Last updated: March 27th, 2025
You’re a sole trader. Good news? You’re the boss. Noone tells you what to do. The bad news? The ATO expects you to keep track of your accounting and tax. And if you’re not using the right software, this can eat many of your precious billable hours each month.
Switching from spreadsheets to “grown-up” accounting software was one of the first things I did when I started freelancing 10 years ago.
Back then, your options were limited.
You had to buy a comprehensive accounting software package, even though most of its features were useless to you.
Fast forward to today, and you have several options specifically built for sole traders. Today I’m comparing NZ-based accounting app Hnry with a fresh market entrant, Solo by MYOB.
| Key Takeaways. |
|---|
| Solo by MYOB is easy to use and ideal for active sole traders who prefer to handle business via a mobile phone. |
| Hnry helps you cover your tax obligations by automatically calculating and subtracting a portion of every payment. |
| Both apps improve business admin, but you’ll pay more for unnecessary features if you don’t want to entrust Hnry with your money and tax lodgements. |
Solo By MYOB vs Hnry: My Quick & Dirty Verdict.
Solo by MYOB is mobile-only but packs the essentials a solopreneur needs — invoicing, payments, expenses, cash flow visibility and GST reporting — into a user-friendly interface.
It ticks a lot of boxes for people who don’t like sitting at a desk, or need to manage admin on-the-move, which could include:
- Sole traders who mostly perform physical or outdoor work.
- Tradies and others who usually deliver services on-site.
- Businesses taking in-person payments at events or retail spaces.
Solo by MYOB and Hnry both target sole traders, but they require a very different level of commitment.
- Solo breezily lets you digitise business admin via a mobile app.
- Hnry takes your payments, to extract and submit your tax for you.
While both apps work for invoicing and recording expenses, Hnry requires you to give up much more control.
When you sign-up to Hnry, the platform:
- Creates a client trust account managed by a bank (you’ll get a BSB and account number). This is where your customer/client’s payments will go.
- Calculates and automatically extracts and submits income tax and other liabilities (e.g., super, student loan) from each payment, then sends you the balance.
- Lodges your annual returns for you, with accountants on hand to answer questions.
- Pockets a small percentage of every payment in fees (capped at $1,500 + GST annually).
If you truly dread doing your finances, it should save you a lot of time and stress.
Personally, I prefer to review and manage those details myself, and I don’t find the ATO’s systems too onerous.
Plus, it’s important to me to get paid into my own bank account (I’ve got a regular automatic transfer into a ‘tax’ savings account) so I can earn interest and have cash available for rainy days.
Important!
Your Hnry account isn’t a bank account. However, Hnry keeps customer funds separate from its business operations, held in trust, and protected from creditors should the business close.
Keep in mind, a common gripe in Hnry reviews is a lack of responsiveness around tax time.
You’ll also find a few people who say Hnry over or under-estimated their tax burden, or didn’t correctly lodge the funds.
| Solo by MYOB Is Best For: | Hnry Is Best For: |
|---|---|
| Sole traders who prefer on-the-go business admin via a mobile device. | Sole traders with simple operations who want to automate tax admin. |
| Mobile app usability and in-person payments using your mobile. | Self-employed professionals on contracts, and freelancers. |
| Frugal solopreneurs with basic accounting needs. | Sole traders who need to charge clients for materials. |
1. Set-Up Speed.
| Solo by MYOB: | 9/10 |
| Hnry: | 6/10 |
You can’t trial Hnry, and you’ll need to provide additional information and personal details to start using it.
Specifically, for Hnry to work effectively you’ll need to:
- Share details about your earnings across all income sources, including for the financial year before you signed-up.
- Verify your identity by submitting a valid document (e.g., passport, driver licence).
- Provide your tax file number (TFN).
- Upload or transfer all your business expenses from the current financial year incurred before you signed-up.
These steps are necessary to ensure the app can correctly calculate your likely deductions and tax rate going forward. And to authorise Hnry to process payments and tax lodgements on your behalf.
Apart from the extra effort involved, I found Hnry’s sign-up process well-guided. As I explored, the pop-ups were unobtrusive and useful — and the in-built bot and help articles were helpful.
Important!
Both Solo and Hnry help you keep your account secure yet accessible by using biometric sign-in (face or fingerprint) to access the apps.
Getting started with Solo was quicker. You will have to provide payment and contact details and create a password for an online MYOB account.
You get 14 days to trial the product for free, and cancel if you like, before it switches over to a monthly subscription.
Once you’ve generated your account credentials, you just download the Solo mobile app (iOS or Android) — log-in and start setting up.
For instance, you’ll be asked to add your business name and whether you’re registered for GST. You’ll also be prompted to connect your bank account and customise your invoice template.
Solo’s app also incorporates help articles and a responsive digital assistant within the app.
Expert Tip.
Both Solo and Hnry are designed for a single user — neither app supports payroll, if you plan to expand your team in future.
2. Usability And Mobile App.
| Solo by MYOB: | 9/10 |
| Hnry: | 7/10 |
Every interface in Hnry and Solo is built with its sole trader audience in mind.
The bloat and cryptic language that comes with full-stack accounting tools aimed at bookkeepers and finance managers is missing.
Thank God.
But because Solo is leaner and designed as a native app, it outperforms Hnry for usability.
Pretty poor app store review averages for Hnry (4.1 on Google Play, 3.5 on Apple) seem to largely be related to glitches/bugs and customer service delays, which I didn’t experience.
Things Solo’s mobile app does better:
- Makes useful actions prominent on its main dashboard and menu to take you directly to capture an expense, create an invoice or add a new customer or supplier contact.
- Alerts you to overdue invoices that need your attention on the dashboard so you can take steps if needed, e.g., manually send an extra reminder.
- Provides access to your connected bank feed (up to 2 accounts) on the dashboard so you can quickly review transactions and auto-match them to payments or expenses.
- Lets you auto-fill physical receipt and bill data by taking a photo of the document, to speed up adding expenses and keeping good records.
There’s no bank feed in Hnry, as invoices you issue are paid into your Hnry account. That means no need to record that a payment has been made.
But what does that mean for expenses?
You’ll either need to manually enter all expense details, or activate a Hnry debit card and use that to make all your business purchases.
Expert Tip.
Hnry’s debit card comes at no extra cost, but consider the effort of redirecting any existing direct debits from your bank account or subscriptions/payments linked to an existing credit/debit card.
A plus to Hnry’s platform having a web-based interface is that you can integrate third-party apps (via Zapier) to access features like e-commerce, time tracking, or a separate invoicing tool.
3. Invoicing And Payments.
| Solo by MYOB: | 8/10 |
| Hnry: | 9/10 |
You can’t consistently turn a profit unless you’re getting paid on time — so invoicing is a core function of accounting tools.
Both apps let you add your logo and quickly issue a branded invoice to as many different clients/customers as you need.
But Hnry gives you more flexibility and control over how you invoice. Handy Hnry features you won’t find in Solo include the ability to:
- Add expenses recorded in the app as an untaxed ‘client reimbursement’ to cover what you’ve paid for materials, etc.
- Create re-usable product/service listings with a set price that you can select from a drop-down list when invoicing.
- Add a quantity (in addition to a value) for each invoice line item, helpful if you need to specify hours worked.
- Set a start and end date for when the work was, or will be, delivered, great for contract or project work.
- Schedule invoices to be sent at a future date and time, ideal if you prefer to manage finances in batches.
- Create recurring invoices for a regular service/output that can be re-sent every week, fortnight, month or year.
That does make its invoicing form lengthier.
If you’re happy with space for a brief description, adding a total cost per item/service, and selecting a due date — Solo has you covered.
Important!
Both apps make it easy to preview the invoice PDF and edit the email your customer will receive so you can check it’s right or add your own messages.
Solo has a better layout for reviewing invoices you’ve already sent, so you can see or edit the key details, record payment, share the invoice another way (e.g., send the PDF via WhatsApp), or delete it.
Both apps will helpfully email automatic reminders to late-payers. Here’s how each app handles it:
- In Solo, each time you create an invoice you can opt whether to turn reminders on or not. When activated, the customer will receive a series of three reminders (sent 3 days before due, on the due date, and 1 day overdue).
- For Hnry, you specify whether reminders should be sent when you add each client’s contact details. If a client has reminders on, they’ll get a message 2 days after the due date followed by a reminder every 7 days for a total of 4 weeks.
If you go with Hnry, clients can pay instantly online via a link in the invoice email (processing fees are passed on to the client).
That’s included in Hnry’s fee, with no set-up required — easy peasy.
Where Solo is a better fit is if you primarily receive bank transfers or take in-person payments by card.
Set-up of ‘Tap to Pay’ is handled within the app but you’ll need to complete an application and be approved.
Important!
Solo offers competitive fees for taking in-person payments at 1.6% + $0.30 per transaction, which you can choose to add to your customer’s bill.
Here are the apps’ payment options spelled out:
| Solo | Hnry | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct deposit into bank account. | Yes. | Not quite. Clients can deposit into your Hnry trust account, where tax is taken out before the balance is sent to your bank. |
| Online payments by card or digital wallet. | No. | Yes, via built-in Tyro service (no integration/added cost). Or you can also integrate with Stripe/PayPal. |
| Mobile in-person payments by card or digital wallet. | Yes, by activating ‘Tap to Pay’ within the app (requires application and approval). | Yes, by configuring a separate payment terminal you buy/rent to send payments to your Hnry account. |
4. Reporting And Tax Management.
| Solo by MYOB: | 7/10 |
| Hnry: | 9/10 |
Tax management is the major selling point of Hnry, so it naturally has the advantage here.
Critics of Hnry say its digital accountancy service isn’t robust enough — meaning the tax takeout isn’t always accurate, and you don’t get the nuanced insights to find all deductions.
Hnry’s reports give you an overall breakdown of income and expenses, separate expense and payment summaries, and statements for purchases made via a Hnry debit card.
Solo’s app offers profit and loss reports and summaries of the amount of GST you’ve collected and paid, so you can determine your BAS liability. Or download the reports to share with an expert.
Solo’s reports give you a solid start at tax time, especially if:
- Your business operations are simple, making your tax uncomplicated and easy to complete by yourself.
- You know you’ll prefer the rigour of a separate accountant or bookkeeper you can build a personal relationship with.
5. Value For Money.
| Solo by MYOB: | 9/10 |
| Hnry: | 7/10 |
Hnry and Solo have two very different pricing models:
- Solo by MYOB is priced very sharply at $12 for the first 12 months. Then it rolls over into $11/month.
- Hnry charges a 1% + GST fee on each payment received, capped at $1,500 + GST per year. A minimum fee of $0.50 + GST applies to any payment under $50.
Solo isn’t trying to be your accountant, and is very, very cheap.
It’s great value for the solopreneur who simply needs a more convenient, digital account-keeping system.
Hnry’s potential value depends greatly on whether the alternative is doing your tax yourself, or paying for professional help.
If you earn $50,000 a year from your sole trader business, you’ll pay $550 in fees to Hnry. If you earn over $140,000 annually, you’ll hit the $1,500 + GST cap and get even better value.
But if it’s worth your time to DIY, or you’ll feel more confident using an accountant — you’ll be paying for features you don’t need in Hnry.
Solo By MYOB vs Hnry : My Conclusion.
They’re not entirely different beasts, but Hnry and Solo serve two different kinds of sole trader.
- Hnry is a boon for the financially illiterate or time poor, anyone who is keen to automate tax management using a digital tool.
- Solo offers a streamlined, intuitive alternative to traditionally bulky accounting software that slows down vital admin tasks.
The opportunity cost of paying tax before it’s due is a deal-breaker for me.
But you might be more comfortable with the idea, if you feel it’s the best way to ensure your taxes do, in fact, get paid.
Important!
Solo launched in late 2024 and is still adding features as it expands its customer base, with feedback from users welcomed. It has a lot of potential if you only want a cost-effective finance tool.
You can’t easily ‘step up’ from Solo to a different MYOB product (for now) — but being backed by the might of a leading Australian SaaS company is reassuring for its future roadmap.
Jody
