LEXWARE Accounting Software-as-a-Service

An online application providing rich user experience and advanced features for invoice preparation and management

Client Profile

Lexware GmbH, a member of the Haufe Mediengruppe since 1993, is a major German software firm. It is a leading software supplier of off-the-shelf solutions for financial management, accounting, tax, travel, HR, payroll, billing, petty cash management and web shops. Today, it is a software provider of commercial software for entrepreneurs, freelancers, small and medium-sized organizations and businesses in Germany.

Challenge

Lexware, a leading German supplier of business and consumer financial applications, turned to SaM Solutions for additional capacities in C++ development. The strategic goal of Lexware was to find a reliable partner for the maintenance of its existing product base, as well as conducting R&D with state-of-the-art technologies for new product architectures.

The development of the LexLive solution became a prominent landmark in the cooperation of the two companies and laid solid foundation for further work. Intending to develop the first prototype of the new online product, Lexware and SaM Solutions started a corporate research project. Created with an Agile process, the product demanded particular skills in Web 2.0 AJAX technologies. The web application itself was developed on the ASP.NET platform.

The implementation of the GUI was the biggest technical challenge, since the web application had to be functionally and visually on par with desktop applications. An equally challenging part of the project was the creation of a hack-proof, stable, and reliable application that was intended for manipulating sensitive and confidential user data.

SOLUTION

LexLive Software is an AJAX web application, which enables small and medium-scale enterprise managers, the self-employed, and freelancers to generate invoices and manage their entire accountancy via the Internet. The product thus provides qualified assistance in various finance-related situations. Installation on a PC is not required. After registration at www.lexlive.de, the program can be used online without restrictions - anytime, anywhere. Guaranteed data integrity ensures access protection, security of information and permanent availability. The program is easy to use even for people with no financial background or experience in this area. The interface uses step-by-step wizards that help users fill in complicated forms and perform complex operations in the most convenient and hassle-free manner. When the user activates the web application, there are five colored folders serving as central navigation elements:

• Service Folder
• Item Folder
• Invoice and more Folder
• Customer Folder
• Overview Folder

These folders allow the user to generate Quotes, Orders, Invoices, Item Lists and Credit Notes, as well as manage them all within LexLive. It is also possible to select the preferred operating mode for the application: anonymous or authenticated/registered user. Authenticated users can save documents, such as quotes and invoices, get an overview of their business situation and recommendations on improving their financial standing.

Functional Features

• Generation of invoices, quotes, orders and credit notes
• Printing and saving of all types of documents
• Generation of business improvement recommendations
• Use of to-do lists for working with the recommendations
• Customer management
• Item management
• Reports on the critical aspects of users’ businesses
• Data access by a Datev (German company that has defined some standards in the area of financial software) export interface for tax accountants
• Integrated help

Technologies

SUCCESS

SaM Solutions delivered a feature-loaded web application with an impressive dynamic interface full of charts, graphs and other visual elements that make interaction with the user more intuitive and facilitate the perception of complex information. The company managed to provide users with the level of interactivity and the general look-and-feel of a standard desktop application, but also made it possible to access the application online anytime and anywhere. The selected development model, based on distributed SCRUM practices, proved to be a success and allowed the project to be completed on time and on budget.