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Menu MenuXero are increasing their prices again by up to 12.5%, effective from September 2026, however, it could be much more than that. Over the past 3 years prices have increased by up to 31%. If you’re looking for Xero’s pricing changes from the previous year, please visit our previous post on Xero’s Price Increase.
In addition to the Xero price changes, the multi-organisation discount will end on 1st September 2026. So some subscribers could be paying an extra 15%-25% for Xero on top of the price increases above. Other discounts and promotional codes will continue until they expire.
Xero say that they have continued to invest heavily, making the software faster, more insightful, and smarter. We’ve been impressed with the new automated bank reconciliation, which uses AI to add bank transactions automatically. It’s a real time saver. Xero have an interactive tool called The Long and the Short of it to show the changes it has made, so you can judge for yourself.
The Simple plan has just enough permissions for small sole traders and landlords to comply with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax when that started in April 2026. It’s competitively priced at £7pcm plus VAT. However, it can’t be used if you are VAT registered and quotes and invoices are limited to 10 per month.
In our opinion Xero remains the best online accounting software. It’s much easier to use than the others. So if you can afford to pay their prices, it’s usually worth it due to the time it will save you.
Xero’s prices will increase from 1 September 2026. Here are the Xero Price increases for 2026 and the past few years for their main plans.
| New name | Simple | Ignite | Grow | Comprehensive | Ultimate |
| 2020 price pcm | na | £10 | £24 | £30 | na |
| 2021 price pcm | na | £12 | £26 | £33 | na |
| 2022 price pcm | na | £14 | £28 | £36 | £49 |
| 2023 price pcm | na | £15 | £30 | £42 | £55 |
| 2024 price pcm | £7 | £16 | £33 | £47 | £59 |
| 2025 price pcm | £7 | £16 | £37 | £50 | £65 |
| 2026 price pcm | £7 | £18 | £39 | £55 | £70 |
| 2026 increase | 0% | 12.5% | 5.4% | 10% | 7.7% |
| 3 year increase | 0% | 20% | 30% | 31% | 27% |
Ledger: A very basic version of Xero without bank feeds. You can import or manually add bank transactions, then categorise them. That’s about it.
Simple: Sole traders and landlords only. Create quotes and 10 invoices per month. Payroll, Pay Bills, Multi-currency, Expenses, Projects and Analytics Plus not available.
Ignite (Starter): Create 20 quotes and invoices, and 10 bills per month. Payroll is £1.50pcm per person. Multi-currency, Expenses, Projects and Analytics Plus not available.
Grow (Standard): Unlimited quotes, invoices and bills. Expenses for 1 plus £2.50pcm per extra person. Payroll for 1 plus £1.50pcm per extra person. Pay directly from Xero for up to 5 bills per month plus £0.20 per additional bill payment. Multi-currency, Projects and Analytics Plus not available.
Comprehensive (Premium): Expenses for 5 plus £2.50pcm per extra person. Payroll for 5 plus £1.50pcm per extra person. Pay directly from Xero for up to 10 bills per month. Multi-currency and Analytics Plus included. Projects not available.
Ultimate: Expenses for 10 plus £2.50pcm per extra person. Payroll for 10 plus £1.50pcm per extra person. Projects for 10 plus £5.00pcm per extra person. Pay directly from Xero for up to 15 bills per month. Multi-currency and Analytics Plus included.
With CloudBook Online Accountants, unlike other accountants, you can use whichever software you prefer. We don’t make you use Xero’s accounting or payroll software, so you don’t have to pay their high prices. As well as that, you’ll probably save on accountancy fees too, with our low fixed monthly fees.
To avoid the price increase, could you downgrade your Xero plan? Simple could be all you need as a sole trader or landlord, or even a non-VAT registered company. The Ignite plan now has unlimited bank transactions and allows up to 20 sales invoices and 10 bills per month. Instead of using bills you could just attach them to the bank transaction. The Grow plan is mostly only missing multi-currency which is only essential if you have foreign bank accounts. If you have few foreign currency transactions you could convert them manually.
Move My Books is a free service that helps you move your accounting data to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage Accounting. This could be useful if you are thinking of moving from Xero to QuickBooks or Sage.
Pandle is unlimited and comes with multi-currency and bank feeds for £5pcm. We can get it for £2.50pcm. It’s relatively new, sometimes slow, and takes a while to get used to. However, it should cope with most things you use Xero for.
QuickBooks is our next most popular software after Xero. It does most things that Xero can do and is quite easy to use once you get used to it. Their Self-Employed package is £10pcm, Simple is £16pcm, Essentials is £38pcm, Plus is £56pcm. We may be able to arrange a discount if enough clients ask for it.
FreeAgent is geared towards small business and freelancers. Natwest, RBS and Mettle bank customers can get it for free. We can get it for our clients for £23pcm. Or it costs £33pcm or less if you pay annually.
Kashflow is less popular than it used to be and we no longer have any clients using it. However, if you have straightforward accounting transactions, it can work well for you. Starter is £13.50pcm, Business is £27.50pcm excluding payroll.
Quickfile is used by a few of our clients. It’s less easy to use but it can be free if you have less than 1000 entries per year, otherwise it’s just £60pa pls VAT. If you want automated bank feeds, that’s an extra £15pa.
MyT accounting is a new software with a built-in receipt reader using AI to categorise your costs automatically. The Standard subscription is £10pcm, Plus is £20pcm and Pro is £30pcm.
From our experience Sage have struggled to keep up with their online competition. As such, we still don’t have any clients using Sage at the time of writing but we’d be happy to help you use it. However, it’s not much cheaper than Xero. The Start price is £18pcm. Standard is £39pcm and Plus is £59pcm.
If you’re not VAT registered, you could use a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers) to do your accounting. While we prefer online accounting software, if your accounting transactions are straightforward, a tidy spreadsheet would be ok. All transactions need to be categorised. Read more on our bookkeeping using a spreadsheet page.
There are many other online accounting software platforms available. We’ll consider doing your accounts etc using any online accounting software. Look out for ones that can link to UK bank accounts and are MTD compliant.
About Us Our Prices Instant QuoteXero are increasing their prices again by up to 12%, effective from September 2025. If you’re looking for Xero’s pricing changes for 2026, please visit Xero’s Price Increase. We’re disappointed that Xero has increased most of its prices again, so soon after the potentially huge increases due to price/package changes in the previous year. In fact, Xero are still phasing in those changes now, so you would think they would have held off until next year.
It’s not all bad news because the cheapest package prices will not increase in 2025. However, those packages will potentially become more restrictive once the previous year’s changes are phased in. The other more expensive packages have increased by between 6% and 12%.
Xero say that they have continued to invest heavily, making the software more reliable, secure, and useful. The only significant change we’ve noticed is the addition of JAX (Just Ask Xero) which could be a useful AI tool to get Xero to do things for you like add an invoice. However, Xero is easy to use, and JAX can only do simple tasks, so we’re not convinced that this is enough to justify another inflation busting price increase. Xero have made a new interactive tool called The Long and the Short of it to show the changes it has made, so you can judge for yourself.
There is a new Simple plan, with just enough permissions for small sole traders and landlords to comply with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax when that starts in April 2026. It’s competitively priced at £7pcm plus VAT. However, it can’t be used if you are VAT registered and quotes and invoices are limited to 10 per month.
In our opinion Xero remains the best online accounting software. It’s much easier to use than the others. So if you can afford to pay their prices, it’s usually worth it due to the time it will save you.
Xero’s prices will increase from 1 September 2025, technically 11 days less than 1 year since the last one. Also, the previous year’s changes to the plans are still being phased in. These changes mean you could have to upgrade your plan. Here are the Xero Price increases for 2025 and the past few years for their main plans.
| Old name | na | Starter | Standard | Premium | Ultimate |
| New name | Simple | Ignite | Grow | Comprehensive | Ultimate |
| 2020 price pcm | na | £10 | £24 | £30 | na |
| 2021 price pcm | na | £12 | £26 | £33 | na |
| 2022 price pcm | na | £14 | £28 | £36 | £49 |
| 2023 price pcm | na | £15 | £30 | £42 | £55 |
| 2024 price pcm | £7 | £16 | £33 | £47 | £59 |
| 2025 price pcm | £7 | £16 | £37 | £50 | £65 |
| 2025 increase | 0% | 0% | 12% | 6% | 10% |
| Average increase per year | 0% | 12% | 11% | 13% | 11% |
Ledger: A very basic version of Xero without bank feeds. You can import or manually add bank transactions, then categorise them. That’s about it.
Simple: Sole traders and landlords only. Create quotes and 10 invoices per month. Payroll, Pay Bills, Multi-currency, Expenses, Projects and Analytics Plus not available.
Ignite (Starter): Create 20 quotes and invoices, and 10 bills per month. Payroll is £1.50pcm per person. Multi-currency, Expenses, Projects and Analytics Plus not available.
Grow (Standard): Unlimited quotes, invoices and bills. Expenses for 1 plus £2.50pcm per extra person. Payroll for 1 plus £1.50pcm per extra person. Pay directly from Xero for up to 5 bills per month plus £0.20 per additional bill payment. Multi-currency, Projects and Analytics Plus not available.
Comprehensive (Premium): Expenses for 5 plus £2.50pcm per extra person. Payroll for 5 plus £1.50pcm per extra person. Pay directly from Xero for up to 10 bills per month. Multi-currency and Analytics Plus included. Projects not available.
Ultimate: Expenses for 10 plus £2.50pcm per extra person. Payroll for 10 plus £1.50pcm per extra person. Projects for 10 plus £5.00pcm per extra person. Pay directly from Xero for up to 15 bills per month. Multi-currency and Analytics Plus included.
With CloudBook Online Accountants, unlike other accountants, you can use whichever software you prefer. We don’t make you use Xero’s accounting or payroll software, so you don’t have to pay their high prices. As well as that, you’ll probably save on accountancy fees too, with our low fixed monthly fees.
To avoid the price increase, could you downgrade your Xero plan? Simple could be all you need as a sole trader or landlord. The Ignite plan now has unlimited bank transactions and allows up to 20 sales invoices and 10 bills per month. Instead of using bills you could just attach them to the bank transaction. The Grow plan is mostly only missing multi-currency which is only essential if you have foreign bank accounts. If you have few foreign currency transactions you could convert them manually.
Move My Books is a free service that helps you move your accounting data to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage Accounting. This could be useful if you are thinking of moving from Xero to QuickBooks or Sage.
Pandle is unlimited and comes with multi-currency and bank feeds for £5pcm. We can get it for £2.50pcm. It’s relatively new, sometimes slow, and takes a while to get used to. However, it should cope with most things you use Xero for.
QuickBooks is our next most popular software after Xero. It does most things that Xero can do and is quite easy to use once you get used to it. Their Self-Employed package is £12pcm, Simple is £16pcm, Essentials is £33pcm, Plus is £47pcm. We may be able to arrange a discount if enough clients ask for it.
FreeAgent is geared towards small business and freelancers. Natwest, RBS and Mettle bank customers can get it for free. We can get it for our clients for £23pcm. Or it costs £33pcm or less if you pay annually.
Kashflow is less popular than it used to be and we no longer have any clients using it. However, if you have straightforward accounting transactions, it can work well for you. Starter is £11.50pcm, Business is £23.50pcm or with payroll is £31.50pcm.
Quickfile is used by a few of our clients. It’s less easy to use but it can be free if you have less than 1000 entries per year, otherwise it’s just £60pa pls VAT. If you want automated bank feeds, that’s an extra £15pa.
MyT accounting is a new software with a built-in receipt reader using AI to categorise your costs automatically. The Standard subscription is £10pcm, Plus is £20pcm and Pro is £30pcm.
From our experience Sage have struggled to keep up with their online competition. As such, we still don’t have any clients using Sage at the time of writing but we’d be happy to help you use it. However, it’s not much cheaper than Xero. The Start price is £18pcm. Standard is £39pcm and Plus is £59pcm.
If you’re not VAT registered, you could use a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers) to do your accounting. While we prefer online accounting software, if your accounting transactions are straightforward, a tidy spreadsheet would be ok. All transactions need to be categorised. Read more on our bookkeeping using a spreadsheet page.
There are many other online accounting software platforms available. We’ll consider doing your accounts etc using any online accounting software. Look out for ones that can link to UK bank accounts and are MTD compliant.
About Us Our Prices Instant QuoteThe details of the 2024 Xero Price Increase are below. If you’re looking for details of the following year’s increase details please click here.
How would you like a 180% price increase for using Xero? That’s what some users will have to pay to continue using Xero due to changes to the plans as well prices. Most plans will either be ceased or will have restricted add-ons which could force an upgrade.
Other users that can stay on the same plan will see a 6-12% price increase in 2024. Here we explain the 2024 Xero Price Increase. How much Xero’s Prices are increasing. Why Xero’s prices are increasing. What changes are being made to the Xero plans. Also, the alternatives to Xero. With CloudBook Online Accountants, you can choose whichever software suits you the best.
Xero are launching newly named and streamlined plans with easier access to tools and more key features included. However, some of those additions are minor and some significant add-ons are being removed. We haven’t noticed any other recent changes or improvements. So we guess the other main reason for the price increase is inflation.
Xero’s prices will increase from 12 September 2024. Also, changes to the plans (see below) will start to be phased in from this date. These changes mean you could have to upgrade your plan. Here are the Xero Price increases for 2024 and the past few years for their main plans.
| Package | Starter | Standard | Premium | Ultimate |
| New name | Ignite | Grow | Comprehensive | Ultimate |
| 2020 price pcm | £10 | £24 | £30 | na |
| 2021 price pcm | £12 | £26 | £33 | na |
| 2022 price pcm | £14 | £28 | £36 | £49 |
| 2023 price pcm | £15 | £30 | £42 | £55 |
| 2024 price pcm | £16 | £33 | £47 | £59 |
| Average increase pa | 14% | 8% | 12% | 10% |
In addition to the main plan increases above, changes to the plans mean that you may have to upgrade your plan to get the same services.
The VAT Cashbook plan that was £11pcm is being ceased. So VAT registered Cashbook users will need to upgrade to the Ignite plan at £16 which is a 45% price increase. The VAT Cashbook, Non-VAT Cashbook (still £7pcm), and Ledger (still £2.50pcm) plans are basic versions of Xero available through Xero Partners only (e.g. accountants).
Add-ons are being removed from all except the Ultimate plan (see below). Upgrading from Starter/Ignite to Standard/Grow is a 120% price increase! Upgrading from Standard/Grow to Premium/Comprehensive is a 57% increase. Upgrading from Premium/Comprehensive to Ultimate is a 40% increase.
It could be even worse. A business on the Starter plan with Payroll for 6 employees is currently paying £21pcm. To have payroll for more than 5 employees they will need to upgrade to Ultimate for £59. A 180% price increase!
Apart from new names, there are changes to each plan, as follows:
Starter/Ignite: Create 10 bills per month instead of 5. Add-ons no longer available: Expenses, Payroll, Projects and Analytics Plus.
Standard/Grow: Process Expenses for 1 and Payroll for 1. Pay directly from Xero for up to 5 bills per month. Projects and Analytics Plus no longer available. Payroll is included but limited to 1.
Premium/Comprehensive: Process Expenses for 5 and Payroll for 5. Pay directly from Xero for up to 10 bills per month. Analytics Plus included. Projects no longer available. Payroll is included but limited to 5.
Ultimate: Process Expenses for 10 (was 5). Use Projects for 10 (was 5). Pay directly from Xero for up to 15 bills per month. Use Analytics Plus. Payroll is included for 10 and can be increased.
Xero is certainly improving all of the time, however those changes are small. For example the automatic matching of bank transactions to invoices and bills has improved. Where the changes are not small, they usually come at an extra cost, such as the Expenses or Projects add-ons. Even though you now get 1 or 5 Expenses and Payroll users on some plans, the core platform has not improved much . Certainly not enough to justify up to a 60% increase in the Xero price since 2020. Having said that, it is still the best online accounting software for small businesses. So if you can afford to continue using it, you should.
With CloudBook Online Accountants, unlike other accountants, you can use whichever software you prefer. We don’t make you use Xero’s accounting or payroll software, so you don’t have to pay their high prices. As well as that, you’ll probably save on accountancy fees too, with our low fixed monthly fees.
To avoid the price increase, could you downgrade your Xero plan? The Starter/Ignite plan now has unlimited bank transactions and allows up to 20 sales invoices and 5/10 bills per month. Instead of using bills you could just attach them to the bank transaction. The Standard/Grow plan is only missing multi-currency which is only essential if you have foreign bank accounts. If you have few foreign currency transactions you could convert them manually.
Move My Books is a free service that helps you move your accounting data to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage Accounting. This could be useful if you are thinking of moving from Xero to QuickBooks or Sage.
Pandle is unlimited and comes with multi-currency and bank feeds for £5pcm. We can get it for £2.50pcm. It’s relatively new, sometimes slow, and takes a while to get used to. However, it should cope with most things you use Xero for.
QuickBooks is our next most popular software after Xero. It does most things that Xero can do and is quite easy to use. Their Self-Employed package is £10pcm, Simple is £14pcm, Essentials is £28pcm, Plus is £38pcm.
FreeAgent is geared towards small business and freelancers. Natwest, RBS and Mettle bank customers can get it for free. We can get it for our clients for £23pcm. Or it costs £33pcm
Kashflow is less popular than it used to be. However, if you have straightforward accounting transactions, it can work well for you. Starter is £11.50pcm, Business is £23.50pcm or with payroll is £31.50pcm.
Quickfile is used by a few of our clients. It’s less easy to use but it can be free if you have less than 1000 entries per year, otherwise it’s just £60pa. If you want automated bank feeds, that’s an extra £15pa.
MyT accounting is a new software with a built-in receipt reader using AI to categorise your costs automatically. The Standard subscription is £10pcm, Plus is £20pcm and Pro is £30pcm.
From our experience Sage have struggled to keep up with their online competition. As such, we still don’t have any clients using Sage at the time of writing but we’d be happy to help you use it. However, it’s not much cheaper than Xero. The Start price is £15pcm. Standard is £30pcm and Plus is £39pcm.
If you’re not VAT registered, you could use a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers) to do your accounting. While we prefer online accounting software, if your accounting transactions are straightforward, a tidy spreadsheet would be ok. All transactions need to be categorised. Read more on our bookkeeping using a spreadsheet page.
We have our own free software which very basically allows you to list your sales and expenditure. It can also submit MTD VAT returns.
There are many other online accounting software platforms available. We’ll consider doing your accounts etc using any online accounting software. Look out for ones that can link to UK bank accounts and are MTD compliant.
About Us Our Prices Instant QuoteHere we explain the 2023 Xero Price Increase. Go to the 2024 Xero Price Increase for those details. How much Xero’s Prices are increasing. Why Xero’s prices are increasing. Also, the alternatives to Xero. With CloudBook Online Accountants, you can choose whichever software suits you the best.
Here are the Xero Price increases over the past two years:
| Package | Starter | Standard | Premium |
| 2020 price pcm | £10 | £24 | £30 |
| 2021 price pcm | £12 | £26 | £33 |
| 2021 increase | 20% | 8% | 10% |
| 2022 price pcm | £14 | £28 | £36 |
| 2022 increase | 17% | 8% | 9% |
| 2 Year increase | 40% | 17% | 20% |
| 2023 price pcm | £15 | £30 | £42 |
| 2023 increase | 7% | 7% | 17% |
| 3 Year increase | 50% | 25% | 40% |
Xero state that they are continuing to invest in their platform to deliver more efficient tools, powerful insights and access to faster payments. The only noticeable change over the past year is that all of the reports have changed to allow you to edit them. They have now removed the old reports.
In our opinion, Xero is certainly improving all of the time, however those changes are small. Where the changes are not small, they usually come at an extra cost, such as the Expenses or Projects add-ons. The core platform, in our opinion, has not improved enough over the past two years to justify up to a 50% increase in the Xero price over the past three years. Having said that, it is still the best online accounting software for small businesses. So if you can afford to continue using it, you should.
With CloudBook Online Accountants, unlike other accountants, you can use whichever software you prefer. We don’t make you use Xero software, so you don’t have to pay their high prices. As well as that, you’ll probably save on accountancy fees too, with our low fixed monthly fees.
To avoid the price increase, could you downgrade your Xero plan? The Starter plan now has unlimited bank transactions and allows up to 20 sales invoices and 5 bills per month. Instead of using bills you could just attach them to the bank transaction. The Standard plan is only missing multi-currency which is only essential if you have foreign bank accounts. If you have few foreign currency transactions you could convert them manually.
Move My Books is a free service that helps you move your accounting data to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage Accounting. This could be useful if you are thinking of moving from Xero to QuickBooks or Sage.
Pandle is unlimited and comes with multi-currency and bank feeds for £5pcm. We can get it for £2.50pcm. It’s relatively new, sometimes slow, and takes a while to get used to. However, it should cope with most things you use Xero for.
QuickBooks is our next most popular software after Xero. It does most things that Xero can do and is quite easy to use. Their Self-Employed package is £10pcm, Simple is £14pcm, Essentials £24pcm, Plus is £34pcm.
FreeAgent is geared towards small business and freelancers. Natwest, RBS and Mettle bank customers can get it for free. We can get it for our clients for £17.50pcm.
Kashflow is less popular than it used to be. However, if you have straightforward accounting transactions, it can work well for you. Starter is £10.50pcm, Business is £22pcm or with payroll is £29pcm.
Quickfile is used by a few of our clients. It’s less easy to use but it can be free if you have less than 1000 entries per year, otherwise it’s just £60pa. If you want automated bank feeds, that’s an extra £15pa.
MyT accounting is a new software with a built-in receipt reader using AI to categorise your costs automatically. The Standard subscription is £5pcm, Plus is £15pcm and Pro is £30pcm.
From our experience Sage have struggled to keep up with their online competition. As such, we still don’t have any clients using Sage at the time of writing but we’d be happy to help you use it. However, it’s not much cheaper than Xero. The Start price is £14pcm. Standard is £28pcm and Plus is £36pcm.
If you’re not VAT registered, you could use a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers) to do your accounting. While we prefer online accounting software, if your accounting transactions are straightforward, a tidy spreadsheet would be ok. All transactions need to be categorised. Read more on our bookkeeping using a spreadsheet page.
We have our own free software which very basically allows you to list your sales and expenditure. It can also submit MTD VAT returns.
There are many other online accounting software platforms available. We’ll consider doing your accounts etc using any online accounting software. Look out for ones that can link to UK bank accounts and are MTD compliant. Unfortunately, this excludes Wave accounting which is a free alternative if you don’t need those things.
About Us Our Prices Instant QuoteAs businesses continue to embrace digital transformation, the role of online accounting software has become paramount in ensuring streamlined financial management. Whether you’re a small startup or an established enterprise, the right online accounting software can make a significant impact on your efficiency, accuracy, and overall success. In this article, we will delve into the 15 specific features in online accounting software that should be on your radar when selecting online accounting software tailored to your business needs.
The foundation of any effective online accounting software is a user-friendly interface. Intuitive navigation, clear labeling, and organised dashboards ensure that users can quickly access the tools they need, reducing the learning curve and increasing overall productivity.
Cloud-based accounting software enables users to access their financial data from anywhere, at any time, fostering collaboration and flexibility. Cloud solutions also eliminate the hassle of manual backups and offer enhanced security measures to safeguard sensitive financial information.
Time-consuming manual data entry and tedious reconciliation processes become things of the past with automated bookkeeping features. These capabilities include bank feed integration, transaction categorization, and automatic reconciliation, saving valuable hours and reducing the risk of errors.
Efficient invoicing and billing tools allow businesses to create, send, and track invoices seamlessly. Customizable templates, automatic reminders, and integrated payment gateways improve cash flow and enhance the customer experience. Choose software that allows you to personalize your invoice templates to reflect your brand.
Managing expenses becomes effortless with software that intelligently categorizes and tracks your business expenditures. Detailed expense tracking features enable users to monitor business expenditures and easily allocate costs to appropriate categories. This data helps in budgeting, expense analysis, and tax preparation.
Make data-driven decisions with up-to-the-minute financial reports. Seek software that generates real-time reports. Comprehensive financial reporting capabilities provide insights into the health of the business. Balance sheets, income statements, cash flow reports, and customisable analytics empower informed decision-making.
Ideal for service-based businesses, project-based accounting allows you to track income and expenses for specific projects or clients. This feature provides insights into project profitability and resource allocation.
For businesses dealing with physical products, inventory management is crucial. Opt for software that tracks inventory levels, alerts you when it’s time to reorder, and integrates seamlessly with your sales and purchasing processes.
In a connected business ecosystem, integration is key. Seamless integration with other business tools, such as CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, and payroll software, ensures a unified and holistic approach to financial management.
For businesses operating in the global market, multi-currency support is essential. The ability to handle transactions and conversions in various currencies simplifies international operations.
Top-tier security features, including data encryption, two-factor authentication, and regular software updates, protect sensitive financial data from unauthorized access and cyber threats. Choose software that employs bank-level security measures, including data encryption and secure servers, to ensure the confidentiality of your information.
Seamless integration with payroll processing ensures that employee salaries, taxes, and deductions are accurately calculated and recorded, saving you from the complexities of manual payroll management.
Collaboration tools allow multiple users, such as accountants, bookkeepers, and business owners, to work together in real time, facilitating efficient teamwork and ensuring accurate financial records. Maintain control over who can access and modify your financial data. Opt for software that offers customizable user permissions and access controls to prevent unauthorized changes.
In an increasingly mobile world, mobile accessibility ensures that users can manage their finances on the go. Mobile apps with essential features make it convenient to stay connected and informed. This allows you to manage invoices, track expenses, and access financial reports from your smartphone or tablet.
Ensure accountability and transparency by using software that maintains a comprehensive audit trail. An audit trail feature provides a detailed history of all financial transactions and changes, enhancing transparency, accountability, and compliance.
Responsive customer support, including live chat, email, and phone assistance, ensures that users receive timely help with any issues or questions that may arise during their software usage. When you have questions or run into issues, timely customer support can make all the difference. Choose software providers that offer responsive customer support channels, as well as training resources to help you maximize the software’s potential.
Selecting the right online accounting software is a crucial decision for businesses aiming to optimize their financial management processes. The 15 must-have features in online accounting software outlined in this article serve as a comprehensive guide to help businesses make informed choices that align with their unique needs and objectives. By embracing these features, businesses can navigate the complexities of modern finance with confidence, efficiency, and accuracy.
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In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionised various industries, and accounting is no exception. The advent of AI accountants has propelled the accounting profession into a new era of efficiency and accuracy. By harnessing the power of AI tools and technologies, online accounting services are redefining traditional accounting practices, making them more streamlined, error-free, and time-effective. In this article, we will explore how AI tools such as Dext or Hubdoc, bank statement data extraction, and Xero’s bank reconciliation AI are transforming the accounting landscape and enhancing the capabilities of online accounting services.
At CloudBook Online Accountants, we have always been ahead of the curve in terms of technology. When we were formed in 2013, we specialised in online accounting software. In fact we only helped clients who used or wanted to use online accounting software. This was when most accountancy firms were reluctant to even try it! Now we are AI accountants but everything is fully controlled by qualified accountants. It’s the same personal service we’ve always provided but using AI tools where possible. It will keep us efficient and keep your fees low.
Here are a few examples of the AI Tools we are already using:
MyT is possibly the first accounting software with a built in AI tool to read invoices and receipts. The tool will extract the data and allocate the cost to an expense category determined by AI. We are MyT accountants and are ready to help you use MyT AI accounting software. See our MyT review for more information.
One of the most time-consuming tasks in accounting involves manually extracting data from receipts and invoices. However, with AI-powered tools like Dext or Hubdoc, this process is streamlined and automated. By simply uploading receipts or invoices, these tools use AI algorithms to extract key information, such as vendor details, transaction amounts, and dates. This eliminates the need for manual data entry, reduces human error, and significantly speeds up the data processing workflow. AI accountants can now allocate their valuable time to higher-level tasks that require human judgment and analysis.
Traditionally, extracting data from bank statements and reconciling transactions has been a painstaking task for accountants. However, AI-powered algorithms have transformed this process. AI accountants can now leverage cutting-edge technologies to automatically extract data from bank statements and categorise transactions with high precision. By accurately extracting and categorising data, online accounting services powered by AI can provide real-time insights into a company’s financial health, identify patterns and trends, and help businesses make informed financial decisions swiftly.
Bank reconciliation, a critical component of accounting, can be a complex and time-consuming task. However, AI accountants can leverage intelligent solutions like Xero’s AI-powered bank reconciliation feature to automate this process. Xero’s AI technology learns from historical data, including past reconciliations and categorisations, to identify patterns and suggest matches for unmatched transactions. By automating bank reconciliation, AI-powered accountants eliminate human error, improve accuracy, and save significant time for both accountants and business owners.
By adopting AI tools and technologies, online accounting services can offer numerous benefits to businesses:
AI accountants have revolutionised the accounting landscape by harnessing the power of AI tools and technologies. By automating tedious manual tasks, such as data extraction from receipts and invoices, bank statement data extraction, and bank reconciliation, online accounting services can significantly enhance efficiency and accuracy. Businesses that embrace AI accountants gain access to real-time insights, accurate financial records, and the ability to make data-driven decisions swiftly. With AI as their ally, businesses can optimise their accounting processes, focus on core operations, and stay one step ahead in today’s competitive business environment.
P.S. Yes, this post was AI generated and tailored. It saved us hours, giving us more time to help our clients save tax!
About Us Our Prices Instant QuoteMyT online accounting software provides small businesses an AI solution for their accounting needs. We are MyT Accountants and this is our MyT review. We have many clients that use MyT to do their online bookkeeping, VAT returns, and management accounts. We also do bookkeeping for our clients using MyT. You can see all of our fees and get an instant quote from the menu above. This is our MyT accounting software review covering their online accounting software.
This is our MyT review which gives a detailed opinion on various parts of the software. If you’re looking for a quick review of MyT, our overall rating is 3/5, however it is brand new and improving and could save you a lot of money.
Prices range from just £5pcm up to £30pcm, after a free trial and the MyT offer of £1 per month. The Standard plan should be sufficient for most small businesses which is £5pcm and is £9pcm cheaper than the Xero Starter plan. Our MyT review for cost is 5/5.
MyT could be more intuitive at times but once you get used to it, it’s quite easy and quick to use, with a clear layout. There could be some improvements like bulk categorisations and banking rules. Read on below for how easy it is to do various things on MyT. Our MyT review for overall ease of use is 3/5.
To add new sales on the mobile app, from the Home screen just click on Create Customer Invoice, add the details, then Create. The layout is in the style of an invoice, so it’s clear what information needs to go where. Then you need to go to Customer Invoices to email it to your customer from the mobile app. On the desktop app, go to Sales, Create Invoice, add the details then Save. Again, you have to go to the Sales Overview to email the invoice to your customer. It would be easier if there was an option to email the invoice directly from the created invoice. You can set up a payment service with BOPP to add a payment option to give customers an easy way to pay the invoice. Adding attachments is a useful option which will make it easy to show the customer their order.
On the mobile app you have to add a photo or a file to create a supplier invoice. This is where the MyT Artificial Intelligence comes into play. It will read the details on the photo or file and create the supplier invoice for you.
On the desktop app you can add supplier invoices without uploading a photo or file.
Connecting Bank Accounts was easy and powered by the reputable MoneyHub. It involves choosing your bank (the open banking one worked for us), then logging into that bank account with your online banking details. Then you can choose the specific account to import and the range of dates you want to import transactions from. Both HSBC and Lloyds Bank worked fine.
If you can’t connect to your bank account, or if there are transactions missing, you can upload your bank transactions instead. First, you need to log into your online banking account and download your bank transactions. The download needs to be in the CSV format or some others might work, but not PDF. Once you have that click on Banking in MyT, then Import Data. Then choose the file you downloaded click on Import, then match the filed names. Make sure you select the correct bank account to import the data into.
To manually add bank transactions on MyT Accounting, just select either Spend Money or Receive Money, then Add Transactions.
Once your transactions are imported into MyT, you’ll need to categorise each one. For manually added transactions, you will have done this when adding the transaction. Click on the bank account, then click Review alongside the transaction. Then select the correct category and any other details required such as name and VAT rate, then Add. If it relates to a sales invoice or purchase bill, use the View More Match Options to allocate it against the invoice/bill. There are also options for Transfer and Credit Card payments.
Preparing and submitting VAT returns on MyT is very easy once you’ve entered the VAT settings and connected the account to HMRC. Just click on Taxes, Prepare VAT for the period, check the numbers, then submit. To check the numbers you can click on them, or rather than clicking Prepare there are other options to view different VAT reports.
MyT provide a basic suite of useful reports, including the ones shown below. You can export the reports into a spreadsheet or PDF file. Our MyT review on reporting is 3/5.
There’s telephone support which is great. It’s fairly new software so there aren’t many support articles yet.
Our QuickBooks rating for support and other features is 2/5.
Overall we rate MyT Online Accounting 3/5 which for brand new software which is good. It’s a cheaper alternative to Xero and QuickBooks but doesn’t provide as much functionality or time saving features. However, it has the AI receipt/invoice reader built in which could save you a lot of money compared to using Dext alongside Xero or Quickbooks. At CloudBook Online Accountants, we help out clients with whichever online accounting they choose to use, all for a low fixed monthly fee. See our prices or get an instant quote below.
About Us Our Prices Instant QuoteAre you searching for a reliable accounting solution to streamline your financial operations? Look no further than the AI powered MyT accounting software! We, as dedicated MyT accountants, are here to revolutionize your business finances. We can do this by leveraging the power of AI with MyT accounting software. Say goodbye to tedious manual calculations and paperwork, and embrace a smarter, more efficient approach to managing your accounts.
1️⃣ Expert Accountants: Our team of seasoned professionals possesses extensive expertise in accounting and finance. So we understand the intricacies of financial management and can provide you with valuable insights to enhance your business’s profitability and growth.
2️⃣ MyT Software Specialists: We specialize in working with the cutting-edge MyT accounting software. Our in-depth knowledge of the platform allows us to maximize its features to suit your specific business needs. So we’ll guide you through every step of the process. Ensuring a seamless transition to the software and providing ongoing support.
3️⃣ Tailored Solutions: We understand that every business is unique, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to accounting. So our dedicated team takes the time to understand your business model, goals, and challenges. We then customize the MyT software to align with your requirements. Ensuring you have a tailored solution that fits like a glove.
4️⃣ Efficiency and Accuracy: With our accounting expertise and MyT software, we guarantee enhanced efficiency and accuracy with your bookkeeping. That is from managing transactions and generating invoices to tracking expenses and reconciling accounts. Our streamlined processes will save you time and reduce the risk of errors.
5️⃣ Cost-Effective Solutions: We believe that professional accounting services should be accessible to businesses of all sizes. So, by leveraging MyT software, we can offer cost-effective solutions that deliver outstanding value for your investment. Our MyT accountant services will streamline your finances and also help you make informed financial decisions for your business’s success.
6️⃣ Ongoing Support and Training. We don’t just set up the MyT software and leave you to figure it out on your own. Our commitment extends beyond implementation. That’s because our MyT accountants support team is always available to address any questions or concerns that may arise.
Don’t let accounting complexities hold your business back. Embrace the power of AI accounting software with MyT software with our expert accounting services. So, by partnering with us, you’ll experience seamless financial management. As well as accurate reporting, and the freedom to focus on what you do best—growing your business.
Contact us today for a consultation and let’s unlock the full potential of MyT accounting software for your business’s success!
About Us Our Prices Instant QuoteFrom April 2023 CloudBook Online Accountants’ prices are increasing by 10%. This is their first increase in pricing since the accountancy firm was formed in 2013. The reasons for the increased accountants pricing are explained below. You can see our accountants prices here.
Our current prices were set when we started CloudBook Accountants in 2013. During the 10 years since then, we’ve managed to absorb increasing costs and tax rates by finding more efficient ways of working which has allowed us to grow the accountancy business.
However, inflation has been about 10% for nearly one year, interest rates have increased by at least 3.9% in just over one year, and corporation tax is increasing in April 2023. If we tried to grow our business enough to cover these additional costs, it would be detrimental to our quality of service. As such, we need to increase our accountants prices fees to keep our business model sustainable.
So we’ve taken the difficult decision to increase all of our prices by 10% from 1st April 2023, and we gave our clients two months’ notice of this change. Any software recharged will only increase if your supplier increases their online accounting price. All invoices from 1st April 2023 will reflect our fee increase.
| Example package prices | Current £ | New £ | Change £ |
| Annual+ Company | 50.00 | 55.00 | +5 |
| Xero Starter (discounted) | 11.90 | 11.90 | +0 |
| Subtotal | 61.90 | 66.90 | +5 |
| VAT | 12.38 | 13.38 | +1 |
| Total | 74.28 | 80.28 | +6 |
If you are a new client signing up with CloudBook Online Accountants before April 2023, you will pay the current pricing for your first 12 months with us, then you’ll move onto our new prices.
We understand that these are challenging times for everyone and any increase to your costs can be difficult to deal with. So please get in touch if you’d like to discuss what options you may have to reduce your costs, such as changing your accountancy package (and the price you pay) or software supplier.
Some of you are paying for our services in arrears. For example, if you started paying us the monthly accounts price X months after the start of your accounting year, our invoice will state that the accounts price is for the month of trading X months ago. If so, you are welcome to pay off the arrears (X months times by the monthly accounts price) at the current price by 31st March 2023. Otherwise the new price applies to all payments from 1st April 2023.
Some of you are paying for our services annually. If you provide us with your accounting records by 28th February 2023, giving us the requested 1 month’s notice, this will be invoiced at the current price. Any annual records provided after this date, may be invoiced at the current or new price, depending on when we upload the accounts.
We hope that you find the increase to CloudBooks Online Accountants’ prices acceptable and necessary to maintain our quality of service. As well as the reasons stated above, we have also made various improvements to our services recently, such as providing you with quicker response times, annual reviews with accounts, quarterly reviews with VAT returns, and an improved website with useful guides and frequently asked questions.
Please get in touch if you have any concerns, questions or suggestions.
About Us Our Prices Instant QuoteIf you’re new to business you’re probably wondering what is bookkeeping? Why do I need to do bookkeeping? And how do I do the bookkeeping? To help you answer these questions, here we explain what bookkeeping is and the theory behind it. How to do the bookkeeping is explained on our other posts: bookkeeping using spreadsheets and on our bookkeeping using software posts.
Bookkeeping is the process of recording all of the financial transactions of a business. The financial transactions would include sales, purchases, income, payments, vat, payroll etc. Historically, each transaction would be written in one or more books by a person known as the bookkeeper. Nowadays we use spreadsheets and online accounting software to help us keep the books.
You need to do the bookkeeping to have a record of every financial transaction. You need bookkeping records to be able to prove to the tax inspector how much tax is due. It is a legal requirement of directors of companies to keep up to date bookkeeping records. Other businesses are also required by HMRC to keep bookkeeping records as evidence of how much profit has been made.
Accountants use the bookkeeping records to check that transactions have been recorded correctly. Then they prepare reports on how much money the business has made (profit & loss report). And how much money it owns and owes (balance sheet). These reports also help to work out how much tax is payable.
Online accounting software deals with the technical aspects of bookkeeping for you. So you don’t really need to know the theory behind bookkeeping. However, a general understanding of bookkeeping theory can help you understand how to use online accounting software.
The main method of bookkeeping is called double entry, where every transaction would be entered into 2 different books. Like a gangster film, where one set of books are accurate and the other set is for the tax inspector? No! There are several books that make up whole bookkeeping system. For example a sales book, purchases book, bank book. Each transaction would have a double effect on the business’s finances and in its books. For example, when a business buys stock with cash, it has increased its costs and reduced its cash. That’s a double effect, so the transaction would be recorded twice. Once in the purchases book and again in the cash book.
For another example, let’s say the business sells the stock on credit (buy now pay later). The first double entry will be in the sales invoice book, showing the invoices owed to the business. The other entry will be in the nominal ledger to show that a sale has been made. When the customer pays the invoice, this is a new transaction that requires another double entry. One entry is to the sales invoice book to mark the invoice as now being paid. The other is to the bank book to show that the bank balance has increased.
Each bookkeeping entry is either a debit or a credit. A double entry must be opposing, so one is a debit and the other is a credit. This way, all of the debits totalled up should equal all of the credits totalled up. So the books are balanced and the accountant is happy! To remember whether something should be a debit or credit can take years of practice until it finally clicks. But here are the rules:
| Increase | Decrease | |
| Debits | Costs, Assets | Sales, Liabilities |
| Credits | Sales, Liabilities | Costs, Assets |
Sales and costs are self explanatory, but we should explain what we mean by assets and liabilities. Assets are the things the business owns or is owed. For example: equipment, stock, cash in the bank, money owed from customers. Liabilities are the things that the business owes. For example: money owed to suppliers, bank loans, tax owed to HMRC. Shares and profit reserves are also liability accounts because they are ultimately amounts owed to the shareholders. However, software often refers to these as equity accounts.
So we have four main types of accounts:
The profit and loss report shows the sales and costs. The balance sheet shows the assets and liabilities. The difference between the sales and costs (profit or loss) is added to the balance sheet. This is done in an account called retained earnings or profit or loss which makes everything balance.
We bring together all of the different accounts at the end of a period of time (usually 1 year). We list all of the sales, costs, assets and liabilities accounts along with their total debit or credit balance. This ‘Trial Balance’ report is to check that the total debits equals the total credits, and everything balances. Then we summarise those amounts on the profit and loss report and the balance sheet report.
Do you need to know this if you use online accounting software such as Xero and Pandle?. Well, knowing the basics of what bookkeeping is can help you understand how online accounting software works. Also, how to use it correctly. It seems you are only making one entry onto the software. But in fact, the software is itself dealing with the double entry, and keeping everything balanced.
Creating a sales invoice on your accounting software will add the total amount to the balances owed from customers (asset). It will also add the net amount of the invoice to sales (sale). If VAT is applicable it will also add the VAT amount to the VAT account (liability). When the bank income appears on your accounting software, you know that you’ve already added that sale to sales. So you know not to categorise the income as sales. Instead, you need to record it as a sales receipt and match it to the sales invoice. Then the software will increase the bank balance, and reduce the amount owed from customers.
Likewise with a bank transfer. If you move money from one business bank account to another, you need to record this as a bank transfer. When you deal with one side of the bank transfer, your accounting software will create the other side. In the other bank account, you know you’ve already created the other side of the bank transfer. So you just need to match it with the transaction that’s already there from the first bank account. If you create another transfer, you will end up with duplicate transactions in both accounts.
Knowing what bookkeeping is can also help you adjust your online accounting too. We often call these adjustments journals. A journal changes the balances of your accounts, without the use of bank transactions, or sales or purchase invoices. Every journal needs to balance, i.e. the total debits equal the total credits, to keep the accounts balanced.
If you pay wages, the wages payment doesn’t usually reflect the full cost of the wages. That’s because of the tax deductions reducing the gross wages to net wages. So you could use a journal entry to record the full cost and the taxes due. You would debit the gross wages and any employers NIC to the cost accounts. Then credit the net wages to a liability account, and credit the total PAYE/NIC to another liability account. Then when you pay the wages, you know that you’ve recorded the cost already. So the payment needs to categorised to the net wages liability account (as a debit to offset the earlier credit). Similarly with the PAYE/NIC payment, you need to categorise that to that liability account too.
If your payroll software is part of your online accounting software, it should automatically enter these adjustments for you. However, it helps to know what it has done so you can deal with the payments correctly.
To sum up, bookkeeping is a very important process of recording all business transactions. It is a legal requirement for all businesses. The theory of bookkeeping (double entry debits and credits) will help you to understand how to use online accounting software.
If you need help with the bookkeeping, we can do that for you as part of our Monthly package. Or we can guide you through it as part of the advice included in our fixed fees. You can see our fees and get an instant quote using the buttons below.
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