Solo entrepreneurs and small businesses in Germany spend too much time on things that are not their actual work: invoices have to be formally correct, the small-business VAT scheme (Kleinunternehmerregelung, § 19 UStG) needs to be respected, receipts want to be sorted and the books want to be prepared – all within a set of rules that reads like bureaucratic jargon to newcomers.
This is exactly where Gewerber comes in: a platform that combines invoicing, time tracking, accounting and plain-language explanations in one place. And it is being developed in the open – as open source.
What Gewerber is
Gewerber is aimed at sole proprietors, small businesses, freelancers and small agencies in Germany. The platform combines four modules that work together seamlessly:
- Invoicing: professional PDF invoices in minutes – with correct logic for the small-business scheme (§ 19 UStG), VAT and reverse charge. Templates in German, English and Russian.
- Time tracking: projects, tasks and timers; tracked time turns into invoice items with one click.
- Accounting: income and expenses at a glance, receipt uploads and a simple profit & loss statement – neatly prepared for your tax advisor.
- Guidance: explanations right in the workflow. Instead of assuming you know the jargon, Gewerber explains it: with tooltips, checklists and “what is this?” popups.
One point matters a lot to us: Gewerber is multilingual from day one (German, English, Russian). Many people register a business in Germany without working in German – they should feel confident too.
Open core: free and transparent
Gewerber follows an open-core model. The core of the platform is free and licensed under MIT: anyone can inspect the code, self-host it, adapt it and contribute. This includes the core platform, invoicing, time tracking, basic accounting and the guidance system.
On top of this foundation, optional commercial modules will be added later, for example banking integration or advanced tax features – as SaaS for everyone who prefers convenience. The open core always remains free to use.
All development happens publicly on GitHub: in code, issues and discussions. For us, transparency is not a feature – it is the foundation.
Where we stand: the roadmap
Gewerber is actively under development. The plan is structured in three phases:
- Phase 1 – Core & MVP: Serverpod backend, Flutter web app, the four open modules and the guidance system. This is what we are working on right now.
- Phase 2 – Growth: more templates and categories, analytics, multi- business support and a plugin system for the community.
- Phase 3 – Expansion & automation: advanced reporting, custom invoice templates and an open ecosystem of community modules.
The full public roadmap lives in the gewerber-docs repository.
Why open source?
Because trust is everything when it comes to money and data. Anyone who entrusts their invoices and books to software should be able to check what that software does. With self-hosting you decide where your data lives – GDPR compliant and without vendor lock-in.
What's next
On this blog we will regularly write about progress: what is done, what comes next and which German rule we are tackling right now. If you want to use Gewerber, give feedback or contribute: the code and all discussions are open on GitHub.
We are building Gewerber for everyone who wants to run their business with clarity and confidence – without bureaucratic stress. Glad to have you along.