Automated Bookkeeping Software UK: Price and Data Compared

Automated bookkeeping software for UK practices falls into two groups: capture tools such as Dext and AutoEntry, and AI agents such as Mimo and Briefcase that code and reconcile inside Xero or QuickBooks. As of 24 October 2026, pay-per-document capture is cheapest at 150 clients, and Briefcase is the only tool reviewed that states no AI training on client data.

TL;DR:

Dext holds the top editor score here, 4.7 out of 5, but its Essentials and Advanced per-client rates sit behind a plan builder, with a 10-client minimum.

At an assumed 30 documents per client a month, Datamolino costs about £300, £720 and £1,440 a month at 50, 150 and 300 clients, excluding VAT.

Mimo lists from £15 per client per month: £750, £2,250 and £4,500 at those sizes, for Xero practices only.

Briefcase says it hosts on European servers and does not train on customer data; the other vendors read did not say on the pages checked.

Botkeeper closed in February 2026, so ask every vendor what happens to your clients' data if it shuts.

What does automated bookkeeping software actually automate?
Which automated bookkeeping tools fit a UK practice?
How much does automated bookkeeping software cost at 50, 150 and 300 clients?
What happens to client data in automated bookkeeping tools?
Can the software write to the ledger, or only read it?
Which tools have shut down or changed hands?
How should a practice choose and roll out automated bookkeeping?
Which automated bookkeeping tool suits a small practice, and which a larger one?
Why does independent evidence matter when choosing automated bookkeeping software?
Realistic expectations: automated bookkeeping
Find your next automated bookkeeping tool through The AI Ledger
Frequently asked questions

What does automated bookkeeping software actually automate?

It automates the repeat steps between a client's paperwork and a reconciled ledger: capturing receipts and bills, coding them, matching them to bank lines and posting to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or FreeAgent. It does not replace the review a bookkeeper signs off.

Capture tools read documents and publish them as ledger entries. Dext, for example, publishes extracted data to the client's ledger and covers more than 36 platforms, according to our Dext listing. AI agents go further and also reconcile bank feeds, post adjustments and chase missing records.

Making Tax Digital raises the stakes. HMRC's software guidance says compatible software must create digital records, send quarterly updates and submit the tax return, and agents see a filterable list of compatible products.

Pro Tip: Map your own bottleneck first. If clients email shoeboxes of PDFs, buy capture. If your pain is unreconciled bank feeds, buy an agent, and see our bank reconciliation category.

Which automated bookkeeping tools fit a UK practice?

Six tools in the directory fit UK practices working on Xero, QuickBooks or both, and they differ more in pricing model than in features.

Tool	Type	Editor score	Ledgers
Dext	Capture	4.7	Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent, Zoho
Mimo	AI agents	4.5	Xero only
AutoEntry	Capture	4.4	Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent, KashFlow, ClearBooks
Datamolino	Capture	4.1	Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent
Briefcase	AI bookkeeper	4.1	Own ledger, Xero, QuickBooks
Booke AI	AI bookkeeper	4.0	Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho Books

Scores are The AI Ledger's editor scores, and each listing was verified against the vendor's site on its last verified date, between 10 and 24 October 2026. We have not tested these tools hands-on.

For a wider shortlist, use the AI tools finder or the head-to-head compare page.

How much does automated bookkeeping software cost at 50, 150 and 300 clients?

At 150 clients the published prices range from £720 a month for pay-per-document capture to £2,850 or more for per-business plans, all excluding VAT. Each sum is shown below.

Tool	Published pricing	50 clients	150 clients	300 clients
Datamolino	Practice plans: Launch £39 minimum at £0.26 a document, Scale £135 at £0.20, Expand £500 at £0.16	£300	£720	£1,440
Mimo	From £15 per client per month (directory data)	£750	£2,250	£4,500
Briefcase	Per-business plans from £19 plus VAT	£950	£2,850	£5,700
Booke AI	$129 per business; firm pricing on request	$6,450	$19,350	$38,700
Dext	Per client, 10-client minimum; Essentials and Advanced rates not shown publicly	Quote	Quote	Quote
AutoEntry	From £15.45 for 50 credits (directory data); sources disagree	Not computed	Not computed	Not computed

The sums rest on stated assumptions. Datamolino assumes 30 documents per client per month: 1,500 documents at £0.20 is £300, 4,500 at £0.16 is £720 and 9,000 at £0.16 is £1,440. Mimo and Briefcase multiply the lowest published price by client count, so treat both as floors, not quotes.

Dext's Solo plan starts at £2.50 a client each month, needing at least five clients, and annual billing takes 13% off, per its pricing page. AutoEntry credits are 1 for a receipt, 2 with line items and 3 per bank statement page, per Sage's product page.

Pro Tip: Ask each vendor for a written quote at your three client counts, and ask whether bank statement pages and document splits cost extra. They do at Datamolino.

What happens to client data in automated bookkeeping tools?

Mostly the vendors do not say, so ask. The table shows only what each vendor's pages state; "not stated" means the pages we read were silent, which is not the same as a no.

Tool	Where data is hosted	Trains on client data?
Dext	Amazon Web Services; region not named	Not stated
Briefcase	European servers	No, per vendor
Mimo	Not stated	Not stated
Datamolino	Not stated	Not stated
Booke AI	Not stated; AES-256 and GDPR cited	Not stated
AutoEntry	Not confirmed	Not confirmed

Dext's security page says it holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification and runs annual third-party penetration tests. Briefcase says its AI providers work under zero data retention agreements. These are the vendors' own claims.

Pro Tip: Put three questions in writing before onboarding a client: where is the data stored, is it used to train any model, and what is deleted on exit.

Can the software write to the ledger, or only read it?

Every tool here can write to the ledger, so the real question is whether a human approves first. That matters because a wrong posting lands in a client's VAT return.

Dext: publishes captured data to the ledger, with supplier rules and auto-publishing for repeat items.
Briefcase: says every plan includes two-way sync with Xero and QuickBooks.
Mimo: Xero's app listing says it syncs two ways and that adjustments made in Mimo go directly into Xero. Payment runs need approval.
Booke AI: lists two-way integrations but its pricing page does not describe permissions.
Datamolino and AutoEntry: publish prepared data to the ledger after capture.

Look for an approval queue, an audit trail and a way to reverse a batch. If a vendor cannot show these in a demo, treat auto-posting as off.

Which tools have shut down or changed hands?

Botkeeper closed in February 2026 and Xendoo bought its Infinite platform, with CPA Practice Advisor reporting on 28 February 2026 that existing users kept access. Financial terms were not disclosed.

AutoEntry is owned by Sage, which also sells it through its accountant product pages. Check each vendor's ownership and funding before you move clients, because ownership changes alter pricing and data terms. Read our Botkeeper alternatives guide for the exit checklist.

The lesson is plain. Keep your coding rules, supplier lists and source documents exportable, and keep originals in the client's own storage, not only in the vendor's.

How should a practice choose and roll out automated bookkeeping?

Pilot with five to ten clients for one month, compare against your manual process, then scale.

Pick clients on your main ledger with steady volumes.
Record the minutes per client per month now.
Run the tool in review-only mode for four weeks.
Compare error rates and corrections, not feature lists.
Price it at your full client count before committing.

Check the output against Making Tax Digital needs too. Our MTD for Income Tax cost-per-client guide covers the software side of that.

Which automated bookkeeping tool suits a small practice, and which a larger one?

A small practice of around 50 clients usually does best with pay-per-document capture, while a firm near 300 clients should negotiate volume pricing before choosing anything.

At 50 clients, the Datamolino sum above is £300 a month and the Scale plan's £135 minimum is never reached. The lower tiers also suit practices with seasonal volumes, since the minimum doubles as processing credit and unused credit does not roll over.

At 150 and 300 clients, per-client agent pricing becomes the largest line in the budget. Mimo's floor of £2,250 and £4,500 is a different class of spend from capture, because it covers reconciliation and review work, not only extraction. Weigh that against the hours your team spends on those tasks today.

Mixed-ledger practices should note the constraint. Mimo works on Xero only, according to the directory record, while Dext lists Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent and Zoho. A tool that covers only one ledger leaves the rest of your clients on the old process.

Why does independent evidence matter when choosing automated bookkeeping software?

Vendor pages describe what a product is meant to do, and they often leave out hosting, training and write-back terms. Independent editor scores and last verified dates show what was checked and when.

The AI Ledger scores listings against a consistent rubric and shows the verification date on every page. Browse the full directory and read the verdict next to the price, not only the feature list.

Realistic expectations: automated bookkeeping

Automation reduces keying, not responsibility: you still review every posting, and any accuracy figure a vendor quotes is theirs, not ours. Budget review time in month one and expect to tune coding rules for several cycles.

Find your next automated bookkeeping tool through The AI Ledger

Start with the data entry and receipts category for capture tools and the bank reconciliation category for agents, then use the finder to filter by practice size and ledger.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best automated bookkeeping software for UK accountants?

There is no single best. Dext has the highest editor score here, 4.7 out of 5, and supports Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and FreeAgent. Mimo suits Xero-only practices wanting reconciliation agents, and Datamolino is the lowest-cost capture option with published practice prices from a £39 monthly minimum.

How much does automated bookkeeping software cost per client?

Published rates range widely. Mimo lists from £15 per client per month, Dext's Solo plan starts at £2.50 per client, and Datamolino charges £0.16 to £0.26 per document on practice plans, excluding VAT. Your cost depends on document volume, so request a quote at your own client count.

Does automated bookkeeping software train AI on my clients' data?

It depends on the vendor. Briefcase says it keeps customer data out of AI training. Dext, Datamolino, Mimo and Booke AI did not state a position on the pages we read. Ask for the answer in writing, and check the data processing agreement before onboarding clients.

Can automated bookkeeping software post directly to Xero or QuickBooks?

Yes, most can. Briefcase lists Xero and QuickBooks two-way sync, Mimo syncs two ways with Xero, and Dext publishes captured data to the client's ledger. Some postings go straight through, so check whether an approval step exists and whether a batch can be reversed.

Is automated bookkeeping software compatible with Making Tax Digital?

HMRC says Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software must create digital records, send quarterly updates and submit the return. Compatibility is product-specific, so check HMRC's software finder for each client's income sources before committing to a tool.