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I mostly need to send VAT invoices and chase them. This comparison is written for Scotland specifically: VAT and Making Tax Digital are UK-wide, but Scotland sets its own income tax bands and rates, which changes payroll withholding for Scottish taxpayers even though the VAT return is unchanged. HelloBooks in the United Kingdom is £12 – £30 per month, billed annually; FreeAgent's pricing model is described rather than reprinted, so nothing on this page goes quietly out of date.
Showing Scotland, United Kingdom — GBP, VAT, DD/MM/YYYY.
Both send compliant VAT invoices. FreeAgent is simpler; HelloBooks adds automated chasing that is driven by the ledger rather than by a reminder schedule you maintain.
For a Scotland business the practical test is narrow: does the product handle vat uk-wide · scottish income tax bands without you configuring it per transaction, and can your accountant work in it without another licence? VAT is UK-wide; Scotland does not operate a separate VAT regime.
Sort by whichever product you are leaning toward, filter to differences only, and expand any row for the detail behind the label.
Showing 9 of 9 criteria.
| Criterion | Built for this market | Built for this market |
|---|---|---|
| Local tax return from the ledgerWhether the periodic indirect-tax return is built from posted transactions, or has to be assembled somewhere else. | MTD VAT return from the ledger — Fully supported | MTD VAT and Self Assessment — Fully supported |
| Multi-currencyForeign-currency invoicing and revaluation, and which tier it starts at. | Included — Fully supported | Supported — Supported with a caveat |
| Mobile appWhat you can actually finish on a phone, not just view. | iOS and Android — Fully supported | iOS and Android — Fully supported |
| InventoryStock tracking depth, and whether it costs extra. | Included — Fully supported | Not available — Not supported |
| Pricing modelHow the bill scales — per user, per company, per module, or per transaction volume. | Per organisation — Fully supported | Flat rate, unlimited users — Fully supported |
| Accountant accessWhether your advisor gets a login, and whether that login costs a seat. | Free, unlimited — Fully supported | Free accountant access — Fully supported |
| Multiple entitiesWhether a second legal entity fits in the same subscription or needs a second one. | Included — Fully supported | One business per subscription — Not supported |
| Integrations and APIMarketplace breadth and whether there is an open API. | Open REST API + webhooks — Fully supported | Moderate — Supported with a caveat |
| Local supportSupport in local hours, in local languages, by people who know the local rules. | UK business hours — Fully supported | UK-based — Fully supported |
Local tax return from the ledger
Whether the periodic indirect-tax return is built from posted transactions, or has to be assembled somewhere else.
Multi-currency
Foreign-currency invoicing and revaluation, and which tier it starts at.
Mobile app
What you can actually finish on a phone, not just view.
Inventory
Stock tracking depth, and whether it costs extra.
Pricing model
How the bill scales — per user, per company, per module, or per transaction volume.
Accountant access
Whether your advisor gets a login, and whether that login costs a seat.
Multiple entities
Whether a second legal entity fits in the same subscription or needs a second one.
Integrations and API
Marketplace breadth and whether there is an open API.
Local support
Support in local hours, in local languages, by people who know the local rules.
We do not reprint FreeAgent's prices. Their pricing model is described in the cost section below, with a link to their own page and the date we last checked it.
Feature lists are long and mostly identical. These are the three or four places the two products genuinely diverge.
Why it matters: Configured schedules go stale; ledger-driven ones do not.
Why it matters: Selling products rather than time is the dividing line.
Why it matters: A sales person raising invoices should not be a licensing question.
MTD-compatible VAT submission with Open Banking feeds.
UK-built and HMRC-recognised; free for qualifying customers of its parent bank, which shapes who uses it.
Same in Scotland as everywhere else in the United Kingdom — pricing is national, not regional.
Prices are in GBP and exclude VAT at the prevailing standard rate. Per organisation with unlimited users. Verified .
We describe the pricing model rather than reprinting prices. A copied price goes stale without warning; a pricing model does not.
FreeAgent
Flat monthly subscription; free for qualifying bank customers.
Current FreeAgent pricing (opens on the vendor’s own site) ↗ · model checked
Whichever you pick, these are the obligations the software has to satisfy for a business registered in Scotland.
| Requirement | What it demands | HelloBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Making Tax Digital for VATLegal requirement · HMRC ↗ | VAT records must be kept digitally and returns submitted through HMRC-compatible software with a digital link from record to return — no manual re-keying. | Covered |
| VAT invoice contentLegal requirement · HMRC ↗ | A VAT invoice must show your VAT number, the tax point, the rate applied per line, and the VAT amount in sterling. | Covered |
| Domestic reverse charge for constructionLegal requirement · HMRC ↗ | Between VAT-registered construction businesses the customer accounts for VAT, and the invoice must state that the reverse charge applies. | Covered |
| CIS deductions for subcontractorsLegal requirement · HMRC ↗ | Contractors must verify subcontractors, deduct at the verified rate, and file a monthly CIS return. | Partly covered |
| Companies House accounts filingLegal requirement · Companies House ↗ | Limited companies must file annual accounts in the accepted format within the statutory deadline. | Partly covered |
VAT and Making Tax Digital are UK-wide, but Scotland sets its own income tax bands and rates, which changes payroll withholding for Scottish taxpayers even though the VAT return is unchanged.
Region authority: HM Revenue & Customs ↗ · Scotland compliance guide
Partly. VAT and Making Tax Digital are UK-wide, but Scotland sets its own income tax bands and rates, which changes payroll withholding for Scottish taxpayers even though the VAT return is unchanged. The national VAT rules are the same wherever you are registered, so the software shortlist barely moves — what moves is the configuration. Anything you choose has to handle vat uk-wide · scottish income tax bands correctly on every VAT invoice without you remembering to set it per transaction.
VAT is UK-wide; Scotland does not operate a separate VAT regime. Scottish income tax rates and bands differ from the rest of the UK, so payroll must apply the S-prefixed tax code correctly. HM Revenue & Customs is the authority to check for anything region-specific — see https://www.gov.uk/scottish-income-tax.
Pricing is national, not regional: £12 and £30 per month, billed annually, in GBP, plus a free tier. Prices are in GBP and exclude VAT at the prevailing standard rate. Prices are per organisation with unlimited users, so a business in Scotland pays the same as one anywhere else in the United Kingdom.
Yes. UK-built and HMRC-recognised; free for qualifying customers of its parent bank, which shapes who uses it. MTD VAT, Self Assessment, and Corporation Tax estimates.
We do not restate FreeAgent's prices here, because a copied price goes stale silently and a stale price is worse than no price. FreeAgent charges on this basis: Flat monthly subscription; free for qualifying bank customers — check https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/ for current figures. HelloBooks in the United Kingdom is £12 to £30 per month, billed annually, per organisation, with unlimited users.
Yes. Opening balances, customer and vendor masters, and transaction history are migrated as part of onboarding, and the migration is included rather than quoted separately. For a Scotland business that also means your VAT registration number details and VAT settings are configured for vat uk-wide · scottish income tax bands before you start posting.
In practice the shortlist here is usually Xero, QuickBooks Online, FreeAgent — those are the products with the most local install base and the most accountants who already know them. That familiarity is a genuine cost saving, and it is the main reason to stay put if nothing else is broken.
Yes, and at no extra cost. Advisors get their own login with their own permissions, and the seat is free — so bringing in a Scotland-based accountant does not change your bill. That matters most where the advisor relationship, not the software, is the real switching cost.
Looking for the national view? HelloBooks vs FreeAgent (global)
Each market has its own tax regime, currency, and shortlist of incumbents. Switch to the one where your business is registered.
United Kingdom comparison hub · All nations · United Kingdom compliance hub