Sumly vs Cybooks
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 a Sumly certified bookkeeper working inside your own dashboard
- You want the Yellow Slip, tax residency and the year-end auditor arranged 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 need Intrastat, the EU One Stop Shop or the VAT margin scheme — Cybooks lists all three
- You run a practice and want its separate practice-management product
- You'd rather buy the audit bundled into a monthly service than order it separately
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.
| Stage | Sumly | Cybooks |
|---|---|---|
| Form the company | ||
| Books from day zero | ||
| Bookkeeping & banks | ||
| VAT & VIES | ||
| Payroll | ||
| Auditor arranged | ||
| Yellow Slip |
Cybooks details read on 26 August 2026 from cybooks.com.cy, its pricing and feature pages, and its App Store listing. Both products change — if something here is out of date, tell us and we'll correct it.
Sumly is cheaper, both ways
Compared at the tier that does the same job. Doing the books yourself, Base is €28 a month less than Cybooks Premium — €258 a year less if you both pay annually. Having them done for you, Sumly Premium is €3,120 a year less than All Inclusive.
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
Cybooks Premium
€67/month
- The tier that matches Base: AI document extraction, recurring invoices and multi-currency all start here
- €54/month billed annually — €648 a year
- A one-time Lifetime licence is listed at €2,999, about 8 years of Base
- 14-day free trial, no card needed
Sumly Premium
€190/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
Cybooks All Inclusive
From €450/month
- An ICPAC-licensed accountant files the quarterly VAT return for you
- VIES, OSS, Intrastat and payroll for up to two employees included
- The statutory audit and the HE32 annual return are included in the price
- €540/month billed monthly; the final price depends on volume and headcount
Side by side
All prices exclude VAT. Cybooks prices read on 26 August 2026 from cybooks.com.cy/pricing/for-businesses; the concierge price varies with transaction volume and headcount.
| Feature | Sumly | Cybooks |
|---|---|---|
| Built for Cyprus tax law | ||
| VAT & VIES prepared from the books | ||
| Who submits the return | you, or your bookkeeper | you, or the concierge service |
| Open-banking feeds from Cyprus banks | ||
| Mobile app | iOS only | |
| Payroll | add-on, €15/employee | on Premium |
| IP Box | add-on, €50/mo | on Premium |
| Company formation included as a service | ||
| Books open before the company is registered | ||
| Yellow Slip & tax residency | ||
| Year-end auditor arranged for you | in the concierge service | |
| Free trial | 30 days | 14 days |
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
- A Cyprus chart of accounts out of the box, not a generic one
- VAT returns built to the Tax Department's own boxes
- VIES prepared from the same books
- Neither one e-files: both prepare the return and a person submits it through Tax For All
Modern software, both of them
- Read-only open-banking feeds from the Cyprus banks
- AI that reads receipts and bills instead of you typing them
- Payroll that calculates Social Insurance, GHS and PAYE
- 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. Accounting software can't do that, because 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.
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 and bills 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 Cybooks better for a Cyprus limited company?
Sumly, on both price and scope. Compared at the tier that does the same job, Base costs less than Cybooks Premium every month — 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 Cybooks doesn't sell at all. The honest split is scope: Cybooks 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 Cybooks?
Scope. Both keep Cyprus books, prepare VAT and VIES, connect to Cyprus banks and run payroll. 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. Cybooks sells a concierge service that bundles an accountant and the audit; Sumly sells the bookkeeper as a plan and the audit as a separate engagement.
How do the prices compare?
Sumly is cheaper on both routes. Doing the books yourself, Base is €39/month against Cybooks Premium at €67/month — €28 a month less, or €258 a year less once you both pay annually. Premium is the fair tier to compare, because AI document extraction, recurring invoices and multi-currency all start there. Having the books done for you, Sumly Premium is €190/month against All Inclusive from €450/month, which is €3,120 a year less. Cybooks also sells a €2,999 one-time Lifetime licence, which takes about 8 years of Base to pay for itself. All prices exclude VAT and were checked on 26 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 through the Tax For All portal — Cybooks says the same thing in its own FAQ. The difference is who that person is: on Sumly Base and on any Cybooks software plan it's you, on Sumly Premium it's your Sumly certified bookkeeper, and on Cybooks All Inclusive it's their licensed accountant.
Does Cybooks handle IP Box?
Yes. Cybooks publishes an IP Box page describing the nexus calculation and the 80% deduction, available on its Premium plan. Sumly has IP Box as an add-on. This is not a difference between the two products, and anyone telling you otherwise hasn't looked recently.
Does Sumly connect to Hellenic Bank?
Yes. Sumly connects over open banking to the banks Cyprus businesses actually use — Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic Bank, Alpha Bank, Eurobank, Revolut Business and Wise — always read-only, so Sumly can never move your money. Cybooks lists Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic Bank, Alpha Bank and AstroBank alongside a large international network.
Does Sumly have a mobile app?
Yes. Sumly has a mobile app alongside the browser app, so you can photograph a receipt the moment you're handed it and let it book itself. You can also forward documents to your company's private Sumly email address from anywhere. Cybooks' app is iPhone-only, with no Android version listed.
What does Cybooks list that Sumly doesn't?
Their feature pages carry Intrastat, the EU One Stop Shop, the VAT margin scheme and a fixed-assets module, none of which we list on ours. They also sell a separate practice-management product for accounting firms with KYC/AML checks and a client portal, and a €2,999 one-time Lifetime licence — though that one only starts saving you money in year 9. If one of these is the thing that decides it for you, ask us before you assume either way — and if Cybooks is the better fit, we'd rather you knew now than three months in.
Can I switch from Cybooks 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
- Every Sumly comparison
The other Cyprus platforms, the international ones, and accounting firms.
- Sumly vs an accounting firm
What a Cyprus firm charges, and what you keep by doing it yourself.
- How to choose accounting software for a Cyprus company
The criteria that actually decide it, whichever product you end up with.
- Switch accountant
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