Tiime or Pennylane: which tool for a freelancer or small business in 2026?

Quick answer. Tiime and Pennylane are two French SaaS platforms built for freelancers and small businesses. Tiime stands out with its integrated business bank account (IBAN + Mastercard) and all-in-one logic, from EUR 17.99 excl. VAT/month for the plan with a pro account. Pennylane focuses on collaboration with your accountant and accounting scale-up (up to full bookkeeping at EUR 79 excl. VAT/month). Both offer free e-invoicing on an approved platform. Your choice depends on your need: full autonomy with a bank account (Tiime) or a tight accounting partnership (Pennylane).

From September 1, 2026, every company must be able to receive invoices in electronic format; from September 1, 2027, SMEs, small businesses and micro-enterprises must also issue them in a structured format (Factur-X, UBL or CII). This makes spreadsheets and Word invoices unsuitable: you need a compliant digital solution.

At the same time, a freelancer or small business must cover three essential needs:

1. Invoice clients (issuance, follow-ups, collection).
2. Track cash flow and expenses (expense reports, mileage allowances, bank accounts).
3. Stay in sync with the accountant (data transmission, annual closing).

Tiime and Pennylane address all three, but with different philosophies. At Hayot Expertise, we recommend one or the other based on your profile and the level of accounting autonomy you want.

Tiime is a French fintech founded in 2014. Billing is annual, a 60-day free trial is available, and support is in French.

Free plan (EUR 0/month)#

• Unlimited e-invoicing and quotes.
• Approved platform (registered with the French tax authority).
• Revenue tracking dashboard.
• No business bank account.

Smart plan (from EUR 17.99 excl. VAT/month, i.e. EUR 215.88 excl. VAT/year)#

• Unlimited bank synchronization.
• Automatic transaction categorization.
• Expense reports and mileage allowances.
• Tiime pro account included: French IBAN + Mastercard.
• Multi-user access with roles.

Business plan (from EUR 24.99 excl. VAT/month)#

• Everything in Smart, plus:
• Client payment links.
• Electronic signature of quotes.
• Cash-flow forecast.
• Debt recovery.
• Batch payments.
• Native integrations (Stripe, GoCardless, Make).

Tiime positioning#

Tiime presents itself as an all-in-one suite for the independent professional who wants a single platform combining bank account + invoicing + expense reports + pre-accounting. The integrated pro account is the key asset: no need to open a separate account elsewhere. It suits those starting out who want everything centralized.

Pennylane is a French fintech, with French-language support, a 15-day trial with no commitment, and a billing model that is per user since 2026 (previously billed by invoice volume).

Free plan#

• E-invoicing (EUR 0).
• Issuing invoices compliant with the new standards.
• Access to the Pennylane Pro Account (an aggregation of your existing bank accounts, not a dedicated payment account).

Basic plan (EUR 14 excl. VAT/month)#

• 1 user.
• Invoicing and expense tracking.
• E-invoicing compatible.
• Up to 1,200 invoices per year.

Essential plan (EUR 24 excl. VAT/month, "most popular")#

• 1 user.
• Automated follow-up scenarios.
• Expense reports and mileage allowances.
• Cash-flow forecast.
• API and integrations.
• Real-time shared ledger with your accountant.

Premium plan (EUR 79 excl. VAT/month)#

• Complete accounting module (journal entries, financial statements, closing).
• Custom dashboards.
• VAT return management.
• Monthly and annual closing tools.

Pennylane positioning#

Pennylane targets collaboration with the firm: you manage invoicing and expenses daily; your accountant accesses the real-time shared ledger (bank sync and categorization). Less re-entry, faster closings. The platform scales with you: start with Essential (EUR 24), then move to Premium (EUR 79) if you want complete in-house accounting. Note that Pennylane is not a bank: the "Pro Account" relies on aggregating your existing bank accounts.

Pricing at a glance#

Freelancer starting out (fewer than 100 invoices per month)#

Profile: sole trader, consultant, trainer, independent provider, no employees, simple accounting, wanting a separate bank account for administrative clarity.

Recommendation: Tiime Free, then Smart. The Free plan (EUR 0) is enough to start (unlimited invoicing). Moving to Smart (EUR 17.99) makes sense once you want an integrated pro account and bank sync. No needless overhead: Tiime does not force superfluous modules on you. At this stage a dedicated accountant is not always essential (micro-enterprise): the cost of Pennylane would add little value.

Small business with an accountant (a few hundred invoices per month)#

Profile: SARL, EURL, SAS created two or three years ago, followed by an accountant, managing invoicing daily but wanting to transmit data without re-entry.

Recommendation: Pennylane Essential (EUR 24 excl. VAT/month). The real-time shared ledger avoids double entry: your accountant sees invoices and expenses as soon as they are recorded. Tiime Smart costs slightly less, but without real-time accounting access: you will pull figures monthly to transmit them, costing time and risking errors. Tiime keeps the edge if you have no dedicated accountant or want a full bank account in the same tool.

Growing activity (several thousand invoices per month)#

Profile: scaling structure, in-house finance, many client and supplier flows. Two options arise.

1. Pennylane Premium (EUR 79 excl. VAT/month): complete integrated accounting (entries, closing, VAT, financial statements). A single tool for invoicing and accounting.
2. Tiime Business (EUR 24.99) paired with an accounting suite: Tiime for invoicing, expenses and the pro account, routed to a more powerful accounting solution for full bookkeeping.

At this stage price is no longer decisive: your existing infrastructure settles it. If you already work with a firm on Pennylane, Premium extends the chain; if you have specialized flows, Tiime + a third-party suite stays more modular.

1. E-invoicing: a real change#

Tiime and Pennylane are among the approved platforms registered with the French tax authority: issued invoices are natively compliant with the 2026 format. Beware, though: some "lightweight" tools are only dematerialization operators and must connect to a third-party approved platform. Check your tool's actual status on the official list at impots.gouv.fr.

2. Bank synchronization: common pitfalls#

• Bank coverage: both tools connect to major networks, but some niche banks are not covered. Check before committing.
• Sync delay: usually 24 to 48 hours; ask support for details if you manage cash daily.
• Automatic categorization: confirm that the proposed categories match your chart of accounts.

3. Expense reports and mileage allowances#

Verify that the built-in calculator applies the mileage scale in force for 2026 (art. 83, 3° of the French tax code). Make sure the tool produces a usable export for closing and tax audits: the accounting entries file (FEC) can be requested by the administration (art. L47 A of the tax procedures code).

4. No commitment, but mind the migration#

Both solutions can be cancelled monthly. That is a flexibility asset, but a price increase can surprise you: read the price-change terms. Above all, moving from one tool to the other means exporting your invoice, expense and client history. It is doable (CSV, API) but time-consuming: choose well from the start.

5. Accounting collaboration: assume nothing#

If you work with a firm, confirm before signing that it accepts your tool's exports in its workflow. Tiime requires an export and transmission; Pennylane Essential offers authenticated, real-time sharing. Some accountants prefer to control data entry themselves: in that case, an auto-categorization tool adds limited value.

6. Data reversibility#

Tiime and Pennylane are growing fintechs. Plan for data retention (the legal retention period for accounting records is ten years, art. L123-22 of the Commercial Code) and verify that you can export all your data (invoices, expenses, attachments) in a usable format.

Recently, a self-employed lawyer consulted us: she invoiced around 300 clients per year (fewer than 30 invoices per month) and wanted a tool to manage invoicing without overhead. She hesitated between Tiime Free and Pennylane Basic.

After review, Tiime Free (EUR 0) was enough for her volume and simplicity (simple invoices, few recurring expenses). Pennylane Basic (EUR 14) would have added little extra value at that stage, with no dedicated accountant managing her books daily. Six months later she remained a client and switched to Smart (EUR 17.99) when she wanted an integrated pro account to clearly separate personal and business.

This case shows that the right tool depends closely on your trajectory, not just initial volume. Start small, test before committing, and scale as your needs grow more complex. As chartered accountants registered with the Ordre, we always favor the tool that fits cleanly into the accounting chain over the one that looks most complete on paper.

Hayot Expertise advice. Before choosing, ask three questions. (1) Do you have a dedicated accountant expecting real-time sync? Favor Pennylane Essential. (2) Do you want a business bank account inside the same tool? Tiime Smart fits better. (3) Does your activity stay simple (invoicing, expenses, no complex accounting)? Tiime Free or Pennylane Basic is enough. Use the free trials (60 days at Tiime, 15 days at Pennylane) to decide in real conditions.