InvoiceAdept vs QuickBooks: invoicing vs accounting for UK trades (2026)

The short answer

QuickBooks UK starts at £10 a month + VAT (Sole Trader Plus) and is accounting software with an HMRC filing path. InvoiceAdept is free (five invoices a month), with Pro at £7.99 and Pro+ at £12.99 excl. VAT, and is trade invoicing only. It does not file MTD updates. Pick QuickBooks for the books and filing; pick InvoiceAdept to invoice and get paid from the van.

What is InvoiceAdept?

InvoiceAdept is invoicing software for UK trades. You raise the invoice, send it and get paid, and it keeps a digital record of that income. It does not send Making Tax Digital updates to HMRC and it does not submit your Self Assessment or VAT return.

InvoiceAdept is built by Tech Me Today Ltd (Companies House 15917255, ICO registration ZB944663). Plans on the pricing page, all excluding VAT, checked 29 August 2026:

• Free: £0. Up to 5 invoices a month, one user, email, PDF, customer portal.
• Pro: £7.99 a month. Unlimited invoices, up to 3 users, Stripe card payments with no InvoiceAdept platform fee, automatic reminders, WhatsApp invoice delivery, branding, recurring invoices, quotes and expense tracking.
• Pro+: £12.99 a month. Everything in Pro, plus CIS invoices, bank reconciliation, cashflow forecasting, advanced reports, an audit log and unlimited users.

Annual billing is advertised at 20% off, and paid features have a 14-day trial. See the full invoicing features for how each plan handles quotes, reminders and recurring work.

What that list does not include: quarterly MTD updates for Income Tax, Self Assessment filing, VAT return filing, or the contractor's monthly CIS300 return. Digital records, yes. Filing, no.

What is QuickBooks UK?

QuickBooks (Intuit) is cloud accounting software. It invoices as well, but the reason accountants push it is the books, the bank feed and a filing path to HMRC. On the live UK product ladder it is sold as Making Tax Digital ready for Income Tax on Sole Trader Plus, and Making Tax Digital for VAT ready from Simple Start up.

The public UK pricing ladder (published figures checked mid-August 2026; all prices + VAT at 20%):

• Sole Trader Plus: £10 a month (promo often £1 a month for the first six months)
• Simple Start: £16 a month (promo often £1.60 for six months)
• Essentials: £38 a month (promo often £3.80 for six months)
• Plus: £56 a month (promo often £5.60 for six months)
• Advanced: £123 a month (promo often £12.30 for six months)

Intuit's pricing page has also run a 30-day free trial as an alternative to the 90% introductory offer, not both at once. User seats climb with the ladder (1 on Sole Trader Plus and Simple Start, then 3, 5 and 25), with accountant access called out separately on the page (QuickBooks UK pricing).

CIS is marketed on Sole Trader Plus as calculate-and-manage for contractors and subcontractors. Intuit's help centre also documents CIS suffered tracking for Sole Trader subcontractors and CIS return submission flows for QuickBooks Online. Confirm the exact CIS and MTD gates for the plan you open before you budget.

InvoiceAdept vs QuickBooks: side by side

	InvoiceAdept	QuickBooks UK
What it is	Trade invoicing and digital records	Cloud accounting and HMRC filing
Price (29 Aug 2026)	Free £0 / Pro £7.99 / Pro+ £12.99, all excl. VAT. Annual 20% off advertised	Sole Trader Plus £10 / Simple Start £16 / Essentials £38 / Plus £56 / Advanced £123, all + VAT. Limited-time 90% off first six months often shown; or a 30-day trial instead
Free plan	Yes, five invoices a month	Trial or promo, not a permanent free invoicing tier
WhatsApp send	Native send on Pro and Pro+	Not a headline trade feature; you share a PDF or payment link yourself
Card payments	Stripe on Pro and Pro+, no platform fee. Stripe rate 1.5% + 20p UK	Online card payments available inside invoicing; partner fees apply
CIS	Deduction on the invoice on Pro+. Does not file CIS300	Calculate and manage CIS on Sole Trader Plus; CIS return submission on QuickBooks Online flows
MTD records	Yes, invoices, payments and expenses on paid plans	Yes, full digital books, bank feeds and categorisation
MTD filing to HMRC	No. No quarterly ITSA updates, no Self Assessment, no VAT return	Yes on the tiers Intuit marks for it. MTD for Income Tax on Sole Trader Plus; MTD for VAT from Simple Start up
Best used as	The front end: send, chase, collect	The back end: bank, tax estimate, quarterly update, return

That table is the article. The rest is why those rows look like that.

Does InvoiceAdept file Making Tax Digital updates to HMRC?

No. InvoiceAdept keeps a digital record of invoices, payments and (on paid plans) expenses, and you can export it. It does not send quarterly Income Tax updates and it does not submit your Self Assessment or VAT return (gov.uk MTD guidance).

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is live for sole traders whose qualifying income is over £50,000 for the 2024 to 2025 tax year, from 6 April 2026. It rolls out to over £30,000 from 6 April 2027, and over £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Qualifying income is before expenses, not profit.

HMRC's software guidance is clear: compatible software must create digital records, send quarterly updates and submit the tax return. An invoicing app that stores PDFs and exports a spreadsheet has done the first of those, not the second or the third.

HMRC also says you can use more than one product, but only one product for each separate submission. That is the legal room for a two-tool setup: InvoiceAdept where the invoice is born, QuickBooks where the quarterly update leaves the building. There is a longer explanation in MTD invoicing software for UK trades.

VAT is a separate job if you are registered. The threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover on a rolling 12 months (register for VAT). InvoiceAdept can put 20% on a line. It cannot submit the VAT return. Intuit sells Making Tax Digital for VAT readiness from Simple Start up on the UK pricing matrix, not as a free extra on every cheapest plan.

How does CIS compare?

Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors deduct money from a subcontractor's labour and pass it to HMRC. If you are registered, contractors normally deduct 20%; if not, 30%. Gross payment status means no deduction. Materials are not in the labour deduction.

InvoiceAdept's job on CIS invoices is the document: gross labour, materials, the rate, the amount withheld, the net payable and UTR on the page. That lives on Pro+ at £12.99 a month excl. VAT, not on Free or Pro. It is not the contractor's monthly CIS300 return.

QuickBooks's job is broader. Intuit markets calculate-and-submit CIS on Sole Trader Plus and documents CIS suffered tracking for Sole Trader subcontractors, plus CIS return submission to HMRC on QuickBooks Online flows. Read what you must do as a CIS subcontractor before you trust any software.

For a wider round-up, see best CIS invoice software UK 2026.

Sending the invoice and getting paid

UK trades already close extras in WhatsApp. InvoiceAdept Pro and Pro+ send the invoice through WhatsApp from the app, with the payment link attached. QuickBooks sends professional invoices, estimates and online payment options, but it is not a WhatsApp-native send. For a main contractor's accounts team, email still wins. Use WhatsApp for domestic customers who already message you; use email for anyone with a purchase order.

Card collection is the other half. On InvoiceAdept Pro the customer can pay by card from the invoice. Stripe processes it and InvoiceAdept adds no platform fee. Stripe's rate, as published on pricing, is 1.5% + 20p for UK cards and 2.5% + 20p for international cards (Stripe UK).

Worked example: a £1,200 bathroom invoice paid on a standard UK card costs 1.5% (£18.00) plus 20p, £18.20. That is Stripe, not us.

QuickBooks offers online card payments on invoices inside the product, and those partners charge their own fees. Read the payment partner's pricing before you turn the link on. Bank transfer remains the cheapest way to get paid on both products. Faster Payments into your own account costs nothing in platform fees.

Which is cheaper?

People compare £7.99 with £10 and stop. That only makes sense if both numbers buy the same thing.

£7.99 excl. VAT (InvoiceAdept Pro) buys unlimited invoices, WhatsApp send, Stripe without a platform fee, reminders, quotes, recurring invoices and expenses. It does not buy a bank feed that files VAT.

£10 + VAT (QuickBooks Sole Trader Plus) buys the accounts-led sole-trader product: invoicing, bank feeds and categorisation, receipt capture, income-tax tooling and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax features as Intuit markets them on that tier. Independent tests have noted that Making Tax Digital for VAT readiness sits on Simple Start and up, so VAT-registered trades should budget for Simple Start (£16 + VAT) or higher.

The 90% QuickBooks introduction (£1 a month for six months on Sole Trader Plus, before VAT) is real when the limited-time banner is live, but introductory rates end. Budget the £10 + VAT or the higher tier you actually need. On Intuit's page the free trial and the 90% offer have been presented as alternatives, so taking the trial can mean forgoing the discount.

£0 (InvoiceAdept Free) is five invoices, a way in rather than a working trade's forever plan.

Can you use InvoiceAdept and QuickBooks together?

Yes, if you are disciplined. HMRC allows more than one product, but only one product per submission. The clean version for a mandated sole trader who still wants trade invoicing is: create and send the invoice in InvoiceAdept, make sure the same income lands in QuickBooks once (from the bank feed or a disciplined export, not from raising a second invoice), file VAT and quarterly Income Tax updates from QuickBooks, and pick a source of truth. For HMRC that is QuickBooks; for "has this customer paid?" that is InvoiceAdept.

If you already invoice and file inside QuickBooks, you do not need InvoiceAdept. If an accountant already files from their own Xero or FreeAgent file, you do not need QuickBooks either, ask them which export they want. FreeAgent sits in the same accounts and filing column, and that comparison is InvoiceAdept vs FreeAgent.

Who should pick which?

Choose InvoiceAdept, and keep filing elsewhere, if: you need to send the invoice from the van, often in WhatsApp; you want card payments without an extra platform percentage; you need a CIS-shaped invoice on Pro+ and are not asking the invoicing app to file CIS300; or you already have an accountant on QuickBooks and only needed the front end.

Choose QuickBooks as your main system if: you are a sole trader who has to use MTD for Income Tax and wants to self-file in the product your accountant already knows; you are VAT-registered and want the VAT return to leave the same login as the bank feed; your accountant already works in QuickBooks; or you need contractor-side CIS return submission and have confirmed that feature on the plan you are buying.

Use both if the two lists are both true. That is a common 2026 setup, not a failure.

Either way, a free trade directory listing helps customers find you, and you can join it free at any time.

FAQs

Does InvoiceAdept file Making Tax Digital updates to HMRC?

No. We keep digital records of invoices, payments and, on paid plans, expenses, and you can export them. We do not send quarterly Income Tax updates and we do not submit your Self Assessment or VAT return. If you are mandated, use HMRC-recognised software such as QuickBooks, or an accountant who does.

Is QuickBooks HMRC-recognised for MTD?

Intuit sells QuickBooks UK as Making Tax Digital ready for Income Tax on Sole Trader Plus, and Making Tax Digital for VAT ready from Simple Start up. Confirm the exact filing features on the plan you open, and confirm your own mandate on gov.uk. Do not assume a cheapest-tier ticket covers every VAT and Income Tax submission.

Can I use InvoiceAdept and QuickBooks together?

Yes, if you are disciplined. Invoice in one place, file in the other, and do not raise the same job twice. HMRC allows more than one product but only one product per submission. Ask your accountant which export they want.

Which is cheaper?

It depends what you are buying. InvoiceAdept Pro is £7.99 a month excl. VAT. QuickBooks Sole Trader Plus is £10 a month plus VAT after any intro, and VAT-registered trades often need Simple Start at £16 + VAT. Those numbers are not substitutes. Paying £7.99 for invoicing and nothing for filing, when you are mandated, is not cheaper. It is incomplete.

Does either product file my CIS300?

InvoiceAdept does not. QuickBooks documents CIS return submission to HMRC on QuickBooks Online flows, and CIS suffered tracking for Sole Trader subcontractors. Confirm contractor versus subcontractor features on the exact plan before you rely on it. Contractors remain responsible for verification, deductions and the return.

I earn under £50,000. Can I ignore QuickBooks?

Maybe for this tax year, maybe not. The £50,000 test is qualifying income for 2024 to 2025, before expenses, already in force from 6 April 2026 for people over that line. Later years use £30,000 then £20,000. Digital invoice records are still useful below the line; filing software becomes mandatory above it.

Who operates InvoiceAdept?

Tech Me Today Ltd. Companies House 15917255. ICO registration ZB944663.

Are the prices including VAT? InvoiceAdept states that all prices exclude VAT. QuickBooks UK prices are marked + VAT @ 20%. Stripe and other payment partners charge separately. Confirm at checkout.

The bottom line

InvoiceAdept is not a replacement for accounting software or MTD filing, and it does not pretend to be. If you need the books and a filing path in one login, QuickBooks does that on the right tier. If you need to invoice from the van, get paid by card and keep a clean income record, InvoiceAdept does that free, with Pro at £7.99 and Pro+ at £12.99 excl. VAT. Start free in 30 seconds →