Last updated: 5 October 2026. Written by the FreeMyCloud team.
Prices checked against the Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, Reckon and Zoho Australian pricing pages, and reporting rules against the ATO, on 5 October 2026.
The best accounting software in Australia for most small businesses is one of four products: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or Reckon. All four track GST, prepare BAS figures and run Single Touch Payroll for employees. The real differences are price, how each one charges for payroll, and how many people can log in. At list prices on 5 October 2026, a business paying three employees would pay $40 a month on Reckon One, $78 on QuickBooks, $79 on MYOB Business Pro and $107 on Xero Comprehensive. A business with no staff can start from $99 a year.
This guide compares the four on price, payroll, users and BAS, and covers the free options, the head-to-head questions people search most (QuickBooks vs Xero, MYOB vs QuickBooks, Reckon vs Xero) and the questions to ask before moving your books.
- Lowest monthly cost with staff: Reckon One, from $24 a month for accounting plus $16 a month for payroll for up to 4 employees.
- Cheapest with no staff: MYOB Solo at $99 a year, a phone app that tracks GST but does not lodge BAS.
- No per-user fees: Xero charges no per-user licence fee on any plan; QuickBooks plans are capped at 1, 3, 5 or 25 users.
- Payroll that grows per head: MYOB and QuickBooks charge per employee ($3 and $6 a month); Xero includes a fixed number of people in each plan.
- Free: Zoho Books has a free plan for businesses under A$50,000 revenue a year; GnuCash is free desktop software.
What is the best accounting software for small business in Australia?
There is no single best accounting software in Australia for every business, because the four products price differently. The fairest way to compare them is on what a business of your size would actually pay each month, using list prices without introductory offers. All four vendors run heavy first-months discounts (80% off Xero for 3 months, 70% off QuickBooks for 6 months, 60% to 70% off MYOB, and $1 a month for Reckon in October 2026), so the price after the offer is the one to budget for.
Each of the four does the core jobs an Australian small business needs: bank feeds and reconciliation, invoices and bills, GST coding, BAS figures, and payroll reported through Single Touch Payroll. Where they differ is in how much each extra employee or user costs, the reporting depth on the cheaper plans, and whether the software runs only in a browser or also on a desktop.
| Monthly cost, list price | No employees | 3 employees | 10 employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xero | $37 (Ignite) | $107 (Comprehensive) | $143 (Ultimate 10) |
| MYOB Business | $26.25 (Lite, $315 a year) | $79 (Pro + $3 x 3) | $100 (Pro + $3 x 10) |
| QuickBooks Online | $33 (Simple Start) | $78 (Essentials + $6 x 3) | $120 (Essentials + $6 x 10) |
| Reckon One | $24 (Accounting Plus) | $40 (Accounting Plus + Payroll Essentials) | $56 (Accounting Plus + Payroll Plus) |
Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and Zoho state their prices include GST. Reckon prices are as listed on reckon.com. Plans are the lowest tier from each vendor that covers that headcount; higher tiers add reporting, inventory, projects and users. Prices change, often on 1 July, so check the vendor’s page before buying.
Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and Reckon pricing in Australia
Price is where the best accounting software in Australia for one business stops being the best for another. Here is what each vendor charges at list price.
Xero sells four plans for small businesses: Ignite $37 a month, Grow $78, Comprehensive $107, and Ultimate from $143 (Ultimate 10, with tiers for 20, 50 and 100 people). Payroll is built into each plan for a set number of people: Ignite pays one employee monthly, Grow pays 2 people, Comprehensive 5 and Ultimate 10 pays 10. Ignite is limited to 20 invoices. Xero charges no per-user licence fee on any plan. Source: Xero pricing plans.
MYOB splits its range in two. MYOB Solo is a phone app for individual operators at $99 a year; it tracks GST but does not lodge BAS. MYOB Business Lite is $315 a year, links up to 2 bank accounts and adds payroll for up to 2 employees at $3 each a month. Pro is $70 a month with unlimited employees at $3 each, plus timesheets and rosters. AccountRight Plus is $165 a month, includes unlimited payroll at no extra cost and adds Windows desktop software. Source: MYOB plans and pricing.
QuickBooks Online lists Simple Start (1 user), Essentials (3 users), Plus (5 users) and Advanced (25 users). In October 2026 Intuit’s pricing page shows only its 70% off offer ($9.90, $18, $25.20 and $37.50 a month for six months), which puts the full prices at $33, $60, $84 and $125. Payroll is billed separately at $6 a month for each active employee on Standard Payroll. Sources: QuickBooks pricing and QuickBooks Payroll.
Reckon One is modular. Accounting Plus is $24 a month, Accounting Premium $46 and Ultimate $85. Payroll is a separate plan by team size: Payroll Essentials $16 a month (up to 4 employees), Payroll Plus $32 (up to 10) and Payroll Premium $60 (unlimited). Reckon also sells Reckon Accounts Hosted, a desktop-style product run over the internet, at $92 per user a month or $1,064 a year. Sources: Reckon One accounting, Reckon One payroll and Reckon Accounts Hosted.
Best payroll software in Australia: which of the four handles payroll best?
All four report pay runs through Single Touch Payroll and pay super through a clearing service, which matters because since 1 July 2026 super must reach the employee’s fund within 7 business days of payday (see our Payday Super guide). The difference is how payroll is priced and what comes with it:
- Xero includes payroll in the plan price, capped at the plan’s headcount. Good value up to the cap; a step up in price when you pass it.
- MYOB charges $3 per employee on Lite and Pro, and includes timesheets and rosters on Pro and AccountRight Plus.
- QuickBooks charges $6 per active employee a month on Standard Payroll, powered by Employment Hero, billed apart from the accounting plan.
- Reckon One charges a flat monthly fee per band of employees, which makes it the cheapest of the four for teams of up to 10.
None of the four reads a modern award for you. Each lets you set up pay items for penalty rates, allowances and annual leave loading, but deciding which rate applies to which hours stays with the person running payroll, or with a rostering tool that feeds the pay run. That is where most payroll errors start, whichever software you use. Our Xero vs MYOB payroll comparison goes deeper on awards and STP.
The ATO calls an employer with 1 to 4 employees a micro employer. Its STP reporting options page points micro employers without payroll software to the ATO product register to find a product that reports through STP. For a small team, payroll-only plans such as MYOB Payroll Only or Reckon Payroll Essentials cost less than a full accounting plan.
QuickBooks vs Xero: which is better in Australia?
QuickBooks vs Xero mostly comes down to team size and logins. Xero charges no per-user licence fee and includes payroll for a set number of people. QuickBooks limits users by plan (1, 3, 5 or 25) and charges for payroll per employee. For 3 employees, QuickBooks Essentials plus payroll is $78 a month against $107 for Xero Comprehensive. At 10 employees the gap narrows to $120 against $143. QuickBooks includes inventory, projects and budgeting from its Plus plan.
Xero vs QuickBooks for a business with no employees
Xero Ignite at $37 is limited to 20 invoices; QuickBooks Simple Start at $33 allows one user. A sole operator raising more than 20 invoices a month would need Xero Grow at $78.
MYOB vs QuickBooks: which costs less?
MYOB vs QuickBooks is close on price. Both charge per employee for payroll, MYOB at $3 a month and QuickBooks at $6. For 3 employees, MYOB Pro comes to $79 a month and QuickBooks Essentials to $78. From about 4 employees MYOB Pro is the cheaper of the two, because its per-employee fee is half QuickBooks’. MYOB Lite at $315 a year is the cheapest full accounting plan of the two for a business with up to 2 employees and up to 2 bank accounts.
MYOB includes timesheets and rosters on Pro, and AccountRight Plus offers a Windows desktop version, which suits businesses that want local software. QuickBooks Online runs in the browser and on its mobile apps. Both lodge BAS from the software.
Reckon vs Xero: is the cheaper option enough?
Reckon vs Xero is a price question first. For a business with 3 employees, Reckon One costs $40 a month against $107 for Xero Comprehensive; for 10 employees, $56 against $143. Reckon’s modular pricing means you pay only for the parts you switch on: accounting, then payroll by team size. Xero charges no per-user fee, includes payroll in the plan, and includes more reporting on its higher plans. If your accountant or bookkeeper already works in Xero, the time saved at year end can outweigh the price difference.
Xero vs MYOB vs QuickBooks: the one-line summary
Xero for payroll built into the plan and no per-user fees; MYOB for per-employee payroll and a desktop option; QuickBooks for a low entry price with per-employee payroll. Reckon One undercuts all three for teams up to 10.
Is there free accounting software in Australia?
Yes, but the choice is narrow. Two options can be confirmed on the vendors’ own sites as at 5 October 2026:
- Zoho Books free plan: free “as long as your revenue falls under the threshold of 50K AUD for the financial year”, with limits such as 1,000 expenses a year and no add-ons. Source: Zoho Books Australian pricing.
- GnuCash: free, open-source desktop software for Windows, Mac and Linux. Source: gnucash.org.
Before choosing free software, check three things: whether it codes GST the way the ATO expects, whether your accountant can open the file, and whether it can report payroll through STP if you have staff. The ATO requires most business records to be kept for 5 years (see record keeping for business), so the software also needs to hold that history. For a business that is not yet registered for GST and has no employees, a low-cost plan such as MYOB Solo ($99 a year) or Reckon Accounting Plus ($24 a month) is often a simpler step than free software.
Cloud accounting software in Australia: what to check before switching
All four products are cloud accounting software, meaning the data sits on the vendor’s servers and you log in through a browser or app (MYOB AccountRight Plus also installs on Windows). Moving from one to another is routine, but the timing and the data you carry over decide how smooth it is:
- Switch at the start of a financial year or quarter. STP year-to-date figures restart on 1 July, so a 1 July switch avoids carrying pay history across mid-year. A switch at a quarter end keeps one BAS in one system.
- Agree what moves. Usually opening balances, open invoices and bills, the chart of accounts, contacts and employee year-to-date figures. Older transactions can stay in the old file for the 5-year record-keeping period.
- Ask your accountant first. The accountant who prepares your tax return will work in your file every year. Software they already know costs less at year end.
- Count users and employees for the next two years, not just today. A plan that is cheapest at 2 employees can be the dearest at 8.
Best bookkeeping software in Australia: does the software or the bookkeeper matter more?
Choosing the best accounting software in Australia for your business is half the job.
The software decides how fast the work can be done; the person doing it decides whether it is right. A well-run MYOB file beats a neglected Xero file every time. The tasks that keep any of these products accurate are the same: weekly bank reconciliation, coding GST correctly, approving bills, running payroll to the award and reconciling payroll and super before each BAS. Our guide to what a bookkeeper does lists them, and our page on accounting software set-up covers moving a business onto a new system.
Whichever software you choose, keep it up to date
FreeMyCloud gives you a university-qualified graduate accountant, based in the Philippines and able to work with Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or Reckon, working under your registered tax or BAS agent. No lock-in contracts.
Or call 1300 66 88 14, or try the savings calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best accounting software for small business in Australia?
For most Australian small businesses it is Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or Reckon One; all four track GST, prepare BAS figures and run Single Touch Payroll. At list prices on 5 October 2026, a business with 3 employees pays about $40 a month on Reckon One, $78 on QuickBooks, $79 on MYOB Pro and $107 on Xero Comprehensive. The best fit is usually the one your accountant or bookkeeper already works in.
What is the cheapest accounting software in Australia?
For a business with no employees, MYOB Solo at $99 a year is the cheapest paid option, but it is a phone app that tracks GST without lodging BAS. MYOB Business Lite at $315 a year and Reckon One Accounting Plus at $24 a month are the cheapest full accounting plans. For a business with staff, Reckon One is the cheapest of the four for teams of up to 10.
Xero vs MYOB: which is better for a small business?
Both handle GST, BAS, Single Touch Payroll and Payday Super. Xero includes payroll for a set number of people in each plan and charges no per-user fee. MYOB charges $3 per employee a month, includes rosters and timesheets on Pro, and offers a Windows desktop version on AccountRight Plus. Our Xero vs MYOB payroll comparison covers the detail.
Is there free accounting software in Australia?
Yes. Zoho Books has a free plan for businesses with revenue under A$50,000 a financial year, with limits on expenses and add-ons, and GnuCash is free open-source desktop software. Check that any free product codes GST correctly, that your accountant can work with it, and that it can report payroll through Single Touch Payroll if you employ staff.
Which accounting software should match my accountant’s?
Accountants and bookkeepers in Australia work across all four products, but most have one or two they use every day. The practical test is simple: ask the accountant who prepares your tax return which software they work in every day. Using the same product usually means less time, and a smaller fee, at year end.
Can I change accounting software mid-year?
Yes. Each vendor provides import tools, and MYOB offers a migration service for data from Xero, Reckon and QuickBooks. A switch on 1 July is simplest because Single Touch Payroll year-to-date figures restart then. A switch at the end of a BAS quarter is the next best, so each activity statement comes from one system.
This article is general information about accounting software available in Australia, current as at 5 October 2026. Prices are vendor list prices on that date, excluding introductory offers, and change often. It is not tax, financial or legal advice. FreeMyCloud is not a registered tax agent and does not prepare or lodge tax returns. Confirm your own position with your registered tax or BAS agent.
