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Sending a compliant invoice, getting paid, and having the result land in books someone can file from. In Wales the deciding constraint is usually vat uk-wide · welsh-language obligations, administered by HM Revenue & Customs — so that is what every product below is judged against first.
Showing Wales, United Kingdom — GBP, VAT, DD/MM/YYYY.
Search, sort, and filter the matrix. Every value is a word, not a tick — so nothing depends on colour to be understood.
Showing 9 of 9 criteria.
| Criterion | Built for this market | Built for this market | Available here | Limited here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | MTD VAT submission — Fully supported | VAT rates on invoices only — Limited |
| Multi-currencyForeign-currency invoicing and revaluation, and which tier it starts at. | Included — Fully supported | Supported — Supported with a caveat | On higher plans — Supported with a caveat | 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 | 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 | Separate Zoho Inventory for depth — Supported with a caveat | 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 | Per organisation, extra users charged — Limited | Tiered by client count, paid extra users — Limited |
| Accountant accessWhether your advisor gets a login, and whether that login costs a seat. | Free, unlimited — Fully supported | Free accountant access — Fully supported | Free accountant seat on most plans — Supported with a caveat | Accountant seat included — Supported with a caveat |
| 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 | One organisation per subscription — Limited | 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 | Zoho suite plus open API — Fully supported | Moderate marketplace — 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 | UK business hours — Supported with a caveat | Limited UK hours — Limited |
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.
Criteria are scoped to the United Kingdom: rows that would be meaningless here are not shown rather than being padded with "not applicable". Where we have not verified a capability for this market, the cell says "Not documented" rather than claiming a gap.
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.
UK edition is HMRC-recognised for Making Tax Digital.
Usable in the UK, but Making Tax Digital submission is not its strength and many UK users pair it with a separate VAT filing route.
Same in Wales 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
Zoho Books
Per organisation, tiered, with paid extra users above a per-plan allowance.
Current Zoho Books pricing (opens on the vendor’s own site) ↗ · model checked
FreshBooks
Tiered by billable-client count, with paid extra team members.
Current FreshBooks pricing (opens on the vendor’s own site) ↗ · model checked
Each page below goes deeper on one product, written for Wales.
| 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 identical to the rest of the UK. What differs is language: Welsh-language invoicing and correspondence is expected by public-sector buyers, and Land Transaction Tax replaces Stamp Duty.
Region authority: HM Revenue & Customs ↗ · Wales compliance guide
Partly. VAT and Making Tax Digital are identical to the rest of the UK. What differs is language: Welsh-language invoicing and correspondence is expected by public-sector buyers, and Land Transaction Tax replaces Stamp Duty. 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 · welsh-language obligations correctly on every VAT invoice without you remembering to set it per transaction.
VAT is UK-wide and filed to HMRC under the same Making Tax Digital rules. Welsh-language versions of invoices and customer correspondence are expected by many public-sector customers. HM Revenue & Customs is the authority to check for anything region-specific — see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs.
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 Wales pays the same as one anywhere else in the United Kingdom.
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 Wales-based accountant does not change your bill. That matters most where the advisor relationship, not the software, is the real switching cost.
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