Every year, thousands of French SME executives reach the same crossroads: their current accounting software no longer keeps up. Two names come up consistently in online comparisons: PennyLane, the French solution built for collaboration between SMEs and their experts-comptables (chartered accountants), and Odoo, the open-source ERP whose accounting module rivals the best dedicated tools on the market.
Choosing between the two means choosing a trajectory. PennyLane excels for SMEs that want to delegate their accounting to their expert-comptable in a smooth, automated environment. Odoo is for companies that want to run their entire operation — purchasing, sales, inventory, HR — from a single integrated platform.
At doo.FINANCE, an Odoo Gold Partner covering ten European markets, we regularly support French SMEs through this decision. Here is our honest assessment, functional and financial, to help you decide.
PennyLane: collaborative accounting designed for France
PennyLane is a French startup founded in 2020 that quickly won over accountancy practices and their SME clients. The core idea is straightforward: create a shared workspace between the company and its accountant, automating repetitive tasks — invoice capture, bank reconciliation, VAT returns — so that both sides can concentrate on analysis and advice.
The solution was designed for the French market from the outset: plan comptable général (PCG), the French statutory chart of accounts; FEC export, the standard French accounting ledger file; and CA3 and CA12 VAT returns. PennyLane has raised several tens of millions of euros from investors to accelerate its development, and its user base today includes several thousand partner accountancy practices.
PennyLane's strengths:
- Automatic invoice capture by OCR and email
- Real-time bank synchronisation with learning of reconciliation rules
- VAT handling (CA3, CA12) and compliant FEC export for tax audits
- A clear interface and a short learning curve, even without accounting training
- Built natively for French accounting standards
Limitations to be aware of:
- A single-purpose tool: accounting, and nothing else
- No inventory, sales, manufacturing or human resources management
- Limited scalability for SMEs that grow quickly
- The full value of the solution depends on an active partner accountancy practice
Odoo Accounting: considerably more than an accounting package
Odoo is an open-source ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system used by more than 12 million users worldwide. Its Accounting module is one of the most complete on the market — but it is the native connection with the other modules (Sales, Purchase, Inventory, CRM, Payroll) that creates a fundamental difference for a growing SME.
With Odoo, every customer invoice generated from the Sales module automatically produces the corresponding journal entry. Every supplier purchase order feeds the accounts in real time. No more manual re-entry, no more synchronisation errors between sales and accounting teams — everything is connected within a single system.
Strengths of Odoo Accounting:
- Native double-entry accounting with the French chart of accounts (PCG)
- Automatic bank synchronisation and reconciliation assisted by artificial intelligence
- FEC export compliant with article L.47 A of the Livre des procédures fiscales, France's tax procedures code
- Automatic generation of VAT returns (CA3, CA12) and DEB/DES declarations
- Electronic invoicing in Factur-X format and integration with the Plateformes Agréées (PA) — France's registered e-invoicing platforms, formerly called PDP — approved by the DGFiP (Direction générale des Finances publiques), France's tax administration
- Real-time financial dashboard: cash position, receivables, supplier payables
- Native connection with Sales, Purchase, Inventory, CRM, Payroll and Projects
- Available as cloud SaaS or on-premise hosting
Feature comparison: Odoo vs PennyLane
Here is an overview of the key features, to assess both solutions at a glance.
| Feature | PennyLane | Odoo |
|---|---|---|
| Double-entry accounting | ✅ | ✅ |
| French chart of accounts (PCG) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Bank synchronisation | ✅ | ✅ |
| Automatic reconciliation (AI) | ✅ | ✅ |
| FEC export | ✅ | ✅ |
| VAT returns (CA3 / CA12) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Electronic invoicing (Factur-X) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Liasse fiscale (annual tax return package) | Partial | ✅ |
| Sales management & CRM | ❌ | ✅ |
| Purchasing & supplier management | ❌ | ✅ |
| Inventory management | ❌ | ✅ |
| Payroll and HR | ❌ | ✅ |
| Multi-company / multi-currency | Limited | ✅ |
| Open source / customisable | ❌ | ✅ |
| Mobile application | ✅ | ✅ |
Bank reconciliation and automation
On this ground the two solutions are close. PennyLane offers automated bank reconciliation with intelligent rules that learn from your classification habits. Odoo does the same with its AI-assisted reconciliation engine, which automatically matches incoming and outgoing payments to open invoices.
The key difference lies in the scope of that automation: in Odoo, reconciliation is connected in real time to your sales and purchase orders. When a customer settles an invoice, Odoo simultaneously closes the receivable, updates the sales dashboard and can trigger an automatic reminder if the payment is partial. PennyLane, for its part, remains within accounting alone.
French compliance — FEC, VAT and 2026 electronic invoicing
Since 2014, any company subject to tax in France and required to keep accounts must be able to produce a FEC (Fichier des Écritures Comptables) in the event of a tax audit, under article L.47 A of the Livre des procédures fiscales. Both solutions export the FEC in the regulatory format.
On the electronic invoicing reform, France is phasing in the obligation to issue and receive invoices in a structured electronic format:
- From 2026: large companies and ETI (entreprises de taille intermédiaire, France's mid-sized company category) must issue and receive electronic invoices
- From 2027: SMEs, TPE (very small businesses) and micro-entreprises come into scope
Odoo already supports the Factur-X format and its roadmap includes connectivity with the Plateformes Agréées (PA) registered by the DGFiP. PennyLane has also announced its compliance with these new obligations. For a French SME, choosing software that will not be certified in time represents a serious regulatory risk.
Pricing: what do Odoo and PennyLane cost?
PennyLane is generally sold through the partner accountancy practice as part of a packaged offer, or directly as a subscription with tiers scaled to transaction volume and the level of automation required.
Odoo charges per user and per activated module. The real financial advantage of Odoo becomes apparent once you add up the subscriptions to the other SaaS tools used alongside it: replacing CRM, invoicing, inventory management and ERP with Odoo often reduces the total cost of the digital ecosystem.
| PennyLane | Odoo Accounting | Full Odoo ERP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly subscription (by plan) | Per user / module | Per user / suite |
| Modules included | Accounting only | Accounting | Accounting + CRM + Sales + Inventory… |
| Customisation | Limited | High | Very high |
| Ecosystem cost | High (third-party tools required) | Moderate | Low (all-in-one) |
For precise, up-to-date pricing, go directly to odoo.com and pennylane.com.
Which type of business should choose which solution?
Choose PennyLane if:
- You are a TPE or an SME with fewer than 20 employees and standard accounting needs
- You work closely with an expert-comptable who already uses PennyLane
- You have no need to manage inventory, manufacturing or a complex sales force
- You are looking for a solution that deploys quickly with minimal configuration
Choose Odoo if:
- Your SME is growing and you want to unify your processes on a single platform
- You are migrating from an ageing ERP (Sage, Cegid, EBP) and want to modernise your management as a whole
- You have specific requirements: multi-company, multi-currency, project management, manufacturing, e-commerce
- You are an international business with subsidiaries in Europe
- You want a customisable, open-source solution that scales over the long term
The clearest signal: if the question you are asking yourself is "how do I improve my accounting?", PennyLane may be enough. If the question is "how do I run my whole company more efficiently?", Odoo is the answer.
How doo.FINANCE can help
doo.FINANCE is an Odoo Gold Partner and an accountancy practice operating in ten European countries. Our teams in France support you at every stage:
- Tailored Odoo implementation matched to your sector and your size
- Migration from PennyLane, Sage, Cegid or Excel with full data transfer
- 2026 electronic invoicing setup: Factur-X, PA connectivity, VAT e-reporting
- Configuration of the French chart of accounts, VAT returns and FEC export
- Continuous accounting and Odoo support from an available French-international team
Whether you are still comparing or already convinced by Odoo, our experts are available for a personalised demonstration. Contact us for a free call →
FAQ — Odoo vs PennyLane
Can PennyLane and Odoo work together?
There is no official native integration between the two platforms. Some companies run both in parallel, but that setup creates risks of double entry and inconsistency. The cleanest approach remains to centralise on Odoo, giving your expert-comptable access directly within the Accounting module.
Is it straightforward to migrate from PennyLane to Odoo?
Yes, a migration is technically feasible. PennyLane data (journals, supporting documents, customer and supplier records) can be exported and re-imported into Odoo following a structured plan. doo.FINANCE regularly supports migrations of this kind with a process designed to maintain accounting and tax continuity.
Is Odoo compliant with France's 2026 electronic invoicing reform?
Odoo already supports the Factur-X format (a PDF/A-3 file enriched with XML data conforming to the EN 16931 standard). The Odoo 17 and 18 roadmap covers the French requirements, including connectivity with the Plateformes Agréées (PA) registered by the DGFiP. doo.FINANCE can support you in configuring your instance and bringing it into compliance.
Is PennyLane suitable for companies with subsidiaries abroad?
PennyLane is designed primarily for the French market. For SMEs with entities in Germany, Belgium, Italy or Luxembourg, Odoo offers native multi-country localisation, which makes it the reference solution for international groups.
What is the main difference for an SME with 20 to 100 employees?
The decisive difference is operational integration. PennyLane handles collaborative accounting very well. Odoo connects your accounting with your sales, inventory, purchasing and teams, which removes re-entry, shortens closing times and gives a real-time view of your financial performance.