// Migration Service · UK · New Zealand · Australia
Migrate from Xero to Zoho Books
Xero's annual price increases are pushing UK businesses to look elsewhere. Zoho Books is MTD-ready, HMRC-recognised, and costs significantly less. VoltVave handles the full migration.
MTD
Making Tax Digital ready
HMRC
Recognised software
1–2 wks
Typical go-live
GBP
Native currency & VAT
// Why Migrate
Why businesses leave Xero
Xero pricing increases every year
Xero has raised UK subscription prices multiple times. The Established plan is now £59/month for one user — Zoho Books Premium covers the same functionality at a lower cost with more users included.
Add-ons stack up
Xero's base plan limits users and bills. Payroll, expenses, and multi-currency all require add-ons or higher tiers. Zoho Books bundles most of these in the standard plan.
Limited CRM integration
Connecting Xero to a CRM requires third-party tools like Zapier or Breadwinner. Zoho Books integrates natively with Zoho CRM — sales orders, invoices, and customer records sync automatically.
Reporting constraints
Custom reports in Xero require manual export to Excel for complex analysis. Zoho Books includes a built-in report builder and connects to Zoho Analytics for advanced dashboards.
// What You Gain
What you get with Zoho Books
01
MTD for VAT and Income Tax
Zoho Books is HMRC-recognised for Making Tax Digital. File VAT returns directly from Books and prepare for MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) compliance.
02
GBP, multi-currency, and HMRC
Zoho Books UK handles GBP natively, calculates VAT correctly across standard, reduced, and zero rates, and supports Reverse Charge for B2B EU transactions post-Brexit.
03
Lower total cost
Zoho Books Professional covers unlimited users (Zoho Books uses org-based pricing for the UK market), automated bank feeds, recurring invoices, and purchase orders — all at less than Xero Established.
04
Built-in Zoho suite
Switch from Xero to Zoho Books and you immediately gain optional access to Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory, Zoho Expense, and Zoho Payroll — all within the same Zoho ecosystem.
// Migration Process
How the migration works
Typical timeline: 1–2 weeks
01
Xero export
We export your chart of accounts, contacts (customers and suppliers), outstanding invoices and bills, bank reconciliation data, and VAT returns from Xero in CSV and PDF format.
02
Zoho Books UK setup
We configure your Zoho Books UK org: VAT schemes (standard, flat-rate, cash accounting), bank accounts, payment terms, and chart of accounts before importing any data.
03
Contact and item import
Customers and suppliers are imported with their VAT numbers, addresses, and payment terms. Your item/service list is imported with the correct VAT rates applied.
04
Outstanding balances & transactions
Open invoices and bills as of your migration date are imported. Opening balances are entered to match your Xero balance sheet. Historical transactions stay in Xero for reference.
05
Bank feed connection & reconciliation
We connect your UK bank accounts to Zoho Books via bank feeds (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Starling, Monzo, and more). Bank reconciliation is set up before handover.
// Data Included
What we migrate from Xero
// Migration Guide
+Read our detailed Xero → Zoho Books guide
Step-by-step technical migration walkthrough on the VoltVave blog
// FAQ
Common questions about Xero → Zoho Books
Is Zoho Books approved for MTD?
Yes. Zoho Books is an HMRC-recognised MTD-compatible software for VAT. You can file VAT returns directly from Zoho Books via the HMRC MTD API.
Can we migrate historical transactions from Xero?
We recommend migrating only outstanding invoices, bills, and the opening balance as of your migration date. Historical transactions can be exported from Xero and kept as a PDF archive.
Does Zoho Books support the flat-rate VAT scheme?
Yes. Zoho Books UK supports standard rate, reduced rate, zero rate, exempt, flat-rate scheme, and cash accounting scheme for VAT.
What about Xero Payroll?
Xero Payroll data can be exported as reports for reference. If you want payroll inside Zoho, we can set up Zoho Payroll UK alongside Books. Otherwise, you can use a third-party payroll provider connected via CSV.
Will our Xero integrations work in Zoho Books?
Most accounting integrations (Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, Amazon) have native connectors in Zoho Books. We map your current Xero integrations to Zoho equivalents during discovery.
// Get Started
Ready to migrate from Xero?
Free scoping call — we review your current setup and give you a fixed-price migration quote. No surprises.