Looking for an AccountView alternative?
AccountView is solid Dutch accounting software with a long history and a loyal base among accountants. Whoever looks for an alternative is rarely unhappy with the bookkeeping itself - the pinch is around it. In the leads we analysed, AccountView was always the bookkeeping alongside something else: Excel, loose tools, an ageing ERP. Here are the options honestly side by side - written by someone who was once an AccountView partner himself.
Odoo Gold Partner · Amsterdam · former AccountView partner
What is the best alternative to AccountView?
It depends on where the pain is. If you only want more modern bookkeeping, Exact Online or Visma.net (the cloud route within Visma, AccountView’s owner) are logical candidates. But if your business runs around AccountView in Excel and loose tools - projects, inventory, quotations, planning - you are not looking for another bookkeeping package but for one platform. Then Odoo is usually the strongest alternative: accounting that thinks from the customer’s perspective, native on the same system as the rest of the business.
The best AccountView alternatives, honestly scored
We are an Odoo partner, so we are not neutral. But we come with history: our founder was an AccountView partner himself in the early 2000s and knows the product from the inside. The question is not whether AccountView keeps solid books - it does - but whether a standalone bookkeeping package still fits what your business needs today.
| Alternative | Business around the books | Dutch accounting | Cloud & modern | Accountant-friendly | Cost at scale | Short verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OdooTop pick | Yes - CRM, projects, inventory, sales native | Strong since the 2023 NL localisation: RGS, VAT, UBL, audit file | Fully cloud, modern | Own login + XAF export | Max ~€20/user/month all modules | Best if the books should be part of one platform |
| Exact Online | Partly (trade/project editions) | Strong, the NL standard | Cloud | Very common | Climbs per module | The safe Dutch middle road; breadth costs extra modules |
| Visma.net / Visma eAccounting | Limited | Good | Cloud | Good | Mid | The stay-within-Visma route; a logical sidestep, not a platform |
| AFAS | Broad (strong HRM/payroll) | Strong | Cloud | Good | Pricey as you grow | Broad Dutch suite, strong in HRM; rigid outside its own frames |
| AccountView (stay) | No - bookkeeping | Solid | Desktop heritage, cloud via hosting | Strong (accountant base) | Low | Fine if pure bookkeeping is genuinely all you need |
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Which alternative fits which situation?
Briefly per option, so you can shorten the shortlist faster:
Odoo
Strongest if the books should become part of one platform: projects, inventory, quotations and CRM on the same system as the numbers. Since the Dutch localisation of Odoo Accounting (2023) - RGS, VAT filing, UBL, audit file - it is a fully-fledged Dutch accounting solution, with the rest of the business around it. Our founder, once an AccountView partner himself, felt the same thing at that release as he did with AccountView back then: finally a package that thinks from the customer’s perspective again.
Exact Online
The common Dutch cloud route. Solid and widely carried by accountants. Breadth (trade, projects) is bought per edition and module, and at its core it stays a bookkeeping package with extensions.
Visma.net / Visma eAccounting
AccountView is owned by Visma, so the stay-in-the-family route is Visma.net or eAccounting. A logical sidestep if you purely want modern bookkeeping - but it stays a sidestep within the same category, not a platform for the whole business.
AFAS
Broad Dutch suite, rock solid in HRM and payroll. Rigid outside its own frames, and costs climb as you grow. See also our AFAS alternative.
AccountView (stay)
Genuinely an option if pure bookkeeping is all you need and your accountant works comfortably in it. The boundary is the category: the business around the books keeps living in loose tools.
What AccountView does (and what runs next to it), and where it lives in Odoo
The bookkeeping sits in AccountView; the rest of the business in practice often sits separately alongside. This is how both translate to Odoo:
| In or next to AccountView | In Odoo |
|---|---|
| General ledger and administrations | Odoo Accounting, RGS chart, multi-company |
| Receivables/payables | Native, with direct debit and dunning |
| VAT and EC sales returns | Native Dutch filings since the 2023 localisation |
| Accountant access | Own login for the accountant + audit file (XAF) |
| Bank feeds | Native bank connections and reconciliation |
| Quotations and invoicing (now often separate) | Sales: quote to invoice on the same data |
| Projects and hours (now often Excel) | Project with hours, budgets and post-calculation |
| Inventory (now often separate or Excel) | Native Inventory, real-time and valued |
| CRM (now often separate) | Native CRM on the same customer data |
| Reporting across everything | Dashboards across the books and the operation together |
From AccountView partner to Odoo partner: why this page is honest
A personal note from our founder: "In the early 2000s I became an AccountView partner, switching over as an Exact partner. I was genuinely impressed at the time: well thought out, solid, and it thought along with the user. I did not get that feeling again for a very long time - certainly not with Exact or AFAS. Until Odoo shipped the Dutch localisation of Odoo Accounting in 2023. That same enthusiasm came back: finally a package that thinks from the customer’s perspective." So this page is not written by someone who only knows AccountView from the outside.
Why companies look for an AccountView alternative
In the leads we analysed the pattern was consistent: AccountView did the books just fine, but the business around it ran in Excel and loose tools. A wholesaler: "only running Accountview, but that is too little." A machine shop paired a thirty-year-old ERP with AccountView; an installer planned in a separate tool alongside; a construction firm complained that "changes are needed, but they do not get implemented". The bookkeeping is rarely the problem - the category is: a bookkeeping package does not run your business.
Odoo: accounting that thinks from the customer, on one platform
Since the Dutch localisation in 2023, Odoo Accounting is a fully-fledged Dutch accounting solution: RGS chart, VAT and EC sales filings, UBL invoicing, bank feeds, audit-file export and an own login for your accountant. The difference with AccountView is not the bookkeeping quality but what surrounds it: quotations, projects, hours, inventory and CRM on the same data model as the numbers. Every invoice, project and stock movement posts straight through - no re-typing between the operation and the administration.
How do you choose?
Three rules of thumb. One: if you purely want more modern bookkeeping and the rest of your business is well handled elsewhere, Exact Online or the Visma cloud route are fine sidesteps. Two: if your accountant leans heavily on AccountView and nothing else changes, staying can be the cheapest option. Three: if your business runs around the books in Excel and loose tools, the category is the problem and Odoo is usually the strongest choice - one platform instead of a bookkeeping package with satellites. Start from your biggest pain: for most AccountView users it is not in the books but next to them.
Curious about realistic hours, cost and timelines? See the Odoo implementation benchmark →
Frequently asked questions about AccountView alternatives
Can I take my AccountView administration to Odoo?
Yes. We migrate the opening balance, relations, open items and history where useful; old financial years are archived as exports. Because AccountView users often run loose tools alongside, the fit-gap also maps those, so the operation and the numbers connect in Odoo.
Is Odoo Accounting fully-fledged for the Netherlands?
Yes, since the Dutch localisation in 2023: RGS chart, VAT and EC sales filings, UBL invoicing, bank feeds and audit-file export (XAF). For payroll you connect tools like Nmbrs or Loket.
Can my accountant work in Odoo?
Yes. Your accountant gets an own login and can access all entries, reports and the audit-file export. Many accountants now work with multiple clients in Odoo.
What is the easier switch: Visma.net or Odoo?
Visma.net is the smallest step - same family, same category. Odoo is the bigger step with the bigger result: you replace not just the books but also the Excel and loose tools around them. Which is logical depends on whether your pain sits in the bookkeeping or next to it.
Is AccountView bad software?
No, quite the opposite - our founder was once a partner of it himself and holds it in high regard. It is solid Dutch accounting software. The reason to compare is the category: a standalone bookkeeping package does not run your business, and that is where it pinches for most searchers.
Accounting that thinks from the customer, with the business around it?
We are happy to think along about which alternative fits your situation - even if that is a sidestep within Visma or simply staying. Honest, with the knowledge of someone who knows AccountView from the inside.