Lexware Office = lexoffice: what changed
For clarity up front: lexoffice was renamed to "Lexware Office". The software, the interfaces and the integrations don't change — if you're looking for a "Shopify lexoffice app", you mean the same thing as a "Shopify Lexware Office app". Existing connections keep working unchanged.
Why Shopify alone isn't enough for accounting
Shopify is a strong shop platform but not an accounting system. The biggest pitfall: Shopify order numbers (e.g. #1001) don't meet the requirement for a sequential, gap-free invoice number, and the standard document isn't GoBD-compliant (immutability, completeness, traceability).
Add to that the tax cases of online trade: private customers in the EU (OSS), businesses with a VAT ID (reverse charge), third-country export or small business under § 19. Each case needs the correct rate and wording. A Lexware Office integration solves this automatically.
Four ways to connect Shopify with Lexware Office
The options differ in effort, flexibility and feature scope — each has its place:
- Native Lexware Office app: the official direct integration, solid for standard setups.
- Specialised apps (e.g. zrapp): focused on Shopify accounting in the DACH region, with automatic tax logic, credit notes/cancellations, delivery notes, metafield write-back and support.
- No-code automation (Zapier, Make): flexible and freely configurable; you set up and maintain the logic, tax cases and payment matching yourself.
- Custom API integration: tailor-made, ideal when developer resources are available.
Which path fits whom?
A neutral orientation — no judgement, every solution has its use case:
| Approach | What it is | Typically suited for |
|---|---|---|
| Native app (Lexware Office) | official direct integration | shops with a standard setup |
| Specialised app (e.g. zrapp) | focused on Shopify DACH accounting | shops with EU sales/tax cases that want everything automated |
| No-code (Zapier/Make) | individually composable | teams with custom workflow needs |
| Custom API | tailor-made integration | teams with developer resources |
How invoicing runs automatically
The core is the automatic invoice. zrapp reacts in real time via Shopify webhooks: as soon as an order comes in (orders/create) or changes (orders/updated), an invoice is created in Lexware Office automatically — with a sequential, GoBD-compliant number. If you prefer control, you can also transfer orders manually from the interface.
The invoice is fully customisable: header, intro and footer text with placeholders (order number, shop name, payment term), a configurable payment term, the choice of invoice date (order or creation date) and custom print layouts. Optionally, zrapp emails the invoice straight to the customer — with your own subject and text snippet.
For repeated webhook deliveries, a mapping logic (shop + order number → invoice) prevents duplicate documents on retries.
Match payments to the right account automatically
zrapp reads the payment methods used in Shopify and maps them to the respective account in Lexware Office via a payment-gateway mapping. So PayPal lands on the PayPal account, Shopify Payments on its account, and so on.
Supported are, among others, PayPal, Shopify Payments, Klarna, card, Apple/Samsung Pay and gift cards — plus any other gateways. If a mapping is missing, a default account applies. That saves the manual allocation.
Getting taxes right: the 4-tier system with examples
zrapp determines the tax case per order via a clear priority logic and ensures the correct wording in Lexware Office:
- Small business (§ 19 UStG): 0 % with the note „no VAT shown“.
- EU B2B with valid VAT ID: reverse charge, 0 %, note „tax-free intra-community supply“.
- Tax-exempt sales (§ 4 UStG): 0 % with the corresponding note.
- Domestic (DE): 19 % (or 7 % reduced).
- EU B2C with OSS registration: the recipient country's local VAT rate (e.g. AT 20 %, FR 20 %, ES 21 %).
- Third country (export outside the EU): 0 %, „tax-free export § 6 UStG“.
Credit notes, cancellations & delivery notes — automatic
When a customer refunds an order (refunds/create), zrapp automatically creates a matching credit note in Lexware Office — with its own header/footer text and, if desired, immediate enshrinement. When an order is cancelled (orders/cancelled), the related invoice is cleanly cancelled or an open draft is deleted.
Lexware Office-specific: on order fulfilment (orders/fulfilled), zrapp can automatically create a delivery note in Lexware Office — with its own print layout and either the fulfilment or order date. So invoice, credit note and delivery note live in one place.
E-invoicing (ZUGFeRD & XRechnung) — ready for 2025–2028
The e-invoicing obligation is staggered: since 1 Jan 2025 every company must be able to receive e-invoices; from 2027 (revenue > €800,000) and 2028 (everyone else) B2B invoices must be issued as a structured dataset. A PDF alone is not an e-invoice.
Via Lexware Office, zrapp can issue invoices as ZUGFeRD and — for B2B with a buyer reference — as XRechnung. That way you're prepared early. Background in the e-invoicing mandate for Shopify.
Control, import and reporting
With a tag exclusion you skip certain orders (e.g. test or wholesale orders based on order or customer tags). Granular switches enable individual automations (invoice, cancellation, credit note, delivery note) or pause everything via a global auto-sync toggle.
For the switch-over there's the retroactive import from any chosen date. In the dashboard you see 12-month revenue, revenue by shipping country and top products (ShopifyQL) plus a transfer log with success/error per order. Invoice data is also written back as metafields into the Shopify order — for seamless traceability.
Connecting Shopify with Lexware Office: step by step
With zrapp, setup is done in minutes:
- Install zrapp from the Shopify App Store
- Connect Lexware Office via API key
- Choose your tax settings (standard taxation or small business, OSS active?)
- Map your payment providers to the Lexware Office accounts (PayPal, Klarna, Shopify Payments …)
- Define automations (invoice/credit note/cancellation/delivery note, enshrinement, email sending)
- Transfer a test order and check the result in Lexware Office — done
zrapp at a glance: the features
zrapp specialises in Shopify accounting and covers Lexware Office and sevdesk in a single app — €6.99/month (or €69.90/year), no limits on orders or invoices, 14 days free. The key features:
- Automatic & manual GoBD invoices to Lexware Office (sequential numbers)
- Automatic payment matching via gateway mapping
- Credit notes & cancellations for returns/cancellations — with duplicate protection
- Delivery notes on order fulfilment (Lexware Office-specific)
- 4-tier tax logic (domestic, reverse charge, OSS, third country, small business)
- OSS: detect the recipient country, apply the correct VAT rate
- ZUGFeRD + XRechnung e-invoicing + automatic email delivery
- Write-back of invoice data as Shopify metafields
- Retroactive import of historical orders + transfer log
- Tag exclusion, granular automation switches, dashboard analytics — and all of it for sevdesk too
