Cancel difficulty: Medium

Xero is Australian-founded, widely used here, and reasonably straightforward to cancel online. The catch: there's a one month notice period. Cancel today, and you'll still be billed for another month before your subscription actually ends. Plan accordingly.

Go to Xero cancellation page

Before you cancel: export everything

This is the important bit. Once your subscription ends, you lose access to your Xero file. Xero stores your data in line with local legislation and you can reactivate to get it back, but you don't want to rely on that. The ATO requires you to keep business records for five years, so export before you cancel.

At a minimum, download these reports in both PDF and Excel format for the last five financial years:

Profit and Loss (for each financial year)
Balance Sheet (end of each financial year)
General Ledger Detail (full transaction history)
Account Transactions Report
Bank Reconciliation Reports
BAS reports (every lodged BAS period)

If you use payroll:

Payroll Activity Summary for each financial year
Superannuation Payments report
Employee contact details (export from Contacts)

Also download any documents stored in Hubdoc or attached to invoices. Go to Accounting > Reports to generate and export most of these. For Hubdoc documents, export them from the Hubdoc section before cancelling.

If you're switching to MYOB or QuickBooks, both can import Xero chart of accounts and transaction data via CSV. Get those exports done first.

How to cancel

Log in to Xero at login.xero.com
Click the organisation name (top left) and select Subscription and Billing
Click Manage Subscription
Find your subscription and click the More Options button (three dots)
Click Cancel Subscription
Select a reason, then click Confirm Cancellation

Your subscription remains active for one month from the date you cancel (the notice period). You'll be billed once more, then it ends.

Only the subscriber (the person who set up the Xero organisation) can cancel. If you're a standard user or advisor, you won't see the billing options.

If your accountant manages the subscription

Many small businesses are on Xero through their accountant or bookkeeper. If your accountant set up the organisation and manages billing, you won't see any subscription options in your Xero dashboard.

In this case, you need to either:

Ask your accountant to cancel the subscription on your behalf
Request a subscriber transfer so the subscription moves to you, then cancel it yourself (Settings > General Settings > Subscriber Transfer)

If you've parted ways with your accountant and can't get them to act, contact Xero Support directly. They can help transfer the subscription.

One month notice period

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Xero requires one month's notice to cancel. When you click "Cancel Subscription", you're not cancelling immediately. You'll be charged for one more billing cycle, and your access continues until the notice period ends. This means if you cancel on the 5th of the month, you're paying until the 5th of the following month. There's no prorated refund if you cancel mid-cycle.

Time your cancellation so you get full use of that final paid month. If you're migrating to another platform, use the notice period to run both systems in parallel and verify your data.

Current pricing (AUD, inc. GST)

Plan	Price (AUD/mo)	Key limits
Ignite	$35	20 invoices, 5 bills, 1 user, no payroll
Grow	$75	Unlimited invoices/bills, payroll for 2 people
Comprehensive	$100	Payroll for 5 people, 90-day cash flow forecast
Ultimate 10	$130	Payroll for 10 people, 180-day forecast
Ultimate 20	$162	Payroll for 20 people
Ultimate 50	$222	Payroll for 50 people
Ultimate 100	$272	Payroll for 100 people

Prices as of July 2025. Xero frequently runs 95% off promotions for new subscribers (currently available until 31 March 2026), but these don't apply to existing customers looking to downgrade.

If you only need basic invoicing and expense tracking, downgrading to the Ignite plan at $35/month is an option before cancelling entirely. It covers GST tracking and BAS lodgement, which might be enough for a sole trader winding down.

After you cancel

Your Xero organisation goes read-only after the notice period ends, then becomes inaccessible. Xero retains your data in line with Australian legislation. If you reactivate the subscription later, your data should still be there. But don't count on this for ATO compliance. Export everything before you cancel. Any Hubdoc documents, invoice attachments, and uploaded files are also inaccessible once the subscription lapses.

Switching to MYOB or QuickBooks

If you're moving to another accounting platform rather than shutting down entirely:

Export your chart of accounts from Xero (Accounting > Chart of Accounts > Export)
Export contacts (Contacts > Export)
Export invoices and bills as CSV from the respective reports
Run a trial balance for the switchover date so your new system can start with accurate opening balances

Both MYOB and QuickBooks have Xero migration guides. Your accountant or bookkeeper will likely handle this, but having the exports ready saves everyone time.

BAS and STP considerations

If you're mid-quarter on BAS, finish and lodge the current period before cancelling. Xero lodges BAS directly to the ATO, and you'll lose that ability once the subscription ends.

For Single Touch Payroll (STP), submit a finalisation event for all employees before cancelling. This tells the ATO you're no longer reporting payroll through Xero. If you skip this step, the ATO may follow up expecting your next payroll submission.

Xero handled. Now, how many other business subscriptions are quietly renewing in the background?

Most people find 3-5 subscriptions they forgot about when they actually look. Upload a bank statement to Subtracker and see every recurring charge in 2 minutes. No bank login. No manual entry. $12.99 once.

See what you're paying for

How to Cancel Xero (2026)