MYOB bookkeeping

Less than the names suggest. MYOB uses the MYOB Business name across its plans, from Lite and Pro to AccountRight Plus and AccountRight Premier. On each, the bookkeeping covers the same ground: feeds matched, bills and invoices kept current, accounts reconciled and reports run.

Where the plan does make a difference:

• Where the software runs. MYOB says Lite and Pro are fully web-based, with no downloads needed, while AccountRight Plus and Premier include software to download on Windows computers. MYOB describes AccountRight Plus as a desktop and web app, so it can be used in a browser too.
• How many bank accounts can connect. MYOB says the number depends on your plan, and its pricing page lists a cap on Lite.
• What the file can track. MYOB points businesses that need advanced inventory, multiple currencies or billing by time to AccountRight Plus or Premier, and lists multiple currencies on Premier.

So the useful question is which of those features your business uses, because each one adds steps to the monthly routine. Knowing your plan at the start tells us which screens and limits we're working with. If you're not sure where you stand, MYOB says My Account, under Manage my product, shows your current bank account limit and lets you upgrade your plan.

MYOB's way of letting a bookkeeper in is the Advisor invitation. A user whose type is Owner or Online Admin sends it from Users and permissions in the settings menu. They enter the Advisor's name, plus an email address no one else in the file is using.

MYOB says an Advisor gets the Administrator role and can reach the MYOB Business files under your serial number, if you have more than one. Advisors can also set up bank feeds and invite members of their own practice. While the Advisor works on the books, you keep entering invoices and payments as usual.

That's broad access, and you stay in charge of it. MYOB's pricing page says you can control what someone can see and do by adjusting their access level, and you can remove our access whenever you like. MYOB gives our login the Advisor user type, and your accountant can be invited as an Advisor too, under their own email address.

Because each bank decides how it accepts a feed request, and the route can differ between account types at the same bank. MYOB's help describes three ways in:

• Open Banking, which MYOB steps you through automatically when your bank supports it.
• A classic connection through your online banking, which the bank then processes.
• An application form, for banks or accounts without an online route. MYOB says forms take longer to process than online connections.

On MYOB's side, the owner, an Online Admin user or an Advisor can start a feed. The approval itself comes from your side: on a consent screen for Open Banking, in your online banking for a classic connection, or on a signed application form. Once a feed runs, MYOB says Open Banking sends transactions daily, while other feeds arrive on a schedule that depends on the bank. That timing decides when a month can be closed off, because an account isn't reconciled for the month until its last feed lines are in.

Two details matter for the books. A new feed starts from the date it was approved, so anything earlier is brought in from bank statements. And each active feed is linked to a category in MYOB, the account its transactions land in, which is where matching on the Bank transactions page begins.

It's your call, and it turns on how your business runs rather than on bookkeeping. If your file uses the AccountRight features above, such as advanced inventory or multiple currencies, find out how Xero handles them before deciding.

A move also has limits worth knowing early. Jet Convert, the conversion service Xero names for MYOB files, says it doesn't convert a file that uses more than one currency or location, or a file from the old MYOB Essentials.

If you do move, the MYOB file is tidied first. Jet Convert says the cleaner your data, the smoother the conversion, so old unreconciled items and wrongly coded lines are cleared in MYOB, where their history is.

For the detail, our Xero vs MYOB comparison lines up the two vendors' plans, and the Moving from MYOB to Xero page lists what Jet Convert brings across and what it leaves in MYOB. If QuickBooks is on your list too, MYOB vs QuickBooks does the same for that pair. If you're still on an older desktop company file, the Moving from MYOB to Xero page also explains how much history comes across from it, and anyone weighing a move the other way can read Moving from Xero to MYOB.

Yes. Training happens in your own MYOB file, on the tasks you're keeping, so the examples are your customers, suppliers and bank lines rather than a demo company. It suits people who know MYOB already, too: MYOB is rolling out a redesigned Bank transactions page with new AI matching features, so familiar screens may have changed.

Which MYOB features are worth learning depends on what you keep. For example:

• The automatic matching options on the Bank transactions page: matching payments to open invoices and bills, category suggestions based on earlier matches, and, on AccountRight, matching with bank rules
• Writing bank rules that look for words in the bank description or a set amount, and choosing whether a rule categorises a line, matches it to an open bill or invoice, or creates a transaction
• Using your Uploads email address, so suppliers can send bills straight into MYOB

One point worth learning early: an automatic match against an open invoice or bill is more than a pairing. MYOB enters it as that payment and closes the invoice or bill. A wrong automatic match therefore changes what customers and suppliers appear to owe, so checking matches matters as much as making them.

If a step slips your mind after a session, the MYOB how-tos on this site walk through one job each, from matching transactions to creating bank rules and sending invoice reminders.