Invoicing Software Australia 2026: Prices and Card Fees

If you're registered for GST or employ staff, the best invoicing software is usually the invoicing in Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or Reckon One, which also handles GST, BAS and bank feeds. For invoicing alone, Zoho Invoice is free up to 500 invoices a year, Square and Zeller Invoices have no monthly fee, and Rounded starts at $23.95 (as at 18 October 2026). Card fees usually cost more than the subscription.

Prices, free tiers and card fees at a glance

Standard published prices and fees, checked 18 October 2026, before promotions. "Card fee" is the domestic card rate when a customer pays an invoice online.

Invoice2go's page has an AUD currency selector, but the prices it served us were US dollar amounts, so check the price in the app before you subscribe. Our guides to Xero pricing and MYOB pricing cover those plans in detail.

Features compared

From vendor pricing and feature pages, checked 18 October 2026, plus the ATO's eInvoicing Ready register. "Configure" means you set up GST yourself, so check that your ABN and the GST amount appear on the invoice.

Accounting software or a standalone invoicing app?

The deciding question is whether you lodge BAS.

If you're not registered for GST, send an ordinary invoice with your ABN and don't add GST. Our guide to registering for GST explains when you must register. If you're comparing full accounting packages, start with our accounting software comparison or the free accounting software guide.

What a valid Australian tax invoice must show

The ATO's rules decide whether your customer can claim the GST back, so a missing detail can delay payment. For a taxable sale under $1,000, a tax invoice must include enough information to clearly work out:

1. That the document is intended to be a tax invoice
2. The seller's identity
3. The seller's ABN
4. The date it was issued
5. A brief description of the items sold, including quantity (if applicable) and price
6. The GST amount payable, shown separately or, if the GST is exactly one-eleventh of the total, as the statement "Total price includes GST"
7. The extent to which each sale on the invoice is taxable

For sales of $1,000 or more, the invoice must also show the buyer's identity or ABN. If a customer asks for a tax invoice, you must provide it within 28 days, unless the sale was $82.50 including GST or less. Any of the accounting tools above produces compliant tax invoices once your ABN and GST settings are right; with "configure" tools, send yourself a test invoice and check it against this list.

Our tax invoice requirements guide covers mixed taxable and GST-free sales, rounding and what to send if you aren't registered, and our page on rejected invoices helps if a customer sends one back.

eInvoicing and Peppol: do you need it?

eInvoicing sends invoice data directly from your software to your customer's software over the Peppol network, without email or PDFs. It isn't compulsory for small businesses. The ATO says a Peppol eInvoice can meet the tax invoice requirements. Since 1 January 2020, the Department of Finance's pay on-time policy has set 5-day payment terms for Commonwealth agencies where Peppol eInvoicing capability exists.

The ATO's eInvoicing Ready product register lists Xero Business Edition, MYOB Business browser products and Reckon One, each at no extra cost. None of the invoicing-first tools we compared appears on it. If your software isn't listed, the ATO suggests a plug-in or one of the free or low-cost web portals on the register. To send an eInvoice, your customer must also be registered on Peppol, and you find them by ABN. Xero adds that it can only send eInvoices within Australia.

Our eInvoicing and Peppol guide explains how eInvoicing also cuts the risk of fake invoice scams.

What it costs at 10, 50 and 200 invoices a month

This is where the real differences show. The worked example below assumes every invoice is $500 including GST, half are paid by domestic card through the tool's own or linked payments, and half by bank transfer at no cost. Standard prices, checked 18 October 2026. Illustrative only.

The arithmetic for one row, Xero at 50 invoices: 25 card payments total $12,500. At 1.75% that's $218.75, plus 25 × 30c = $7.50, plus Grow at $78, which makes $304.25.

Three things stand out. At 200 invoices, card fees are 90% or more of the bill for every option, so the payment rate matters more than the subscription. Zoho's free plan stops at 500 invoices a year, so a business sending 50 a month needs a paid plan. And the cheapest option depends on what else you need: Zeller and Zoho come out cheapest, but only Zoho Books Standard also covers GST, BAS and bank feeds. Zeller, Square and Stripe collect payments and leave the bookkeeping to other software.

If every customer paid by bank transfer instead, the monthly cost would drop to the subscription alone: $0 for Square, Zeller and Zoho Invoice, $26.25 for MYOB Lite, $29.95 for Rounded Pro and $37 or $78 for Xero.

Card fees, surcharges and cheaper ways to get paid

Here is what one $500 invoice costs to collect at each tool's published domestic rate (checked 18 October 2026):

International cards cost more: Stripe and Xero both list 3.5% + 30c, plus a currency conversion fee where it applies.

You can no longer pass most card fees on. From 1 October 2026, the RBA says surcharges are not permitted on eftpos, Mastercard or Visa cards, and it lists American Express as no surcharge from that date and PayPal from 5 October 2026. The RBA notes this applies to card payments made on or after 1 October even if you issued the invoice earlier. Some invoicing tools still describe a surcharge option: Rounded's invoicing page mentions automatically adding a surcharge to cover Stripe fees, and MYOB's payments page talks about choosing who pays the card fee. Switch those settings off, build card costs into your prices, and put your bank details or a PayTo option first on the invoice. Our card surcharge checklist covers every payment channel, and Zeller vs Square compares two of the no-monthly-fee options in depth.

Payment terms and getting paid faster

Software helps, but habits decide when you're paid. These are the steps that make the biggest difference:

• Invoice the day the work is done. Use the mobile app if your tool has one, so the invoice goes before you leave the site. Tradies can invoice straight from their job management software.
• Set clear, short terms. State the due date as a date, not "net 30", and match it to your customer's payment runs. Our guide to due dates and customer payment runs shows how.
• Make paying easy. Include bank details, a pay-now link and, for larger amounts, PayTo, which is capped at $3.50 through Stripe.
• Turn on automatic reminders. Xero, MYOB, Reckon One, Zoho, FreshBooks, Rounded, Square, Stripe and Zeller all send reminders. FreshBooks can also add scheduled late fees, which should match your written terms.
• Take deposits and progress payments. For larger jobs, ask for part payment up front and check the GST treatment with our deposits and part payments guide.
• Check credit before offering terms. Our guide to customer credit limits covers what to ask.
• Track it. Measure how long customers take to pay with days sales outstanding, and send a statement of account to customers with several open invoices.

Vendors make bold claims here. Xero says online payments get you paid "up to 2x faster", citing its own median data, and MYOB claims "3 x faster" without a source. Treat both as marketing. When an invoice does go overdue, follow our step-by-step guide to chasing unpaid invoices.

Picks by business type

These picks use stated criteria: total monthly cost at typical volumes, whether the tool covers GST and BAS for businesses that need it, card fees, and eInvoicing where customers may ask for it. Prices as at 18 October 2026.

A quick checklist before you choose

1. Are you registered for GST, or likely to be within a year? If yes, choose a tool with GST tracking and BAS.
2. How many invoices will you send a month in a year's time? Check Xero Ignite's 20 a month, Zoho Invoice's 500 a year and Invoice2go's annual limits.
3. How do customers pay now? If most pay by card, compare card rates first.
4. Does the invoice show your ABN, GST and "tax invoice"? Send a test to yourself.
5. Do you need quotes, recurring invoices or progress billing?
6. Does it connect to your bank, or to the accounting software your bookkeeper uses?
7. Do any customers want eInvoices?
8. Is the price in Australian dollars, and does it include GST?
9. Can you export all invoices and customer records if you leave? Our switching checklist lists what to keep.

What changed in 2026

• Card surcharges ended on most cards from 1 October 2026. The RBA also lowered domestic interchange caps from that date, and caps on foreign-issued cards apply from 1 April 2027.
• Card rates differ by route. Stripe's own pricing page lists 1.65% + 30c for domestic cards, while Xero's Stripe page lists 1.75% + 30c for invoices paid through Xero (both checked 18 October 2026).
• Zeller's 1.1% invoice promotion ends on 31 October 2026, reverting to 1.7% + 25c.
• eInvoicing coverage. The ATO's register, read on 18 October 2026, lists Xero, MYOB and Reckon One with eInvoicing at no extra cost.

Key takeaways

• If you need GST, BAS or payroll, use the invoicing in Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or Reckon One; standalone invoicing apps suit businesses that don't.
• Free options exist: Zoho Invoice (500 invoices a year), Zoho Books Free (revenue under $50,000), and Square and Zeller Invoices, which charge only when a customer pays by card (as at 18 October 2026).
• Card fees usually cost more than the software: at 200 invoices a month with half paid by card, fees alone run about $855 to $1,480 a month in our illustrative example.
• Surcharges on Visa, Mastercard and eftpos cards are not permitted from 1 October 2026, so switch off any surcharge setting and offer bank transfer or PayTo.
• A tax invoice under $1,000 needs seven details, and one for $1,000 or more also needs the buyer's identity or ABN; you must provide one within 28 days if a customer asks.
• Xero, MYOB and Reckon One are on the ATO's eInvoicing Ready register with eInvoicing at no extra cost; none of the standalone invoicing apps we checked is listed.

Where to get help

• ATO: tax invoice rules — ato.gov.au/tax-invoices; getting started with eInvoicing — ato.gov.au/einvoicing.
• ATO eInvoicing Ready product register: check whether your software can send eInvoices — softwaredevelopers.ato.gov.au.
• Reserve Bank of Australia: the October 2026 surcharging and card fee changes — rba.gov.au.
• Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman: help with payment disputes and late-paying customers — asbfeo.gov.au.
• Your BAS agent or bookkeeper: to set up GST codes, invoice templates and the connection between invoicing and your books.

Related tasks

See all guides in accounting software.