KashFlow
A UK product from 2005 that IRIS Software Group bought in 2013 and is now winding down: the public changelog stops in October 2022, KashFlow Payroll is being migrated to IRIS Staffology, and Trustpilot is 1.3 on 167 reviews. Business is £27.50 a month after the introductory discount, with unlimited invoices, multi-currency and payroll for five bundled. On both HMRC lists. We would not start a new set of books here.
How we testKashFlow was founded in 2005 by Duane Jackson and bought by IRIS Software Group in October 2013, when IRIS cited a joint base of 60,000 firms and SMEs. IRIS itself is a Slough company owned by private equity: Leonard Green and Partners took a co-controlling stake in December 2023 alongside Hg and ICG at an enterprise value of about £3.15 billion. None of that is the problem. The problem is what IRIS has done with the product since.
Prices in pounds excluding VAT, read on 8 September 2026: Starter at £13.50 a month (£97 a year) for one user, ten invoices a month and twenty-five bank transactions, and Business at £27.50 (£178 a year), the plan we score, with multi-user access, unlimited invoices and reconciliation, quotes, multi-currency, stock control, receipt capture and payroll for up to five employees bundled into both plans. Both carry 90 per cent off for six months for new customers and a 14-day trial without a card. On paper that is competitive with Xero's Grow.
HMRC lists KashFlow on the VAT list and "IRIS Kashflow" on the Income Tax list for sole traders. Open Banking feeds are included, Stripe is native at 1.4 per cent plus 20p, GoCardless direct debit reconciles automatically, there is a Zapier app, and both a legacy SOAP API and a REST API exist, the latter carrying a note in its own documentation that it "is a work in progress and should not be used in a production environment". No MCP server.
The evidence that the product is being run down is IRIS's own. The public changelog's last entry is a pricing change dated 6 October 2022, with the entries before it clustered in 2020. IRIS's migration page moves KashFlow Payroll customers to Staffology, "where we will be making our investment", on a one-way migration with a three-month grace period. IRIS Elements is where the accounting functionality is being steered, with a KashFlow Connect bridge for practices on Elements. Trustpilot is 1.3 on 167 unprompted reviews, 83 per cent one-star, with June and July 2026 complaints of being billed twice, tickets answered by AI and then ignored, invoice customisation that no longer works and a password-policy change that locked long-standing users out. No security certifications, data location or phone support could be confirmed; support is email, a knowledge base and a contact form.
A product that still works, still files VAT and still runs payroll for five is not worthless, and existing users have reasons to stay. Nobody choosing accounting software in 2026 should choose it.
Not yet tested by Saaskly: assessed on published pricing, HMRC's software lists, vendor documentation and third-party reviews.
Pros
- +UK product with payroll for five, multi-currency, stock and receipt capture bundled into a £27.50 plan; annual billing discount
- +On both HMRC lists; Open Banking feeds included; native Stripe (1.4% + 20p) and GoCardless; Zapier
- +Cheap first six months and a 14-day trial without a card
Cons
- −Being wound down by IRIS: changelog stops in October 2022, payroll migrating one-way to Staffology, accounting steered to IRIS Elements
- −Trustpilot 1.3 on 167 reviews, 83 per cent one-star: double billing, AI ticket replies, lockouts
- −Starter is single-user with 10 invoices a month; REST API marked "work in progress"; no MCP server; no certifications, data location or phone support confirmed
Pricing
Minimum commitment: £8.08 (£8.08/yr for the entry licence). The least you can spend before walking away; excludes numbers, minutes and add-ons.
Starter
£13.50/mo · month-to-month
£8.08/yr on an annual commitment
Month-to-month costs 67% more
- ✓£13.50/mo ex VAT or £97 a year; 90% off for 6 months for new customers. 1 user, 10 invoices a month, 25 bank transactions, payroll for 5 employees. 14-day trial.
Business
£27.50/mo · month-to-month
£14.83/yr on an annual commitment
Month-to-month costs 85% more
- ✓£27.50/mo ex VAT or £178 a year; 90% off for 6 months. Multi-user, unlimited invoices and reconciliation, quotes, multi-currency, stock, receipt capture, payroll for 5 employees (being migrated to IRIS Staffology).
Specifications
| Rating | 2.6 |
| Scored plan* | £27.50/mo · £14.83 annual (Business) |
| Entry plan | £13.50/mo (Starter) |
| Intro offer | 90% off for 6 months |
| Sole trader plan | None |
| Free tier | None |
| Entry invoice cap | 10/mo |
| MTD VAT | ✓ |
| MTD Income Tax | HMRC recognised |
| Self Assessment | ✓ |
| Corporation Tax | No |
| CIS | No |
| Bank feeds | ✓ |
| Stripe | ✓ |
| GoCardless | ✓ |
| Multi-currency | Included |
| Payroll | Built in |
| Receipt capture | Built in |
| Projects | No |
| Inventory | ✓ |
| Accountant console | ✓ |
| API | ✓ |
| MCP server | No |
| Owned in** | UK-owned |
| Phone support | No |
| Trustpilot (reviews) | 1.3 (167) |
| Scored tier | Business |
| VAT basis | Excluding VAT |
| Top plan | None |
| Accountant seat free | No |
| Payroll pricing | Included for up to 5 employees on both plans; KashFlow Payroll is being migrated to IRIS Staffology |
| Free trial (days) | 14 |
| Companies House filing | No |
| RTI payroll | ✓ |
| Bank feed note | Direct feeds included in the subscription |
| Pay Now on invoices | ✓ |
| Card / direct debit fees | Stripe 1.4% + 20p (KashFlow's figure) |
| Expense claims | ✓ |
| Purchase orders | No |
| Quotes and estimates | ✓ |
| Recurring invoices | No |
| Cashflow forecasting | No |
| Fixed assets | No |
| Accountant network | KashFlow partner programme within the IRIS accountancy ecosystem; no published count |
| Webhooks | No |
| Zapier / Make | ✓ |
| Mobile apps | ✓ |
| HQ | UK |
| Owner | IRIS Software Group (Leonard Green & Partners, Hg, ICG) |
| Data location | Not stated |
| SOC 2 | No |
| ISO 27001 | No |
| Cyber Essentials | No |
| 2FA mandatory | No |
| Live chat | No |
| UK support hours | Email, knowledge base and contact form; UK team; phone not confirmed |
| Accountancy service bundled | No |
| Support channels | Email, Knowledge base, Contact form |
*Scored plan: the limited-company tier the score is set on (the cheapest plan a VAT-registered company with a few staff can run on), per month at the renewal price once any introductory discount ends, in the currency the vendor shows a UK visitor on the research date; see each profile for the VAT basis, the introductory offer and what the tier above adds.
**Owned in: where the company that owns the provider answers to. A US-owned provider is subject to US law (including the CLOUD Act) wherever the data centre is; a UK data centre is not the same thing as UK jurisdiction. "Data location" records where the ledger is stored.
Researched and drafted with AI assistance; reviewed and approved by Tim Meredith. How we use AI
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