Practice management software for UK accounting firms: what to look for in 2026

What practice management has to handle in 2026

Practice management software is where a firm keeps its clients, its recurring jobs, who owns them and when they’re due. In the UK in 2026, the list of things it has to keep track of got longer.

• MTD for Income Tax: live from 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, then £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Each client has four quarterly updates a year, and agents sign each client up through their agent services account.
• Corporation Tax: payment is due 9 months and 1 day after the period end, and the CT600 12 months after.
• Companies House accounts: due 9 months after the accounting reference date for a private company. From 1 April 2028, accounts must be filed through commercial software.
• Identity verification: a legal requirement since 18 November 2025, with a 12-month transition. Existing directors verify with their company’s next confirmation statement, so every client company’s next one is also an identity deadline.
• Anti-money laundering: firms not supervised by a professional body register with HMRC and renew every year, and every client needs due diligence on file. The government plans to move AML supervision of accountants to the FCA, with no start date yet.

What to look for: a checklist

Use the jobs above as the test. Whatever you’re looking at, ask whether it handles each of these for a real client, not just in the demo.

1. 01

   Recurring jobs per obligation.

   One template each for MTD quarterly updates, VAT, accounts and CT600, so a new client’s jobs create themselves with the right due dates.

2. 02

   Owners, reviewers and statuses.

   Every job has one owner and one reviewer, and its status says who acts next. A partner should see what’s stuck without asking.

3. 03

   Client records you can trust.

   Due diligence, identity checks and engagement letters on file per client, with dates you can report on when your supervisor asks.

4. 04

   How it connects to Xero.

   Does it connect to the Xero ledger, to Xero Practice Manager, or both? This decides whether it replaces XPM or works alongside it.

5. 05

   Documents and email in context.

   Can the team open the client’s files and correspondence from the job, in the document system you already use?

6. 06

   A cost model that fits your size.

   Per user, per firm or free with your Xero partner status. Count the people who will actually log in.

Two ways to set up practice management on Xero

UK firms on Xero usually take one of two routes. Neither is wrong; they suit different firms.

If you’re weighing the first route, our page on XPM alternatives goes into it in more detail.

The main options for UK firms

These are the products UK firms on Xero most often look at, described from their own pages. How each connects to Xero is the line that matters most for a Xero firm.

A worked example: turning deadlines into recurring jobs

Take the two clients in the timeline above. Hartley Joinery needs three jobs a year with their own due dates, and Priya Shah needs four quarterly updates. Multiply that across 200 clients and the job list is the practice. The test for any product is whether those jobs create themselves, land with the right person and warn you before they’re late.

What it costs

Xero Practice Manager in the UK is £99 a month excluding VAT for up to 10 users, and free for Xero Silver partners and above. AccountKit’s UK plans are £100, £200 or £300 a month, each including five users, with extra users at £20, £40 or £60 a month. See pricing for what each plan includes.