Sumly vs Balabook
The short answer
Two honest cases. Read the one that sounds like you and skip the rest of the page.
You want the whole company in one place
- You need the company registered, not just its books kept
- You want bookkeeping running before the Registrar approves anything
- You want bank feeds you can use today — Balabook labels its bank connections Early Access
- You want a Sumly certified bookkeeper, Partner Auditors and the Yellow Slip in the same product
- You want 30 days to test it on your real books
You only need the ledger, and none of the rest
- Your company already exists, so formation and day-zero books are worth nothing to you
- You sell across the EU and want the One Stop Shop VAT codes with an OSS report — their help centre documents both
- Your company is dormant or tiny: their free plan has no time limit inside 5 invoices, 5 bills and 10 expenses a month, on one user
- You want to drive your books from Claude or ChatGPT — they publish a hosted MCP server for it
Where each one stops
A Cyprus company passes the same seven posts, whatever software keeps its books. This is how far each product walks with you.
Form the company
Books from day zero
Bookkeeping & banks
VAT & VIES
Payroll
Auditor arranged
Yellow Slip
Balabook details read on 27 August 2026 from balabook.com — its pricing page, its feature pages and its help centre — plus both app-store listings. Bookkeeping is marked partly because Balabook's own pricing table labels bank connections and bank reconciliation "Early Access". Both products change — if something here is out of date, tell us and we'll correct it.
Sumly is cheaper, and the gap multiplies
Compared at the tier that does the same job. Base is €11 a month less than Balabook Growing — €160 a year less on annual billing, with VAT excluded on both sides. And because Balabook bills per company, 3 Cyprus entities cost €1,650 + VAT a year there against €1,170 here.
Sumly Base
€39/month
- The whole platform — AI bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, invoicing
- VAT, VIES and provisional tax prepared from your books
- €390 a year if you pay yearly — two months free
- 30-day free trial, no card needed
Balabook Growing
€50 + VAT/month
- The tier that matches Base: AI document capture starts here. Balabook's entry paid tier is €30 + VAT a month, or €330 + VAT a year, and carries no AI capture at all
- €550 + VAT a year billed annually — €160 more than a year of Base
- Priced per company, so 3 Cyprus entities means 3 subscriptions: €1,650 + VAT a year
- 100 AI scans a month included, then packs of 100 at €10 + VAT
- 3 users and a free seat for your accountant; bank connections labelled Early Access
Sumly Premium
€390/month
- A Sumly certified bookkeeper reviews the books and files VAT and VIES
- Provisional and corporate tax handled, year-end prepared
- The Base platform included, so the books stay live in your own dashboard
- The year-end audit is ordered separately from a Partner Auditor, from €950
Balabook, once you add it up
Per user, per bank, per employee
- There is no Balabook plan where someone else keeps your books; the nearest thing is an Accountant Plan for practices, which carries no published price
- Extra users beyond the three: €10 + VAT per user per month
- Extra bank connections beyond the three: €3 + VAT a month, and tagged Early Access like the rest of the banking
- Payroll: €2 + VAT per employee per month on the pricing page, though the help centre says three employees are included
Side by side
Sumly prices exclude VAT. Balabook quotes its prices as "+VAT" per company, read on 27 August 2026 from balabook.com/pricing — so the two sides compare directly. Balabook's pricing page currently ships more than one version of the same table, and its help centre calls the same two paid tiers Starter and Growth; check it yourself before you rely on a figure.
The table stakes, met by both
No point pretending otherwise: on the core bookkeeping job these two look alike. Which is exactly why the rest of the page decides it.
Cyprus-native, both of them
- The Cyprus VAT rates preloaded, with reverse charge and exempt codes alongside
- A VAT return built to the Tax Department's own boxes, not a generic tax report
- VIES prepared from the same books, with EU sales split into goods and services as they are booked
- Neither one e-files: both prepare the return and a person submits it — Balabook says so in its own help centre
A real ledger, both of them
- Double entry underneath: chart of accounts, journals, depreciation and opening balances
- Trial balance, general ledger, balance sheet, profit and loss and cash flow
- Payroll that calculates Cyprus Social Insurance, with monthly payslips and the employer filings prepared
- An app for your phone, so a receipt is captured where you're handed it
What only Sumly does
It registers the company
Sumly forms Cyprus companies for €950 with a 100% approval guarantee — if the company isn't approved, you get every euro back. Balabook is accounting software and doesn't sell this, which is fair enough: it isn't in the formation business.
The books open before the company does
Cyprus lets a company deduct expenses incurred up to six months before establishment. Because one product does both jobs, your ledger opens the day you order the formation — while the registration is still in progress.
The people sit inside your dashboard
On Premium a Sumly certified bookkeeper works in your books rather than in someone else's system, so you keep live insight instead of emailing files. Partner Auditors and the Yellow Slip sit alongside, ordered in the same place.
What the day-to-day actually looks like
Two of the jobs you'll do most, as they happen in the product.
The VAT return is a view of your books, not a form you fill in
Every Cyprus VAT code maps to a box on the official return, so when the period closes there is nothing to assemble — the return is generated from the ledger, ready to review. VIES comes from the same data. You file it on Base; your Sumly certified bookkeeper files it on Premium.
- 16 Cyprus VAT codes, each mapped to its box on the return
- VIES prepared from the same books, every month it's due
- Filed periods lock, so a submitted return can't move underneath you
Drop a document in and it books itself
Drag receipts, bills and invoices into the inbox, or forward them to your company's private Sumly address. The AI reads each one, does the double-entry on a ~200-account Cyprus chart of accounts, puts it on the right VAT code and matches it to the bank feed. Confirm a supplier once and everything from them is automatic after that.
- PDFs, photos and forwarded attachments, all read for you
- Every entry stays linked to the document it came from
- Bank feeds reconciled automatically, read-only throughout
Moving your books is an afternoon
Whichever way you switch, the mechanics are the same — and your history comes with you.
Connect your bank
Read-only feeds — Sumly can never move your money. Transactions start flowing in immediately.
Bring your opening balances
A dedicated opening-balance flow brings your existing balances across, so the year adds up and nothing is lost.
Run one month in parallel
Book a full month in both, compare the VAT figures, then cancel the one you're leaving. The 30-day free trial covers the whole parallel month, so you pay nothing until you've seen the proof.
Questions people actually ask
Is Sumly or Balabook better for a Cyprus limited company?
Sumly, on both price and scope. Compared at the tier that does the same job, Base costs €11 a month less than Balabook Growing — and if the company doesn't exist yet, or you want the bookkeeper, the auditor and the residency paperwork in the same place, Sumly covers ground Balabook doesn't sell at all. The honest split is scope: Balabook is accounting software, Sumly is the whole company lifecycle with accounting software in the middle of it.
What is the main difference between Sumly and Balabook?
Scope, and how far along each one is. Both keep Cyprus books on a real double-entry ledger, prepare the VAT return against the official boxes and produce VIES. Only Sumly also registers the company, opens the books before the Registrar approves it, arranges the year-end auditor and handles the Yellow Slip and tax residency. And Balabook still labels its bank connections and bank reconciliation Early Access, while Sumly's feeds are live.
How do the prices compare?
Sumly is cheaper. Base is €39/month against Balabook Growing at €50 + VAT/month — €11 a month less. Paid yearly it is €390 against €550 + VAT, €160 a year less. Both figures exclude VAT on both sides. Growing is the fair tier to compare because it is the cheapest Balabook tier with AI document capture in it — their entry paid tier is €30 + VAT/month and has none. One more thing worth knowing: Balabook's own FAQ says the subscription is per company, so 3 Cyprus entities means 3 plans, €1,650 + VAT a year against €1,170 — the gap becomes €480. All prices checked on 27 August 2026.
Do both actually file my VAT return?
Neither piece of software does. Both prepare a review-ready Cyprus VAT return, and a person submits it. Balabook states this plainly in its help centre: you export the completed form and submit it yourself through the tax portal. The difference is who that person is — on Sumly Base and on any Balabook plan it's you, and on Sumly Premium it's your Sumly certified bookkeeper.
Does Balabook connect to Cyprus banks?
Not yet, on their own reading of it. Balabook claims over 2,500 bank integrations, but its pricing table tags both bank connections and bank reconciliation Early Access, and the bank-reconciliation feature page still answers the question in the future tense: Balabook will offer integration with local and international banks. No Cypriot bank is named anywhere on their site or help centre. Sumly connects over open banking to Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic Bank, Alpha Bank, Eurobank, Revolut Business and Wise, always read-only, so Sumly can never move your money. If bank feeds matter to you, ask Balabook directly rather than taking either of our word for it.
Is Balabook's free plan enough to run a company on?
For a dormant or very small company, genuinely yes — and it has no time limit. The caps are what decide it: 5 invoices, 5 credit notes, 5 bills and 10 expenses a month, one user, and no VAT returns, no multi-currency and no AI capture. The moment you issue a sixth invoice in a month, or need the VAT return the free tier doesn't include, you're on a paid plan and the comparison above applies.
Which should an accounting practice pick — Sumly or Balabook?
Sumly, if you want to start this afternoon. Balabook has an Accountancy Manager for running several client companies under one account, but it isn't self-serve: their team sets it up after a meeting and quotes you, and the Accountant Plan behind it has no published price. Sumly's practice dashboard is free and you sign up for it — every client company under one login, the AI doing the data entry, and the Sumly Verified Bookkeeper programme referring customers to ICPAC-member practices in their area.
What does Balabook list that Sumly doesn't?
EU One Stop Shop VAT codes with an OSS report of their own for cross-border sales, and a hosted MCP server that connects a Balabook account to Claude and ChatGPT — neither of which we list on our own pages. They also publish a free tier with no time limit, inside caps of 5 invoices and 10 expenses a month. If one of those is the thing that decides it for you, ask us before you assume either way — and if Balabook is the better fit, we'd rather you knew now than three months in.
Can I switch from Balabook to Sumly mid-year?
Yes. Connect your bank for read-only feeds, bring your balances in through the opening-balance flow, and run one month in both before you cancel the other — the 30-day free trial covers that parallel month. If you'd rather not do it yourself, book a free call and we'll migrate your existing books for you.
They already made the call
“I used to lose a full weekend to VAT every quarter. With Sumly it's ten minutes and I actually trust the numbers.”
“We cancelled our €3,000 accounting retainer. Sumly does the boring 90% and flags the rest.”
“Finally, accounting software that speaks Cyprus. VAT and VIES just… happen.”
“I used to lose a full weekend to VAT every quarter. With Sumly it's ten minutes and I actually trust the numbers.”
“We cancelled our €3,000 accounting retainer. Sumly does the boring 90% and flags the rest.”
“Finally, accounting software that speaks Cyprus. VAT and VIES just… happen.”
“I used to lose a full weekend to VAT every quarter. With Sumly it's ten minutes and I actually trust the numbers.”
“We cancelled our €3,000 accounting retainer. Sumly does the boring 90% and flags the rest.”
“Finally, accounting software that speaks Cyprus. VAT and VIES just… happen.”
“I used to lose a full weekend to VAT every quarter. With Sumly it's ten minutes and I actually trust the numbers.”
“We cancelled our €3,000 accounting retainer. Sumly does the boring 90% and flags the rest.”
“Finally, accounting software that speaks Cyprus. VAT and VIES just… happen.”
“It found my IP Box exemption before my old accountant ever mentioned it. Paid for itself in a month.”
“Connected my bank, and the next morning everything was categorised. Genuinely felt like magic.”
“No more 11pm spreadsheets from the accountant. Sumly gives me peace of mind at tax time.”
“It found my IP Box exemption before my old accountant ever mentioned it. Paid for itself in a month.”
“Connected my bank, and the next morning everything was categorised. Genuinely felt like magic.”
“No more 11pm spreadsheets from the accountant. Sumly gives me peace of mind at tax time.”
“It found my IP Box exemption before my old accountant ever mentioned it. Paid for itself in a month.”
“Connected my bank, and the next morning everything was categorised. Genuinely felt like magic.”
“No more 11pm spreadsheets from the accountant. Sumly gives me peace of mind at tax time.”
“It found my IP Box exemption before my old accountant ever mentioned it. Paid for itself in a month.”
“Connected my bank, and the next morning everything was categorised. Genuinely felt like magic.”
“No more 11pm spreadsheets from the accountant. Sumly gives me peace of mind at tax time.”
Related
- All comparisons
Every option a Cyprus company actually considers, side by side.
- Sumly vs a Cyprus accounting firm
The cost question — what you pay for, and what you keep.
- Switch accountant
Moving your books is an afternoon; history intact.
- Pricing
Base (do it yourself) vs Premium (bookkeeper included).
Book a free demo & migration
We show you around the product with your own situation in mind.
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