In the interview with Dr. Josef Schindler, Co-Founder & CEO

In a time when efficiency and digitalization determine the future viability of companies, one area is increasingly coming into focus: financial administration. What has long been seen as a necessary evil is being rethought through innovative technologies – quickly, automated, and strategically valuable.

That is why, in our interview series at Silicon Valley Europe, we are conducting an exciting conversation with Dr. Josef Schindler, Managing Director and co-founder of Frienton GmbH – a start-up that is revolutionizing financial administration for small and medium-sized enterprises with its platform.

Dr. Schindler is an experienced serial entrepreneur who has successfully built and led several high-tech start-ups over the past few years. With his background as a computer scientist and his many years of experience in strategic growth and transformation projects – including at Siemens Industry – he brings a deep understanding of scalable software solutions, AI-driven business models, and the challenges faced by growing organizations. His leadership philosophy is based on coaching, empowerment, and trust – principles that make all the difference in fast-growing companies and dynamic markets.

With Frienton, he pursues a clear mission: entrepreneurs should be able to focus on what they do best – their core business. Frienton’s SaaS-based platform positions itself as a financial operating system for SMEs. It combines all processes of the “money chain” – from multi-banking and accounting to planning & controlling and tax – on a single, user-friendly platform.

Frienton relies on cutting-edge technologies such as open banking protocols, workflow automation, cloud infrastructure, and machine learning. The goal: fully automated accounting, daily real-time financial reporting, and fully integrated collaboration with the tax office. This gives entrepreneurs not only more control over their finances but, above all, more time to focus on customers, growth, and innovation.

In the interview, we talk to Dr. Schindler about how Frienton is disruptively rethinking traditional financial administration, why decision-making speed is now a central success factor for companies, what enormous savings potential lies in automated accounting processes, and why tax consultancies of the future will be tech companies.

Dr. Schindler also provides exciting insights into his entrepreneurial career, his learnings as an interim CEO and serial founder, as well as his vision for the future of digital financial processes in SMEs.

The discussion is aimed at entrepreneurs, CFOs, tax consultants, digital strategists, investors, and innovation enthusiasts who want to learn how an area of business that has often been neglected can be completely reimagined with the help of intelligent technology.

Silicon Valley Europe: Mr. Dr. Schindler, you are a serial entrepreneur, tech expert, and founded Frienton with the goal of automating the financial processes of SMEs. What was the decisive trigger for founding Frienton?

Josef Schindler: Our journey began in 2020, when we, as co-founders, once again painfully realized that despite a wide range of offerings for individual sections of the money chain, there is still no fully integrated solution available that effectively and, above all, end-to-end supports our respective companies in terms of finance and administration. The decisive trigger was the observation that many SMEs spend a significant portion of their time and resources on manual financial processes—processes that could have been digitalized and automated long ago.

That’s why we decided to take matters into our own hands and develop a software solution that meets as many of our needs as possible. We wanted to create a system that gives entrepreneurs the freedom to focus on their core business again. Frienton emerged from the desire to create a scalable Financial Operating System that maps the entire money chain and delivers real added value.

Silicon Valley Europe: Many companies see accounting, reporting, and tax issues as a burden. How exactly does Frienton relieve entrepreneurs of this burden?

Josef Schindler: Frienton automates all key steps of financial administration: multi-banking, accounting, planning, controlling, and communication with the tax office. Real-time reporting and fully pre-booked financial statements eliminate many manual tasks and follow-up queries. The platform thus provides live transparency for better decisions and saves up to 2/3 of administrative effort and costs per year.

Silicon Valley Europe: You refer to Frienton as a “financial operating system” for SMEs. What exactly does that mean in practice?

Josef Schindler: A financial operating system is a platform that integrates all financial processes of a company. At Frienton, this means: a central solution for banking, accounting, planning, controlling, and taxes based on cutting-edge technologies—Open Banking, workflow automation, machine learning. Everything works seamlessly together, without system breaks.

Silicon Valley Europe: Frienton covers the entire “money chain”—from multi-banking to the tax office. How do you achieve this end-to-end integration technically and procedurally?

Josef Schindler: Our platform is built on an API-first architecture, Open Banking protocols, and modern cloud infrastructure. This ensures that all data is available in real time and flows seamlessly—from multi-banking to the tax office. A concrete example: Frienton is currently the only solution on the market that offers a fully integrated connection from Stripe data into the DATEV environment—including live reporting and separate posting of partially hidden fees, without any manual intermediate steps. This allows online payments and accounting to work seamlessly together.

Silicon Valley Europe: A key promise of Frienton is decision-making speed. Why is this factor so crucial for the success of SMEs?

Josef Schindler: In dynamic markets, the speed at which a company responds becomes the decisive success factor and competitive advantage. Real-time data and automated analyses enable our users to make informed decisions—without delays caused by manual processes.

Silicon Valley Europe: How much automation is already possible in accounting and financial administration today – and what savings potential does it offer?

Josef Schindler: SMEs in Germany spend an average of over 110 days per year on financial administration – with additional costs of more than €60,000. With Frienton, a large part of this effort can be saved, as bookings are automated, receipts are processed immediately, and financial statements are pre-booked.

Silicon Valley Europe: You say that tax consultancies must evolve into tech companies. What role does Frienton play in this, and how are tax firms responding to your solution?

Josef Schindler: The variety of data interfaces, for example to marketplaces like Shopify or Amazon, but also to payment providers like PayPal and credit cards such as American Express, often overwhelm many tax consultancies today. This is technology, not tax consulting – both must merge, and Frienton offers the “all-in-one” solution. Frienton also relieves tax consultancies of manual reconciliations and follow-up queries – a key aspect of communication between clients and the firm. They gain access to pre-booked financial statements and all relevant documents, can clarify queries directly in the system, and thus focus more on consulting.

Silicon Valley Europe: You bring many years of experience in growth and transformation programs as well as scaling SaaS companies. What key learnings have you incorporated into Frienton?

Josef Schindler: From our previous projects and companies, we have learned that scaling only succeeds if processes are set up to be robust, automated, and customer-oriented from the very beginning. This principle shapes Frienton in all areas: from the modular structure of the platform to the API-first strategy and the consistent automation of accounting and financial processes. Another central lesson was: simplicity often beats comprehensive functionality – features must put the user at the center, and in the case of Frienton, this user is often not a financial expert but an entrepreneur who prefers to have everything done at the touch of a button.

Silicon Valley Europe: Frienton is designed “by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs.” How have your own entrepreneurial experiences shaped the product?