In 2026 MYOB changed four things that Australian businesses need to check. AccountRight stopped working with offline (local) company files from 17 June. The MYOB Capture and MYOB Invoice phone apps were retired on 29 September and replaced by MYOB Assist. The old broad API permission was removed on 1 September. And Exo Payroll reached the end of its life. If other systems feed your MYOB accounts, each of these can quietly break a connection, an import or a capture flow. Below is what each change means, who it affects, what can break and what to check, ending with a short MYOB check-up list.
Two things you may have read about don't apply to most Australian businesses. "MYOB Payroll decommissioned on 1 April 2026" refers to MYOB's desktop payroll product for New Zealand. It matters only if you run a New Zealand entity on it. And the move from MYOB Essentials and AccountRight to MYOB Business plans for new customers happened years ago. MYOB moved the remaining Essentials subscriptions onto MYOB Business plans around the start of 2026, and says nothing changes in how you use the software. That one is mostly a name and billing change.
1. AccountRight offline company files (17 June 2026)
What changed. MYOB says that from 17 June, the AccountRight PC edition only shows company files stored online. The latest version no longer supports working offline, which means opening, editing or saving a file kept on your own computer or a network drive. MYOB's advice is to move the file online to keep working. AccountRight Server Edition is offered as a stopgap, but MYOB says it doesn't recommend that approach and that Server Edition "will stop working" in the near future (MYOB: put your company file online).
Who is affected. Businesses that kept AccountRight on a server or office PC, often because of slow internet, a habit from the old desktop days, or an add-on that needed the local file.
What can break between systems. Moving the file is MYOB's job, and it's a supported, mostly self-service step. The risk is everything that relied on the file being local:
- Add-ons, report writers and spreadsheet links that read the file from a drive or a local connection.
- Scheduled imports that dropped a file into AccountRight on the server overnight.
- Custom scripts or in-house tools built years ago against the local file.
Once the file is online, those tools have to connect to MYOB's cloud instead, if they can at all.
What to check. List every tool that touches the company file, ask each vendor whether it works with online files, and test each one after the move.
2. MYOB Capture and MYOB Invoice apps (29 September 2026)
What changed. MYOB retired both phone apps in Australia on 29 September 2026 and replaced them with MYOB Assist, a single app for quotes, invoices and receipt capture (MYOB: Capture app, MYOB: Invoice app). Assist is free and works with online MYOB Business and AccountRight files.
Who is affected. Anyone who snapped bills and receipts on their phone, and teams in the field who raised quotes or invoices from a phone.
What can break. The capture itself carries over. Receipts still go to your uploads (In Tray in AccountRight), and invoices still land in your sales list. The bigger change is who can log in. MYOB says everyone using Assist must sign in with their own MYOB account, where Capture could be shared (MYOB Assist help). So:
- A crew or site team sharing one login on a work phone will be locked out until each person has their own access.
- MYOB says users with only the Payroll role can't use Assist to upload receipts.
- There's a new Field role that gives staff use of the app without access to the company file. It's usually the right choice for site and sales staff.
What to check. Who was using Capture or Invoice, and on which phones. Give each person their own login with the right role, then send a test receipt and a test invoice and confirm both arrive where your bookkeeper expects them. If you use a separate bill capture product rather than MYOB's app, this change doesn't affect you.
3. The API permission change (1 September 2026)
What changed. MYOB removed the old broad "CompanyFile" permission that many integrations used. Connected software now has to ask for specific permissions, and an Administrator user has to approve the connection again.
Who is affected. Every business with something connected to MYOB Business or online AccountRight: job systems, POS, e-commerce, reporting tools, and especially custom integrations nobody was watching.
We've covered this one in detail, including the quick fix for apps and what a custom build needs: MYOB integration stopped working after 1 September 2026. If you moved an offline file online this year (change 1), any integration you reconnect has to meet the new permission rules too, so the two are often one piece of work.
4. Exo Payroll (Exo Employer Services)
What changed. MYOB has put Exo Payroll at end of life. MYOB partners report that licence renewals stopped in late 2025 and that compliance updates end in 2026. Some partners give October 2026 as the point after which it can't be relied on for pay runs. Dates vary between sources, so confirm yours with your MYOB partner. Exo Business, the accounts, stock and orders side, is still supported.
Who is affected. Mid-sized businesses running Exo, often manufacturers and distributors.
What can break. Pay run journals into Exo Business, labour costs to jobs, and reports that read payroll data directly. We've written about both sides separately: Exo Payroll end of life covers replacing payroll while keeping Exo Business, and MYOB Exo end of life: options for the rest of Exo covers what to do with Exo Business over time.
Where these changes overlap
Each change looks small on its own. The trouble shows up where they meet.
For example, a business that had AccountRight on an office server, with a stock or job system feeding it through a local add-on, may have had to deal with three changes in one year. The file had to go online. The add-on had to be replaced by something that connects to the cloud. And whatever replaced it had to use MYOB's new permissions. If nobody knows exactly what the old add-on did, details like cost centres, tax codes or credit note handling can go missing unnoticed.
That's the classic case of an integration that only half works. Data still flows, but someone is fixing it by hand every week. If you went through a move to MYOB's cloud this year, our practical guide to the MYOB-to-cloud move covers the planning side.
The MYOB check-up
Work through this once, ideally before your next month end:
- Is your company file online? If anyone still opens a local file or relies on Server Edition, plan the move now rather than when Server Edition stops.
- List everything that connects to MYOB. Apps, add-ons, imports, report links, custom scripts. Note who supports each one.
- Has each connection been reconnected since 1 September? Check the last successful sync date, not just whether it shows as "connected".
- Was anything missed while it was down? Compare totals for a recent month between MYOB and the source system: invoices, bills, payments and stock movements.
- Has everyone on Capture or Invoice moved to MYOB Assist with their own login? Check field staff have the Field role, not a shared password.
- If you run Exo, is payroll sorted? Confirm the date for your licence with your partner, and check the journals and labour costing in the new payroll.
- Does someone get told when an integration fails? If errors only show up when the bookkeeper notices a gap, fix that while you're here.
Most businesses will get through this list with a few vendor emails and some careful checking. That's the honest answer for anyone using standard marketplace apps.
When it's worth getting help
It's worth bringing someone in when the answers to the check-up are unclear, not just when something is broken. That might be several systems feeding MYOB with nobody owning the whole picture, a custom integration with no documentation, an add-on that has no cloud version, or a backlog of missing transactions to catch up without duplicates.
Our MYOB API integration work covers rebuilding or replacing connections against MYOB's current API. If you'd rather start with the full picture of how your systems and processes fit together, the $5,000 Process & Systems Audit maps it and gives you a written report. For background on the bigger choices, such as staying on MYOB, moving to Xero, or adding an operations system alongside, see our Xero and MYOB integration and migration guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is MYOB AccountRight being discontinued in 2026?
No. MYOB says AccountRight desktop is staying. What ended is offline mode: from 17 June 2026, the AccountRight PC edition only works with company files stored online, so local and network files have to be moved online.
What replaced the MYOB Capture app?
MYOB Assist. MYOB retired Capture and the MYOB Invoice app in Australia on 29 September 2026. Assist does receipt capture, quotes and invoices in one app, and each user signs in with their own MYOB login.
Is MYOB Payroll being shut down in Australia?
The "MYOB Payroll decommissioned 1 April 2026" notices refer to MYOB's desktop payroll product for New Zealand. In Australia, payroll inside MYOB Business and AccountRight continues. Exo Payroll is a separate product and is at end of life.
Why did my MYOB add-on stop working this year?
The usual causes are the 1 September 2026 API permission change, or the end of offline files on 17 June 2026 if the add-on read a local file. Ask the vendor whether it has a current version for online files and the new permissions.
If you've worked through the check-up and something still doesn't add up, or you're not sure what's connected to your MYOB file, book a free initial chat. If it's just an app that needs reconnecting, we'll tell you that.