By Tan Somkiat (LinkedIn), Co-founder, Security & Automation · Co-authored with Claude, Anthropic's AI assistant
Updated 11 October 2026 · Prices checked 10 October 2026
When spreadsheets stop working
Most small businesses start out in Excel or Google Sheets, and for a while that's fine. Then the work grows. Every invoice is built by hand, a few never get tracked, GST lives in a separate tab, and bookkeeping starts taking up your evenings after work.
That's usually the moment to move to proper accounting software. The hard part is choosing one, because every business runs differently: what suits a café with hundreds of small sales a day won't necessarily suit a builder with ten large invoices a month.
Start with your accountant. If your accountant or bookkeeper already works in MYOB, Xero or QuickBooks, let that weigh heavily on your choice. Sharing the same software makes BAS and year-end faster, and usually cheaper.
- Retail and hospitality: QuickBooks Plus or MYOB Business Pro, which include inventory features. If you sell across several channels, add dedicated inventory software.
- Service businesses: Xero, for its range of connected apps and the easiest automation, paired with a job management app if you quote and schedule jobs.
- Sole traders: MYOB Solo is the cheapest; QuickBooks Simple Start adds BAS lodgement.
- Whatever your business: if your accountant prefers one, that usually decides it.
Compare accounting software at a glance
All three handle invoicing, bank feeds, GST and BAS. The differences are in price, how many people and employees each plan covers, and how easily the software connects to the rest of your business.
| MYOB | Xero | QuickBooks Online | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (regular) | Solo $99/year; Business Lite $315/year | Grow $78/month | Simple Start about $33/month |
| Sole-trader option | Solo (mobile app only) | Grow plan | Simple Start (1 user) |
| Users | 1 on Solo; unlimited from Lite | No user limit listed on the plan page | 1, 3, 5 or 25 by plan |
| Payroll | From Lite, $3 per employee/month; included on AccountRight Plus | 2, 5 or 10 people by plan | Add-on (Employment Hero), extra fees |
| Bills (accounts payable) | From Lite, with supplier management | All plans, with automated bill entry | From Essentials |
| Inventory | From Lite; unlimited stock is a $22/month add-on | Not listed on the plan page; usually via connected inventory apps | Plus and Advanced |
| BAS lodgement | From Lite (not on Solo) | All plans | All plans |
| Ease to automate | Harder: API only, no official Zapier or n8n connector | Easy: webhooks, n8n and Zapier | Easy: webhooks, n8n and Zapier |
Prices
Vendors change prices and promotions often, so check before you buy. Xero and QuickBooks quote prices including GST; MYOB's pricing page doesn't say.
MYOB
| Plan | Regular price | Intro offer | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $99/year | $12 for the first 12 months | Sole operators, mobile app only |
| Business Lite | $315/year | $94.50 promo | Sole traders and businesses with up to 2 employees |
| Business Pro | $70/month | $21/month promo | Growing businesses with several employees |
| AccountRight Plus | $165/month | $66/month for 3 months | Unlimited payroll and inventory, desktop app |
Xero (including GST)
| Plan | Regular price | Intro offer | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grow | $78/month | $15.60/month for 3 months | Payroll for 2, 5 online bill payments |
| Comprehensive | $107/month | $21.40/month for 3 months | Payroll for 5, multi-currency |
| Ultimate 10 | $143/month | $28.60/month for 3 months | Payroll for 10, projects, benchmarking |
QuickBooks Online (including GST)
QuickBooks' Australian pricing page didn't list prices when we checked. These are the figures published in Rounded's June 2026 guide, and QuickBooks was advertising 70% off for 6 months.
| Plan | Price | Users | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Start | About $33/month | 1 | Invoices, quotes, GST and BAS |
| Essentials | About $60/month | 3 | Bills, recurring transactions, multi-currency |
| Plus | About $84/month | 5 | Inventory, projects, budgets |
| Advanced | About $125/month | 25 | Automated workflows, custom permissions |
Best accounting software for small business in Australia, by business type
The biggest difference between businesses isn't size, it's the shape of their transactions. Retail businesses deal in many small sales and stock; service businesses deal in fewer, larger invoices, quotes and time.
Retail, hospitality and product businesses
Shops, cafés, restaurants, online stores and manufacturers need fast bank matching for lots of small sales, a connection to their point-of-sale or online store, and some way to track stock.
- QuickBooks Plus includes inventory tracking and purchase orders, with up to 5 users.
- MYOB Business Pro includes order and supplier management and sales orders; unlimited inventory is a $22/month add-on.
- Xero usually handles stock through a connected inventory app.
Accounting software such as MYOB can double up as a basic inventory system. But if you sell across several channels, hold stock in more than one place, or make products from parts, you may want to check out our inventory management software guide for retail businesses.
How much your stock needs from your software depends on how complex it is:
| Your stock | What you need | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Buy items and resell them, even thousands of products | Basic inventory tracking | MYOB from Business Lite, QuickBooks Plus, or Xero with an inventory app |
| Some stock bought in foreign currency | Multi-currency | Xero Comprehensive and above, QuickBooks Essentials and above, MYOB AccountRight Premier |
| Products made from parts (screws, panels, labels) | Bill of materials, with reorder alerts for parts | Dedicated inventory management software connected to your accounts |
| Batches you must trace, for example for a food recall | Lot or batch tracking through production | Inventory or ERP systems, such as MYOB Acumatica |
| Regulated products, such as medical goods | Full traceability and compliance records | Specialist ERP |
Cost rises with that complexity. The plans in this comparison run from $99 a year to $165 a month, while ERP systems that handle batch traceability can cost thousands, or even tens of thousands, of dollars a month.
Service businesses: trades, construction and professional services
Tradies, builders, consultants and professional firms send fewer, larger invoices. What matters is quoting, tracking jobs and time, progress billing, and getting paid on time.
- Xero suits most service businesses: it connects to the widest range of job management and practice apps, and it's the easiest of the three to automate.
- QuickBooks Plus adds project tracking and budgets.
- MYOB AccountRight Plus includes timesheets, rosters and billing by time, with unlimited payroll.
For trades and construction, the accounting software is only half the setup: quotes, scheduling and job costing usually live in a job management app that syncs to your accounts. Compare the options in our job management software for tradies guide. Law firms, conveyancers and real estate agencies usually run trust accounts in their practice software, alongside MYOB or Xero for the business itself.
Sole traders
Most sole traders need the same four things: invoices that get paid, expenses tracked against receipts, GST worked out, and BAS done on time. The best accounting software for a sole trader comes down to how much you'll grow:
- MYOB Solo is the cheapest way to get organised if you work from your phone. It doesn't include BAS lodgement or payroll, and you can't move to another MYOB plan later.
- QuickBooks Simple Start includes GST and BAS lodgement for one user at a low monthly price.
- Xero Grow costs more each month but suits sole traders who expect to hire or connect other apps.
Before you choose: two more questions
- Who does the day-to-day entry? If it's the owner or an office manager rather than a bookkeeper, an easy learning curve matters more than advanced features. Run the free trials with the person who'll use the software every day.
- What will you actually use each week? Most businesses use a small share of the features they pay for. Judge each option on your weekly routine (invoicing, entering bills, reconciling the bank, BAS), not on features you might need one day.
Outgrowing your software is normal
Moving to new accounting software is disruptive, but it's a normal part of growth and help with migration is easy to find. It's usually a better trade than paying now for a complex system you won't need for years. Choose for where your business is now and where you realistically expect it to be in a few years.
Accounts payable software: paying bills
If you pay a lot of supplier invoices, look closely at how each one handles bills. It's where the most time goes once a business grows.
- Xero includes automated bill entry and smart document capture, plus 5 to 15 online bill payments a month depending on the plan.
- MYOB includes bills and supplier management from Business Lite.
- QuickBooks adds supplier and bill management from Essentials.
For higher volumes, dedicated accounts payable software or a tailored workflow reads invoices from your inbox, codes them and routes approvals before anything reaches your ledger. Our accounting automation page shows how that workflow runs.
How easy is each one to automate?
This matters more than it looks. Automation is how you stop typing the same numbers into your CRM, job system and accounts. The easier the connection, the cheaper and more reliable the automation.
| MYOB | Xero | QuickBooks Online | |
|---|---|---|---|
| API | Yes (MYOB Business API); new data-permission rules from 1 September 2026 | Yes; usage-based developer pricing since March 2026 | Yes |
| Real-time triggers (webhooks) | Not confirmed; integrations usually check for changes on a schedule | Contacts, invoices and credit notes | Bills, customers, invoices, payments and more |
| n8n | No built-in node; custom HTTP connection | Built-in node (contacts, invoices) | Built-in node (bills, invoices, payments, customers, vendors and more) |
| Zapier | No official integration | Yes | Yes |
| Our verdict | Automatable, but needs custom work | Easiest for most small businesses | Easy, with the broadest n8n coverage |
MYOB can still be automated well, it just takes custom development rather than off-the-shelf connectors. That's work we do regularly.
Automation use cases
These are the workflows we build most often on top of MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks:
- Invoice capture: supplier invoice arrives by email → details extracted → draft bill created → over-limit bills sent for approval.
- Receipt matching: receipt photographed → amount and GST read → matched to the bank transaction → filed for audit.
- Overdue invoice reminders: invoice passes its due date → polite reminder sent → escalated after set days → payment reconciled.
- Job to invoice: job marked complete in your job or CRM system → invoice drafted in your accounting software → approved and sent.
- Client summaries: period closes → figures pulled → variances calculated → plain-English summary drafted for review.
- Month-end checklist: unreconciled items and missing receipts listed automatically before your bookkeeper starts.
Tell us how your business runs and we'll recommend the software, and the automations, that will save you the most time.
Speak to our automation experts →Related automation services
We connect MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks to the rest of your business, so invoices, bills, receipts and reconciliations stop being typed in by hand.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best accounting software for a sole trader?
For the lowest cost, MYOB Solo. For BAS lodgement and room to grow, QuickBooks Simple Start or Xero Grow. If your accountant already uses one, start there.
Can I switch from MYOB to Xero, or the other way?
Yes. Contacts, accounts and balances can be moved, and conversion tools exist for the common paths. Plan the switch for the start of a quarter so BAS periods stay clean.
Is it hard to switch accounting software later?
It takes planning, but it's a normal step as a business grows. Contacts, accounts and opening balances can be moved, and switching at the start of a quarter keeps BAS periods clean. It's usually better than buying a bigger system before you need it.
Do all three lodge BAS?
Xero and QuickBooks list BAS lodgement on all plans. MYOB lists it from Business Lite upward, not on Solo.
Which is easiest to automate?
Xero and QuickBooks, which both have webhooks and ready-made connectors in tools like n8n and Zapier. MYOB needs custom integration work.
Sources
- MYOB pricing, Xero pricing and QuickBooks pricing, checked 10 October 2026
- Rounded: QuickBooks Online pricing explained (June 2026)
- n8n Xero node and n8n QuickBooks node
- Intuit: QuickBooks Online webhooks; Hookdeck: Xero webhooks; Xero developer pricing updates
- Zapier: MYOB; Apideck: MYOB API overview
How this guide was made: Tan Somkiat wrote this guide with Claude, Anthropic's AI assistant, which helped research and draft it. Prices and features come from each vendor's own pages, linked above, and were checked on the dates shown.
This guide is general information, not financial or tax advice. R&T Automation isn't paid by MYOB, Xero or Intuit for this comparison.