Xero price increase in Ireland: what changes on 1 November 2026

Xero's own notice for Ireland sets out the new monthly prices and says they take effect from 1 November 2026. Existing discount and promo codes keep working until they expire, so anyone on an introductory offer will see the change later.

• Lite: $7 before and after, no change
• Starter: $29 now, $32 from 1 November 2026 (+$3)
• Standard: $50 now, $54 from 1 November 2026 (+$4)
• Premium: $75 now, $82 from 1 November 2026 (+$7)
• Multi-organisation discount: no longer applies to subscriptions from 1 November 2026

A single business on one plan pays between $36 and $84 more over a year, depending on the tier. That is noticeable but rarely a reason to move on its own.

Practices are different. A firm paying for many client organisations takes the per-plan rise on every file at once and loses the multi-organisation discount on top. The quickest way to size it is to list every organisation by plan, multiply by the new price and compare with this month’s bill.

Xero has a deep accountant ecosystem and a large app marketplace. In September 2026 it added an Irish VAT tool that prepares the VAT3 and the Return of Trading Details from Xero transactions and exports figures ready to file in ROS. If a practice is built around Xero, absorbing the increase may be the right call.

Two gaps remain on its Irish plans page: there is no built-in Irish payroll, so employers connect a separate payroll app, and multi-currency sits on Premium only.

None of these needs a decision before 1 November; they are worth working through before the next VAT period closes.

• Right-size each file. Starter is limited to 20 invoices and 5 bills, so check whether every organisation sits on the tier it actually uses.
• Keep promo codes running. Codes already applied keep their discount until they expire.
• Compare like for like. Ask each vendor whether Irish payroll, VAT3 preparation and multi-currency are included or extra, because those decide the real monthly cost.
• Trial HelloBooks on simple files. Sole traders, holding companies and landlords without payroll are the easiest place to test an AI bookkeeper against your current process.

The list price is only part of the bill. Add the paid extras each organisation uses, such as projects, expense claims or auto-reconcile on the entry tier, and the separate Irish payroll app most employers connect. Then add the time your team spends on each two-month VAT period, because a cheaper subscription that needs more manual coding is not cheaper.

For a practice, a simple sheet with one row per client, the plan, the add-ons, whether the client runs payroll and the hours spent per VAT period gives a clear picture. It also shows which clients are simple enough to move first if you decide to try something else.

HelloBooks has a permanent Free plan. Its AI proposes the account and Irish VAT treatment for every transaction, reconciles bank activity, and computes the VAT3 figures from the ledger box by box. Nothing posts until a person confirms it.

Be clear on the trade-offs. HelloBooks does not run Irish payroll yet, and importing payroll journals from Irish payroll software is coming soon rather than live. You enter the VAT3 totals in ROS yourself, as you do with an exported return. Subscriptions are billed in US dollars today, with euro billing coming soon. Direct connections to Irish banks are rolling out; statement upload with AI reconciliation works now.

Leave payroll-heavy clients where they are. Pick five simple, no-payroll clients, run their next two-month VAT period in parallel, and compare the hours spent and the questions that came back. Decide with that evidence, not with the price list alone.