Accounting software serves your accountant — books, returns, trial balances. Commercial software serves you, day to day — invoicing, stock, customers. An ERP joins the two and adds workflows, permissions and real-time reporting.
The confusion in the Greek market is understandable: many vendors sell all three under similar names. The practical difference is clear, though, and it shows in who is sitting in front of the screen.
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Three categories, not two
| Accounting | Commercial | ERP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who uses it | Your accountant | You and your staff | Every department |
| Main purpose | Tax compliance | Day-to-day operations | Unified management |
| Invoicing | Records documents | Issues documents | Issues with approval flows |
| Stock | No, or minimal | Yes | Yes, multiple warehouses |
| Customer records | Basic details | Yes | Yes, with history and CRM |
| Reporting | Tax reports | Sales and stock | Real time, by department |
| Typical cost | Low | Medium | High |
The row that settles it is the first. If only your accountant opens the software, it is not an operations tool — it is a compliance tool.
What this means in practice
A typical scenario for a Greek small business:
- With accounting only: you issue documents from a book or a simple app, send figures to your accountant monthly, and your stock lives in a spreadsheet.
- With commercial software: you issue documents yourself, see stock and customer balances, and your accountant receives clean data.
- With an ERP: all of that connects to your e-shop, warehouse and approvals, and you can see margin by category without asking anyone.
The jump from the first to the second is usually the most profitable. The jump from the second to the third is justified only by complexity.
What you need at your size
| Situation | What usually suffices |
|---|---|
| Sole trader, few documents | Accounting + a simple invoicing app |
| Up to 5 people, one warehouse | Commercial software |
| 5–20 people, e-shop or several channels | Commercial with integrations, or a light ERP |
| 20+ people, multiple departments or production | An ERP with the modules you need |
| An unusual flow nothing covers | A custom layer on top of what you have |
The third row is where most of the Greek businesses who ask us actually sit — and where the answer is almost never “buy an ERP”.
The detailed picture of what an ERP includes is in our guide to what an ERP is.
Who transmits to myDATA?
This is the point that confuses people most, and it matters now that electronic invoicing is becoming mandatory for everyone.
| Scenario | Who issues | Who transmits |
|---|---|---|
| Manually, with the tax authority’s tool | You | You, by hand |
| Commercial software | You | The software, automatically |
| E-invoicing provider | The provider | The provider |
| ERP with a built-in solution | The ERP | The ERP or a provider |
Your accountant does not issue your documents. They record and review them. If issuing is still done by hand, accounting software will not solve it.
The steps and costs are in our guide to connecting to myDATA.
Cost comparison
| Category | Indicative annual cost | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting software | Usually paid by your accountant | Books, returns |
| Invoicing app | €120 – €400 | Issuing and transmission |
| Commercial software | €400 – €1,500 | Invoicing, stock, customers |
| ERP (licences) | Per user and module | Unified management |
| ERP (implementation) | €2,000 – €15,000 one-off | Configuration and training |
The critical number is not the licence. It is implementation: an ERP without proper configuration costs more and returns less than a well-configured commercial system.
Holding quotes that will not compare?
Send them to us and we will tell you what each covers and what gets charged later.
When to move up a category
The signs are specific. Two or three of these mean you have outgrown your tool.
- You enter the same record twice in different systems.
- You cannot see real stock without asking a person.
- Month-end takes days rather than hours.
- You cannot set per-user permissions, so everyone sees everything.
- Your e-shop does not talk to the software and someone retypes orders.
- The reports you want do not exist and you build them in a spreadsheet.
The fifth has its own guide: ERP to e-shop integration.
What to watch during the switch
Changing software fails almost always for the same four reasons.
- Dirty data. Duplicate customers and wrong product codes must be resolved before, not after.
- No overlap period. You need 2–4 weeks running both, with a shutdown date for the old one.
- No internal owner. One person with time, not a committee.
- No data export. Ask in writing for export in an open format, before signing.
The wider methodology is described in the first steps of digital transformation.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need both accounting and commercial software?
Usually yes, but your accountant handles the accounting side. What you need is the tool for issuing and operating.
Can an ERP replace my accountant?
No. It improves the quality of the data reaching them and reduces manual work.
What happens to my data if I change vendor?
You must be able to take it in an open format. That is a condition you ask for before signing, not after.
Are there cloud options for small businesses?
Yes, and they are usually the most sensible starting point: low upfront cost, automatic updates, access from anywhere.
How long does the switch take?
From an invoicing app to commercial software, 2–4 weeks. To an ERP, 6 weeks to 6 months depending on complexity.
Before you decide
Write down three things: who opens your software today, which three reports you wish you had, and how many times a month you enter the same record twice.
With those, the decision stops being about product names and becomes about how you operate.
Next step
Book a free 30-minute meeting with the team at The Dev Alley. We will look at what you use today and tell you whether you need an upgrade or simply to connect the tools you already own.