ac-co vs QuickBooks — which books-and-filing route fits you?
QuickBooks' Sole Trader Plus tracks income and expenses, estimates your Income Tax, and prepares the figures for your SA103/SA105 — but on its own site it stops short of submitting the SA100 itself. ac-co pairs its own books product with HMRC-recognised SA100 filing from your connected accounts.
ac-co vs QuickBooks, row by row.
Where we're weaker, we say so. Every ac-co fact comes from our own product pages; every competitor fact comes from their public site, cited below.
| What you get | ac-coBooks + SA100 | QuickBooksfrom £10/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From £9/month (ac-co.books, beta) — SA100 filing separately from £29/return | From £10/month + VAT (Sole Trader Plus) |
| Free to start | Start free, no card — you pay only when you file | Not stated |
| Files direct to HMRCThis is the sharpest difference on this page: QuickBooks' own Self-Employed page says it “provides an estimate of your Income Tax” and helps prepare SA103/SA105 figures, but the SA100 itself still has to be filed by you or an accountant elsewhere. ac-co's SA100 filing is HMRC-recognised end to end. | Yes | No — prepares figures only; you or your accountant file separately |
| Who reviews before filing | You review and approve — not an accountant | Not stated |
| Supplementary pages | 11 supported — SA102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108 (shares & crypto), 109 + more | Prepares figures for SA103/SA105 only — no direct SA100 submission |
| MTD Income Tax quarterly updates | Beta — quarterly updates drafted from your ledger, on the waitlist | HMRC-recognised, “MTD for IT submission ready” |
| File it from ChatGPT or Claude | Yes — file from ChatGPT, Claude or Codex (MCP) | Not offered |
| Bookkeeping includedQuickBooks' bookkeeping is a mature, widely-used product; ac-co.books is in beta. If bookkeeping depth today is what matters most, that's a real point in QuickBooks' favour. | Yes — auto-categorised and reconciled to the penny (beta) | Yes — auto-categorisation, receipts, mileage tracking, invoicing (mature, not beta) |
| Mobile app | No — web app only (works fine in a mobile browser) | Yes — iOS and Android |
| Best for | You want your books to feed straight into an HMRC-recognised SA100 filing — no extra step, no separate accountant to hand figures to. | You already run your books in QuickBooks and want it to estimate your tax and prep SA103/SA105 — then file the SA100 yourself or hand it to your accountant. |
Competitor details for QuickBooks are from quickbooks.intuit.com/uk/self-employed (opens in a new tab) and quickbooks.intuit.com/uk/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked on 2026-09-10 — check their site for anything that may have changed since. QuickBooks is a trademark of its owner; ac-co.ai is not affiliated.
Neither is wrong — it depends what you need.
Pick ac-co if you want the whole journey — books to filed SA100 — in one product, with nothing to export or hand off for the actual HMRC submission.
Pick QuickBooks if you already keep your books there (or want its longer track record and mobile app), and you're happy preparing the final SA100 submission yourself or through an accountant.
No sign-up — see what you'd owe.
The same income tax engine that drafts your SA100 runs here. Nothing is saved unless you start a return.
An estimate from the figures you enter — not a tax calculation or advice. Your final figure comes from your filed Self Assessment return.
What moves across, and what it costs.
From QuickBooks
- ✓Bank feed history
- ✓Chart of accounts
- ✓Contacts
- ✓Open invoices
ac-co vs QuickBooks — why would I move?
I already run my books in QuickBooks — why move?
If you're happy preparing the SA100 yourself or through an accountant once QuickBooks has estimated your tax, there's no reason to move. Switch only if you want the SA100 itself filed from the same ledger, which QuickBooks' own site says it doesn't do.
QuickBooks' bookkeeping is more mature — isn't ac-co.books a step down?
Fairly said — QuickBooks' bookkeeping is long-established and widely used; ac-co.books is in beta. If mature day-to-day bookkeeping is your main concern today, that's a genuine point in QuickBooks' favour.
Will I lose the QuickBooks mobile app?
Yes — ac-co is a web app today with no dedicated iOS/Android app. QuickBooks' app for receipts, mileage and invoicing on the go is a real capability you'd give up.
Does ac-co actually submit the SA100, or just estimate like QuickBooks?
ac-co's SA100 filing is HMRC-recognised and goes straight to HMRC once you approve it. QuickBooks' Self-Employed product estimates your Income Tax and preps SA103/SA105 figures, but leaves the SA100 submission itself to you or an accountant.
Is switching my books across risky mid-year?
Bank feed history, chart of accounts, contacts and open invoices move across at no cost, and we do the move with you rather than dropping you into a self-serve import.