Honest accounting software built for UK sole traders, freelancers and micro-businesses. MTD VAT and ITSA submissions to HMRC built in. Open source, hosted on UK servers — not a proprietary black box.
No enterprise bloat. No features you’ll never use. Every plan includes full MTD compliance — VAT and ITSA — at no extra cost.
Create branded invoices, generate PDFs, send by email. PayPal Pay Now button included. Track payment status across all your clients.
PayPal includedConnect to HMRC once. VAT returns calculated automatically from your invoices and bills. Submit directly to HMRC in minutes, not hours.
HMRC direct submissionSubmit your quarterly income and expenses to HMRC ahead of the mandate. Five submissions per year — all handled from within nBooks.
Mandate from April 2026Import your bank statement CSV. Match transactions to invoices and bills with a click. Keep your books balanced without a bookkeeper.
Invoice and bill in any currency, with real exchange rates and automatic gain/loss tracking. Bank transfers between currency accounts handled properly, not bolted on.
Photograph a receipt, let AI extract the details, submit for approval. HMRC mileage rates (45p/25p) calculated automatically for your tax year.
AI receipt scanningProfit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, Aged Debtors, Cash Flow, SA103 self-employment summary — generated in seconds, anytime.
Owner, Admin, Accountant, Staff, ReadOnly. Each role sees exactly what they need. Your accountant gets their own secure login at no extra cost.
Import your chart of accounts, trial balance, invoices, bills and contacts from Xero or Spreadeet. Full migration typically under an hour.
Xero & SpreadsheetsYour data is stored on UK-based servers, under UK data protection law — not routed through infrastructure you have no visibility into.
Data sovereigntyEvery other accounting platform runs on closed, proprietary software you can never inspect, hosted wherever suits them. nBooks is built differently — on open-source foundations, hosted on UK servers, with your data always yours to take with you.
Built on open, auditable software — not a proprietary platform you're asked to trust blindly. No vendor lock-in, no mystery about how your data is handled.
Your financial data is stored on UK-based servers, under UK data protection law — not routed through infrastructure you have no visibility into.
Download your complete financial data whenever you like, in open formats. Leave whenever you want — no export fees, no data ransom.
Compare this to Xero, QuickBooks and Sage — closed, proprietary platforms hosted on infrastructure you have no visibility into, with no guarantee of easy export if you ever want to leave.
HMRC is digitising the UK tax system. nBooks submits both MTD for VAT and MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) directly to HMRC — no add-ons, no extra fees, no separate software.
We don’t think Xero and QuickBooks are bad products. They’re just not built for you.
| Feature | nBooks | Xero Starter | QuickBooks ST | FreeAgent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price (ex VAT) | From £9 | £16 | £10 | £12 (via bank) |
| MTD VAT submission | ✓ All plans | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| MTD ITSA quarterly updates | ✓ All plans | ✗ | Upgrade req. | ✓ |
| Open source | ✓ Always | ✗ Proprietary | ✗ Proprietary | ✗ Proprietary |
| Free data export on cancel | ✓ Free, always | Limited | Limited | Limited |
| AI receipt scanning | ✓ | ✗ | Higher plan | ✗ |
| Xero data migration | ✓ Full | N/A | Basic | Basic |
| 30-day free trial, no card | ✓ | 14 days | 30 days | 30 days |
Prices correct June 2026. Competitors’ features and pricing subject to change.
All plans include full MTD compliance — VAT and ITSA. No compliance features locked behind higher tiers.
More questions? See the full FAQ or get in touch.
nBooks is the first product in nSuite — a growing family of open-source, UK-hosted business tools for UK sole traders and micro-businesses. Each tool works standalone, or plugs into the others as your business grows — starting with a shared contacts system, so your customers and suppliers are the same people across every tool you use.
UK accounting for sole traders and micro-businesses. Invoicing, bank reconciliation, MTD VAT & ITSA, expenses, multi-user access.
Learn more →Training management for small teams — course tracking, certifications, and compliance records, built to plug straight into your existing contacts.
Lead and pipeline management that talks directly to your books. Convert won deals to invoices without double-entry.
Time-tracking and milestone management for consultants and freelancers, with real-time project profitability from your accounts.
Document management for small businesses — store, share, and track versions of the paperwork behind your books.
AI and LLM tools woven through the rest of nSuite — the same intelligence already behind nBooks’ receipt scanning, extended further.
Need something built to order? We also build bespoke open-source tools →
No credit card. No commitment. Full Pro access from day one.