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Comparison · Last updated 2026-07-28

HelloBooks vs Saasu: AI-native books vs an Australian ledger that lodges STP but ships no AI

Saasu is alive and actively maintained, which is worth stating because its marketing has been quiet. It was acquired by OWNA Corp in October 2022 and sits under the erly brand, and in June 2026 it shipped both the new ATO SSID requirement for STP lodgements and PayDay Super processing ahead of the 1 July 2026 regime. That is current compliance engineering, not maintenance mode.

Its pricing model is genuinely unusual and worth respecting: every plan has every feature. Tiers gate volume only — bank feeds, annual transactions, employees and storage — from A$20 a month to A$250, all inclusive of GST. And it lodges STP Phase 2 directly to the ATO, which HelloBooks does not.

Where HelloBooks is ahead: AI. Saasu ships none — no assistant, no categorisation, no OCR. HelloBooks includes AI categorization at 95%+ accuracy, OCR, a conversational assistant and cash-flow forecasting from the free plan, and there is no free tier on Saasu at all.

Researched & written by the HelloBooks editorial team. Checked against Saasu'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 4 of 9 buyer criteria

HelloBooks vs Saasu — criteria scorecard
CriterionHelloBooksSaasu
Entry price & free tierStrongPartial
Every feature on every planPartialStrong
STP Phase 2 lodgementNot offeredStrong
BAS lodgementNot offeredNot offered
AI shipped and generally availableStrongNot offered
Double-entry general ledgerStrongStrong
AU payrollNot offeredStrong
Inventory & operationsStrongStrong
Recent independent reviewsLimitedLimited

Side-by-side feature comparison

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

HelloBooks vs Saasu— feature-by-feature comparison
FeatureHelloBooksSaasu
Current statusLive and actively developed; launched 2024Alive and actively maintained. Acquired by OWNA Corp in October 2022 and merged under the erly brand. Two product posts dated 22 June 2026 covering ATO SSID and PayDay Super
PricingFree forever; Pro A$14.99/mo or A$149.99/yr; Business A$59.99/mo or A$599.99/yr — unlimited users on paid plansSmall A$20/mo, Growing A$35, Medium A$50, Large A$90, X-Large A$250 — all inclusive of GST
What the tiers gateFeature tiers — Pro adds AI, unlimited users, multi-entity, inventory and API; Business adds advanced inventory and analyticsVolume only. Saasu states "every plan has every feature" — tiers cap bank feeds (3–20), annual transactions (1,000–100,000), employees (1–80) and storage (2–20 GB)
Free planFree forever, no credit card — unlimited invoices, bills, quotes and POs, full core reports, mobile app, 2 users, 2,500 AI credits/monthNone. 30-day free trial from signup, no credit card required on the Small plan trial
STP Phase 2 lodgementNot shipped — STP Phase 2 and SuperStream are on the roadmap. We do not claim them todayLodges directly to the ATO — Saasu STP Report through MessageXchange, an ATO-whitelisted SBR gateway. STP Phase 2 shipped March 2022. From 30 June 2026 you nominate Oban Solutions as the SSP via SSID in ATO Access Manager
BASBAS GST preparation and Simpler BAS codes are live. BAS lodgement via SBR or Ozedi is on the roadmapPrepare only — BAS Summary and BAS Detail reports, with no lodgement path documented
GST & Simpler BASGST tracking with Simpler BAS codes, liveSupported, with a settings choice between Simpler BAS and Full BAS reporting structure. ATO tax code updates are part of the standard service
PayDay SuperNot shipped — Australian superannuation processing is on the roadmapShipped 22 June 2026 via its SuperStream Hub, ahead of the 1 July 2026 regime
AI capabilityAI categorization at 95%+ accuracy, OCR line extraction, Munimji assistant with 60+ tools, AI payables, AI calling for AR, CFO agent, smart error detection, AI analysis on every report, public MCP serverNone. No AI, machine learning or assistant feature is named anywhere on the features page, pricing page or 2026 blog posts
Double-entry general ledgerYes — chart of accounts, journals, trial balance, IFRS and GAAP compliant reportsYes, verified in help docs — journal entries require debits to equal credits, with a General Ledger Detail report available for export
Bank feedsIncluded on every plan. Plaid across 11,000+ US banks; PDF statement upload with AI reconciliation anywhereDaily bank and PayPal feeds, included on all plans but capped by tier — 3 on Small up to 20 on X-Large
PayrollNot shipped for Australia. India payroll runs through HelloTime, a sibling productIncluded on all tiers with STP, PAYG and SuperStream — employee count capped by tier from 1 to 80
Multi-currencyIncluded on all plans with automatic FX gain and lossIncluded on all plans — support for over 50 foreign currencies
Inventory & purchase ordersItem master, BOM, FIFO/LIFO/weighted-average valuation, GRN, multi-warehouse, POS, restaurant and manufacturing — from ProInventory, purchasing and supply-chain tracking plus purchase orders, on every tier including Small
Public APIAPI access from Pro at A$14.99/mo, BI connector, plus a public read-only MCP serverYes — XML over HTTP with full CRUD, docs at api.saasu.com and an official Ruby SDK. Named integrations include WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce and PayPal
Getting your data outCSV and Excel import/export throughout, plus a migration path with dry-run preview and one-click rollbackSelective rather than one-click — chart of accounts, contacts, transactions, payroll, inventory and reports export to CSV or XLS. Attachment export is in beta; otherwise each must be downloaded individually
Independent ratingsNewer product with a smaller review base — judge us on the free plan rather than review volumeCapterra 3.6/5 from 25 reviews — but the most recent is August 2022 and most cluster in 2016–2017, so there is almost no recent independent evidence

When to choose HelloBooks

  • You want AI doing the categorisation, reconciliation and month-end close — Saasu ships none at any price.
  • You want to try before paying; Saasu has no free tier, only a 30-day trial.
  • Transaction volume caps are a problem — Saasu's Small plan stops at 1,000 transactions a year.
  • You want cash-flow forecasting with base, best and worst scenarios and runway alerts.
  • You operate across borders — India GST filing, US 1099 and sales tax, UK MTD VAT and UAE VAT in one ledger.
  • You want a product with visible, recent third-party validation; Saasu's newest independent review is from 2022.

When to choose Saasu

  • You need STP Phase 2 lodged to the ATO today — Saasu does it through an ATO-whitelisted gateway and HelloBooks does not.
  • You need PayDay Super processing for the regime that began 1 July 2026.
  • You want Australian payroll with PAYG and SuperStream inside the same subscription as the ledger.
  • You value knowing that every plan has every feature, so growth never means a feature upgrade — only a volume one.
  • You run WooCommerce, Shopify or BigCommerce and want a mature XML API with an official SDK.
  • You want an Australian-focused ledger with a two-decade operating history.

Frequently asked questions

Is Saasu still being developed?

Yes, and this is worth clearing up because its marketing is quiet enough to look abandoned. Saasu was acquired by OWNA Corp in October 2022 and merged under the erly brand, and the homepage still carries that banner. But in June 2026 it shipped two pieces of real compliance work: the new ATO SSID requirement for STP lodgements, where from 30 June 2026 you nominate Oban Solutions as the Sending Service Provider in ATO Access Manager, and PayDay Super processing through its SuperStream Hub ahead of the 1 July 2026 regime. That is current engineering. The fair caveat is that between late 2023 and June 2026 the public blog is nearly empty — compliance is current, marketing is not.

How much does Saasu cost?

From saasu.com/pricing on 28 July 2026, in AUD inclusive of GST: Small A$20 a month, Growing A$35, Medium A$50, Large A$90, X-Large A$250. There is a 30-day free trial and no free tier. The unusual part is what the tiers gate — Saasu states that every plan has every feature, and the tiers cap volume only: bank feeds from 3 to 20, annual transactions from 1,000 to 100,000, employees from 1 to 80, and storage from 2 to 20 GB. Note that Capterra AU and GetApp AU still list stale pricing of A$15/A$40/A$70; use the vendor page.

What does HelloBooks cost in Australia?

Free forever with 2,500 AI credits a month and up to two users. Pro is A$14.99/month or A$149.99/year against a list price of A$29.99, with unlimited users, unlimited bank connections, multi-entity, API access, inventory, three-way matching and multi-currency. Business is A$59.99/month or A$599.99/year. There are no transaction volume caps.

Does Saasu lodge STP Phase 2?

Yes, directly to the ATO. Saasu transmits from the software through MessageXchange, described as a secure SBR-enabled gateway whitelisted by the ATO as STP compliant, with the user signing the declaration in-app. STP Phase 2 was released as an automatic update on 1 March 2022. From 30 June 2026 there is an additional one-time step: nominating Saasu's partnered Sending Service Provider, Oban Solutions, in ATO Access Manager using the SSID provided in Saasu.

Does HelloBooks lodge STP Phase 2?

No, and we will not pretend otherwise. STP Phase 2 and SuperStream are on the HelloBooks roadmap, not shipped. If you have employees in Australia and need STP lodged, Saasu does that today and we do not. Most Australian HelloBooks customers use a dedicated payroll product alongside the ledger.

Does either product lodge a BAS?

Neither. Saasu produces a BAS Summary and BAS Detail report but documents no lodgement path. HelloBooks does BAS GST preparation with Simpler BAS codes; BAS lodgement through SBR or Ozedi is on our roadmap. Both of us prepare, and you or your BAS agent lodge through the ATO portal. Anyone claiming otherwise about either product is wrong.

Does Saasu have any AI?

No. No AI, machine learning or assistant feature is named anywhere on Saasu's features page, pricing page or its 2026 blog posts. That is a clean factual difference rather than a criticism — Saasu is a well-built conventional ledger that has simply not gone down the AI route.

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, Period Autopilot for automated month-end close and depreciation, and an AI Analysis tab on every standard report, plus a public read-only MCP server. Included from the Free plan with 2,500 credits a month.

Is Saasu a real double-entry system?

Yes, and its help docs are unambiguous about it — the journals page warns that you should only enter journal entries if you understand how debits and credits work, and requires the debit column total to equal the credit column total. It also exports a General Ledger Detail report. This is a proper ledger, not a light invoicing tool.

What do Saasu users say?

Honestly, there is very little recent evidence, and that is itself the finding. Capterra sits at 3.6 from 25 reviews, but the most recent is August 2022 and most cluster in 2016–2017. Those older reviews cite slow email support and broken contact forms, third-party app and bank integration difficulties, an interface described as overly complicated, and one report of a file being deleted after a missed payment. Capterra AU adds that you cannot quickly list all invoices written to different people in the same company, and that invoice templating is limited. Treat all of it as dated.

Can I get my data out of Saasu?

Yes, but selectively rather than in one click. You can export the chart of accounts, contacts, sales and purchase transactions, payroll, inventory items and reports including the General Ledger Detail, as CSV or XLS, plus PDF via print. Attachment export is a beta feature and otherwise each attachment must be downloaded individually — Saasu's own leaving guide tells departing users to assess what they do and do not need to export. Plan for that before your cutover date.

How do I migrate to HelloBooks?

Export chart of accounts, contacts, transactions and inventory from Saasu as CSV, download your attachments separately given the beta status of bulk attachment export, then import into HelloBooks. The chart-of-accounts import uses AI to read your existing structure, retain account numbers and map intelligently. The flow at /migrate includes a dry-run preview and one-click rollback, and end of financial year is usually the cleanest cutover point for an Australian business.

Which has better inventory?

Both are strong, with a structural difference. Saasu includes inventory, purchasing and supply-chain tracking with purchase orders on every tier including the A$20 Small plan, which is generous. HelloBooks includes item master, bill of materials, FIFO, LIFO and weighted-average valuation, goods-receipt notes, low-stock alerts and forecasting from Pro, plus a warehouse module with receiving, put-away, wave picking and cycle counting, POS, restaurant and manufacturing with MRP and job costing.

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.

Migrating from Saasu?

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.

Start freeTalk to migration teamView pricing

Related reading

Australia hub

BAS-ready books, GST prep and what is live versus on the roadmap.

HelloBooks pricing

Free forever, Pro A$14.99/month, Business A$59.99/month in Australia.

AI categorization

Auto-coding at 95%+ accuracy with reviewable confidence scores.

Inventory

Item master, BOM, valuation methods and GRN — included from Pro.

Cash flow management

4/12/26-week forecasts with base, best and worst scenarios.

Migrate to HelloBooks

Dry-run preview and one-click rollback when you move your books over.

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