Relentify vs KashFlow: A Modern Upgrade for Growing Businesses
KashFlow was a genuine innovator. Launched in 2005, it beat Xero to market by two years and FreeAgent by three. For growing UK businesses at the time, it was the obvious choice — cloud accounting before "cloud" meant much. Then IRIS Software acquired it in 2013, and something shifted. Development slowed. The feature set plateaued. If you've been using KashFlow for a decade and it still works, that's great. If you're evaluating options for a growing business today, you're probably wondering whether a modern upgrade is worth the effort. The short answer: yes.
The problem: Why KashFlow feels outdated
The core issue isn't that KashFlow is broken. It's that it hasn't evolved with the businesses it serves. The interface looks like it was designed in 2015. Page loads are slower than contemporary competitors. Navigation requires more clicks than it should. The feature set hasn't expanded meaningfully — multi-currency accounting, expense approval workflows, project tracking, multi-entity management are now table-stakes for modern accounting software, but KashFlow offers none of them.
For businesses that grew up on KashFlow and kept it running out of inertia, that's perfectly fine. The platform still invoices, reconciles, and submits VAT returns. But for growing businesses evaluating their options, the lack of modern features is a significant drawback. You're not just choosing accounting software — you're choosing how much time you'll spend wrestling with it every month.
Pricing and features: The real comparison
The surface pricing looks competitive. KashFlow's Business plan is £23/month. Relentify's Small Business tier is £21/month according to current pricing. But the real story is in what you get for that money.
| Feature | Relentify (Small Business) | KashFlow (Business) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | £21 | £23 |
| Multi-currency | ✓ Included | ✗ Not available |
| Expense claims with approval | ✓ Included | ✗ Limited |
| Project tracking | ✓ Included | ✗ Not available |
| Multi-entity management | ✓ Included | ✗ Not available |
| Purchase order approvals | ✓ Included | ✗ Limited |
| Consolidated reporting | ✓ Included | ✗ Not available |
| Bank feeds | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Unlimited invoices | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Unlimited users | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
Relentify is £2 cheaper and includes features that KashFlow doesn't offer at any price point. Multi-currency alone typically costs £10–15/month as an add-on elsewhere. Multi-entity management — managing separate companies from one login — is usually reserved for enterprise tiers. Relentify includes it in the Small Business plan.
The features KashFlow can't do
Multi-currency transactions. KashFlow doesn't support multi-currency accounting. Invoice a client in USD, pay a supplier in EUR? KashFlow requires manual currency conversion. For growing businesses with any international activity, this is a weekly headache that shouldn't exist in 2026.
Relentify handles multi-currency natively with automatic exchange rate updates and currency gain/loss tracking. If you're expanding internationally, this removes a recurring admin task.
Expense claims and workflows. KashFlow has expense tracking, but not expense claims. There's no approval mechanism, no mileage tracking (which HMRC requires for legitimate business mileage), and the process is mostly manual. For growing teams, someone manually reviews and enters receipts instead of employees capturing them on their phone and submitting for approval.
Relentify includes mileage tracking at HMRC rates, mobile receipt capture, approval workflows, and automatic posting to the ledger once approved. For a five-person team where two people frequently claim mileage, this saves roughly two hours per month.
Multi-entity and project tracking. Running multiple companies? KashFlow requires a separate subscription for each business. Relentify supports multiple entities on one subscription with instant switching and consolidated reporting.
Service businesses (agencies, consultancies, trades) can't track profitability by project in KashFlow without exporting to a spreadsheet. Relentify includes native project tracking so you can see profit margins instantly.
How they compare: Day-to-day accounting
Both platforms handle the basics — invoicing, bank reconciliation, VAT returns — adequately. But "adequate" masks some important differences.
Invoicing. Both create and send invoices. Relentify offers fully customisable templates, quote-to-invoice conversion, credit note management, and automated payment reminders. KashFlow's invoicing is functional but feels dated and offers minimal customisation.
Bank reconciliation. KashFlow supports automatic bank feeds and transaction matching. It works. Relentify's reconciliation is faster — one-click matching, rule-based categorisation, and a learning engine that improves suggestions over time. The difference is about 30 seconds per transaction, which adds up.
VAT compliance. Both support Making Tax Digital for VAT and can submit returns to HMRC. KashFlow handles standard VAT schemes. Relentify adds support for the flat rate scheme, reverse charge VAT, and period locking (so you can't edit a submitted VAT period by accident). The VAT return interface provides a clear nine-box breakdown before submission.
Reporting. This is where the gap widens.
| Report | Relentify | KashFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Profit & Loss | Yes | Yes |
| Balance Sheet | Yes | Yes |
| Cash Flow Statement | Yes | Limited |
| Trial Balance | Yes | Yes |
| General Ledger | Yes | Limited |
| Aged Receivables/Payables | Yes | Yes |
| Cash Flow Forecast | Yes | No |
| Consolidated Reports | Yes | No |
| Custom Reports | Yes | No |
| KPI Dashboard | Yes | No |
For growing businesses, cash flow forecasting matters. Knowing your cash position 12 weeks out is the difference between confidently hiring and accidentally missing payroll.
Support, onboarding, and integrations
KashFlow offers email and phone support during UK business hours. Response quality varies; some users report multi-day waits for complex issues.
Relentify provides live chat support on all plans with AI-assisted responses for common questions and human agents for complex issues. Migration from KashFlow is straightforward — you export your chart of accounts, customer/supplier records, and opening balances as CSV, and Relentify's import tools handle the rest. Most migrations complete within a day, and we provide a migration checklist to walk you through it.
KashFlow's integration ecosystem is limited compared to modern platforms. Relentify integrates with major accounting and business tools, and because features like expense management and project tracking are built in (not bolt-on), you'll need fewer integrations overall.
If you're currently evaluating multiple accounting platforms, you might also want to compare Relentify vs Xero, Relentify vs QuickBooks, or Relentify vs Sage to see where the market stands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I import my KashFlow data into Relentify? Yes. Relentify supports CSV imports for chart of accounts, customer records, supplier records, and opening balances. Data is validated during import, so you'll catch any issues before they affect your live accounting.
How long will the migration take? For a typical small business with 2–3 years of history, allow 1–2 days of prep (exporting from KashFlow, mapping accounts) plus a few hours of import and testing. For more complex setups (multiple entities, consolidated chart of accounts), allow 3–5 days. We provide a migration checklist and can walk you through the process.
What if I use KashFlow's payroll integration? KashFlow's payroll connectivity is limited. Relentify doesn't include a native payroll product, but it integrates with major UK payroll platforms and has cleaner expense-to-payroll workflows. If payroll is critical to your choice, compare Relentify's HR tools against your current provider.
Will I lose historical data? No. You export your history from KashFlow as CSV, and it imports cleanly into Relentify. Transactions prior to your migration date are recorded as opening balances, so your trial balance and profit/loss statements remain correct. We recommend keeping KashFlow read-only for 90 days after migration so you can reference historical details if needed.
Is Relentify suitable for very small businesses? Yes. Relentify's Free tier is for sole traders with basic needs. The Small Business plan is designed for growing businesses — typically 5–25 employees with 50+ invoices per month. Check the pricing page to see which tier fits your usage.
How does Relentify compare to Xero? Relentify vs Xero covers that in detail. The TL;DR: Xero is slightly more established but costs 10% more. Relentify includes features (multi-entity, project tracking, expense workflows) that Xero either doesn't offer or charges extra for.
What about integrations? Does Relentify connect to my current tools? Relentify connects to major business tools. But because features like expense management and project tracking are built in, you'll need fewer integrations than you do with KashFlow. If you're currently using multiple tools to fill gaps in KashFlow, you may be able to retire a subscription or two.
Can I try Relentify before switching? Yes. Try Relentify free for 14 days with no credit card required. You can import a sample of your KashFlow data to see how the migration would work.
Should you switch? A practical guide
Stick with KashFlow if:
- You've been using it for years with zero issues
- Your needs are genuinely basic (invoicing, bank reconciliation, VAT returns only)
- You have no need for multi-currency, multi-entity, or project tracking
- The switching cost feels too high for the gain
Switch to Relentify if:
- You want a modern platform that feels like 2026, not 2015
- You need multi-currency or multi-entity support
- You want expense approval workflows and project tracking
- Your KashFlow experience is starting to feel outdated
- You're growing and can't afford to waste time on admin
Making the upgrade
KashFlow was a pioneer in UK cloud accounting, and it served its users well for many years. But the platform hasn't kept pace with what growing businesses need today. Its lack of multi-currency support, expense approval workflows, project tracking, and modern reporting makes it increasingly difficult to justify — especially when modern alternatives offer all of these features at the same price or lower.
Relentify is the upgrade that KashFlow users have been waiting for. It takes everything KashFlow does well (invoicing, reconciliation, VAT compliance) and adds the features that modern businesses actually need, wrapped in an interface designed for 2026.
Ready to explore the switch? Try Relentify free for 14 days with no credit card required, or read how other businesses are moving from legacy platforms by checking out how to migrate from FreshBooks to Relentify. If you have questions about whether Relentify is right for your business, our support team is available via live chat to help.