How to switch from Dext, AutoEntry or Apron without losing credits (2026)

Rising fees have pushed a lot of UK practices to review their document capture tool this autumn, and Apron's new per-document tiers start on 1 December 2026. The hard part isn't choosing a new tool. It's leaving the old one without wasting credits, confusing clients or paying twice.

Quick answer: Start 90 days before your renewal date. Export every image and CSV while you still have full access, run the new tool on a pilot group of clients for one month, then move everyone else in batches. Keep each client publishing from one tool only, so Xero or QuickBooks never gets the same bill twice. On AutoEntry, time the cancellation so leftover credits get used: they last 90 days from purchase and 30 days after you cancel.

A quick note before we start: we make tofu, which competes with every tool in this guide. We've stuck to each vendor's own help centre and pricing pages, and linked them all so you can check our working.

Why are so many practices switching now?

In our sales calls this month, firm after firm has asked the same question in different words. How do we move without burning money we've already paid? Some want to use up their remaining credits first. Others are waiting for an annual contract to end. One practice has already set itself a firm date to be off its current tool.

The trigger is price. Apron is replacing its single £5 Capture plan with three Books plans on 1 December 2026. The £5 plan will then cover 100 documents per client a month, down from 250 or more. Each extra document goes from 1p to 20p on the entry plan. We broke down the maths in our Apron pricing change guide, so we won't repeat it here.

Hubdoc users are in a different spot, because Hubdoc comes bundled with Xero. You don't pay for it separately, but you do pay for the Xero plan it sits inside, so a Xero price change is a Hubdoc price change too.

What does each tool let you keep when you leave?

This is the table to read before you pick a cancellation date. Every row comes from the vendor's own pages. Where a vendor doesn't publish something, we say "check your contract" instead of guessing.

Two things jump out. AutoEntry gives you a clear window, so you can plan around it. Dext gives you access after expiry but no promise of how long, so export before you cancel, not after.

What's the 90, 60, 30 day timeline?

Work back from your renewal date, or the end of your annual term. If you're on a monthly plan, you have more freedom, but the same order still works.

90 days before renewal: find the dates and the money

1. Find your renewal date and notice period in your contract or billing settings. For Dext business accounts on annual terms, that notice is at least 30 days.
2. Write down what you've prepaid. On AutoEntry, the Credit Usage report shows your balance and how fast you use credits. It doesn't show expiry dates, so note when you bought each batch: credits expire 90 days after purchase.
3. List your clients by volume. You want a mix of simple and messy ones for the pilot.
4. Start a trial of the new tool and connect one test client to Xero or QuickBooks.

60 days before renewal: run a pilot group

Pick five to ten clients and move them first. Choose a spread: a client with lots of receipts, one with foreign currency invoices, one with multi-page bank statements, and one who always sends things late.

Run the new tool on those clients for a full month end. Keep the old tool running for everyone else. This is where you learn how the new tool codes your real suppliers, not the ones in a sales demo.

30 days before renewal: move in batches and give notice

If the pilot worked, give notice on the old tool now. Then move the rest of your clients in two or three batches over the next few weeks. Leave your most complex clients until last, when your team knows the new tool well.

On AutoEntry, consider moving to a smaller plan before you cancel so you stop buying credits you won't use. If you still have a large balance, AutoEntry's pause option keeps your account open for a small monthly fee. Your existing credits still expire 90 days after purchase, but pausing can give you longer to use them than the 30 days you get after cancelling.

On Dext, you can only lower your client limit to a number at or above your active clients. As you move clients across, remove them from Dext so your next bill can drop, if your billing term allows it.

What should I export before I cancel?

Export more than you think you need. Your ledger holds the numbers, but the old tool often holds things nowhere else does.

• Source images. In Dext, use the ZIP export from the Archive. It has no item limit and keeps files in their original format. The PDF export stops at 250 items.
• Extracted data as CSV. Dext lets you export CSV from the Costs inbox, Sales inbox and Archive. Keep one file per client.
• Anything unpublished. Items still sitting in an inbox never reached Xero or QuickBooks. Publish them or export them.
• Supplier rules. Your team spent years teaching the old tool how to code each supplier. If your tool can't export rules, list your top 30 suppliers per client with the account code, tax rate and tracking category.
• Audit history. If you need to show who approved what, export or screenshot it before access ends.

Don't assume your ledger already holds every image. Open a few published bills in Xero or QuickBooks and check whether the old tool attached the source file.

How do we rebuild supplier rules without starting from zero?

This is the part firms dread most. A supplier rule looks small, but a busy client can have hundreds of them.

Start with your supplier list from the old tool, sorted by volume. Set up the busiest suppliers first, then let the long tail come in as it arrives.

Some tools learn from what's already in your ledger instead of a rule list. Check whether the new tool reads your transaction history in Xero or QuickBooks. If it does, you'll spend your pilot month correcting codes rather than typing rules.

How do we tell clients without breaking their habits?

Clients don't care which tool you use. They care whether their routine changes. Most client habits come down to one of three things: an email address they forward receipts to, an app on their phone, or a folder they drop files into.

Change only one thing at a time. If you can, give each client the new upload address and keep the old one working for a few weeks. Then send a short message like this by email or WhatsApp:

"Quick update: from [start date], please send your receipts and invoices to [new address] instead of the old one. Nothing else changes. If you send one to the old address by mistake, we'll still pick it up this month."

Template you can adapt

Send it on the day the switch happens, not weeks before. Then remind any client who sends to the old address, one by one.

How do we stop duplicate bills in Xero or QuickBooks?

Duplicates happen when two tools publish the same document for the same client. It's the most common mistake in a parallel run, and it's easy to prevent.

• One client, one tool. Each client publishes from the old tool or the new one, never both.
• Switch off publishing in the old tool for each client on the day you move them. Remove the old tool's connection to that client's Xero or QuickBooks file once you've published everything.
• Check auto-publish settings in the new tool. Leave them off during the pilot so a person reviews every item before it posts.
• Stop the email forwarding. If a client forwards bills to both addresses, both tools will read them.
• Pick a cut-off date. Anything dated before it goes through the old tool. Anything after goes through the new one.
• Run a duplicate check at month end on the pilot clients. Look for same supplier, same amount, same date.

Where tofu fits

tofu reads invoices, receipts and bank statements, codes them, and publishes them to Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage Business Cloud, Zoho Books and Bukku. It's the capture and data-entry layer, not a ledger. If you're leaving Dext, AutoEntry, Apron or Hubdoc, it covers the same job.

tofu offers migration help, so you don't have to rebuild everything on your own. When you connect a client's Xero or QuickBooks, tofu learns that client's knowledge base and supplier rules from the ledger itself. As our tofu vs Dext comparison puts it: "Connect your Xero or QuickBooks account, and tofu learns from your existing transaction history. No rules to recreate."

On billing, every tofu plan includes unlimited users and unlimited entities, and you pick a plan by how many entries you need. Pro is $79 a month billed monthly, or $72 a month if you pay for the year upfront ($864). Business, Enterprise and Max work the same way: pay monthly, or pay a year upfront for a lower monthly rate. The pricing page has every tier.

Accounting Superhero, an accounting practice in Singapore, switched from Dext after a long wait for line items:

"We were trying to push Dext for line item extraction for about two years, but nothing came out. Our fees kept increasing. It was time to look for something new."

Tengku Adibah T. Kamarudin, Director, Accounting Superhero

If you're still comparing options, our guides to Dext alternatives, AutoEntry alternatives in the UK and Hubdoc alternatives lay out the field.

The best time to test is while your old tool is still running. Start a free trial with your pilot clients, or see pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Do unused AutoEntry credits roll over?

Yes, for a while. AutoEntry says you can keep unused credits for up to 90 days from purchase. If you cancel, you have 30 days to use what's left, after which unused credits expire. Pausing your subscription costs a small monthly fee and lets you keep using credits until they reach 90 days old.

How much notice does Dext need to cancel?

Dext's help centre says business accounts on annual terms must cancel at least 30 days before the renewal date. The article doesn't give a notice period for monthly subscribers. Practice subscriptions are cancelled through your Dext account manager, and the notice period isn't published, so check your contract.

Will I lose my Dext images if I cancel?

Not straight away. Dext says you can still sign in and download your data after your subscription expires, but it "reserves the right to delete accounts" after that. No time limit is published. Export the full Archive as a ZIP before you cancel, since the ZIP export has no item limit.

How long does AutoEntry keep documents after I cancel?

AutoEntry keeps your data for 13 months after you cancel, then deletes the account and everything in it. While your subscription is active, it stores documents for at least seven years.

What happens to my Apron account after I cancel?

Your subscription ends on the 1st of the next month, whatever day you cancel. The account then goes inactive, so you can't use invoice capture or payments, but Apron says your data stays as you left it. Apron still suggests exporting important information before you go.

Can we run two capture tools at the same time?

Yes, and a one-month pilot is the safest way to switch. The rule is one client, one tool. Never let both tools publish for the same client, or you'll get duplicate bills in Xero or QuickBooks.

Is Hubdoc free with Xero?

Xero says Hubdoc is included in its Simple, Ignite, Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate plans, as long as it's connected to your Xero subscription. So there are no credits to use up. Before you delete a Hubdoc organisation, follow Xero Central's guide to downloading or exporting your documents.

How long does a switch take?

Plan for about three months from first trial to full cutover. That gives you a month to set up, a month-end pilot on five to ten clients, and a few weeks to move everyone else in batches before your renewal date.

Sources

• Dext: How to cancel your Dext account
• Dext: How to manage your Dext practice subscription
• Dext: How to download items as a PDF or ZIP file
• Dext: How to download your items as a CSV file
• AutoEntry pricing
• AutoEntry: Cancel your subscription
• AutoEntry: Pause your subscription
• AutoEntry: How long are documents stored in AutoEntry?
• AutoEntry: Credit Usage report
• Apron: Pricing is changing on 1 December
• Apron: Add or remove companies from your Practice (Capture) plan
• Apron: Cancel your subscription
• Xero UK pricing plans
• Xero Central: Download or export documents from Hubdoc
• Xero Central: Downgrade or delete a Hubdoc organisation
• tofu pricing
• tofu vs Dext

Checked against the Dext, AutoEntry, Apron and Xero help centres and pricing pages, and tofu's pricing and comparison pages, in September 2026.