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Bookfolio vs Sage
A detailed comparison between Bookfolio and Sage accounting software.
Updated 1 September 2026
What you get
Bookfolio
Sage
An accountant, included
Sage: manage your subscriptions →A UK accountant in the price
Included with every book
Ask a question or have a return checked before you approve it, inside the product where the figures are. Having us take care of the accounting itself is an agreed service, with the work and costs agreed with you.
Not included
Sage Accounting is the software: its practice tooling is a separate Sage for Accountants subscription that an accountant buys.
Inviting your own accountant
Invite them at no extra cost
They see the same figures you do, with each transaction's history behind it.
Invite them into your books
Sage publishes accountant access to a client's books, including managing a connected bank feed.
MTD and HMRC filing
Sage: Making Tax Digital for VAT →MTD for VAT
Filed from your books
Reconcile the quarter, read the box-by-box breakdown, then send it to HMRC.
Filed from the product
Sage Accounting authenticates with HMRC to submit VAT returns; the connection is reauthorised every 18 months.
MTD for Income Tax
Quarterly updates and the final declaration
Your trade and each property sit in one Self Assessment book.
In public beta
Sage describes Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in Sage Accounting as a public beta that accountants register their clients for.
Payroll reported to HMRC
Run from the same book
Pay your team and send the RTI submission without a separate payroll product.
A separate subscription
Sage Payroll is its own subscription, bought alongside Sage Accounting on the same account.
Everyday bookkeeping
Sage: bank feeds →Bank feeds and imports
Direct bank feeds and CSV import
Included with every book, with duplicate detection across imports.
Feeds for most major banks
Sage says it supports most major banks, and that a feed updates once a day rather than showing a live balance.
More than one currency
Foreign currency built in
Foreign-currency accounts and spending come in at daily market rates, into books kept in sterling, with gains and losses tracked.
On its Plus plan only
Sage publishes foreign-currency invoicing and banking as available in Sage Accounting Plus, with optional live European Central Bank rates.
People on the account
No per-seat fees
Everyone who needs the book can have it.
From its middle plan up
Sage lists multi-user access on its Standard and Plus plans, not on Accounting Start.
Pricing model
Sage: UK store →What a price covers
Software and an accountant
One price per active book, with UK accountants on hand included — not billed on top.
Software only
Three Accounting plans by feature level; an accountant is a separate cost on top.
What the entry plan covers
Priced by book, not by feature
A book's price depends on what kind of book it is; multi-user access, bills, and foreign-currency records are in every one of them.
Held back by plan
Multi-user access, quotes, purchase invoices, credit notes, stock, and foreign currency sit on its Standard and Plus plans rather than Accounting Start.
Where you go next
One product
Bookfolio is one book. If you outgrow it, there is no larger Bookfolio product to move up to.
A long product range
Sage's UK store also sells Payroll, HR, and Payment, alongside Sage 50 Accounts, Sage 50 Payroll, Sage 50 P11D, and Sage 200.
Starting price
£12 a month, excluding VAT
For a sole trader, property, or Self Assessment book. Free for the first 30 days.
From £20 a month, excluding VAT
Sage's UK store currently offers 90% off for six months, at £2 a month, after which the published rate applies.
Accurate as of 1 September 2026, checked against Sage's published pricing and plans.
Bookfolio is an independent UK company. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Sage, and Sage's name is used here only to identify the product being compared.
Pricing
What you would pay
Bookfolio
One monthly price per active book, with UK accountants on hand included. No per-seat fees and no transaction fees.
Sole Trader / Property / Self Assessment
£12 / month
per active book / month
Limited Company
£24 / month
per active company book / month
UK accountants on hand — in the price, not on top of it.
Prices exclude VAT. Free for 30 days, no card required.
See full Bookfolio pricing →Sage
Three Accounting plans by feature level, with payroll bought as a separate subscription — plus the accountant you hire alongside it.
Sage Accounting
£20 / month
Sage's published UK store price. Its Standard and Plus plans add multi-user access, purchase invoices, stock, and foreign currency.
An accountant, on top
£50–£400 / month typical
Unbiased's published guide puts a sole trader at £50 to £150 a month and a limited company at £200 to £400. What you pay depends on your accountant and your workload.
Prices exclude VAT. Sage's UK store currently offers 90% off for six months, at £2 a month, after which the published rate applies.
Sage: UK store →Sage plan names, prices, and inclusions read from Sage's published UK pricing page on 1 September 2026; typical accountant fees are indicative UK ranges from published fee guides. Bookfolio's prices are the ones on our own pricing page. On either product, a limited company's statutory accounts and CT600 sit with an accountant at year end — your own, or Bookfolio's under a separately agreed service.
Honest fit
Which one suits you
When Bookfolio fits best
You want the accountant included in the price — to ask a question or check a return — rather than hired on top, with the option of handing the accounting over as an agreed service.
You want multi-user access and foreign-currency records in the book you are already paying for, rather than on a higher plan.
You want MTD for VAT, MTD for Income Tax, and payroll filed from the same book, after you have read the figures.
You run a UK sole trade, a property business, or a limited company, and everything you file goes to HMRC.
When Sage may suit you better
You want payroll, HR, and payments from the same supplier as your books, or a route on to Sage 50 or Sage 200 as you grow.
Your accountant already runs their practice on Sage and wants your books alongside their other clients.
You invoice customers in foreign currencies, which Sage includes on its Plus plan — Bookfolio records foreign-currency accounts and spending, but issues invoices in sterling.
You need software outside the UK as well: Sage publishes editions for many other regions.
Why people move
What Bookfolio does differently.
✓
The accountant is in the price
Ask a UK accountant a question inside your books, or have a return checked before you approve it — included, not invoiced separately. If you'd like us to take care of the accounting itself, we'll agree the services and costs with you. You approve every figure before anything is filed, either way.
≡
Nothing held back for a higher plan
Multi-user access, bills, and foreign-currency records are in every Bookfolio book. A book's price depends on what kind of book it is, not on which features are switched on, so there is no upgrade to reach something you already needed.
£
Read it before you file
Every return builds as you reconcile, in plain language, and nothing reaches HMRC until you have read the figures and approved them. The accountants can check it first if you want them to.
Switching
Moving from Sage
Do I still need my own accountant?
UK accountants are on hand in Bookfolio for questions and return reviews. If you'd like us to take care of the accounting, we'll agree the services and costs with you — including annual accounts and the Corporation Tax return for a limited company. You can also invite your own accountant to the book at no extra cost.
Can I bring my Sage data across?
Yes. Export your contacts, chart of accounts, and transactions from Sage as CSV files, then import them into a new Bookfolio book. Your Sage data stays yours — take your exports before you close the subscription.
What happens to VAT returns I have already filed?
They stay filed. HMRC holds every return you have submitted, whichever software sent it. Bookfolio picks up from your first open period, and you keep your Sage records for the periods it filed.
Will I lose my HMRC connection?
No. You authorise Bookfolio through HMRC's own sign-in, separately from any other software. You can see which software has authority in your HMRC account, and remove any of it whenever you want.
When is the best time to move?
Most people move at the start of a VAT quarter or a tax year, because the opening balances are simplest then. Moving mid-period works too; it just means entering a little more history.
Can my accountant work in Bookfolio?
Yes. Invite them to the book at no extra cost. They see the same figures you do, with each transaction's history behind it.
Can I get my data out again later?
Yes. The full audit trail of every change exports to CSV whenever you ask for it — your records are yours, and we would rather you could leave than feel stuck.
Read the detail before you decide
The filing regimes, who Bookfolio is built for, and what it costs.
MTD for Income Tax
Quarterly updates and the final declaration for sole traders and landlords, filed from your books.Read more →
MTD for VAT
Digital VAT records, a box-by-box return that builds as you reconcile, and filing straight to HMRC.Read more →
For sole traders
One book for your trade, your expenses, and the Self Assessment figures behind them.Read more →
For landlords
Every property as its own income source, with shared costs split fairly across them.Read more →
For limited companies
Company books kept clean all year, VAT filed to HMRC, and payroll run for your team.Read more →
Pricing
One monthly price per active book, published in full, with 30 days free to begin with.See pricing →
Try Bookfolio next to your current books.
30 days free, no card required. Import your last quarter, reconcile it, and watch the VAT return build — then decide which one you would rather file from.