Plain English guide
You're paying for a lot
you don't use.
Xero, QuickBooks, Sage — they're built for businesses with accountants, finance teams, and inventory systems. If you're a sole trader or small Ltd company, you're paying for a lorry when you needed a van.
This page is a straight comparison. No spin. What they actually are, what you actually use, and what FiledByMe does differently.
What the others actually are
Xero
£16–£47/monthXero is accountancy software. It's excellent — if your accountant is the main user. It handles payroll, stock management, multi-currency, bank reconciliation across 20 bank feeds. Most sole traders use about 10% of it: logging invoices and expenses. You pay for the rest anyway.
Good for
Businesses with accountants, bookkeepers, or finance staff who live inside it every day.
Not for
Sole traders who just need to know what they've spent, what they can claim, and whether they're meeting their tax deadlines.
QuickBooks
£10–£35/monthVery similar to Xero. Slightly cheaper at entry level, slightly simpler to navigate. Still built around double-entry bookkeeping — a system designed for accountants in the 1400s and not meaningfully simplified since. You'll spend real time learning terms like "reconciliation", "journal entries", and "chart of accounts" just to log a coffee receipt.
Good for
Small businesses that need proper bookkeeping and have someone who knows what debits and credits mean.
Not for
Anyone who wants to open an app, log a receipt, and get on with their day.
Sage
£12–£33/monthSage has been around since the 1980s and it shows. The interface has been modernised on the surface but the underlying logic is still desktop-era accounting software. It's powerful for what it does. MTD support is there but bolted on rather than built in. Support is slow. The mobile app is an afterthought.
Good for
Established businesses already on Sage who don't want to migrate.
Not for
Anyone starting fresh who wants something that works on their phone.
FreeAgent
£19/month (free with NatWest/RBS)Closest in spirit to FiledByMe. Built for freelancers and small businesses, MTD support included, easier to navigate than Xero or QuickBooks. The main catch: it's owned by NatWest Group, so the free tier is locked to NatWest/RBS customers. The pricing is also creeping up. MTD filing works but it's not the core of the product — it's a feature alongside many others.
Good for
Freelancers banking with NatWest or RBS who want a gentle on-ramp.
Not for
Anyone who wants MTD compliance and tax awareness built into every feature from the ground up.
What FiledByMe actually is
FiledByMe is not accountancy software. It's a financial recorder — built specifically for sole traders and small Ltd companies in the UK and Ireland who need to stay on top of their money without hiring someone to do it for them.
Built around MTD from day one
Making Tax Digital is mandatory from April 2026. Most tools added MTD as a feature. FiledByMe was built around it. Every transaction you log feeds directly into your quarterly submissions.
It tells you what you can claim
Most tools record what you spent. FiledByMe tells you what HMRC will let you claim — and what percentage. Home office, mileage, phone, vehicle — the rules are baked in.
No accountant needed to navigate it
There are no journal entries, no chart of accounts, no reconciliation screens. You log money in and money out. The app handles the tax categorisation.
Works on your phone
Point your camera at a receipt and it reads it. Tap to log mileage. Your books are up to date before you get home. Not a desktop app adapted for mobile — mobile first.
CIS built in
Construction subcontractors: verify subbies, log CIS payments, submit CIS300 monthly returns to HMRC directly from the app. No separate tools.
Invoicing included
Create and send professional invoices. Mark as paid, and the income transaction is created automatically. No switching between tools.
Side by side — what actually matters
For a UK or Irish sole trader or small Ltd company.
| Xero | QuickBooks | FreeAgent | FiledByMe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipt scanning (mobile camera) | add-on | |||
| MTD Income Tax filing | ||||
| MTD built into every feature | ||||
| Tells you what % you can claim | ||||
| CIS contractor returns | add-on | limited | ||
| Invoicing | ||||
| Mileage tracking | add-on | |||
| Site expenses (travel, subsistence) | ||||
| Irish tax rules (Form 11, Revenue) | partial | |||
| Smart prompts (missed claims) | ||||
| No accountancy knowledge needed | mostly | |||
| Subscription is claimable expense | ||||
| Price (entry) | £16/mo | £10/mo | £19/mo | less |
Prices correct April 2026. Features based on standard plans.
The honest bit
If you have a bookkeeper or accountant who works inside your accounting software every day, use Xero or QuickBooks — they'll be happier and so will you.
If you're doing it yourself — logging your own expenses, tracking your own mileage, doing your own MTD returns — FiledByMe is built for that. The features you actually need, nothing you don't, at a price that costs you less after tax than a lunch.
And if FiledByMe spots one expense you'd have missed — a subsistence day, a home office month, a business mile — it's already paid for itself several times over.
Free to start. No credit card. Takes 2 minutes.
Try FiledByMe free