Accounting software cost comparison: three Australian scenarios

Original comparison of Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online listed prices for a sole trader, a five-person employer, and a growing business that needs multi-currency. AUD incl. GST. Intro totals stay unknown.

By SoftwareHQ Editorial Team — Updated

What this isAn original calculation from sourced listed prices in integer cents. It is not a review score, not a blanket winner, and not paid-app testing. Public introductory offers conflicted on every vendor, so intro 12-month totals stay unknown rather than invented.

How the totals were calculated

Monthly billed 12- and 24-month totals use recurring_n_cents = (plan_monthly_cents + payroll_addon_cents_per_employee × employees_paid) × n. Amounts are AUD including GST. Sources and checked dates sit on each commercial input. Independently calculated expected totals are in the machine-readable totals file. Method: How we test.

Products: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online. Category: Accounting.

Status as of (page snapshot). Listed-price cents stay on the sourced figures. Labels age when a checked date is older than 90 days.

Sole trader

One GST-registered sole trader who needs invoicing and BAS lodgement. No employees are paid.

Currency AUD. GST inclusive. Employees paid: 0. Published user seats needed where a numeric cap exists: 1.

Requirements

  • Accounting plan (not payroll-only).
  • GST tracking with BAS lodgement.
  • At least one published user seat, or an unpublished user cap.
  • No employees paid, so payroll add-ons are not added to the total.
Eligible monthly billed plans for Sole trader. Introductory 12-month totals are unknown.
ProductEligible planListed monthly12-month recurring24-month recurringIntroductory 12-monthPrice basis
XeroIgnite (monthly)AUD $37.00 incl. GSTAUD $444.00 incl. GSTAUD $888.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price
MYOBLite (monthly)AUD $35.00 incl. GSTAUD $420.00 incl. GSTAUD $840.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price
QuickBooks OnlineSimple Start (monthly)AUD $33.00 incl. GSTAUD $396.00 incl. GSTAUD $792.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price

Payroll and seat assumptions

  • Xero. No employees paid in this scenario; payroll add-ons are omitted. Published user cap was not in the sourced plan table. Eligibility uses payroll/people-paid where printed. Source
  • MYOB. No employees paid in this scenario; payroll add-ons are omitted. Published users are unlimited; 1 seats fit. Source
  • QuickBooks Online. No employees paid in this scenario; payroll add-ons are omitted. Published users: 1. Scenario needs 1. Source

Exclusions

  • MYOB Solo. Sourced plan copy does not include BAS lodgement.
Where these plans are not comparableXero Ignite prints a 20-invoice cap and an unresolved 5-bill figure. MYOB Lite allows unlimited quotes and invoices. QuickBooks Simple Start is one user plus accountant access. MYOB Solo was excluded because sourced copy is Track GST only, not BAS lodgement. Public introductory offers conflict on every vendor, so intro 12-month totals stay unknown. MYOB yearly Lite $315 is a different cadence from the monthly table.

Scenario conclusion. On monthly billed listed prices, QuickBooks Online Simple Start has the lowest known 12-month recurring total (AUD $396.00 incl. GST) among Xero Ignite; MYOB Lite; QuickBooks Online Simple Start. That is a comparison of those listed totals, not a product ranking. Ignite still caps invoices; the three plans are not the same product.

Five-person employer

An employer paying five people each month. Seat count must meet five published users where a numeric cap exists.

Currency AUD. GST inclusive. Employees paid: 5. Published user seats needed where a numeric cap exists: 5.

Requirements

  • Accounting plan.
  • BAS lodgement.
  • Payroll for five people paid (included cap or sourced add-on).
  • Five published user seats when the plan prints a numeric user cap.
Eligible monthly billed plans for Five-person employer. Introductory 12-month totals are unknown.
ProductEligible planListed monthly12-month recurring24-month recurringIntroductory 12-monthPrice basis
XeroComprehensive (monthly)AUD $107.00 incl. GSTAUD $1284.00 incl. GSTAUD $2568.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price
MYOBPro (monthly)AUD $70.00 incl. GSTAUD $1020.00 incl. GSTAUD $2040.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price
QuickBooks OnlinePlus (monthly)AUD $84.00 incl. GSTAUD $1368.00 incl. GSTAUD $2736.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price

Payroll and seat assumptions

  • Xero. Payroll for 5 people is included in the listed plan. Published user cap was not in the sourced plan table. Eligibility uses payroll/people-paid where printed. Source
  • MYOB. Payroll add-on AUD $3.00 incl. GST per employee × 5 people paid. Published users are unlimited; 5 seats fit. Source
  • QuickBooks Online. Payroll add-on AUD $6.00 incl. GST per employee × 5 people paid. Published users: 5. Scenario needs 5. Source

Exclusions

  • Xero Ignite. Published payroll does not cover 5 people paid, and no sourced add-on applies.
  • Xero Grow. Published payroll does not cover 5 people paid, and no sourced add-on applies.
  • MYOB Solo. Sourced plan copy does not include BAS lodgement.
  • MYOB Lite. Payroll add-on is capped at 2 employees; this scenario pays 5.
  • QuickBooks Online Simple Start. Published user cap is 1; this scenario needs 5.
  • QuickBooks Online Essentials. Published user cap is 3; this scenario needs 5.
Where these plans are not comparableXero Comprehensive includes payroll for five people paid. MYOB Pro adds $3 per employee. QuickBooks Plus adds Standard payroll $6 per active employee (base $0). Grow (2 people paid), Lite (2 employees), Payroll Only (4) and Essentials (3 users) are excluded. Annual SKUs and unresolved intros are not in the 12/24-month monthly totals.

Scenario conclusion. On monthly billed listed prices including sourced payroll for five people paid, MYOB Pro has the lowest known 12-month recurring total (AUD $1020.00 incl. GST) among Xero Comprehensive; MYOB Pro; QuickBooks Online Plus. Payroll is bundled in Xero Comprehensive, added per employee on MYOB Pro and QuickBooks Plus, and those mixes are not equivalent products.

Growing business needing documented multi-currency

A growing business that needs multi-currency as printed on the sourced plan table. Payroll is not required. Seat count is not constrained beyond each plan’s published users.

Currency AUD. GST inclusive. Employees paid: 0. No extra seat constraint beyond each plan’s published users.

Requirements

  • Accounting plan.
  • BAS lodgement.
  • Documented multi-currency on that plan (unknown does not qualify).
  • Payroll is not required for this scenario.
Eligible monthly billed plans for Growing business needing documented multi-currency. Introductory 12-month totals are unknown.
ProductEligible planListed monthly12-month recurring24-month recurringIntroductory 12-monthPrice basis
XeroComprehensive (monthly)AUD $107.00 incl. GSTAUD $1284.00 incl. GSTAUD $2568.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price
MYOBAccountRight Premier (monthly)AUD $210.00 incl. GSTAUD $2520.00 incl. GSTAUD $5040.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price
QuickBooks OnlineEssentials (monthly)AUD $60.00 incl. GSTAUD $720.00 incl. GSTAUD $1440.00 incl. GSTUnknownCurrent sourced list price

Payroll and seat assumptions

  • Xero. No employees paid in this scenario; payroll add-ons are omitted. This scenario does not impose a seat count beyond the plan’s published users. Source
  • MYOB. No employees paid in this scenario; payroll add-ons are omitted. This scenario does not impose a seat count beyond the plan’s published users. Source
  • QuickBooks Online. No employees paid in this scenario; payroll add-ons are omitted. This scenario does not impose a seat count beyond the plan’s published users. Source

Exclusions

  • Xero Ignite. Sourced plan copy does not include multi-currency.
  • Xero Grow. Sourced plan copy does not include multi-currency.
  • MYOB Solo. Sourced plan copy does not include BAS lodgement.
  • MYOB Lite. Sourced plan copy does not include multi-currency.
  • MYOB Pro. Sourced plan copy does not include multi-currency.
  • MYOB AccountRight Plus. Sourced plan copy does not include multi-currency.
  • QuickBooks Online Simple Start. Sourced plan copy does not include multi-currency.

Unknown eligibility

  • QuickBooks Online Plus. Multi-currency is not independently listed on this sourced plan row.
  • QuickBooks Online Advanced. Multi-currency is not independently listed on this sourced plan row.
Where these plans are not comparableXero Comprehensive also includes five people paid and is a higher accounting tier than QuickBooks Essentials (3 users, payroll extra). MYOB Premier is AccountRight desktop+web with a second business. QuickBooks Plus inventory/projects does not independently list multi-currency on the sourced row, so it is not treated as documented multi-currency. These plans are not interchangeable.

Scenario conclusion. On monthly billed listed prices for plans that print multi-currency, QuickBooks Online Essentials has the lowest known 12-month recurring total (AUD $720.00 incl. GST) among Xero Comprehensive; MYOB AccountRight Premier; QuickBooks Online Essentials. Seat and payroll inclusions still differ, so the totals are not a like-for-like product score.

Annual billed figures (not mixed into the table)

Xero public pages did not describe an annual SKU. QuickBooks prints annual billing but not the discount amount, so an annual 12-month total stays unknown. MYOB Lite yearly is a different cadence:

Solo yearly listed AUD $99.00 incl. GST for 12 months; 24-month yearly total AUD $198.00 incl. GST. Lite yearly listed AUD $315.00 incl. GST for 12 months; 24-month yearly total unknown (sourced year-two rate conflicts).

No blanket winner

The three scenarios pick different eligible plans. A lower listed 12-month total in one scenario is not a ranking of the products and is not a fabricated review score. Invoice caps, user caps, payroll inclusion and desktop versus cloud still differ.

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