Sage Accounting Review 2026: Prices, Sage Copilot AI, Payroll and Rivals

Sage Accounting is the cloud bookkeeping software Sage sells to UK sole traders and small businesses, and every plan now comes with Sage Copilot, its AI assistant, and with payroll built in. That means invoicing, Making Tax Digital VAT returns, bank reconciliation, payroll and an assistant that chases late invoices, in one subscription with no AI add-on fee. This buyer's guide covers what each plan costs, three worked cost examples, what Copilot actually does, the cheaper route through an accountant, and how Sage compares with Xero and QuickBooks. Prices were read on the Sage Accounting pricing page on 3 November 2026.

TL;DR:

• Three plans: Start £20, Standard £43 and Plus £59 a month, excluding VAT. New customers can take 90% off for six months (£2, £4.30 and £5.90) or one month free instead.
• Sage Copilot is included in every Sage Accounting plan. It drafts payment reminders, checks VAT returns for mistakes before you submit to HMRC, and flags cash flow risks.
• Payroll is now in every plan: one employee on Start and Standard, five on Plus, then £1.85 per extra employee a month.
• Through an accountant on Sage for Accountants, the same plans list at £13.50, £20 and £25 a month, before volume discounts of 5% to 40%.
• Watch the gaps: Start has one user and no supplier bills, quotes or cash flow forecast, and receipt capture is charged after an allowance.
• Sage Copilot scores 4.0 out of 5 in our directory. Best for: UK small businesses and practices already on Sage, or choosing a ledger and wanting AI help without a separate subscription.

The AI Ledger earns a commission if you sign up through the links on this page. It never changes an editor score.

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Table of Contents

• Why small businesses choose Sage Accounting
• What each Sage Accounting plan gives you
• Payroll, receipts and other costs
• Three worked examples
• What Sage Copilot does today
• Sage for Accountants and the MTD Agent
• Security, ratings and support
• Where Sage Accounting falls short
• Sage vs Xero, QuickBooks and the AI add-ons
• How to try Sage Accounting
• Our verdict
• Frequently asked questions
• Sources

Why small businesses choose Sage Accounting

Small businesses want invoices paid, VAT filed on time and staff paid correctly, with little admin. Sage Accounting now puts all three in one subscription.

VAT and Making Tax Digital in every plan. All three plans calculate and submit VAT returns to HMRC, include what Sage calls assisted VAT submissions and AI mistake detection, and handle the Construction Industry Scheme. CIS is on every plan, including Start.

Getting paid. Unlimited sales invoices, online payment options and automatic invoice chasing are on every plan. Copilot drafts the chasing email in your own tone and you approve it before it goes.

Payroll in the same place. Sage has folded payroll into Accounting. Every plan runs a pay run with HMRC filing and pension auto enrolment, with payslips staff can view themselves.

Your accountant can log in. Every plan includes accountant access, and practices on Sage for Accountants get their own client pricing.

Sage says it offers unlimited transactions, UK-based support and is the only provider with an AI assistant in every plan. Those are Sage's own claims.

What each Sage Accounting plan gives you

Sage publishes its prices, excluding 20% VAT, billed monthly with no long-term contract.

Start suits a VAT-registered sole trader or a one-person company that only sends invoices. It has Copilot, VAT, CIS and payroll for one, but it cannot record supplier bills, raise quotes or forecast cash flow, and it allows one user.

Standard is the plan most small businesses should price. It adds supplier bills and accrual accounting, quotes, a cash flow forecast, custom reports, receipt capture, three users, and core HR, leave and timesheets on the payroll side. Sage marks it as the most popular plan.

Plus is for businesses with stock or foreign currency. It adds budgets, inventory, exchange rates and multi-currency banking, unlimited users, payroll for five employees, shift scheduling and performance management.

Telephone support is listed on all three plans.

Payroll, receipts and other costs

These are the extras Sage publishes.

A business with eight staff on Standard pays for seven extra employees, £12.95 a month on top of the plan. Sage's page does not say whether the 90% discount also applies to the per-employee charge, so our examples price it at the full rate.

Three worked examples

These use the published prices only and exclude VAT. Where we apply the 90% offer we assume it covers the plan price for six months and nothing else.

1. A VAT-registered sole trader on Start

The offer saves £108 in year one, matching Sage's figure. Budget for the full price from month seven.

2. A small business on Standard with four staff

Standard includes one employee, so three more cost £1.85 each, or £5.55 a month.

Our sum puts the plan saving at £232.20 (£38.70 x 6), while Sage's page says £232.60. Add £0.20 per receipt if you scan more than 30 a month.

3. An accounting practice with 20 Sage clients

Through Sage for Accountants, the practice pays Sage for each client subscription and sets its own fee to the client.

That is £4,047 a year. The same clients buying direct at full price would pay £694 a month (£200 + £258 + £236). The discount rises to 40% for large practices, but Sage does not say how many points each subscription earns, so ask.

What Sage Copilot does today

Copilot is the AI assistant inside Sage's software, not a separate product. In Sage Accounting, Sage lists three jobs.

Invoice chasing. When a payment is due, Copilot drafts a reminder in your tone and timing, and you review and send it. Sage says this gets small businesses paid 7 days faster. Its footnote says that figure is based on 21 customers.

VAT returns. The Copilot VAT assistant alerts you as deadlines approach, checks the books for mistakes, calculates the VAT owed and lets you submit to HMRC from Sage.

Business insights. Dashboards show cash in real time, and Copilot points out cost-saving opportunities and cash flow risks. You can ask it questions about your own data.

Sage also says Copilot saves 5 hours a week. Treat that as Sage's own estimate: the page's footnotes describe a study with 28 small businesses who were shown a product demo, which is a small sample and not a measured trial.

Two caveats from Sage's Copilot page: some capabilities show its vision and vary by product and region, so future features should not drive a purchase; and in some Sage products Copilot may be a paid add-on. For Sage Accounting it is in all three plans.

Sage says Copilot works within the permissions you set, with audit trails and approval steps.

In Sage Intacct, Sage says Copilot adds variance analysis and a faster month-end close; see our Sage Intacct review.

Sage for Accountants and the MTD Agent

Sage for Accountants is free for verified practices. Sage says around 14,000 accountants use its solutions. The practice gets Sage Accounting and Payroll, a central client list, a payroll bureau dashboard and final accounts and tax tools, with paid add-ons for proposals, KYC checks, engagement letters and automated data entry.

These are list prices before the points discount, which runs from 5% off at the lowest tier to 40% at 10,000 points or more. Sage bills the practice monthly by card or Direct Debit, and the VAT is 20% on top.

MTD for Income Tax. The accountants' page now describes an MTD Agent that segments the clients who fall under MTD for Income Tax, simplifies HMRC client authorisations, handles client preparation tasks and tracks submission deadlines. A Period Review screen lets the practice review connected clients' transactions in bulk before each quarterly update, and submit from the same workflow. Sage calls itself the home of the only MTD Agent and says it cuts MTD admin by 50%; both are Sage's own claims. If MTD for Income Tax is your main concern, our guide to MTD Income Tax software cost per client compares the options.

Security, ratings and support

Sage says Copilot uses encryption and complies with data protection rules, and it has published five AI commitments. The pages we read name no security certification or hosting region, so ask Sage if a client needs either in writing.

The Sage Accounting iPhone app is rated 4.5 out of 5 from about 1,600 ratings on the UK App Store. On Trustpilot, Sage as a whole scores 4.0 from 20,239 reviews, so that figure covers all Sage products, not Accounting alone. Praise centres on helpful phone support during setup; the complaints are mostly about reaching a person quickly, and one reviewer describes trouble after cancelling the AI upgrade.

Where Sage Accounting falls short

• Copilot only works on Sage files. Practices with clients across Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent still need another tool for most of the book.
• Capabilities vary by product, plan and region. Much of the detail comes from Sage's own announcements and pages, not independent testing, so check what is switched on in each subscription.
• The MTD automation arrived in stages. Confirm what is live in your Sage for Accountants account before relying on it for quarterly updates.
• The price jumps tenfold after six months. Start goes from £2 to £20 and Standard from £4.30 to £43.
• Start is thin. One user, no supplier bills, no quotes, no cash flow forecast and no receipt capture.
• Receipts and staff add up. Captures beyond the allowance cost £0.20 each and extra employees £1.85 a month.
• Headline AI figures come from small samples. Paid 7 days faster rests on 21 customers.
• The Intacct close features suit mid-sized finance teams, not a small practice's bookkeeping clients.

Sage vs Xero, QuickBooks and the AI add-ons

Xero and QuickBooks prices are from our Xero vs QuickBooks guide, excluding VAT.

Where Sage wins.

• Against Xero: Xero scores higher and has the larger practice ecosystem, but Sage includes payroll and unlimited users on Plus at £59, while Xero needs Comprehensive at £55 for multi-currency and charges more for projects. CIS sits in every Sage plan.
• Against QuickBooks: QuickBooks Simple Start at £16 is cheaper than Sage Start, and Essentials at £38 adds multi-currency. Sage includes payroll, which QuickBooks charges from £5 a month plus £1.50 per employee. Our QuickBooks pricing guide has the full breakdown.
• Against Mimo and Xenett: these are AI layers for practices on Xero or QuickBooks. For Sage clients, Copilot is already in the subscription, so there is no second tool to pay for or connect.

For more tools that automate close and review, see the Month-end close category.

How to try Sage Accounting

Sage offers two routes for new customers. The default is 90% off for six months on any plan, with no long-term contract. If you would rather test first, Sage lets you skip the offer and take one month free; the page also mentions a 30-day trial of Standard. Pick Standard to trial, because it shows supplier bills, the cash flow forecast and receipt capture that Start leaves out.

In the first month, chase two real overdue invoices with Copilot's drafts, check a VAT return and run one payroll. If you use an accountant, ask whether they can set you up through Sage for Accountants, where the list prices are lower.

Start Sage Accounting with Copilot and payroll included ↗

Our verdict

Sage Accounting is a sound, low-risk choice for UK small businesses and for anyone already on Sage. Copilot costs nothing extra in any plan, VAT, MTD and CIS are on every tier, and payroll is now built in, which makes Standard good value for a small employer once you add up what rivals charge for payroll. Copilot's invoice chasing and VAT checks are practical rather than dramatic, and the bigger claims rest on Sage's own small studies.

We score Sage Copilot 4.0 out of 5. If your books, or most of your clients' books, are on Sage, it is the obvious AI starting point. If they are spread across Xero and QuickBooks, it will not help with those, and a cross-ledger tool fits better.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does Sage Accounting cost in the UK?

Start is £20, Standard £43 and Plus £59 a month, excluding VAT. New customers can pay 90% less for six months. Through an accountant on Sage for Accountants the list prices are £13.50, £20 and £25.

Is Sage Copilot free?

It is included in all three Sage Accounting plans at no extra charge. In other Sage products Copilot depends on the plan, and Sage says it may be an add-on at extra cost.

Does Sage Copilot work with Xero or QuickBooks?

No. Copilot only works inside Sage products, so it cannot help with clients whose books are on Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent.

Is payroll included in Sage Accounting?

Yes. Start and Standard include one employee and Plus includes five, then each extra employee costs £1.85 a month.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. Instead of the six-month discount you can take one month free, and you can cancel at any time.

Is Sage Accounting ready for Making Tax Digital?

Sage says every plan is MTD ready for VAT. For MTD for Income Tax, practices use Sage for Accountants with the MTD Agent and Period Review.

Sources

• Sage Accounting plans and pricing, UK, read 3 November 2026
• Sage Copilot, UK, read 3 November 2026
• Sage for Accountants, UK, read 3 November 2026
• Sage AI commitments
• App Store UK: Sage Accounting
• Trustpilot: Sage
• The AI Ledger: Sage Copilot listing and review