Accountable Review 2026: German Taxes in English, Tested
Tim Wittke · Updated: Aug 18, 2026
Short verdict
Ideal for
- Expats and international freelancers who need to handle German taxes in English
- Solo self-employed people who want to file with ELSTER themselves — without tax advisor fees
- Small business owners (Kleinunternehmer) who need unlimited compliant e-invoices
- App-first users who scan receipts by phone and do taxes on the go
Not ideal for
- Anyone working continuously with a tax firm through DATEV
- Businesses with inventory, warehousing or payroll
- Freelancers outside Germany and Belgium
- Entry price
- Free plan · paid from €9.90 / month
- Free to start?
- Yes — 14 days of full access on every paid plan without a credit card, plus a free tier forever
- Stands out for
- The only app that files German VAT returns, EÜR and income tax directly with ELSTER — in English, with an AI tax advisor and a tax guarantee up to €10,000
What is Accountable?
German taxes are hard enough in German. For the hundreds of thousands of international freelancers working in Germany, they are a genuine barrier: the official ELSTER portal is German-only, tax advisors charge €800–2,500 a year, and most accounting tools assume you read German fluently. Accountable attacks exactly this gap — a tax and accounting app that handles VAT returns (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung), the EÜR profit statement and the income tax declaration in English, and files them directly with ELSTER.
Founded in Brussels in 2017 and live in Germany since 2020, Accountable holds a PSD2 license from the Belgian National Bank (its German business is supervised by BaFin) and serves more than 40,000 self-employed people in Germany. In Belgium, the majority of digital VAT filings by the self-employed already run through it.
Filing German taxes without speaking German
The core workflow: Accountable asks you guided questions in plain English, calculates your VAT return, EÜR or income tax declaration, runs plausibility checks — and transmits the result directly to ELSTER via its own authenticated interface. No ELSTER certificate, no German-only portal, no tax advisor required for standard cases. The built-in AI tax advisor (Taxes plan and up) answers everyday questions — "Is this trip deductible?", "How do I book this receipt?" — from a knowledge base curated by real tax advisors.
The tax guarantee
Accountable backs its calculations with a tax guarantee: if a software error in the app's logic causes a back payment or penalty, Accountable covers it — up to €500 per filing on the Taxes plan, up to €10,000 on Max. It explicitly does not cover your own input mistakes, so it's not insurance against any tax surprise — but it is a strong signal of confidence in the calculation engine, and unique in this market.
Pricing: from free invoicing to full tax autopilot
Five tiers, and the line between them runs along a single question: who does the tax return? The free plan is genuinely useful — unlimited e-invoices in XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and Peppol, the formats German law requires, plus a handful of booked expenses a month.
The one decision: anyone who only invoices stays on the free or invoicing tier. Anyone capturing receipts while an accountant handles the filing needs the accounting tier for OCR and DATEV export. Only the tax tier files VAT returns, the profit-and-loss statement and income tax directly with ELSTER — that is the standard pick for solo freelancers doing everything themselves. The top tier is worth it only for the larger guarantee and the quarterly advisor calls. Every paid plan has a 14-day full-access trial without a credit card.
Who is Accountable worth it for?
If you are an expat or international freelancer paying taxes in Germany, Accountable is close to a default recommendation — the English-language ELSTER filing alone justifies it. It equally suits German solo freelancers who want to drop their tax advisor. It is not built for corporations (UG/GmbH need balance-sheet accounting), and if you work continuously with a Steuerberater, a suite with a deeper DATEV bridge fits better — see our accounting tools comparison.
What we like about Accountable and what we don't
Pros
- Direct ELSTER filing: VAT, EÜR, income tax
- English interface for German tax filing
- AI tax assistant, accountant-curated answers
- Tax guarantee up to €10,000
- Free plan forever, unlimited e-invoices
Cons
- Only for Germany, Belgium tax filing
- No UG/GmbH corporate support
- Pricier than plain bookkeeping software
Pricing
Free
Free
free forever — unlimited e-invoices, 5 expenses/month
- Unlimited e-invoices + 5 booked expenses per month
- E-invoicing in XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and Peppol
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
Invoicing / Accounting
9,90 € / 19,90 €
per month (yearly billing), excl. VAT
- Recurring invoices and payment reminders
- Receipt capture with OCR
- DATEV export for tax advisors
Taxes / Max
29,90 € / 59,90 €
per month (yearly billing), excl. VAT — Taxes is the most popular plan
- Direct ELSTER filing (VAT return, EÜR, income tax)
- AI tax advisor with expert-reviewed knowledge
- Tax guarantee up to €500 (Taxes) / €10,000 (Max)
Prices may change — check the official website for current plans.
Alternatives by use case
- Norman If unlimited free e-invoices matter more than filing taxes
- Xero If the business is outside Germany and needs a global standard
- Zoho Books If multi-currency invoicing and a client portal come first
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Accountable?
Accountable is an app for solo self-employed people in Germany and Belgium that combines invoicing, bookkeeping and tax filing. Its unique feature in Germany: direct ELSTER filing of VAT returns, the EÜR profit statement and the income tax declaration — no tax advisor software, no ELSTER portal. And crucially for internationals: the whole experience works in English. Accountable holds a PSD2 license from the Belgian National Bank, with its German business supervised by BaFin, and serves over 40,000 self-employed people in Germany.
How much does Accountable cost in 2026?
Five plans, from a permanently free invoicing tier to a full version with a tax guarantee. The line between them runs along one question: who files the tax return? Anyone who only invoices stays free. Receipt capture and DATEV export need the middle tier, direct ELSTER filing the one above. The per-plan figures are in the pricing table on this page.
Can Accountable really file my German taxes in English?
Yes — that is its core promise for internationals: the app guides you through VAT returns (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung), the EÜR profit statement and your income tax declaration in plain English, checks plausibility, and files directly with ELSTER. You don't need an ELSTER certificate; Accountable uses its own authenticated interface. For most standard freelancer cases, that replaces both the German-only ELSTER portal and a tax advisor.
What is the tax guarantee?
If a software error in Accountable's calculation or ELSTER transmission leads to a back payment or penalty, Accountable covers the difference — up to €500 per filing on the Taxes plan and €10,000 per filing on Max. Important: the guarantee does NOT cover your own input errors — wrongly categorized receipts, mistyped amounts or missed deadlines are excluded.
Is Accountable right for a UG or GmbH?
No — Accountable targets solo self-employed people, freelancers and small business owners working on a cash basis. Corporations (UG, GmbH) need balance-sheet accounting, which Accountable doesn't cover — for those, a full accounting suite is the better fit.
Verdict
For English-speaking freelancers and expats in Germany, Accountable is the standout choice in 2026: no other app files German VAT returns, EÜR and income tax directly with ELSTER — let alone in English. The free tier suits small business owners who just need compliant invoices; the Taxes plan (€29.90/month) is the sweet spot for anyone with VAT obligations who wants to skip the tax advisor. It's not built for corporations or complex international structures — but for the classic solo freelancer navigating German bureaucracy in English, nothing else comes close.
