Xero vs QuickBooks Online (UK)

Xero states unlimited users are included on any plan (“Add unlimited users for free on any plan”). Payroll, Expenses and Projects still have plan-specific people/user allowances that can trigger extra charges if exceeded.

Published user counts on the UK pricing page: Sole Trader Plus 1 user, Simple Start 1 user, Essentials 3 users, Plus 5 users, Advanced 25 users, each plus accountant access.

Invoicing is on the UK plans. Ignite: send quotes and 20 invoices. Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate: send invoices and quotes (unlimited on the plan comparison table).

Invoicing and getting paid (including invoice payments) is listed on the UK pricing and product pages for QuickBooks Online plans.

Direct bank feeds: Xero’s UK pricing FAQ says they are available at no additional cost for most customers; some UK banks charge fees that Xero says it will pass on. Bank connections and reconciliation are listed on the UK bank-reconciliation page; auto-reconcile (JAX) is included on Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate, and is an optional add-on on Ignite.

The UK pricing page lists automated bank feeds: connect bank accounts to sync transactions. The UK homepage also describes connecting the bank and matching transactions.

Payroll is sold as part of the Xero UK plan, not a separate SKU. Ignite: optional £1.50 per person. Grow: 1 person included, then £1.50 extra. Comprehensive: 5 people included, then £1.50 extra. Ultimate: 10 people included, then £1 extra. Maximum 200 people on the plan pages.

Payroll is a paid add-on. The UK pricing checkout flow lists “Add Payroll (Optional)” and Simple Start’s feature list says “Run payroll and manage workforce (paid add-on)”. Add-on plan prices were not a stable list-price figure on the page checked.

Ignite, Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate each list “MTD for Income Tax ready” on the UK pricing comparison table.

UK pricing: Sole Trader Plus lists Making Tax Digital for Income Tax ready. Simple Start and above list Making Tax Digital for VAT ready (prepare and submit VAT and Income Tax in line with MTD). The UK homepage states HMRC-recognised MTD software.

“Submit VAT returns to HMRC” is listed as included on Ignite, Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate on the UK pricing comparison table. Plan prices are published excl. VAT.

Simple Start and higher list Making Tax Digital for VAT ready and “Manage and submit VAT to HMRC”. Sole Trader Plus is described around Income Tax / MTD for IT on the same page, without the VAT-return line used on Simple Start. All displayed prices are + VAT @20%.

“Use multiple currencies” is included on Comprehensive and Ultimate, and listed as excluded on Ignite and Grow, on the UK pricing comparison table.

Essentials lists “Manage multiple currencies” (record transactions in other currencies). Plus and Advanced include everything in Essentials.

Xero’s UK inventory page describes inventory management in Xero, including tracking items you buy and sell and managing up to 4,000 finished items. The UK pricing comparison table does not itemise inventory as a separate plan row.

Inventory tracking (products, cost of goods, low-stock notifications) is stated as available in QuickBooks Plus and Advanced only on the UK homepage and as “Manage inventory” on Plus on the UK pricing page.

Xero publishes APIs, SDKs and developer documentation on the Xero Developer platform for building integrations.

Intuit publishes QuickBooks Online API developer documentation for building integrations.

Xero’s UK common questions page says you can invite other users, including your accountant or bookkeeper. Unlimited organisation users are included; advisor access is via invited users rather than a separate paid seat on the pages checked.

Every listed UK plan includes “Plus access for your accountant”. The pricing page says you can invite your accountant without sharing a login, in addition to the plan’s user count.

Xero’s UK pricing pages offer “Get one month free”: purchase any Xero plan and the first month is free. A separate 80% off for 6 months intro is a promotional discount, not the trial.

QuickBooks UK pricing and free-trial pages offer a 30-day free trial. The 90% off for 6 months buy-now offer is promotional; Intuit’s UK offer terms say the buy-now discount is for new customers and is not combined with the 30-day trial.