A full UK accountancy suite — pick AllSquare if you only need to invoice.
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For a UK sole trader who only needs to send invoices and estimates, AllSquare is the simpler and cheaper choice. QuickBooks is the better choice if you want one tool for bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, VAT returns, payroll and Making Tax Digital filing. Plenty of tradespeople end up with both: AllSquare to invoice from site, and QuickBooks (often run by their accountant) for the books.
QuickBooks is a mature cloud accountancy product used by UK accountants and bookkeepers. It covers invoicing, expenses, VAT, payroll and full double-entry books. Powerful if you need full accountancy; overkill if you just want to send a tidy invoice from the van.
Pick AllSquare if
You're a sole trader or small team who mainly needs clean invoices and estimates on-site, and you keep your actual books with your accountant at year-end.
Pick QuickBooks if
You want one tool that handles everything (invoicing + bookkeeping + VAT returns + payroll) and you're prepared to spend time setting it up and learning it.
Yes, if what you need is accounting rather than just invoicing. QuickBooks is accounting software: it keeps double-entry books, pulls in bank feeds, categorises expenses and supports Making Tax Digital VAT filing. For a VAT-registered builder or a firm with staff on payroll, that breadth is the point — and because so many UK accountants and bookkeepers already work in QuickBooks, handing over your year-end is usually painless.
It fits less well for the sole trader whose only paperwork problem is getting a professional invoice out before leaving the job. QuickBooks pays off once you've connected your bank, set up your categories and learned an accounting interface. If your turnover is under the £90,000 VAT registration threshold and your accountant already does your Self Assessment, you may be paying for features you never open.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax changes the picture for some sole traders. Under HMRC's announced timetable it applies from 6 April 2026 to people with qualifying income over £50,000, then to those over £30,000 from April 2027 and over £20,000 from April 2028. If you're in scope, you'll need MTD-compatible software such as QuickBooks, or an accountant who files for you. AllSquare does not file anything with HMRC.
| Feature | AllSquare | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Core invoicing (create, send, track) | Yes | Yes |
| AI invoice drafting (voice or text) | Yes — optional; manual form always available | Check their current AI features |
| On-site mobile invoicing | Mobile-first; works offline and syncs later | Mobile app available; broader accounting scope |
| Branded PDFs with logo | Yes | Yes |
| Full bookkeeping / bank reconciliation | No — intentionally scoped to invoicing | Yes — core feature |
| UK VAT returns + MTD filing | No — VAT shown on invoices; share PDFs with your accountant | Full MTD filing supported |
| Payroll | No | Payroll bolt-ons |
| Starting price | £0 free tier, £5.99/mo Pro | ~£15/mo entry, usually £30+ for UK |
| Learning curve | Minutes to first invoice | Hours to days — accountancy software |
QuickBooks pricing at the time of writing: From £15/month, often £30–£40/mo for a UK sole trader setup — check their site for current pricing. AllSquare: free tier, or Pro at £5.99/month or £49.99/year.
Best fit: AllSquare
The pain is writing invoices up in the evening, not bookkeeping. AllSquare lets them build the invoice on site from a saved price list — or describe the job by voice or text and check the AI's draft — and send a branded PDF before driving off. Their accountant can work from the saved PDFs at year-end, so a full accounting package would mostly sit unused.
Best fit: QuickBooks + AllSquare
Stay in QuickBooks for the books — that's what the accountant needs. If raising estimates and invoices in QuickBooks from site feels slow, AllSquare can produce them on the iPhone and the invoices get entered into QuickBooks afterwards. It's an extra £5.99 a month (or £49.99 a year), so it's only worth it if it saves real time each week.
Best fit: QuickBooks
Payroll, bank reconciliation and quarterly VAT returns are core QuickBooks jobs, and AllSquare does none of them. A firm at this stage needs proper accounting software — QuickBooks, Xero or FreeAgent — and should pick whichever its accountant prefers.
Example: A sole trader sending around ten invoices a month, invoicing only, over twelve months.
| AllSquare | QuickBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan needed | AllSquare Pro (the free tier covers 2 invoices a month) | Entry plan, or a typical sole-trader setup |
| Monthly price | £5.99 | From £15; often £30–£40 |
| 12 months, paying monthly | £71.88 | £180 at £15/mo; £360–£480 at £30–£40/mo |
| Annual option | £49.99 a year | Check QuickBooks' site |
For invoicing alone, AllSquare Pro works out roughly £110–£430 a year cheaper. That's only a fair comparison if you don't need what the extra QuickBooks money buys: if QuickBooks' bookkeeping would save you time or accountant's fees, it may be the better value overall.
QuickBooks figures are the prices quoted on this page at the time of writing — check their site for current pricing.
There's no import from QuickBooks into AllSquare, and for many people the right move isn't a full switch at all. Work through these steps to decide:
Want to try before installing anything? Our free invoice generator, estimate generator and timesheet generator run in any browser.
Only for the invoicing part. AllSquare replaces QuickBooks if all you use it for is creating invoices and estimates. It does not replace QuickBooks' bookkeeping, bank feeds, VAT returns, payroll or Making Tax Digital filing — if you rely on any of those, keep QuickBooks or ask your accountant what they recommend.
Yes. AllSquare produces the invoice PDF on site and you or your bookkeeper record it in QuickBooks afterwards. There's no automatic sync between the two, so agree a routine — for example, entering the week's AllSquare invoices every Friday.
Not QuickBooks specifically, but if you're in scope you'll need MTD-compatible software or an accountant who files for you. Under HMRC's announced timetable, MTD for Income Tax applies from 6 April 2026 to qualifying income over £50,000, then over £30,000 from April 2027 and over £20,000 from April 2028. AllSquare is not MTD filing software.
No — AllSquare has no import from QuickBooks. Leave your invoice history in QuickBooks (or download it before you cancel), start new invoices in AllSquare from a set date, and add your active clients and price list by hand.
Yes. AllSquare supports UK VAT on invoices and estimates, so VAT-registered traders can show VAT on their branded PDFs. You only have to register for VAT once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 (the threshold since 1 April 2024); below that you can invoice without VAT. AllSquare doesn't submit VAT returns — that stays with your accountant or your accounting software.
Free to download, free to use for your first invoices and estimates. No sign-up card required.