We want to meet the needs of small businesses and their advisors well into the future. That’s why we’re simplifying our subscription plans for UK small businesses and partners, which will be available from 12 September 2024.

The new plans are designed to give you easier access to the tools to help run your business efficiently. That means fewer add-ons, as more key features are included in plans.

We know areas like payroll and expenses can be critical to running a small business, so we’re bundling these features into some of our UK plans. We’ve been bolstering the capabilities of Xero Payroll in several ways, such as automating processes to support better efficiencies, reducing the risk of manual calculation errors, and expanding the suitability of the product for many more types of small businesses.

Find out more about the new simplified plans and what’s included for small businesses and accountants and bookkeepers.

Introducing Xero’s simplified small business plans

We’re launching three new streamlined business plans for UK customers, and enhancing the Ultimate plan.

• Xero Ignite plan — accounting basics made for businesses starting out
  
• Xero Grow plan — accounting tools for self-employed and growing businesses
  
• Xero Comprehensive plan — streamlined accounting and payroll for businesses with employees
  
• Xero Ultimate plan (enhanced) — accounting, payroll and forecasting tools to help businesses scale for future growth

With our new plan line-up for UK small businesses available from 12 September 2024, our existing Xero Starter, Xero Standard and Xero Premium plans will no longer be sold from that date.

The new plans have more key features included — with fewer add-ons to navigate. Xero Payroll, Xero Expenses, multicurrency, Xero Analytics Plus and bill payments are all examples of bundled features in some of our plans. CIS returns will still be available to purchase as an add-on to all of our business plans.

Find out more about how our new business plans compare with existing plans and what’s included.

Payroll enhancements and new ways to pay

We’ve been working on enhancements to Xero Payroll, which will be bundled into the Xero Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate plans from 12 September 2024. This includes launching new features that significantly expand the suitability of Xero Payroll for a broader range of small businesses, such as salaried employees with non-traditional (flexible) working hours. We’ve also made enhancements to more efficiently set up employee pensions and reduce the risks of errors. And, it’s now easier to transition to Xero Payroll from another provider via an automated data-mapping wizard. Read more about our latest payroll improvements.

Paying bills is crucial for small business cash flow, which is why we’ve included bill payments into most of our new plans. Bill payments offer a simple and secure way to manage, approve and pay bills without leaving Xero. There’s no need for manual bank transfers, funding external wallets or accounts, entering credit card details, or exporting payment files.

Xero’s simplified partner plans for accountants and bookkeepers

We’re also simplifying partner plans down to two (Xero Ledger and Xero Cashbook will remain). These partner plans are only available to be purchased by accountants and bookkeepers.

• Ledger — annual tax basics to help prepare and submit annual tax returns for simple non-trading clients
  
• Cashbook — bookkeeping essentials for non-VAT registered clients. Includes auto bank feeds

The new line-up of plans is designed to make it simpler for you to recommend the best plan for your clients, and tailor your practice services to clients.

From 12 September 2024, VAT Cashbook will no longer be sold. You can compare the VAT Cashbook plan against the other plans that will be available after 12 September 2024.

Find out more about what’s included in the partner and business plans.

Moving to a new plan

With the launch of our new plans, we will move subscribers on existing plans (except Ultimate who will get the enhancements on 12 September 2024) to new plans in a phased approach. In September 2024, we’ll provide more details on our migration plan and approach – where we will take into account your current plan (and any add-ons) as part of this, and intend to move all plans by March 2025. For the majority of customers, this will mean more features for the same or lower price when they are moved to a new plan.

We’ll be in touch to ensure you have a minimum of 60 days’ notice before your plan is moved, including information about the plan we intend to move you to. We intend to move subscribers to new plans by March 2025.

Alternatively, you can choose to move to a new plan before this takes place.

What will happen to my plan on 12 September 2024?

• If you’re currently on the Ultimate plan, the enhancements to this plan will begin without you needing to do anything. These include Xero Expenses and Xero Projects for up to 10 people, instead of the current five, as well as 15 bill payments (GBP only) per month
  
• You can choose to move to a new plan from 12 September 2024. However, once you have moved, your previous plan will no longer be available. If you want to upgrade or downgrade a plan, or add or remove an add-on, you’ll need to choose one of the new plans. If you transfer a subscription, the new subscriber will need to choose one of the new plans
  
• If you have the Xero Payroll, Xero Expenses or Xero Projects add-on attached to your current plan and need to add additional users, you can do so and remain on the old plan until Xero moves you, but additional charges continue to apply
  
• Once you’ve moved to a new plan, your previous plan will no longer be available. If you don’t want to change plans, you can wait until you are moved by Xero to a new plan (we’ll give you at least 60 days’ notice before we do this)

What happens next and getting to know the new plans

We understand these new plans may feel like a big change. We’ll keep you updated during this process and contact you at least 60 days’ in advance of making any changes to your plan, and to provide information about the plan we intend to move you to. Remember, you can always choose to move to a new plan before this takes place. In the meantime, we recommend familiarising yourself with the new plans and the features available, so you can choose the best option for your business.

If you’re a small business, check out the new plans and tune into one of our webinars to learn more about what the plan changes mean for you.

If you’re an accountant or bookkeeper, find out which plans are the best fit for you and your clients on our dedicated web page, compare the plans and check out one of our webinars.