Editorial policy

Every article on SterlingPeak is grounded in primary research. We review vendor documentation, test software features directly where possible, reference HMRC guidance and UK legislation, and consult practitioners with hands-on experience. We do not republish vendor press releases or rely solely on marketing materials.

For comparison articles, we evaluate products against a consistent set of criteria: MTD and VAT compliance, payroll and auto-enrolment capabilities, bank feed quality, reporting depth, integration ecosystem, pricing transparency, and onboarding experience.

Editorial decisions are made independently of commercial relationships. SterlingPeak participates in affiliate programmes, but commission arrangements never determine which products we recommend, the conclusions we reach, or how we structure our content.

Writers and editors are not informed of specific affiliate commission rates during the editorial process. Product evaluations follow the same methodology regardless of whether an affiliate relationship exists.

Our comparison articles are structured around the real factors UK finance teams consider when choosing software:

• HMRC compliance — Making Tax Digital, VAT, CIS, PAYE RTI
• Feature depth — invoicing, bank reconciliation, multi-currency, project costing
• Payroll — auto-enrolment, statutory pay, P11D, P60
• Ecosystem — integrations with banks, payment providers, and other business tools
• Pricing — total cost including add-ons, per-user fees, and scaling costs
• Usability — onboarding, learning curve, and support quality

We clearly state the date of our most recent review so readers know how current the information is.

Accounting software, tax regulations, and pricing change frequently. We proactively update articles when we become aware of material changes. Significant corrections are noted within the article.

If you spot an error or outdated information, we encourage you to contact our editorial team. We aim to review and address factual corrections within 24 hours.

Software pricing changes frequently. We verify pricing information at the time of publication and note the date of our most recent check within each article. Readers should always confirm current pricing directly with the provider before making a purchase decision.

If you notice outdated pricing on any SterlingPeak article, please contact our editorial team and we will update it promptly.

Pages containing affiliate links display a clear disclosure notice near the top of the article, naming the affiliate relationships that apply, with the date pricing was last verified. We also maintain a dedicated Affiliate Disclosure page that explains our commercial relationships in full.

Sage is the most widely deployed UK accounting and payroll software stack across small business, SMB, and mid-market segments, and it sits at the centre of our reviews because that is where most of our readers operate.

We cover the full Sage UK product line at the editorial level — Sage Sole Trader, Sage Accounting, Sage 50, Sage Payroll, Sage HR, Sage 200, Sage Intacct, and Sage X3. SterlingPeak participates in the Sage UK affiliate programme. Where Sage is genuinely the best fit for a UK business profile we say so; where another product is the better fit (FreeAgent for some freelancer setups, BrightPay for some payroll-only users, Xero for some bookkeeping practices), we say that instead.

Sage product positioning, pricing, and feature claims are verified each VAT cycle against Sage's UK pricing pages and Sage UK partner documentation. Where Sage updates pricing, releases new SKUs, or changes plan structure, the relevant article is updated and the verification date refreshed.

• Pricing re-verification: vendor pricing on every active review and comparison is re-verified at the start of each VAT quarter (January, April, July, October).
• Minimum article depth: product reviews are a minimum 2,000 words and comparisons a minimum 2,500 words. Articles below these thresholds are not published.
• Conflict declarations: where the editor or contributor has a personal relationship with a named product or vendor, this is declared inline at the top of the article.
• Pre-publication review: every article is reviewed by the editor for accuracy, UK compliance framing, and disclosure placement before publication.
• Correction handling: factual corrections are addressed within 24 hours of becoming aware of the error. Material corrections are noted at the foot of the article with the correction date.