Best Free Accounting Software in Australia (2026)

The best free accounting software in Australia depends on what you need for free. Free Accounting Software lodges BAS and STP at no cost for businesses with 0 or 1 employee. Zoho Books Free suits businesses under A$50,000 revenue, Tyro Accounting Free connects your bank accounts and Manager Desktop has no usage limits. Most free tiers leave out bank feeds, BAS lodgement or payroll (as at 18 October 2026).

Free accounting software compared

Checked on each provider's website on 18 October 2026. "Not stated" means the provider's pages don't say either way, so ask before relying on it. ASBG has not tested these products hands-on.

How we chose: each product has a free tier with no end date, is available to Australian businesses, and keeps a ledger you can use for GST records. Free trials, invoice-only apps and products that have withdrawn from Australia are covered separately below.

Free software, free trials and cheap plans are different

Three things get called "free accounting software", and mixing them up is how people end up paying for something they thought was free.

A free trial is useful for testing, but it should not be your budget. Our accounting software cost guide shows how to compare the price after any offer ends.

The free options, one by one

Free Accounting Software: free BAS and STP for 0 or 1 employee

Free Accounting Software (freeaccountingsoftware.com.au) is the top Google result for this search and the only product here that lodges both BAS and Single Touch Payroll from the software for free. Its current version, FAS 3 Desktop, is a download aimed at micro businesses, with simple worksheets for sales, purchases and payroll.

• Cost: free for businesses with 0 or 1 employee. With 2 to 4 employees it costs $100 a year (as at July 2026, per the provider).
• How it's funded: the provider is a chartered accounting practice. It says it makes money by licensing the software to businesses with 2 or more employees and to tax and BAS agents, and by providing tax services to some users.
• Cloud: the desktop program can also open files hosted on the provider's servers. Its older cloud product has been relaunched as BAS Off, which costs $200 a year for up to 4 employees, including GST, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• What to check: the site doesn't mention bank feeds, so expect to enter or import transactions. If a BAS agent will run it for you, ask who pays, because agents are charged a licence. Business Victoria names it as an example of free accounting software.

Zoho Books Free: a cloud ledger for businesses under A$50,000

The free cloud option suits an eligible business with modest activity. The limits are revenue under A$50,000 a year, 1,000 invoices and 1,000 expenses a year, one user plus your accountant, and no add-ons. It tracks GST and generates a BAS report, but you lodge the BAS yourself.

There are no automatic bank feeds on Free. Manual imports need a routine: record the period downloaded, check overlaps and reconcile to the statement. Automatic feeds start on Standard, A$16.50 a month billed annually or A$19.80 monthly, including GST. Zoho Books has no Australian payroll on any plan. Our Zoho Books guide and Zoho Books vs QuickBooks cover the paid tiers.

Tyro Accounting Free (formerly Thriday): free bank connections

Thriday is now Tyro Accounting, and thriday.com.au redirects to Tyro's site. The Free plan includes unlimited invoices and quotes, unlimited bank accounts connected through Open Banking, automated categorisation, GST tracking and financial reports, and local phone and email support. You don't need a Tyro transaction account; any eligible Australian bank account can be connected.

The paid Time-saver plan ($29.95 a month, but $0 for new customers until 28 February 2027) adds automated reconciliation, receipt scanning and DIY BAS from $57 and DIY tax from $97. The Done-for-you plan ($119 a month) has a registered tax agent prepare and lodge your BAS and tax return. Tyro doesn't mention payroll. The free plan is a good bank-connected ledger for a sole trader; just expect to be offered the paid tiers.

Gimbla Starter: unlimited users, no bank feeds

Gimbla's Starter plan costs $0 with no trial period. It includes unlimited invoices, quotes, bills and users, double-entry bookkeeping, bank reconciliation of imported statements, GST tracking, financial reports and daily backups.

Bank feeds (up to two banks), BAS lodgement, payroll with STP, attachments, recurring invoices and projects need Plus at $19.95 a month. Payroll on Plus is free for up to 4 employees, then $1.50 a month per extra employee, capped at 20 employees. That makes Plus one of the cheapest ways to get bank feeds, BAS lodgement and STP in one product.

Zipbookz: simple cash bookkeeping with payroll records

Zipbookz is free for operators with up to 2 businesses, 2 bank accounts per business and 5 employees. It describes itself as a simple cash accounting package with invoicing and payroll (annual leave, super and PAYG) and reports including profit and loss, GST, BAS and a trial balance. You can give your accountant access.

The site doesn't mention Single Touch Payroll or bank feeds. If you employ staff, you still need an STP-enabled way to report each pay run, so confirm how Zipbookz handles that before you rely on its payroll. It suits a cash-basis business that wants simple records rather than accrual reporting.

Manager Desktop: free, full-featured and offline

Manager's desktop edition is free forever, with no time limits, usage limits or ads, and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. Its Australian page lists GST, a BAS worksheet, a TPAR worksheet, PAYG summaries and Single Touch Payroll, and says Manager offers free bank feeds to Australian and New Zealand banks.

The desktop edition is single-user and stores the file on your computer. It is freeware, not open-source software. Shared remote access is a reason to look at the Cloud edition, A$89 a month or A$890 a year. Test the handover to your adviser: if they edit a copy while you keep using the original, agree how corrections return to the active file, and practise a backup restore before relying on it. Our Manager guide and Manager vs GnuCash go further.

GnuCash: open-source double entry

GnuCash is free, open-source software for Windows, macOS and Linux. It exposes the double-entry process more explicitly: create an invoice, record its receipt and trace both through the accounts during your trial. It imports QIF and OFX bank files.

GnuCash has no payroll module and doesn't set up Australian GST or BAS for you, so you or your bookkeeper must configure tax codes and build the BAS figures from reports. Its investment features should not be mistaken for retail inventory control. It suits someone who understands bookkeeping and values an open format. See our GnuCash guide.

Akaunting: open source if you can host it

Akaunting's Standard On-Premise edition is a free self-hosted download for 1 company, 1 user plus an accountant and up to 1,000 invoices, with community support only. You handle hosting, updates, security and backups, and apps are sold separately. The cloud version starts at US$12 a month, or US$8 a month billed yearly, and bank feeds start on its cloud Premium plan. It has basic sales tax but no Australian BAS or STP, so it suits technically confident users only.

NCH Express Accounts: a free desktop program with US roots

NCH says the free version of Express Accounts is for small businesses with fewer than five employees, doesn't expire, and leaves out some features for larger organisations. Its feature list refers to cheques printed as "checks" and a sales tax report, and doesn't mention GST, BAS or STP. Treat it as a basic ledger and build your BAS figures yourself.

Free STP payroll software

Every employer must report each pay run to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll. A payroll journal in a free ledger is not an STP report. These options cover STP for small teams at no cost:

Prices from each provider's site, checked 18 October 2026. Payroller and Gimbla don't say whether their prices include GST.

What happened to the ATO's no-cost and low-cost STP list? When STP was extended to small employers in 2019, the ATO published a list of no-cost and low-cost solutions for micro employers. That page no longer loads. The ATO's current guidance tells employers with 1 to 4 employees to browse the STP product register and filter by the "Micro" target market. On 18 October 2026, 33 products carried that tag, including e-PayDay Go FREEPAY, Payroller, FAS 3, Xero Payroll and Reckon's Wages 1-4, but the register has no price filter, so check each provider's pricing yourself.

Free payroll still has to meet payday super. Since 1 July 2026, super must reach each employee's fund within 7 business days of payday. Read our payday super guide, the Single Touch Payroll guide and the payroll software comparison before your first pay run.

Cheap, not free: when a small fee saves more than it costs

If a free tier forces you to import statements every week, lodge BAS by hand or run payroll somewhere else, a cheap plan can be the better deal.

Prices checked on providers' sites on 18 October 2026; MYOB and Xero figures agree with our pricing guides checked 17 October 2026. On QuickBooks, the page banner and plan cards say "70% off for 6 months" but the offer terms on the same page say the discount applies "for the first 3 months", so budget on the terms.

Free trials, not free software

Checked 18 October 2026. Use any trial with the trial checklist so you test the work you actually do, and put the trial end date in your calendar.

Can free accounting software lodge your BAS?

You don't need accounting software to lodge a BAS. The ATO lists three online routes: Online services for individuals and sole traders (through myGov), Online services for business, and SBR-enabled software that lodges straight from your accounting or payroll program. A registered tax or BAS agent can also lodge for you, or you can post the paper form (ATO, last updated 14 September 2026).

So a free ledger that only produces a GST report still works: you copy the label totals into the ATO's online form. What you give up is the direct link and the record of it in the software, so keep the GST report you used as your working paper. Our GST and BAS guide explains the labels, and cash or accrual GST affects which report you run. Agree the reporting basis, settings and review with whoever is responsible before the first lodgement.

Does the ATO have free accounting software?

No. The ATO does not publish an accounting program. Its free tool is myDeductions in the ATO app, which a sole trader can use to record business income, expenses and car trips. Records are stored on your phone, you must back them up yourself, and you can email the data to your registered tax agent (ATO, last updated 15 May 2026). The ATO describes it as a record-keeping tool, not a ledger: it suits a simple sole trader's tax records, not invoicing, bank reconciliation or payroll.

Which free option fits your business?

If you're still deciding what software type suits you, start with accounting software for sole traders or the main accounting software comparison, which shows how paid products package these services differently.

Not on our list, and why

• Wave: Wave's help centre (updated 8 September 2026) says it has focused only on the US and Canada since November 2020, has discontinued product and customer support elsewhere, and that users outside those countries can no longer send invoices or reminders through Wave. It points them to Zoho Books.
• Rounded: no free plan. Starter is $23.95 a month and leaves out the bank feed and BAS, which need Pro at $29.95.
• Sage Accounting: Sage's Australian product list no longer includes a small-business accounting plan.
• Invoice-only apps: useful for billing customers, but they don't supply a full ledger, reconciliation and reporting system, so we don't compare them as accounting software.

Test the cost of staying free

Use the same trial tasks you would use for a paid system. Can you record a refund, reconcile a statement, retrieve a document and give your adviser the reports they need?

Then note recurring work that another product might reduce, such as weekly statement imports or retyping BAS figures. Value that work using a realistic hourly figure, not a vendor's generic time-saving claim. Free software usually stops saving money when you hire your first employee, register for GST, spend hours each month importing bank data, or pay your accountant to tidy the file at year end. Our comparison and cost tool helps compare the complete arrangements.

Use one practice dataset for every trial

Use a separate demonstration file with fictitious records. The practice transaction sheet provides two invoices totalling $880, a $550 customer receipt and a $220 paid expense. An opening bank balance of $1,000 becomes $1,330; $330 remains receivable. Under the exercise's stated accrual and fully taxable assumptions, sales before GST are $800 and the expense before GST is $200. These are arithmetic checks, not a BAS to lodge.

We have checked the dataset's arithmetic. We have not completed this exercise inside these products, so there are no comparative test scores or claimed recovery results. Record your observations in the software trial checklist.

For payroll, confirm the exact product and version in the ATO software product register. "ATO compatible" is too broad: identify the specific reporting service supported, then confirm that the plan you intend to use includes it.

Key takeaways

• Free Accounting Software is the only option here that lodges BAS and STP from the software at no cost, for businesses with 0 or 1 employee.
• Zoho Books Free, Gimbla Starter and Manager Desktop are free ledgers, but you import bank statements or lodge BAS yourself through the ATO.
• Free STP payroll exists: Payroller Lite for one person on mobile and e-PayDay FREEPAY for up to three employees.
• A free trial ends; free software does not. Budget on the standard price once any trial or promotion finishes.
• You can lodge a BAS through ATO online services without any software, so a free GST report can still do the job.

Where to get help

• ATO: how to lodge your BAS, STP reporting options for micro employers and the software product register.
• Each provider's official documentation and support, linked in the table above. Ask your adviser to inspect the trial output before you move live records.
• A BAS agent or bookkeeper if you'd rather not set up GST codes yourself. See how to choose a BAS agent and record-keeping requirements.
• Confirm the migration and archive plan before leaving an existing system.

Related tasks

Browse more accounting software guides.