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Accounting software / YOUR COMPARISON
65% evidence coverage
With AI excluded: 65–100/100
£18.00
organisation/month · excl. VAT
Businesses wanting accountant collaboration and a route from basic bookkeeping to project and currency workflows.
The reviewed supplier page explicitly serves the UK market.
Visit Xero ↗
50% evidence coverage
With AI excluded: 47–100/100
£19.00
business/month · excl. VAT
Sole traders and small limited companies seeking straightforward bookkeeping and UK tax visibility.
The reviewed supplier page explicitly serves the UK market.
Visit FreeAgent ↗The first number is earned from documented features. Unverified capabilities create the range. Product scores do not establish the quality, reliability or price of a particular plan.
| Capability & demo question | Xero65–100/100 documented fit | FreeAgent50–100/100 documented fit |
|---|---|---|
Core workflowSales invoicing5.0 points availableAsk in the demoCreate and send a VAT invoice with customer details, line items and a due date. | ✓ Supported Quotes and sales invoices; Ignite limits apply. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Automated invoicing listed. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowBank feeds and reconciliation5.0 points availableAsk in the demoImport your bank's transactions and reconcile a transfer, fee and customer payment. | ✓ Supported Bank feeds and reconciliation documented. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Open Banking feeds, transaction explanation and smart categorisation support bank reconciliation. Confirm compatibility with your bank and test unusual transactions. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowMTD VAT submission5.0 points availableAsk in the demoPrepare a return for the relevant VAT scheme and show the submission receipt. | ✓ Supported Direct VAT returns to HMRC. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Generate and submit MTD VAT returns. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowSupplier bills and payment tracking5.0 points availableAsk in the demoEnter a supplier bill, allocate its VAT and show its outstanding balance. | ✓ Supported Bill entry and tracking documented. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm supplier bills and payment tracking. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Core workflowFinancial reports and dashboards5.0 points availableAsk in the demoDrill from a monthly report into its underlying transaction. | ✓ Supported Financial reports and dashboards. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Dashboard covers profit, cashflow and tax. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowEmployee expense recording5.0 points availableAsk in the demoSubmit a receipt and show its allocation to the right expense category. | ✓ Supported Expense claims available by plan. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Mobile expense recording. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Core workflowAccountant collaboration5.0 points availableAsk in the demoInvite an accountant without sharing the owner's credentials. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm accountant collaboration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm accountant collaboration. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthRecurring invoices and reminders5.0 points availableAsk in the demoSchedule a repeat invoice and inspect the reminder history. | ✓ Supported Repeating invoices and automatic payment reminders are documented. Check the selected plan and reminder settings. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Automatic invoices and reminders. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthForeign-currency bookkeeping5.0 points availableAsk in the demoInvoice in euros and show the realised exchange difference when paid. | ✓ Supported Comprehensive and Ultimate include multiple currencies. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Foreign-currency bank accounts and expense conversion are documented. The complete invoice-settlement and realised exchange-difference workflow has not been verified for this check. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthProject profitability5.0 points availableAsk in the demoAllocate time, expenses and invoices to a job and inspect its margin. | ✓ Supported Ultimate includes project time and cost tracking. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Projects track income, costs and time, with project profit-and-loss reporting and exports. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthBudget versus actual reporting5.0 points availableAsk in the demoSet a departmental budget and investigate a variance. | ✓ Supported Higher plans include budgeting. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm budget versus actual reporting. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthConstruction Industry Scheme workflow5.0 points availableAsk in the demoProcess a subcontractor deduction and show the CIS return or export. | ✓ Supported CIS calculations; return submission is an add-on. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm construction industry scheme workflow. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthStock quantities and cost tracking5.0 points availableAsk in the demoSell a stocked item and inspect quantity and cost-of-sales changes. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm stock quantities and cost tracking. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Available with accrual setup; omitted in cash basis. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
Workflow depthFixed-asset lifecycle5.0 points availableAsk in the demoAdd an asset, post depreciation and record its disposal. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm fixed-asset lifecycle. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm fixed-asset lifecycle. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthRole restrictions and period locks5.0 points availableAsk in the demoPrevent an ordinary user changing a closed period or privileged setting. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm role restrictions and period locks. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm role restrictions and period locks. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthTransaction audit history5.0 points availableAsk in the demoFind who changed an invoice and review the previous values. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm transaction audit history. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm transaction audit history. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
Workflow depthData export or documented API5.0 points availableAsk in the demoExport ledger detail or retrieve invoice data through a documented integration. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm data export or documented api. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm data export or documented api. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
AIAI document extraction and categorisation5.0 points availableAsk in the demoUpload an unfamiliar receipt, review suggested fields and correct a wrong category. | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm ai document extraction and categorisation. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points | ✓ Supported Smart Capture extracts, matches and categorises documents. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
AIAI financial queries or anomaly detection5.0 points availableAsk in the demoAsk a financial question or inspect a flagged anomaly and verify it against the ledger. | ✓ Supported JAX answers questions using financial data. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ? Not verified Not verified in the reviewed material; confirm ai financial queries or anomaly detection. 0.0–5.0 / 5.0 points |
AIReview and permission controls for AI5.0 points availableAsk in the demoUse a restricted role and show how AI output is reviewed before an accounting action. | ✓ Supported JAX respects roles; output can be reviewed. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ | ✓ Supported Smart Capture has access-level requirements and review/approval controls, including re-approval when a receipt is attached to an approved transaction. This evidence concerns capture, not a general chat assistant. 5.0 / 5.0 pointsEvidence ↗ |
“Not verified” means the recorded evidence does not settle this specific check. It does not mean the feature is absent. Read the scoring method.