How we compare accounting software
We list 7 accounting platforms sold to Australian businesses, of which 6 providers publish a rate card. Every figure comes from the vendor's own pricing page, in Australian dollars. A vendor that publishes no rate card shows Get quote, and we do not estimate what it would charge.
Enter your invoices a month, your employees and the number of people who need a login. The calculator picks each vendor's cheapest published plan whose limits cover those numbers, then adds any per-user or per-employee charge the vendor publishes on top. Enter your current cost to see the difference. Commission does not change the order.
Users, payroll and invoices: what moves the price of accounting software
Three inputs decide the plan you end up on.
| Provider | Entry plan /mo | Users included |
|---|---|---|
| FreshBooks | $29/mo (Lite) | 1 + collaborators |
| MYOB | $11/mo (Solo) | Unlimited |
| QuickBooks Online | $33/mo (Simple Start) | 1 (Simple Start) |
| Reckon | $24/mo (Plus) | Unlimited |
| Sage | Get quote | 1 |
| Xero | $37/mo (Ignite) | Unlimited |
| Zoho Books | $16.50/mo (Standard, annual) | 3 (Standard) |
Users. A plan that bundles seats stays one price however many people log in. A plan that caps seats moves you up a tier, or charges per extra user, the day your bookkeeper and your accountant both need access. The Users included column shows what the entry plan covers.
Invoices. Some entry plans cap how many invoices or bills you can raise in a month. Cross the cap and the calculator moves you to the next plan, which is why the estimated cost can jump when you change the invoices input.
Employees. The moment you pay someone, payroll joins the bill, and how much it adds depends on the vendor.
Payroll in accounting software: included, per employee or banded
Payroll is the hidden variable in this category. The feature column says Yes for most vendors, and Yes means different things on different rows: bundled into the plan, charged per employee on top, or sold as a separate add-on that steps up at headcount bands. Some rows say No, and payroll then has to come from another product.
| Provider | AU payroll included | Payroll cost |
|---|---|---|
| FreshBooks | No | N/A |
| MYOB | Yes ($3/emp/mo) | $3/emp/mo (Lite/Pro) |
| QuickBooks Online | Yes (add-on) | $6/emp |
| Reckon | Yes (banded add-on from $16/mo) | From $16/mo (banded) |
| Sage | Yes (add-on) | Add-on |
| Xero | Yes | Included |
| Zoho Books | No | N/A |
A per-employee charge grows with every hire. A banded add-on stays flat until you cross a headcount threshold, then steps up. A plan that bundles payroll still has a ceiling on how many people it can pay, and crossing it moves you to a dearer plan. Casuals are generally billed as employees too, so the bill follows headcount, not hours worked. Enter your real headcount rather than reading the headline price, because the order of the table changes as a team grows.
If you already run payroll elsewhere and intend to keep it there, leave the Employees input at zero. Bundled payroll is only a saving if you are going to use it.
Do you need accounting software under the GST threshold?
A business turning over less than $75,000 a year is not required to register for GST, and quarterly BAS preparation is the main reason most sole traders buy accounting software at all. Below that line, a tool that produces a tax-compliant invoice plus a tidy record of expenses is a defensible system.
Three things change the answer. Employing anyone means payroll, and payroll means software. Expecting to cross the GST threshold within the year means BAS every quarter from then on. And an accountant who already works in a particular platform makes that platform worth more than the price difference, because the bookkeeping is only half the job.
Zoho Books also publishes a free plan, gated on revenue rather than features: Yes (under $50K revenue). A free plan with a revenue gate ends the month you cross it, which is the month you are least able to absorb a migration, so treat it as a start rather than a destination.
GST, BAS and STP: what accounting software must do in Australia
This is where locally built and locally adapted platforms separate, and it does not show in a price comparison. Australian accounting software needs to track GST on sales and purchases, prepare the Business Activity Statement and ideally lodge it with the ATO directly, handle PAYG instalments, and connect to Australian bank feeds. If you employ anyone, every pay run must be reported through Single Touch Payroll Phase 2.
| Provider | BAS/GST lodgement | STP Phase 2 |
|---|---|---|
| FreshBooks | Limited | No |
| MYOB | Yes | Yes |
| QuickBooks Online | Yes | Yes |
| Reckon | Yes | Yes |
| Sage | Yes | Yes (Standard+) |
| Xero | Yes | Yes |
| Zoho Books | Yes | Yes (via integration) |
Read the wording, not just the Yes. "Limited" means GST has to be configured by hand. "Via integration" or a plan name in brackets means the capability depends on another product or a higher tier. If you lodge your own BAS rather than handing it to an accountant, direct ATO lodgement saves you re-keying the figures every quarter.
Every platform here connects to Australian banks, but the number of feeds on the entry plan differs, and a business with several accounts can run out. The Bank feed connections row shows the entry-plan allowance.
Traps when buying accounting software
Reading the entry price as the bill. A ten-person employer pays a different bill from a sole trader, and the order of the table changes with it. Enter your headcount first.
Assuming payroll is included because the column says Yes. Read the Payroll cost column beside it.
Buying for the business you have this month. The entry plan's cap is what moves you, and vendors differ far more at the second rung than the first.
Treating a revenue-gated free plan as permanent. It ends when your revenue crosses the gate, not when you decide to leave.
Paying for GST features you are not yet required to use. Under the threshold, registration is optional and so is much of what you would be paying for.