Which accounts package should estate agents and letting agents use?

Choosing the right accounting software for your estate or letting agency is about more than keeping the books up to date, it should help you understand what’s making money, where costs are creeping up and whether your agency is as profitable as you think.

Imagine you’ve had a good month, your sales team has exchanges contracts, the lettings team has brought new properties onto the books, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Sounds great, right? But do you know:

• Which brand is actually making you the most profit?
• Whether your lettings department is covering its costs?
• Whether you can afford to open another branch or invest in growing the business?

If you’re having to dig through spreadsheets, piece together different reports or wait until your year-end accounts to get a clear answer, you might not have the financial information you need to run your agency as well as you could.

Our specialist accountancy services can help you understand what’s happening behind the numbers and make better decisions about your business.

And that brings us to a question many estate agents and letting agents face as their businesses grow: which accounting package should you use?

A busy agency isn’t necessarily a profitable one

There are several good accounting software options available, but there’s a lot to consider rather than just choosing the cheapest one or the one you’ve heard the most about.

You need to choose the one that gives you the information you need to run a better business, and we don’t mean the figures that are the most visible. For example, how many properties have you sold? How many new landlords have you signed up? How much commission have you earned this month? They are all useful numbers to know, but do they tell you enough?

For example, if you have two branches, do you know which one is performing better?

One is generating plenty of income, but it has a larger team, higher premises costs and significant marketing expenditure. The other generates less income but operates with lower overheads and better margins. You can’t tell which is performing better from turnover alone.

The same applies to your different services. Sales, letting and property management may all contribute to your revenue, but they have different cost structures and demands on your team’s time.

If you don’t understand the profitability of each area, you could end up investing more money in the wrong place, overlooking an underperforming service or missing an opportunity to grow something that’s working particularly well.

This is why you need a good accounting software, and set up for your personally to help you understand what’s happening in your business and what you can do about it.

What should your accounting software actually tell you?

Before comparing packages, think about the questions you want your financial information to answer.

For an estate agency or lettings business, I’d start with these:

1. Which parts of the business are making money? You should be able to look beyond your overall profit and understand the contribution made by different branches, departments and services.
2. Are your fees and commission structures working? You might be winning plenty of instructions, but are your fees sufficient to cover the time, people and marketing involved in securing and completing that work? Understanding your margins can help you review pricing, commission arrangements and the services you offer.
3. Can you see cash flow problems coming? A profitable business can still run short of cash. Seasonal fluctuations and the timing of property transactions can make planning particularly important. Your financial information should help you anticipate what’s coming, rather than simply explain what has already happened.
4. Are you getting enough from the systems you already pay for? If your team spends hours moving information between systems or producing reports manually, it’s worth questioning whether your current setup is working as efficiently as it could. Sometimes, the answer is better software. Sometimes, it’s a better setup, cleaner data or a more useful reporting process.

Getting clear on these questions first will make choosing an accounting package much easier.

Which accounting package is right for your agency?

There isn’t one package that will suit every agency. The right option depends on the size of your business, the systems you already use and the level of financial reporting you need.

Here’s how four popular options compare.

Prices are indicative UK subscription prices as checked in October 2026. They are standard prices where stated, exclude VAT where applicable and may change. Introductory offers, billing frequency, bank eligibility, additional users, integrations and features vary. Sage Accounting and Sage 50 are different products with different pricing structures. Check the providers’ current Xero pricing, Sage pricing, QuickBooks pricing and FreeAgent pricing before making a decision.

For most agencies, the important question isn’t simply which package has the longest feature list. It’s whether the package, its reporting and its connections with your other systems will give you the information you need without creating unnecessary work.

Don’t forget your property management software

Your accounting package is only one part of your financial systems.

You may already use specialist property management software to handle rent collection, landlord statements and tenancy information. It’s important to understand how this works alongside your accounting package, particularly if you hold client money.

Before choosing or changing software, check that the systems can work together effectively, that information can be transferred and reconciled reliably, and that your records and controls support the requirements that apply to your business.

Getting this right can reduce duplication, save time and give you greater confidence in your financial information.

Sometimes, changing software isn’t the answer                                                           

If your current package isn’t giving you the information you need, it’s easy to assume you need something new. But are your transactions being categorised consistently? Are you using the reporting tools available? Could better bookkeeping processes or integrations solve the problem?

A new package won’t automatically fix incomplete records or reports that aren’t set up to answer the right questions. Sometimes, a better setup is all you need. Other times, changing software is the right move. The important thing is to understand what’s missing before spending time and money making a change.

How Mitch Ewer at A4G can help

At A4G, Mitch Ewer works with estate agents and letting agents to help them understand their numbers, improve profitability and make better decisions about the future of their business.

Whether you’re thinking about opening another branch, growing your lettings portfolio or simply trying to get a clearer picture of how your agency is performing, having the right financial information makes a real difference.

Mitch can help you look at your current accounting setup, work out whether it’s giving you the information you need and identify where things could work better. And if you’re already using Xero, Sage or QuickBooks, you might not need to change software at all.

Not sure whether your accounting package is right for your agency? Have a conversation with Mitch.

There’s no need to have all the answers before you get in touch. A conversation is a good place to start working out what’s working, what’s not and what could make running your agency easier.

Call us on 01474 853856 and ask to speak to Mitch, or use the form below to book a free 1-2-1.