • Talent acquisition and onboardingnot DATEV
  • Benefits and compliance administrationnot DATEV
  • Automated time-off decisions through GONEnot DATEV

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

DATEV

  • DATEV does not publish transparent per-customer pricing the way a SaaS vendor does; your real cost is buried in your tax adviser's fee note, so comparing it against Lexware or sevdesk on price is genuinely hard.
  • The board has decided to wind down the Austria-specific portfolio: existing products remain usable to 31 December 2028, are free of charge during 2029, and cannot be used after 31 December 2029, so any Austrian entity on DATEV has a forced migration dated in advance.
  • It is built for German statutory practice, so a group with subsidiaries outside the DACH region will run DATEV for Germany and something else everywhere else, with a consolidation step in between.
  • Large parts of the suite are still Windows desktop software installed on a workstation or terminal server, which means IT overhead most companies no longer budget for when they think they are buying cloud accounting.
  • The lock-in is social as well as technical: because your adviser holds the installation and the history, changing accounting software usually forces you to change or retrain your adviser, which is a far bigger decision than a software migration.

Paycom

  • No public API and no transparent integration capabilities
  • Limited integrations with third-party ATS, LMS, or performance tools
  • Custom pricing makes cost forecasting difficult
  • Proprietary system philosophy limits flexibility compared to more open platforms
  • Does not support global payroll and benefits

Pricing, plan by plan

DATEV

On request
  • DATEV Unternehmen online$undefined/month
    • Receipt and bank data exchange with your tax adviser
    • Cash book and master data modules
    • Ordered and usually rebilled through the adviser
  • DATEV Mittelstand$undefined/month
    • In-house financial accounting and invoicing
    • Payroll modules licensed separately
    • Per-workplace licensing
  • Lohn und Gehalt$undefined/month
    • German payroll runs and statutory electronic filings
    • Priced by number of payslips
    • Typically operated by the adviser on the client's behalf

Paycom

On request
  • Standard$undefined/month
    • Payroll
    • Time and Labor
    • HR Management

Which should you pick?

Choose DATEV if

  • You need unternehmen online.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want lohn und gehalt.
DATEV review

Choose Paycom if

  • You need payroll.
  • You also want time and attendance.
Paycom review

Questions people ask

Is DATEV or Paycom better?
Neither clearly leads. DATEV starts at On request and Paycom at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DATEV or Paycom?
DATEV starts at On request and Paycom at On request.
Does DATEV or Paycom run on more platforms?
DATEV runs on Windows, Web. Paycom runs on Web.
What is DATEV best used for?
DATEV is most often used for a german gmbh that wants its steuerberater to keep doing the books but wants receipts to stop travelling in a shoebox, a payroll department that must file social insurance and wage tax returns to german statutory deadlines without an external bureau, an sme preparing an e-bilanz and audit-ready gobd document archive, a tax firm standardising dozens of client engagements on one chart of accounts and one document workflow. Of those, a german gmbh that wants its steuerberater to keep doing the books but wants receipts to stop travelling in a shoebox and a payroll department that must file social insurance and wage tax returns to german statutory deadlines without an external bureau are not what Paycom is typically brought in for.
What can DATEV do that Paycom cannot?
DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Lohn und Gehalt, Rechnungswesen, Jahresabschluss. Paycom covers Payroll, Time and Attendance, HR Management, Talent Acquisition.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DATEV: Can I buy DATEV directly without a tax adviser?

In practice, no for most of the range. Membership of the cooperative is restricted to the tax and legal professions, and companies get access through their adviser or as a client of one.

Paycom: Does Paycom offer a free trial?

No. Paycom does not offer a free trial. Pricing depends on company size and modules and requires a custom quote.

Source
DATEV: Is DATEV usable outside Germany?

It operates in Austria, Italy, Spain, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, but the depth is German. The Austrian product line is being discontinued with a hard end date of 31 December 2029.

Paycom: Can Paycom integrate with third-party tools?

Paycom has no public API and fewer than 50 integrations. Paycom's philosophy is that you should use their built-in modules for everything. Custom integrations require commercial partnership approval.

Source
DATEV: What is the DATEV-Schnittstelle everyone mentions?

It is the standard export format German invoicing and ERP tools produce so bookkeeping data can be handed to a DATEV-based adviser. Supporting it is effectively a requirement to sell accounting-adjacent software in Germany.

Paycom: What are Paycom's core features?

Paycom is a single-database payroll and HR platform featuring custom reporting tools, org chart visualization, employee self-service portal, and a tax center dashboard for compliance management.

Source
DATEV: Does DATEV handle e-invoicing under the German B2B mandate?

Yes, the accounting and invoicing modules were extended for the XRechnung and ZUGFeRD formats that the German B2B e-invoicing rules require.

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