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Accounting · head to head

Money Forward Cloud vs sevdesk

Money Forward Cloud logo

Money Forward Cloud

Accounting

Japanese cloud accounting, payroll and back office suite built for Japanese tax law and filing

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
sevdesk logo

sevdesk

Accounting

German accounting and invoicing software for small businesses and freelancers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only sevdesk has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Money Forward Cloud the product, its help documentation and its support operate in Japanese, so a finance function without a fluent Japanese reader cannot run it unaided regardless of any English language marketing, and hiring for that is the real cost of adoption.; sevdesk the free Kostenlos plan caps invoices and e-invoices at just 3 per month, forcing an upgrade to the Rechnung plan for unlimited invoicing
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Money Forward Cloud and sevdesk actually diverge.

Attributes where Money Forward Cloud and sevdesk differ
AttributeMoney Forward Cloudsevdesk
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

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 Money Forward Cloud

  • Japanese consumption tax handling
  • Qualified invoice support
  • Electronic record keeping
  • Bank and card feeds
  • Automated journal proposal
  • Invoicing
  • Payroll
  • Attendance and leave

Only in sevdesk

Nothing recorded that Money Forward Cloud does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Money Forward Cloud

  • A Japanese small or medium company moving off desktop bookkeeping and needing qualified invoice and electronic record keeping compliancenot sevdesk
  • A Japanese subsidiary of a foreign group that must file locally in Japan while reporting upward in the group's own systemnot sevdesk
  • A growing Japanese company that wants payroll, attendance and social insurance administration in the same suite as the ledgernot sevdesk
  • A tax accountancy practice standardising its client base on one cloud product with a practitioner access rolenot sevdesk

sevdesk

  • Scanning receipts via mobile app and matching to transactionsnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Creating VAT advance returns and filing with tax authoritiesnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Generating XRechnung format invoices mandatory for B2B by 2025not Money Forward Cloud
  • Recording bank transactions automatically across 4000+ supported banksnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Managing unlimited invoices with automatic sales tax calculationsnot Money Forward Cloud

Where each one falls short

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

Money Forward Cloud

  • The product, its help documentation and its support operate in Japanese, so a finance function without a fluent Japanese reader cannot run it unaided regardless of any English language marketing, and hiring for that is the real cost of adoption.
  • The tax logic is Japanese, so it cannot serve as the accounting system for entities filing anywhere else, and a group with Japanese and foreign entities ends up running two ledgers with a manual consolidation between them.
  • Modules are licensed separately with per user and per employee components, so accounting, payroll, attendance, expenses and invoicing bought together cost several times the headline accounting plan and the bill grows with every hire.
  • Bank connectivity in Japan relies substantially on scraping and delegated access rather than on a standardised open banking interface, so feeds break after bank site changes and reconciliation stalls until the connector is fixed.
  • In Japanese small business the tax accountant usually chooses the bookkeeping software, and practitioners are divided between Money Forward, freee and Yayoi, so picking it when your accountant works in another product means either paying them to learn it or changing accountant.

sevdesk

  • The free Kostenlos plan caps invoices and e-invoices at just 3 per month, forcing an upgrade to the Rechnung plan for unlimited invoicing
  • API access and cost center tracking are reserved for the top Buchhaltung Pro tier at EUR 13.95 to EUR 34.90/month depending on commitment length, not included in the mid-tier Buchhaltung plan

Pricing, plan by plan

Money Forward Cloud

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Money Forward Cloud review.

sevdesk

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Permanently free with no credit card required
    • Up to 3 invoices/e-invoices monthly
    • Unlimited contact creation
  • Rechnung (Invoice Plan)$11.9/month
    • Regular: €11.90/month, discounted to €4.45/month on 24-month term
    • Unlimited invoices, offers, e-invoices, and payment reminders
  • Buchhaltung (Accounting Plan)$25.9/month
    • Recommended plan
    • Regular: €25.90/month, discounted to €9.95/month on 24-month term
    • Bookkeeping features, AI-powered receipt capture, tax filing
  • Buchhaltung Pro (Accounting Pro)$34.9/month
    • Regular: €34.90/month, discounted to €13.95/month on 24-month term
    • Cost center analysis, REST-API access, business financial analysis (BWA)

Which should you pick?

Choose Money Forward Cloud if

  • You need japanese consumption tax handling.
  • You also want qualified invoice support.
Money Forward Cloud review

Choose sevdesk if

  • You want to start without paying.
sevdesk review

Questions people ask

Is Money Forward Cloud or sevdesk better?
Neither clearly leads. Money Forward Cloud starts at On request and sevdesk at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Money Forward Cloud or sevdesk?
sevdesk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Money Forward Cloud and Free for sevdesk.
Does Money Forward Cloud or sevdesk run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use sevdesk for free?
Yes. sevdesk has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Money Forward Cloud starts at On request.
What is Money Forward Cloud best used for?
Money Forward Cloud is most often used for a japanese small or medium company moving off desktop bookkeeping and needing qualified invoice and electronic record keeping compliance, a japanese subsidiary of a foreign group that must file locally in japan while reporting upward in the group's own system, a growing japanese company that wants payroll, attendance and social insurance administration in the same suite as the ledger, a tax accountancy practice standardising its client base on one cloud product with a practitioner access role. Of those, a japanese small or medium company moving off desktop bookkeeping and needing qualified invoice and electronic record keeping compliance and a japanese subsidiary of a foreign group that must file locally in japan while reporting upward in the group's own system are not what sevdesk is typically brought in for.
What can Money Forward Cloud do that sevdesk cannot?
Money Forward Cloud covers Japanese consumption tax handling, Qualified invoice support, Electronic record keeping, Bank and card feeds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Money Forward Cloud: Can I use it if I do not read Japanese?

Not realistically on your own. The interface, support and the tax concepts themselves are Japanese. Companies that succeed with it have a bilingual bookkeeper or an English speaking tax accountant operating it.

sevdesk: How much does sevdesk cost?

sevdesk offers a free plan and three paid tiers. Invoice Plan starts at €11.90/month (€4.45/month on 24-month), Accounting Plan at €25.90/month (€9.95/month on 24-month), and Accounting Pro at €34.90/month (€13.95/month on 24-month).

Source
Money Forward Cloud: Does it handle the qualified invoice system?

Yes. Capturing and validating supplier registration numbers and retaining invoices in the required form is one of the main reasons Japanese companies moved to it around the 2023 introduction.

sevdesk: What is included in sevdesk's free plan?

The free plan allows creation of up to 3 invoices/e-invoices monthly, unlimited contact creation, and access to support materials. No credit card is required.

Source
Money Forward Cloud: How does it compare with freee?

Both are Japanese cloud suites covering similar ground. freee is often described as easier for non accountants, Money Forward as closer to conventional bookkeeping and preferred by many tax accountants. The practical tiebreaker is which one your accountant already uses.

sevdesk: What add-ons are available for sevdesk?

sevdesk offers optional add-ons priced €3.90-€19.90/month including premium layouts, additional users, inventory management, and time tracking. Premium services such as setup consultations start at €24.90.

Source
Money Forward Cloud: Can it file my corporate tax return?

The suite supports the bookkeeping and much of the preparation, and there are filing oriented products in the family, but Japanese corporate tax filing is normally done by a licensed tax accountant. Treat it as the record keeping layer, not the filer.

sevdesk: Does sevdesk offer a promotional discount?

Yes, sevdesk advertises up to 50% discount through a time-limited Black Cyber Deal offering 60% off all plans. Additionally, all paid plans include 24-month term options with significant savings (up to 62% discount).

Source
Money Forward Cloud: Is it usable for a company outside Japan?

No, not as an accounting system. Its value is the Japanese tax and filing logic, and none of that applies elsewhere.

Money Forward Cloud: What does it cost to add payroll?

Payroll is a separate module with its own subscription and a per employee element, as are attendance and expenses. Price the whole stack for your headcount rather than the accounting plan alone.

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