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Comparison · Last updated 2026-07-28

HelloBooks vs KashFlow: AI-reconciled books vs a long-running IRIS bookkeeping product with no AI

KashFlow — branded IRIS KashFlow and owned by IRIS Software Group — is still actively sold to new customers as of July 2026, with a live pricing table, a 14-day trial and an acquisition promotion. It has not been folded into IRIS Elements; IRIS lists both as current MTD-compliant products.

Pricing is £97/year + VAT on Starter and £178/year + VAT on Business (annual, checked 28 July 2026). Starter is single-user and capped at 10 invoices a month and 25 reconciled bank transactions. No AI feature is advertised on any KashFlow page — the AI in the IRIS portfolio sits in IRIS Elements, a different product.

HelloBooks is free to start and £7.99/month on Pro with unlimited users, unlimited invoices on every plan including Free, MTD-ready VAT and AI categorization, OCR and a conversational assistant included. The honest caveat: KashFlow bundles UK payroll for up to five employees, and HelloBooks does not ship UK payroll.

Researched & written by the HelloBooks editorial team. Checked against KashFlow's public pricing and docs on 2026-07-28 · how we compare.

Scorecard: how they stack up

An at-a-glance rating on the criteria that decide an accounting-software purchase. Ratings reflect verifiable facts — not an invented score. See how we compare.

HelloBooks rates strong on 7 of 9 buyer criteria

HelloBooks vs KashFlow — criteria scorecard
CriterionHelloBooksKashFlow
Entry price & free tierStrongLimited
Limits on the entry planStrongLimited
AI shipped and generally availableStrongNot offered
MTD for VATStrongStrong
MTD for Income Tax readinessNot verifiedPartial
UK payrollNot offeredStrong
Reporting depthStrongLimited
Inventory & operationsStrongLimited
Data portabilityStrongPartial

Side-by-side feature comparison

Where a value is shown as “—”, the feature was not verified at review time. See KashFlow's site for the latest specifics. No paid placements — how we compare.

HelloBooks vs KashFlow— feature-by-feature comparison
FeatureHelloBooksKashFlow
Current product statusActively developed; cloud-native, launched 2024 and shipping continuouslyStill actively sold — live pricing, 14-day trial, current promo. IRIS lists IRIS KashFlow Bookkeeping alongside IRIS Elements as a current MTD product, not a sunset one
PricingFree forever; Pro £7.99/month or £79.99/year; Business £31.99/month or £319.99/year (all inc. unlimited users)Starter £97/year + VAT (RRP £162); Business £178/year + VAT (RRP £291.50). A 90%-off-6-months promo was running on 28 Jul 2026
Free planFree forever, no credit card — unlimited invoices, bills, quotes and POs, full core reports, mobile app, 2 users, 2,500 AI credits/monthNone — 14-day free trial, no card required
Invoice limitsUnlimited invoices on every plan, including FreeStarter is capped at 10 invoices per month (quotes unlimited). Unlimited invoices require the Business tier
Bank reconciliation limitsUnlimited on every plan. Plaid feeds for US entities; UK bank feeds supported; PDF statement upload with AI reconciliation anywhereStarter reconciles up to 25 bank transactions. Unlimited reconciliation requires Business
Users2 users on Free; unlimited users with roles and permissions on Pro and BusinessStarter is single-user. Multi-user requires the Business tier
AI capabilityAI categorization at 95%+ accuracy, OCR line extraction with smart line items, Munimji conversational assistant with 60+ tools, AI payables, AI calling for overdue AR, CFO agent, AI analysis on every report, public MCP serverNone advertised. No AI feature appears on the KashFlow pricing or feature pages; IRIS markets AI on IRIS Elements, a separate product
MTD for VATMTD-ready VAT for HMRC Making Tax DigitalHMRC-recognised, with direct VAT submission included on all plans
MTD for Income Tax (from April 2026)UK VAT is live; MTD for Income Tax quarterly submission is not something we claim as shipped — confirm scope with salesAn MTD dashboard exists and pilot signup is open, but IRIS does not confirm in-product quarterly submission. Independent UK reviewers advise checking the IRIS roadmap before relying on it
UK payrollNot shipped for the UK. India payroll (PF/ESI/PT/TDS) runs through HelloTime, a sibling productA genuine advantage — payroll for up to 5 employees is bundled on both tiers
Multi-currencyIncluded on all plans with automatic FX gain and lossIncluded on both tiers
Inventory & operationsItem master, BOM, FIFO/LIFO/weighted-average valuation, GRN, multi-warehouse, POS and manufacturing with MRP and job costingBasic stock control on both tiers
Three-way matchingPO / GRN / bill comparison with quantity and amount discrepancy flags, included with ProNot published
ReportingP&L, balance sheet, cash flow, aged AR/AP, general ledger, 4/12/26-week forecasting with base/best/worst scenarios, financial ratios with benchmarks, AI analysis on every report50+ reports and a customisable dashboard. TrustRadius and G2 reviewers describe reporting as weak, with value discrepancies between reports
IntegrationsPlaid, Stripe, Razorpay, PayPal, PineLabs, Tally 6.2 connector, guided QuickBooks USA migration, API from Pro, BI connector, public MCP serverOpen Banking feeds across major UK banks, IRIS Pay, an apps marketplace, KashFlow Connect into IRIS Accounts Production, Digita exports. Independent reviewers describe the marketplace as significantly smaller than rivals'
Multi-entityMulti-entity management from Pro, with consolidation reporting for cross-company viewsNot published as a capability
Getting your data outCSV and Excel import/export throughout, plus a migration path with dry-run preview and one-click rollbackSage Export produces 4 CSVs — customers, suppliers, nominal codes and the full audit trail. It excludes attachments and stored documents, and KashFlow support will not assist with importing into another system
Independent ratingsNewer product with a smaller review base — judge us on the free plan rather than review volumeG2 3.8/5 from 21 reviews; TrustRadius 8/10 from 6 (retrieved 28 Jul 2026). Capterra UK, GetApp and Software Advice all show 0 reviews

When to choose HelloBooks

  • Starter's caps are the problem — 10 invoices a month, 25 reconciled transactions and a single user is a tight ceiling for a growing business.
  • You want AI doing the categorisation and reconciliation, which KashFlow does not offer at any price.
  • You want to try before paying — a free forever plan rather than a 14-day trial and an annual commitment.
  • You need a second or third person in the books without stepping up a tier.
  • You carry stock and need real inventory valuation, GRN and multi-warehouse rather than basic stock control.
  • You trade internationally and want multi-currency, multi-entity and non-UK tax handling in the same ledger.

When to choose KashFlow

  • You need UK payroll bundled — KashFlow includes payroll for up to five employees and HelloBooks does not ship UK payroll.
  • Your accountant runs IRIS Accounts Production and KashFlow Connect feeds it directly.
  • You want an HMRC-recognised product with direct VAT submission and a long UK operating history.
  • You are already in the IRIS ecosystem and consolidating vendors has real value.
  • Your needs are genuinely simple — a sole trader under 10 invoices a month, where Starter at £97/year covers everything.
  • You would rather use an established UK-specific product than a global platform still expanding its UK depth.

Frequently asked questions

Is KashFlow being discontinued?

No, not as far as anything public shows. As of 28 July 2026, kashflow.com is live and selling to new customers, with an active promotion, a 14-day free trial and a published pricing table. No sunset, legacy or forced-migration notice exists on kashflow.com, on iris.co.uk, or in the IRIS MTD hub. IRIS's own MTD page lists IRIS KashFlow Bookkeeping as a current MTD-compliant product alongside IRIS Elements and IRIS Elements Cashbook — the two sit beside each other rather than one replacing the other. Whether IRIS has an internal long-term plan to migrate KashFlow users into Elements is not something we can verify either way.

How much does KashFlow cost in 2026?

Checked against kashflow.com/pricing on 28 July 2026, both prices excluding VAT: Starter at £97/year (RRP £162, or £13.50/month) and Business at £27.50/month with an annual rate of £178/year (RRP £291.50). A "90% off for six months" acquisition promo was running. Both tiers include VAT management with online submission, bank feeds, the mobile app, 50+ reports, expenses, mileage, multi-currency, receipt capture, stock control, IRIS Pay and payroll for up to five employees.

What are the limits on KashFlow Starter?

Three that matter: 10 invoices per month (quotes are unlimited), reconciliation of up to 25 bank transactions, and single-user access. Unlimited invoicing, unlimited bank reconciliation and multi-user all require the Business tier. For most businesses past their first year, Starter is effectively a trial tier rather than a working plan.

What does HelloBooks cost in the UK?

Free forever with 2,500 AI credits per month and up to two users. Pro is £7.99/month or £79.99/year against a list price of £15.99, with unlimited users, unlimited bank connections, multi-entity, API access, inventory, three-way matching and multi-currency with automatic FX. Business is £31.99/month or £319.99/year. Unlimited invoices are included on every plan, including Free.

Does KashFlow have any AI?

None is advertised. No AI feature appears on the KashFlow pricing page or feature pages as of 28 July 2026. IRIS does market AI, but on IRIS Elements — a different product in the portfolio. If AI-assisted categorisation and reconciliation is what you are shopping for, KashFlow is not where the IRIS AI lives.

What AI does HelloBooks include?

AI auto-categorization at 95%+ accuracy, OCR bill and receipt capture with smart line-item extraction, Munimji — a conversational accounting assistant with 60+ tools — AI payables with approval routing, AI calling for overdue receivables, a CFO agent, Auto-Inbox capture from email and photos, smart error detection, and an AI Analysis tab on every standard report. There is also a public read-only MCP server at agents.hellobooks.ai/mcp. Every AI action is reviewable before it posts.

Is KashFlow ready for MTD for Income Tax?

Partially, and it is worth checking directly rather than assuming. MTD for VAT is fully supported and HMRC-recognised, included on all plans since 2019. For MTD for Income Tax — which began phasing in from April 2026 for sole traders and landlords above £50,000 — IRIS's KashFlow help page says you can use KashFlow to record and produce what you need and that you can join a pilot, and the IRIS MTD hub mentions an MTD dashboard. What it does not confirm is in-product quarterly submission. An independent UK review from May 2026 explicitly advises checking the IRIS roadmap before relying on it.

Does HelloBooks handle MTD for Income Tax?

HelloBooks is MTD-ready for VAT. We are not going to claim MTD for Income Tax quarterly submission as a shipped feature on a comparison page — if that is your requirement for the 2026/27 year, speak to sales and get it confirmed in writing, from us or from anyone else. This is exactly the kind of claim that comparison pages get wrong and businesses get caught by.

Does HelloBooks do UK payroll?

No, and this is the clearest reason to stay with KashFlow. KashFlow bundles payroll for up to five employees on both tiers. HelloBooks has a payroll module whose country availability varies, and UK payroll with RTI submissions is not something we ship. Our sibling product HelloTime handles India payroll. If bundled UK payroll matters, that is a legitimate deciding factor.

What do KashFlow users complain about?

The recurring themes across G2 and TrustRadius: slow or unresponsive support, described by one independent reviewer as a recurring complaint since the IRIS acquisition; a dated interface with little improvement over the years; weak reporting, including discrepancies in values between different reports; a weak mobile app; and bank reconciliation and VAT return problems. One 2026 G2 reviewer reports that direct debit logic is fundamentally flawed and invoices show the wrong entity. The review base is small — 21 on G2, 6 on TrustRadius — so weigh that accordingly.

How do I get my data out of KashFlow?

KashFlow provides a Sage Export that downloads four CSV files — all customers, all suppliers, nominal codes, and the full audit trail for a chosen date range (set it from 01/01/1970 to capture everything). Two limitations to plan around: the export excludes attachments and stored documents, and KashFlow support explicitly will not help you import the data into another system. Download your attachments separately before you cancel.

How do I migrate to HelloBooks?

Run the KashFlow Sage Export from 01/01/1970 to capture the full audit trail, download your attachments separately, then import the CSVs into HelloBooks. The chart-of-accounts import uses AI to read your existing structure, retain nominal codes and map intelligently, so your team is not re-learning account numbers. The flow at /migrate includes a dry-run preview and one-click rollback so you can test the cutover before committing.

Will my accountant work with HelloBooks?

Yes. It is conventional double-entry with a familiar chart of accounts, journals, general ledger and standard reports. Free supports two users; Pro and Business have unlimited users with roles and permissions, so your accountant gets their own login. Firms can join the free Partner Program for a multi-client practice dashboard, bulk AI operations across clients and a directory listing. What we cannot replicate is KashFlow Connect feeding IRIS Accounts Production directly — if your accountant depends on that pipeline, raise it with them first.

Is HelloBooks a UK product?

It is a global platform with live UK support rather than a UK-only product, and it is fair to be clear about that. UK coverage includes GBP invoicing, MTD-ready VAT, UK bank feeds and UK-specific content. Filing automation is live in India, the US, the UK, Australia and the UAE, with tax vocabulary and rate cards across 187 countries. KashFlow is UK-specific and goes deeper on UK-only features such as payroll and IRIS integration.

Is HelloBooks secure?

HelloBooks is SOC 2 Type II certified, with the report available under NDA through the Trust Center; ISO 27001 is on the compliance roadmap and we do not describe it as certified. Data is encrypted with AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit, MFA is available, hosting is AWS with 99.9% uptime and daily encrypted backups, and bank connections are read-only. HelloBooks is GDPR-aligned; sub-processors and data residency detail are published at /trust-center.

Can I test HelloBooks before leaving KashFlow?

Yes, and we would recommend it. The Free plan is free forever with no credit card, so you can run a month of invoices and bank transactions in parallel with KashFlow before deciding. There is no trial clock, and if you decide against switching, nothing expires.

Migrating from KashFlow?

HelloBooks supports CSV import for chart of accounts, customers, vendors, items, invoices, and bills. For QuickBooks Online, we offer a built-in two-way sync. For other platforms, our migration team can assist with a structured cutover.