Xero Alternative

Switch from Xero. Keep your sanity.

No price rises. No feature paywalls. No certification hoops for your accountant.

Feature	Accounted	Xero
AI Bookkeeper	Penny — named AI, proactive guidance, all tiers	JAX beta, agentic reconciliation ~80% accuracy, in-app only
Messaging Receipt Scanning	Telegram/SMS at launch	Not available
Bank Feeds	Included	Included
Receipt OCR	Included	Included
Invoicing	Professional tier £24	Included (Simple Start capped at 10/month)
Bulk Invoice Operations	ZIP download, bulk email, bulk mark paid	Not available
MTD VAT Submissions	Starter £14	Grow plan only (Simple Start non-VAT)
MTD Income Tax (ITSA)	Included	Included
CIS Management	Professional £24	Requires third-party integration
Corporation Tax	Business £34 — in-product with marginal relief	CT600 via Xero Tax (accountant tool only)
Payroll with RTI	Complete £44	Add-on cost
Free Accountant Portal	Free forever — practice suite, KYC/AML, tax calendar	Paid subscription (free at Silver partner tier)
HMRC Submission Receipts	PDF receipt download, confirmation email	Not available
Section 24 Tax Intelligence	Business £34 — Penny surfaces S24 tax consequence	Record finance costs only, no tax intelligence
Founding Member 50% Off for Life	50% off locked for life	Not available

AI Bookkeeper

Accounted

Penny — named AI, proactive guidance, all tiers

Xero

JAX beta, agentic reconciliation ~80% accuracy, in-app only

Messaging Receipt Scanning

Accounted

Telegram/SMS at launch

Xero

Not available

Bank Feeds

Accounted

Included

Xero

Included

Receipt OCR

Accounted

Included

Xero

Included

Invoicing

Accounted

Professional tier £24

Xero

Included (Simple Start capped at 10/month)

Bulk Invoice Operations

Accounted

ZIP download, bulk email, bulk mark paid

Xero

Not available

MTD VAT Submissions

Accounted

Starter £14

Xero

Grow plan only (Simple Start non-VAT)

MTD Income Tax (ITSA)

Accounted

Included

Xero

Included

CIS Management

Accounted

Professional £24

Xero

Requires third-party integration

Corporation Tax

Accounted

Business £34 — in-product with marginal relief

Xero

CT600 via Xero Tax (accountant tool only)

Payroll with RTI

Accounted

Complete £44

Xero

Add-on cost

Free Accountant Portal

Accounted

Free forever — practice suite, KYC/AML, tax calendar

Xero

Paid subscription (free at Silver partner tier)

HMRC Submission Receipts

Accounted

PDF receipt download, confirmation email

Xero

Not available

Section 24 Tax Intelligence

Accounted

Business £34 — Penny surfaces S24 tax consequence

Xero

Record finance costs only, no tax intelligence

Founding Member 50% Off for Life

Accounted

50% off locked for life

Xero

Not available

What Accounted does that Xero doesn’t

Price stability

No promotional bait-and-switch. The price you see is the price you pay. No mid-contract increases.

Penny AI bookkeeper

Categorises expenses, creates invoices, reminds you about deadlines — included at every tier.

Free accountant portal

Your accountant gets full access for £0. No partner programme, no certification, no per-client fees.

HMRC submission with proof

Every filing returns an HMRC reference number you can download as a PDF receipt.

Ready to switch from Xero?

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Accounted vs Xero FAQ

Repeated price increases have pushed Xero beyond what most sole traders need. Support is limited on starter plans, and partner discounts have been cut, leaving accountants paying more each year.

Yes — sign up in under 2 minutes, connect your bank via Open Banking (powered by Plaid), and Penny imports and categorises your transactions. Your accountant joins for free. Xero data import is planned for a future update.

Yes — Accounted is HMRC-recognised MTD software. We file VAT returns, Self Assessment, CIS monthly returns, and RTI payroll directly to HMRC. Every submission returns a reference number you can download.

No. Your accountant gets a free portal with full client visibility, AI workpapers, and bulk operations. No partner programme, no certification, no per-client fees. Ever.

Yes — bank-grade AES-256 encryption, GDPR compliant, ICO registered. Your data is never used to train AI models.

From £14/month for Starter. Professional is £24/month. Business is £34/month. Complete with payroll is £44/month. No add-on fees for CIS, Corporation Tax, or accountant access.