To choose accounting or ERP software in Albania, first check three things: the software, or its fiscalization partner, is on the list of the General Directorate of Taxes (DPT) under Council of Ministers Decision (VKM) no. 239/2020; purchase invoices come in automatically from the invoice platform; and the financial statements come out ready for e-Filing, the DPT’s online filing portal. Then score the other nine criteria, in a real demo.
On 13 October 2026 we checked the list of certified entities on the DPT website: it has 54 rows and shows no update date, so ask the provider for its own certificate as well. In our view, the most expensive mistake is leaving migration until after you sign. We would start by asking the provider to import one real month of invoices and produce the trial balance before you pay.
12 criteria for choosing accounting software in Albania
The criteria are listed in order of importance. The first three are eliminatory: if one of them is missing, there is no point continuing the demo.
| No. | Criterion | What to look for in the demo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Certified fiscalization | The software, or the fiscalization software it connects to, is on the DPT list under VKM no. 239/2020 |
| 2 | Importing invoices from the platform | Purchase and sales invoices from SelfCare come in automatically, without retyping |
| 3 | Financial statements and e-Filing | The statements come out of the entries and export to PDF and Excel |
| 4 | Chart of accounts and automatic entries | The chart can be configured, and an invoice, a salary or an asset creates the accounting entry automatically |
| 5 | Sales and purchase ledgers | Filled in from the invoices, without compiling them separately |
| 6 | Language and currency | Interface in Albanian, several currencies with an exchange rate for each document and rates from the Bank of Albania |
| 7 | Payroll | The payroll list with the 2026 contributions and its posting to accounting |
| 8 | Modules by type of business | Inventory, till, manufacturing or assets, only the ones you need |
| 9 | Several companies and fiscal years | A separate database for each company, year-end close and opening balances |
| 10 | Control and audit trail | User roles, locking of closed periods, a history of who changed what |
| 11 | Your data and leaving | Where the data is stored, backups, a full export when you change program |
| 12 | Cost and support | Cost over three years, migration, training and support in Albanian |
If the accounting program does not issue invoices itself, it does not need to be on the list: it is enough that the invoices are issued by certified fiscalization software that connects to it. It matters that the connection works in both directions, so that fiscalized sales are not entered twice. We have explained how the NIVF (fiscal invoice number) and the invoice platform work in the guide to fiscalization in Albania.
What Albanian law requires of an accounting program
No law prescribes a mandatory program, but these obligations determine what it has to do:
- Fiscalization: VKM no. 239, dated 20 March 2020, sets the technical and functional requirements for invoicing software under law no. 87/2019. Producers and maintainers apply through e-Albania and the DPT publishes them on the list of certified entities. The SelfCare portal is free only for the categories in VKM no. 220/2020.
- Language and currency (Article 10 of law no. 25/2018 “Për kontabilitetin dhe pasqyrat financiare”, On accounting and financial statements): the accounting records are kept in Albanian, in the functional currency, while the financial statements are presented in Albanian and in lek. A company that works mainly in euros can keep its accounts in euros, but presents the statements in lek, so the program has to work with several currencies.
- Retention (Articles 7 and 8): accounting documents may be kept in electronic form and are kept for 10 years after the close of the reporting period. A full export is therefore a criterion, not a detail.
- Financial statements: for 2025, entities with annual turnover above 5 million lek filed them by 31 March 2026, only in e-Filing: the statements as a scanned and signed PDF, the inventory in Excel. Law 87/2026 added information to the explanatory notes, which we have summarized in the changes to the accounting law (in Albanian).
- Personal data: law no. 124/2024 “Për mbrojtjen e të dhënave personale” (On personal data protection) applies to every controller and processor, regardless of size. The payroll list and customer records are personal data, and a security breach is notified to the Commissioner for personal data protection within 72 hours. Ask in writing where the provider stores the data and who has access to it.
Accounting program or ERP: which one you need
An accounting program keeps the books: chart of accounts, entries, cash, bank, VAT and financial statements. An ERP (enterprise resource planning) is the system where sales, purchasing, inventory, payroll and manufacturing are recorded once and flow into accounting automatically.
| Situation | An accounting program is enough | You need an ERP |
|---|---|---|
| Services, few invoices, no stock | yes | no |
| Accounting firm with many clients | yes, with several companies | depends on the clients |
| Trading with stock in one or more warehouses | no | yes |
| Retail sales with a till | no | yes |
| Manufacturing with recipes | no | yes |
The practical question is not the name of the system, but how many times the same data is entered. If the sales invoice goes once into the fiscalization software, once into inventory and once into accounting, you have three places where mistakes can happen.
How to weigh the criteria: an example with scores
Split the 12 criteria into four groups, give each group a weight and give each option a score from 1 to 5 after the demo. The example is illustrative, with two hypothetical options, A and B:
| Group | Criteria | Weight | Score for A | Score for B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal and fiscal | 1-3 | 35 | 5 | 4 |
| Accounting and reports | 4-6 | 25 | 3 | 4 |
| Modules and integrations | 7-9 | 20 | 2 | 4 |
| Control, data and cost | 10-12 | 20 | 4 | 3 |
- Option A: 35 x 5 = 175, 25 x 3 = 75, 20 x 2 = 40 and 20 x 4 = 80. In total 370 points, so an average score of 3.70.
- Option B: 35 x 4 = 140, 25 x 4 = 100, 20 x 4 = 80 and 20 x 3 = 60. In total 380 points, so an average score of 3.80.
- B wins, even though A has the higher score in the legal group. The elimination rule applies before the arithmetic: a score of 1 on criteria 1-3 takes the option out of the running, however good the other scores are.
Also count the time spent retyping. If a business receives 400 purchase invoices a month and entering each one by hand takes 1.5 minutes, that is 600 minutes, so 10 hours a month and 120 hours a year, work that importing from the platform removes. Measure your own time with one month of real invoices, not with the figures in this example.
Checklist before you sign: 10 questions for the provider
- On which row of the DPT list is your fiscalization software, or the one you connect to?
- Do you import purchase and sales invoices from SelfCare automatically? Show us with our own invoices.
- From one imported month, produce the trial balance and the VAT ledgers: do they match our return?
- How do you import the chart of accounts and the opening balances from our current program, and who does this work?
- Which modules do we pay for today, and what does adding a module, a user or a company cost later?
- How do you lock closed periods, and where can we see who changed an invoice?
- Where is our data stored, how often are backups made and how do we get a full export if we leave?
- How is the program updated when the rules change, such as the 2026 minimum wage or the notes required by law 87/2026?
- Who answers us in Albanian, and within how many hours?
- Can we try it with our own data before signing?
Write the answers in the same table as the scores. A provider that does not answer question 7 in writing gets a score of 1 on criterion 11.
Recommended solution: devBooks, an ERP with 12 modules
We say it openly: this blog is run by devBooks. Here is how devBooks meets the criteria, according to the devBooks features pages:
- Criteria 1 and 2: invoices are fiscalized through devPOS, the fiscalization software from dev.al, and purchase and sales invoices from SelfCare are imported automatically. The integration with devPOS works in both directions.
- Criteria 3-5: the financial statements, the tax declarations and the sales and purchase ledgers are generated from the data you record, with about 70 reports and export to Excel and PDF. Posting schemes turn items, assets, manufacturing and the payroll list into accounting entries automatically.
- Criteria 6-9: an interface in Albanian and English, several currencies with rates from the Bank of Albania, modules for inventory, the till, manufacturing, assets and payroll, and several companies and fiscal years, each with a separate database.
- Criterion 10: over 500 permissions in roles, blocking of actions outside the posting period and a trail of who created and modified each document.
- Migration: over 35 types of import from Excel, with ready-made templates.
devBooks itself does not fiscalize the invoice without devPOS and does not file the statements or the returns in e-Filing: it generates them, and you or your accountant do the filing.
Sources
- DPT: fiscalization legislation, with VKM no. 239/2020 and VKM no. 220/2020
- DPT: List of certified entities
- DPT: Certification of software solutions and the technical specifications
- DPT: Notice on how the SelfCare portal works
- Law no. 25/2018 “Për kontabilitetin dhe pasqyrat financiare” (National Accounting Council)
- National Accounting Council (KKK): Commentary on the application of law no. 25/2018
- DPT: Notice on filing the financial statements for fiscal year 2025
- Law no. 124/2024 “Për mbrojtjen e të dhënave personale” (the Commissioner, idp.al)
- Fiscalization in Albania 2026: what it is and how it works
- The amended accounting law in Albania, 2026 (in Albanian)
To try the checklist on devBooks with one month of your own invoices, see devBooks pricing and request a demo.