BrightManager
BrightManager is cloud-based practice management software for accounting practices, bookkeepers, and payroll bureaus.
What BrightManager is
BrightManager is cloud-based practice management software for accounting practices, bookkeepers, and payroll bureaus. It creates tasks and subtasks from compliance deadlines, with workflow templates, task assignment, and progress tracking to coordinate work. Its onboarding process can include professional clearance, proposals, engagement letters, AML checks, risk assessments, and requests for HMRC agent authorisation codes. A client portal supports secure document sharing, e-signatures, and form submissions, and can be branded to match a practice website. Reporting covers productivity, aged work in progress, task efficiency, and client profitability; time tracking separates chargeable and non-chargeable work. Integrations include Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Sage, Companies House, Ireland’s CRO, and several Bright products. Bright says its applications are hosted in certified public cloud data centres in European regions, with specified encryption for data in transit and at rest. Some plans require single-user contracts of 12 or 24 months.
Good
- Generates tasks from compliance deadlines.
- Client portal supports e-signatures and secure document sharing.
- Reports on productivity, work in progress, and profitability.
- Time tracking separates chargeable and non-chargeable work.
- Integrates with accounting and business services.
Watch out
- No free plan is available.
- Essential pricing is per user for 2–12 users.
- Advanced and Premium are single-user plans with contract terms.
Who it suits
BrightManager suits accounting practices, bookkeepers, and payroll bureaus that need to coordinate compliance work, client onboarding, documents, and time. Practices should consider the per-user starting price and plan-specific contract terms.
Verdict
BrightManager combines workflow, onboarding, client portal, reporting, and time-tracking tools for accounting-focused teams. Its paid plans and differing contract structures are important considerations before choosing a tier.
Plans and prices
From BrightManager's own pricing page, checked 21 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | £42.63 a month | 30-day free trial · monthly; per user; 2-12 users; +VAT |
| Advanced | £57.85 a month | Branded Portal · Proposal Tool · Customer Success · monthly equivalent; single user; 12-month contract; billed annually; +VAT |
| Premium | £57.85 a month | Branded Client Portal · Pricing & Proposal Tool · Customer Success Membership · free additional user licence · monthly; single user; 24-month contract; +VAT |
| Essential | £409.25 a year | 30-day free trial · annually; per user; 2-12 users; +VAT |
| Advanced | £694.26 a year | Branded Portal · Proposal Tool · Customer Success · annually; single user; 12-month contract; +VAT |
| Premium | £694.26 a year | Branded Client Portal · Pricing & Proposal Tool · Customer Success Membership · free additional user licence · annually; single user; 24-month contract; +VAT |
The facts
Each one read from BrightManager's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Accounting integrations
- The official product page lists Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage integrations.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Acquisition history
- Bright states that it acquired AccountancyManager and uses it as its practice-management product.checked 21 Oct 2026
- AML tools
- The AML guide states that users can run Veriphy identity and credit checks, store risk assessments and assign low, medium or high client-risk ratings.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Automated communications
- The system can automatically send clients record and tax-payment requests by email and SMS.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Bright integrations
- BrightManager connects with BrightPropose, BrightAccountsProduction and BrightTax, including task creation after accepted proposals and synchronized client details.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Client portal
- The portal supports GDPR-compliant document sharing, e-signatures, forms and practice branding.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Client timeline
- The client timeline records actions such as opened emails, signed documents and shared forms with timestamps.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Compliance
- Bright says it is aligned to ISO 27001 and complies with GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act 2018.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Encryption
- Bright states that HTTPS with minimum TLS 1.2 is mandated for data in transit and transparent data encryption is mandated for databases at rest.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Insights Hub
- Insights Hub reports on productivity, aged work in progress, task efficiency and client profitability.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Listed integrations include Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Sage, Companies House, Ireland’s CRO, BrightPropose, BrightAccountsProduction and BrightTax.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Legal entity
- UK Companies House lists Bright Software Group Ltd as an active private company incorporated on 18 April 2023 at Aura, 1 Harrison Way, Leamington Spa.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Limit: collaboration
- SelectHub says reviewers find collaboration limited because the product lacks robust tagging and threaded discussions.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Limit: reporting
- SelectHub says users consider analytics and insights less sophisticated than competing products.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Limit: workflow depth
- TaxDome's comparison characterizes BrightManager automation as less flexible, with fewer conditional and customization options.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Notable news
- Bright's 21 June 2026 article says BrightManager and Xero reaffirmed their integration, including two-way contact and invoice synchronization.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Onboarding
- Onboarding covers professional clearance, proposals, engagement letters, AML checks, risk assessments and HMRC agent-authorisation requests.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Outages
- StatusGator records BrightManager slowness on 27 July 2026 and white-label portal outages on 25 July 2026.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Praise: automation
- SelectHub reports repeated praise for automating onboarding, communications, task lists and deadline reminders.checked 21 Oct 2026
The company
- Founded
- 2021checked 28 Sep 2026
- Maker founded
- Bright says it was founded in 2021 when Thesaurus Software and Relate Software combined.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Maker headquarters
- LinkedIn lists Bright headquarters in Duleek, County Meath, Ireland, with 201-500 employees.checked 21 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Limit: mobile apps
- TaxDome's comparison says BrightManager lacks native client mobile apps, native chat and team messaging.checked 21 Oct 2026
Money
- Notable plan limits
- The Essential plan is priced per user for 2–12 users; Premium and Advanced are each described as single-user plans with 24-month and 12-month contracts respectively.checked 8 Oct 2026
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