Plenty of farms still say they use Farmplan, but the company behind it has changed hands and the product names have changed with it. This is what Farmplan and TELUS offer as of October 2026, who it suits, and where FarmHQ differs, including where FarmHQ is not yet the better choice.
Farmplan is now part of TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, which completed its acquisition of Proagrica in March 2024. As of October 2026 its accounts product is sold as TELUS Farm Accounting, formerly Farmplan Business Cloud. Farmplan's livestock software users were upgraded to Herdwatch in 2023, so TELUS is accounts, payroll and crop software, not livestock compliance. FarmHQ puts livestock compliance and bookkeeping in one mobile app, but it is a pre-launch beta and not yet HMRC-recognised. If you need Making Tax Digital filing now, TELUS is the established choice.
Farmplan was part of Proagrica when it announced its livestock deal with Herdwatch in June 2023. On 15 March 2024 TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods announced it had completed the acquisition of Proagrica, naming Farmplan, Sirrus and CDMS among the agronomic solutions that came with it. So in October 2026 Farmplan sits inside TELUS, a much larger company than the farm software house it used to be.
The names have moved too. TELUS's UK support centre lists TELUS Farm Accounting (formerly Farmplan Business Cloud), Farmplan Business Manager, TELUS Crop Management (formerly Gatekeeper Cloud) and TELUS Farm Payroll. Farmplan survives as a product name in one place and as a memory everywhere else.
In practice, when someone says they use Farmplan, the first question is which product. It could be the cloud accounts, the older Business Manager range or a crop package, and they are not the same thing to switch away from. What I would check first is the latest invoice or renewal letter, which tells you exactly which product and which company you are paying.
In June 2023 Farmplan and Herdwatch announced that Farmplan's livestock software customers would be upgraded to Herdwatch. The announcement as reported by Farm Contractor magazine named Livestock Manager, Cattle Manager and Sheep Manager as the affected products, and said customers using Farmplan's financial, cropping and hardware products would carry on with the same support. Herdwatch was then on more than 18,000 farms across the UK and Ireland; its UK site now says 22,000 farmers.
What that means today: as far as TELUS's UK product pages show, TELUS does not sell its own livestock recording or birth, movement and death reporting. The livestock side of a former Farmplan farm lives with Herdwatch, which is a separate company with a separate subscription.
Our own research paper reads this episode as evidence of a split market, with compliance and accounting handled by different suppliers. That is our interpretation. The two companies themselves describe it plainly as an upgrade path. If you want the wider picture of what each livestock option does, our FarmHQ and Herdwatch comparison and the market structure paper go further.
It is cloud-based accounts built for farms. It launched in August 2021 as Farmplan Business Cloud, according to CPM magazine. TELUS's own product page lists automated bank feeds, multi-user access with role-based permissions for accountants and managers, recurring transactions, P&L budgeting, enterprise tagging, contra entries, a farm-specific chart of accounts and UK-based support by phone, email and training.
On Making Tax Digital, TELUS says the product is HMRC-recognised and can file VAT directly, and that it supports quarterly Income Tax updates (its MTD guide was last updated on 27 February 2026). That is the vendor speaking. HMRC does not recommend any product, so check the name on the HMRC software finder yourself before you rely on it.
Two gaps in what we could verify, as of October 2026. TELUS describes access from a device with an internet connection and does not describe entering records offline. And we found no current price on the pages we read, only an invitation to book a demo, so ask for a written quote.
My judgement: it suits a farm that wants proper farm accounts and wants them done the way a farm accountant thinks. That means enterprise costing, contra entries, diversification income and a chart of accounts that talks about stock and crops rather than shops and widgets. It suits a farm office, or a farm secretary, working at a desk with a decent connection, where the accountant logs into the same books.
It also suits the farm whose livestock records already sit happily in Herdwatch or another recording package and which simply wants good accounts alongside. TELUS also sells crop management software, so an arable or mixed farm can stay with one supplier for the field records and the books. FarmHQ does not try to be a crop package.
If that is you, there is no reason to move because a newer product exists. A working set of books that your accountant knows is worth more than a better feature list.
FarmHQ is a mobile-first farm office for UK livestock farms: births, movements, deaths, the medicine book and Red Tractor records, plus receipts turned into VAT-coded expenses, invoicing and timesheets. Ask Farmer Joe, our assistant, drafts entries and you confirm them, so nothing is filed or posted without your tap. It is built offline-first: entries save on the phone and sync when signal returns. Plans run from £24.99 to £69.99 a month by herd size and invoice volume, with every feature on every plan (see FarmHQ pricing).
| Question | TELUS Farm Accounting | FarmHQ (beta) |
|---|---|---|
| Livestock compliance | Not sold by TELUS; Farmplan livestock users went to Herdwatch | In the app; cattle reporting to BCMS in beta, LIS connection waits on the LIS migration |
| Where it runs | Cloud, internet connection | Phone first, saves offline |
| Making Tax Digital | Says HMRC-recognised | Not recognised yet; VAT filing and recognition are 2027 H1 work |
| Crop records | Separate TELUS product | None |
| Track record | Established | Pre-launch beta |
| Price | Not published on pages read | Published |
Be straight with yourself on these. If you must file VAT or Income Tax updates through Making Tax Digital this year, use software that is already on HMRC's list. FarmHQ is not, and our own whitepaper roadmap puts VAT filing, HMRC recognition and the accountant handoff in the first half of 2027. If you grow crops and need field records, spray records or agronomy support, FarmHQ does not do that.
FarmHQ is also a pre-launch beta. No farm has run a full year of seasons through it, there are no independent reviews, and full four-nation coverage is planned for the second half of 2027. TELUS and Herdwatch have years of working farms behind them.
Where FarmHQ makes sense is a livestock farm that wants compliance and money in one place, is comfortable being early, and can keep its current accounts running alongside until recognition lands. Other established suppliers, including some that pair accounts with livestock records, are covered in our guide to choosing farm management software.
Do not switch in the middle of a VAT quarter or a tax year. Pick a clean start date, run the old books to that point and keep read-only access, or a full export, for the period you are required to keep records. Our guide to HMRC farm records covers how long. Ask the supplier, in writing, what the export looks like before you commit, rather than assuming.
Speak to your accountant first. They may work inside your current system, and TELUS describes an accountant portal, so moving can add work on their side. Check set-up details that tripped people up before: the Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme or standard VAT, opening balances, bank feeds and who needs a login (see who should see your farm paperwork).
If your livestock records are in Herdwatch since 2023, nothing about your accounts has to change for them to keep working. For a wider checklist, use our farm bookkeeping software checklist, and if you are comparing livestock apps too, see Herdwatch alternatives in the UK.
Yes, but as part of TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, which completed its purchase of Proagrica, Farmplan's owner, in March 2024. As of October 2026 the accounts product is sold as TELUS Farm Accounting, formerly Farmplan Business Cloud, and TELUS's UK support centre also lists Farmplan Business Manager.
In June 2023 Farmplan and Herdwatch announced that Farmplan's livestock customers, using Livestock Manager, Cattle Manager and Sheep Manager, would be upgraded to Herdwatch. Farmplan's financial, cropping and hardware products were not part of that change. TELUS's UK product pages do not list a livestock recording product.
According to TELUS, yes: TELUS Farm Accounting is the new name for Farmplan Business Cloud, the cloud accounts product launched in 2021. The older Farmplan Business Manager range is listed separately in the support centre, so ask TELUS which one you are on before comparing prices or switching.
TELUS says it is HMRC-recognised, files VAT directly and supports quarterly Income Tax updates, in a guide last updated in February 2026. That is the supplier's claim, so check the name on HMRC's own software finder. HMRC does not recommend products and only lists software that has been through its recognition process.
Not yet for most farms. FarmHQ covers livestock compliance, receipts, invoicing and timesheets in one mobile app, but it is a pre-launch beta without HMRC recognition, and it has no crop records. It suits a livestock farm happy to be early. Anyone who needs Making Tax Digital filing now should use recognised software.