What changed, and when
The bank's pages give one closing date. Business Finance Assistant closes on 14 December 2026, and the pages tell users to download and save their data before then. Once the service closes, the bank says, the data can no longer be reached through Business Finance Assistant. The final VAT period the service supports ends 31 Oct 2026, and that return must be filed by 7 Dec 2026.
The Bank of Scotland exit hub, as recorded (the Lloyds exit hub carries the same closing sentences):
Business Finance Assistant is closing on 14 December 2026
Download and save your data before 14 December 2026... Once the service closes, you will no longer be able to access BFA.
We do not currently offer a direct replacement
review the accounting software options available
Source: Bank of Scotland: Business Finance Assistant exit hub; Lloyds Bank: Business Finance Assistant exit hub. Read 2 November 2026.
Your routes today: exporting your data
Excel downloads from Business Finance Assistant
The Lloyds Data Download Guide names the Excel exports: Products and Services, Suppliers, Customers, Expense and Invoice data, with the setting Export as Microsoft Excel. Journal Entries can be exported too. For the rest, the guide says you can request a full archive of your accounting data by date range, delivered as a secure email download link. The guide does not state the archive's file format.
The Lloyds Data Download Guide, as recorded:
You can export your Products and Services, Suppliers, Customers, Expense and Invoice data to Excel
Export as Microsoft Excel
You can also request a full archive of your accounting data
secure email
Source: Lloyds Bank: Business Finance Assistant data download guide. Read 2 November 2026.
The Xero offer, stated neutrally
Only the Bank of Scotland exit-hub offer page carries this offer; the Lloyds exit hub page read for this record did not show it. The offer is a free 9-month Xero Business Edition subscription for new, eligible Xero customers only, until 8 Jan 2027. The migration service works from downloaded Customer list, Supplier list and Journal entry files in XLS and takes around 5 days. The page says the service is not a full historical transaction migration. The package's desk check summarises what it does carry as customer and supplier contacts, opening balances, and aggregate outstanding invoice and bill balances.
The Bank of Scotland exit-hub offer page, as recorded:
free 9-month Xero Business Edition subscription
new, eligible Xero customers only
not a full historical transaction migration
around 5 days
Source: Bank of Scotland: Business Finance Assistant exit-hub offer page. Read 2 November 2026.
Lloyds' own free Making Tax Digital tool
Lloyds also offers a separate Making Tax Digital for Income Tax tool for sole traders and landlords, which its page describes as included with Lloyds Business Accounts at no extra cost. This page states that route as the bank gives it and does not rate it.
The Lloyds Making Tax Digital page, as recorded:
included with Lloyds Business Accounts at no extra cost
Source: Lloyds Bank: Making Tax Digital. Read 2 November 2026.
An alternative to Business Finance Assistant: moving from it to FreeAgent, QuickFile or Pandle
Searches of FreeAgent, QuickFile, Pandle, Sage, QuickBooks and Clear Books found no guide to importing a Business Finance Assistant archive and no free switching service. This page does not describe how FreeAgent, QuickFile or Pandle import files, because their import templates were not read for this page. Check each program's own import help before you move, and keep a copy of your downloads.
A converter we are testing
The idea is a converter that takes the Excel downloads from Business Finance Assistant and turns them into files ready to import into FreeAgent, QuickFile or Pandle. It would run on your own computer and upload nothing. The price, if it is built, would be GBP 29 once.
This page is a test of interest, not a shop. There is no payment form and no email field anywhere on it. Pressing the button records one anonymous count for the day, and a short tag if the link you followed carried one. One press is allowed per page load; reload the page and you can press again. The page converts and uploads nothing.
Not on sale yet. This tool does not exist yet and may never be built. No payment is taken. Pressing only counts your interest.
The counts are read on 21 December 2026, and the test has a hard end of 31 January 2027, when this page is taken down. Presses are an interest signal only, never orders.
How this page is checked
Every quoted line above is a line of the page's one data file, taken from the recorded sources above, and a test fails the build when a quote that is served is not a line of that file. Another test fails the build if a banned word appears. The quotations are copied exactly as the quote check records them, with the read date of each source; no web source was re-fetched for this build. If a source changes or we find an error, we correct this page and record it here. Read 2 November 2026.
No corrections yet (sources read 2 November 2026).