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MacBusinessSuite

Comparison, October 2026

MacBusinessSuite vs GrandTotal, business suite or invoicing app

GrandTotal by Media Atelier is a mature invoicing app for Mac, on the market since 2008, with a very wide range of e-invoice formats and Peppol sending. MacBusinessSuite is a newer all-in-one business suite for Mac that puts projects, a CRM, built-in time tracking and invoicing into one app and is built for companies working in several countries. If invoicing and e-invoicing are all you need, GrandTotal covers more formats. If you also want project boards, a sales pipeline, a mailbox and a timer in the same app, MacBusinessSuite does that.

. Written by . Sources

The short answer

  • Choose GrandTotal if invoicing is the center of your work and you need e-invoices for many countries, sending through Peppol access points, interactive online estimates or several people working on one file.
  • Choose MacBusinessSuite if you want projects, Kanban boards, a CRM with pipeline and mailbox, time tracking and invoicing in one app, with documents in your customers' languages and several companies in different countries.
  • Both are native Mac apps, both keep the data on your Mac, and both handle XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, Factur-X, the Swiss QR bill and DATEV.

MacBusinessSuite and GrandTotal side by side

As of October 2026. GrandTotal from its vendor's official pages (see sources), MacBusinessSuite from its documentation. Not documented means the vendor's pages do not say, not that the feature is missing.
MacBusinessSuiteGrandTotal
Type of productNative macOS app, one app for projects, CRM, time tracking and invoicingInvoicing app for Mac, on the market since 2008, current version 10.0 (October 2026)
PlatformsMac only, macOS 15 or later. No iPhone, iPad or web versionMac, macOS 10.15 or later; phones and tablets through Web Access in the browser, with the Mac acting as server
Where the data livesOn your Mac, in the app's container. No account, no sync between devicesIn a GrandTotal file on your Mac at a location you choose; optional AES-256 encryption
Several usersOne user per data storeSeveral users can work on one file in a shared cloud folder such as Dropbox
Projects and tasksProjects with status, budget, profitability and a project log; Kanban boards with tickets, subtasks and recurring ticketsProjects, revenue by project and project budgets; internal annotations and to-dos
CRMCustomers and contact persons, sales pipeline, customer and project log, IMAP mailbox, mail to ticketCustomers and contacts, labels, customer statistics. Sales pipeline, tickets and mailbox not documented
Time trackingBuilt-in menu bar timer, manual entries, suggestions from the calendar, open hours to invoiceImports hours from 19 time tracking apps and from the macOS calendar. A built-in timer is not documented
Quotes and invoicesQuotes with optional items, order confirmations, delivery notes, partial, final and recurring invoices, credit notes, dunningEstimates, interactive online estimates, invoices, credit notes, partial and progress invoices, recurring invoices, reminders
E-invoicesZUGFeRD, Factur-X, XRechnung and EN 16931 as UBL or CII, Peppol BIS as a file. No sending through the Peppol networkXRechnung, ZUGFeRD, Factur-X, Peppol BIS, EHF, PINT A-NZ, FatturaPA, Facturae and further national formats; sending through Peppol access points; receiving from a Peppol inbox
Payments and bankCAMT, OFX, QFX and CSV import with matching you confirm; read only sync with Wise Business (Wise accounts in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia) and Mercury (checking and savings accounts in US dollars); SEPA direct debit filesCAMT.053 and CAMT.054 matching, import from MoneyMoney and iFinance, Stripe payments, SEPA direct debit
Taxes and exportsOSS, reverse charge, US sales tax per state (one combined rate you maintain, only where you confirmed nexus), data for the German UStVA and ZM, DATEV batches, GoBD export. No direct filingDATEV, UStVA and ZM handed to Steuererklärung.app, Swiss VAT return, Belgian Intervat, UK Making Tax Digital through MTD Sheets
Languages and currenciesInterface and documents in 15 languages, document language per customer, several currencies with ECB ratesForeign currencies; layouts in several languages with the recipient's number format. App interface languages not documented
Several companiesSeveral companies with their own country, legal form and tax regime. One user; team members are records without loginsMulti-client capable
Pricing modelAnnual subscription in the Mac App Store, handled by Apple. Data stays readable and exportable after it endsSubscription in four editions (S, M, L, XL), monthly or yearly; access after the subscription ends; trial version; sold directly by Media Atelier
AvailabilityComing soon to the Mac App StoreDownload from mediaatelier.com; we found no Mac App Store listing

Where GrandTotal is ahead

  • E-invoice formats for many countries. Besides XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and Factur-X, GrandTotal lists EHF for Norway, PINT A-NZ, FatturaPA, Facturae and national variants for Portugal, Spain, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands.
  • Peppol sending and receiving. Invoices go out through the access points e-invoice.be and recommand.eu, and incoming e-invoices arrive from a Peppol inbox. MacBusinessSuite writes Peppol BIS as a file only.
  • Several users on one file through a shared cloud folder, and Web Access from a phone or tablet browser.
  • Interactive estimates that the customer opens in the browser, with optional items to switch on or off.
  • Tax returns for more countries, such as the Swiss VAT return, Belgian Intervat and UK Making Tax Digital through MTD Sheets.
  • Long track record. GrandTotal has been on the market since 2008.

Where MacBusinessSuite is ahead

  • Projects and boards in the same app. Every project can have a Kanban board with tickets, subtasks, due dates and recurring tickets, plus a project log and a profitability view.
  • A CRM with pipeline and mailbox. Inquiries move from inquiry to won or lost, and mail from your own IMAP account becomes a ticket, an inquiry or an inbound receipt.
  • A built-in timer in the menu bar. GrandTotal imports hours from other time tracking apps instead.
  • 15 interface languages, the same 15 for documents and mails, chosen per customer.
  • US sales tax per state next to OSS and reverse charge, for companies with US and EU business.
  • Widgets, Shortcuts, AppleScript and Spotlight are documented features of MacBusinessSuite. For GrandTotal they are not documented on the official pages.
Kanban board in MacBusinessSuite with the columns To Do, In Progress and Done
Screenshots show the app with sample data in German.

Which one suits companies working in several countries?

Both apps are built with international customers in mind, with different strengths. GrandTotal covers more national e-invoice formats and tax returns, from Belgium to Australia. MacBusinessSuite focuses on running several companies in different countries side by side, each with its own legal form, tax regime, home currency and VAT registrations, and on US sales tax next to EU OSS.

MacBusinessSuite keeps one language per customer for quotes, invoices, mails and status reports in 15 languages, uses ECB exchange rates and records realized exchange differences. Read more on the international features.

The comparison by topic

Questions and answers

Is MacBusinessSuite a GrandTotal alternative?

For many small businesses, yes. Both are native Mac apps that keep the data on the Mac and write quotes, invoices and e-invoices. MacBusinessSuite adds projects with Kanban boards, a CRM with pipeline and mailbox and a built-in timer. GrandTotal offers more e-invoice formats, Peppol sending and several users on one file.

Can MacBusinessSuite send e-invoices through Peppol like GrandTotal?

No. MacBusinessSuite writes Peppol BIS as a file, which you can pass on yourself. GrandTotal sends through the Peppol access points e-invoice.be and recommand.eu, according to Media Atelier.

Do both apps keep my data on my Mac?

Yes. GrandTotal stores its data in a file on the Mac at a location you choose, and MacBusinessSuite stores it in the app's container on the Mac. GrandTotal also lets several users share the file through a cloud folder, MacBusinessSuite has no sync.

Does GrandTotal have a built-in timer?

A built-in timer is not documented on Media Atelier's pages. GrandTotal imports hours from 19 time tracking apps, for example Timing, Tyme or Harvest, and from the macOS calendar. MacBusinessSuite has its own timer in the menu bar.

Sources

Statements about GrandTotal come from the vendor's own pages listed here, read in October 2026. Statements about MacBusinessSuite come from the app's documentation.

  1. GrandTotal, product page with the S, M, L and XL feature lists (mediaatelier.com)
  2. GrandTotal, German product page (mediaatelier.com)
  3. GrandTotal 10, release article
  4. Support and release notes
  5. Licenses
  6. Collaboration
  7. Integrations
  8. Time tracking
  9. XRechnung
  10. E-invoices in Belgium and the Peppol network
  11. Inbound invoices
  12. Web Access
  13. Interactive estimates
  14. CAMT import
  15. Compatibility and version history
  16. PDF/A archive format
  17. Swiss QR bill
  18. SEPA QR codes
  19. Cumulative partial invoices
  20. Customer care, statistics and labels
  21. Migration
  22. New file format
  23. Sync setup
  24. Making Tax Digital
  25. Swiss VAT return
  26. Send to bookkeeping
  27. Ask GrandTotal
  28. MCP server
  29. Privacy policy (connections to Media Atelier servers)
  30. Imprint
  31. MacBusinessSuite features on this site

GrandTotal is a trademark of its owner and is offered by Media Atelier. The name is used here only to identify the product. MacBusinessSuite and DigitalFreedom Global LLC are not affiliated with Media Atelier, and Media Atelier has not reviewed or endorsed this page.

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