Clear Books
UK ledger for sole traders, landlords, and small companies, with HMRC MTD filings on the plans that include them.
- Starting price
- Free; paid from £5/mo + VAT
- Pricing
- Freemium
- Works with
- Replaces your ledger
- Pricing checked
- October 12, 2026
Our take
- Best for
- UK sole traders, landlords, and small companies that want HMRC MTD records in the same file as the invoices and the bank feed.
- Not ideal if
- A US shop that needs 1099s or QuickBooks, or a VAT-registered sole trader who buys the £5 plan and expects it to file VAT.
- Standout
- Forever-free MTD Income Tax plans for a sole trader or one property, with a paid step up for bank feeds and invoices.
About Clear Books
Clear Books is the ledger for a UK sole trader, landlord, or small company. You record income and expenses, send invoices, and file to HMRC from this file. Paid plans add bank feeds and bill and receipt capture. MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates are on the free sole trader and property plans. MTD VAT submissions are on Sole Trader Plus and on the Medium and Large organisation plans. The site has said it is UK software since 2008.
Xero and QuickBooks Online are the ledgers many accountants already know. Kick is a US replacement ledger. Dext, Hubdoc, and Veryfi capture documents and publish them into Xero or QuickBooks Online. Nanonets and DocuClipper extract invoices or statements for those same files. Clear Books is the books, not a capture add-on. Invoices, bank matching, VAT, CIS, and dividends live here, with hard plan gates. A US shop will not find 1099s in this file.
People who stay want UK support and one file that can start as a free MTD Income Tax record for a simple sole trader or a single property, then add invoicing and bank feeds. You can invite an accountant on the free plans. Limited companies, partnerships, and charities move to the organisation plans when they need journals, user permissions, dividends, and the fuller report set.
Pricing
Sole Trader Free, Property Free, and Foreign Property Free are forever free and need no card. Sole Trader, Property, and Foreign Property are £5/mo plus VAT. Sole Trader Plus is £15/mo plus VAT. Organisation plans are Small £16, Medium £34, and Large £44 per month plus VAT, with 10% off yearly and 20% off for two years. A 30-day trial covers paid plans. Payroll, Instant Bank Payments, and Auto Bills on organisation plans are optional and unpriced on the pricing page. There is no US dollar price.
Sole Trader Free
Self-employed people who need digital MTD Income Tax records and basic reports, without VAT filing.
- HMRC recognised
- MTD Income Tax quarterly updates and year-end filing
- Income and expenses, basic reports
- CIS subcontractors
- No transaction limits
- Invite your accountant
- No bank feed, invoicing, or receipt scanning
Sole Trader
Self-employed people who are not VAT registered and want bank feeds, invoices, and receipt scanning.
- Everything in Sole Trader Free
- Bill and receipt scanning
- Automated bank feeds
- Invoices and email
- Balance sheet and business reporting
- Unlimited users
- Journals, lock dates, and audit log
- Email support
Sole Trader Plus
VAT-registered sole traders who need to submit MTD VAT from Clear Books.
- Everything in Sole Trader
- MTD VAT reporting
- Flat-rate scheme
- VAT domestic reverse charge
- Phone and email support
Property Free
A landlord with one property, or properties grouped as one record, who needs MTD Income Tax filings.
- MTD Income Tax quarterly updates and year-end filing
- Income and expenses for one property or grouped
- No transaction limits
- Invite your accountant
- No multi-property profitability, bank feed, or scanning
Property
Landlords tracking more than one property, with bank feeds and receipt scanning.
- Everything in Property Free
- Profitability for multiple properties
- Bill and receipt scanning
- Automated bank feeds
- Balance sheet and business reporting
- Unlimited users and accountant tools
Foreign Property Free
A landlord with one overseas property who needs MTD Income Tax filings.
- MTD Income Tax quarterly updates and year-end filing
- Income and expenses for one property
- No transaction limits
- Invite your accountant
Foreign Property
Landlords with more than one overseas property.
- Everything in Foreign Property Free
- MTD quarterly updates for multiple properties
- Profitability for multiple properties
- Bill and receipt scanning
- Automated bank feeds
- Balance sheet, unlimited users, accountant tools
Small
Limited companies, sole traders, partnerships, and charities that need a full ledger without MTD VAT. Yearly billing is £14.40/mo. Two-year billing is £12.80/mo.
- Bank feed with automated matching
- Sales, purchases, and invoicing
- Full reporting, journals, dividends
- Integrations and API
- User permissions
- 30-day trial
- MTD VAT is not on this plan
Medium
Businesses that file VAT and CIS. Yearly billing is £30.60/mo. Two-year billing is £27.20/mo. New organisation subscriptions can get 50% off the first three months if bought within 30 days of registration.
- Everything in Small
- MTD VAT submissions
- Purchase orders
- CIS reporting and submissions
- Unlimited budgets
Large
Teams that need projects, foreign currency, expense claims, and fixed assets. Yearly billing is £39.60/mo. Two-year billing is £35.20/mo.
- Everything in Medium
- Project accounting
- Multi-currency
- Employee expense claims and approval
- Fixed assets
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- Yes
- QuickBooks Online
- No
- Xero
- No
- Inventory
- Partial
- 1099s
- No
- Payroll
- Partial
You match the bank feed, review bills, and lock the period in Clear Books. VAT and income tax updates file from this file only on plans that include them.
Invite the accountant into the same Clear Books file. There is no QuickBooks Online or Xero package because the books live here.
Features
- File MTD from the plan that includes it
- Sole Trader Free, Property Free, and Foreign Property Free cover HMRC-recognised MTD Income Tax quarterly updates and year-end filing, with no transaction cap, and you can invite an accountant. MTD VAT, the flat-rate scheme, and domestic reverse charge start on Sole Trader Plus. On organisation plans, MTD VAT submissions start on Medium. Small does not include them.
- Invoice and collect in the same file
- Sole Trader and the organisation plans create and email invoices, including recurring invoices and reminders. Stripe and GoCardless are on the feature list for card and direct debit. Instant Bank Payments is an optional open-banking add-on. The pricing page does not show that add-on's price.
- Match a bank feed and capture bills
- Paid sole trader and property plans include automated bank feeds and bill and receipt scanning. Organisation plans include a bank feed with automated matching on Small and up. The feature list also names an Auto Code pass over bank lines. The bank-feed provider is not named.
- Step up for VAT, CIS, projects, and currency
- Medium adds purchase orders, CIS reporting and submissions, and budgets, plus MTD VAT. Large adds project accounting, multi-currency with XE.com rates unless you override them, employee expense claims, mileage, and fixed assets. Stock tracking is marked on Small, Medium, and Large.
- Pay bills or run payroll as add-ons
- The feature list says you can pay bills and payroll from Clear Books through Revolut Business. Payroll is a separate add-on with RTI submissions to HMRC and a 30-day trial. Its price is not on the pricing page. Auto Bills is included on paid sole trader and property plans and listed as an add-on on Small, Medium, and Large.
- Lock a period and hand the file to an accountant
- Organisation plans include journals, an audit log, user permissions, and period locks. Reports include profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, and trial balance, with CSV or PDF export. The accountant works in this file. There is no QuickBooks Online or Xero sync on the pages opened.
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Ready to try Clear Books?
Check the live pricing page before you sign up. Plans change.