With Xero, you have your own accounts payable tools accessible from any device. Xero’s accounts payable feature not only gives you a detailed view of your upcoming bills but also helps you prioritize which bills should be paid first. Xero includes extensive features that make it suitable to handle complex accounting processes for small- and medium-sized businesses as well as larger ones. The software makes it easy to pay bills, claim expenses, accept payments, track projects, manage contracts, store files and more. This is because QuickBooks was designed for small businesses that might not have an accounting background, whereas Xero was designed with accountants and bookkeepers in mind.
In this section, let us examine the features included in Xero’s most popular package—the Standard plan priced at $32 per month. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. Small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers locally and across the world trust Xero with their numbers. Xero costs start at $0 per month with a free plan and paid plans start at $22 per month and go up to $47+ per month.
Standard
But aside from getting help from professionals, small businesses can also benefit from having the right accounting tools that fit their needs and their budget. The COVID-19 crisis hit a number of industries hard and small businesses have suffered the worst from its impact. And although the business recovery process has already started, another set of new challenges await as small businesses adapt to the new normal. For businesses that have to lay off or furlough employees and reduce operating hours during and after lockdowns, rearranging financial priorities is harder than ever. For small business owners, especially those who are still in the startup stage, it is a common practice to resort to traditional accounting practices to save costs. This practice, however, can actually lead to more problems, such as human errors.
- You have a lot to consider when hiring for fractional or full time sales help.
- With its relatively affordable price points, you get features that you’ll only see in higher-priced plans of other accounting software.
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You can also create online quotes and estimates using existing templates or by customizing your own. Moreover, quotes that have been accepted and fulfilled can be converted into invoices, thus saving you time that you can use to focus on other urgent matters. Xero also functions as an expense management solution to help you keep track of your or your employees’ expenses. The reimbursement process is made easier with the help of Xero’s powerful data capture feature that automatically extracts information from photos of receipts uploaded to the platform.
Xero accounting software is a cloud-based system that helps small businesses manage their finances. The software offers a variety of features, including invoicing, tracking expenses and creating financial reports. Xero also integrates with other business applications, such as payroll and inventory management systems.
Xero vs. QuickBooks: At a Glance
In general, accounting software companies should have open lines of communication with customers. Unfortunately, Xero only has a chatbot, a customer service email, and self-help information. Users can also upload files like bank statements to register the transactions in the books. The only setback we see here is that users can’t enter ending balances of checking accounts—they have to upload the bank statement first before reconciling. Aside from those minor issues, the A/P management system is outstanding, easy to use, and comprehensive.
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All your employees have to do is submit a photo of their bills or receipts to the Xero platform, so you can review and approve the claims as soon as possible. At $62 a month, this plan gives you access to Xero’s more premium features. You can easily create online invoices using Xero’s invoicing feature. Invoices can also be converted from the quotes you created for a particular job or project.
Xero alternatives
QuickBooks is a popular accounting software used by small businesses, solopreneurs and freelancers. The software helps users to keep track of their finances, customers and vendors. It gives small business owners access to Xero’s suite of tools to help manage their business and their people processes in one plan. The Ultimate plan includes all Xero’s core accounting features plus tools for advanced analytics, employee management and multi-currency. Xero’s banking and cash management features score high in our evaluation because they include all the functions we want to see in accounting software. We like the side-by-side layout when reconciling transactions because it’s easy to match transactions and spot bank statement items that haven’t yet been recorded.
††Hubdoc is included in Xero Starter, Standard and Premium plans as long as it’s connected to your Xero subscription. Your use of the Xero services is subject to the Xero Terms of Use and your use of the Hubdoc services is subject to the Hubdoc Terms of Use. For example, when you purchase the Pro Plus Desktop plan, you can have up to three concurrent users but each of those users must pay for their own account (at $349.99 each per year). Its Online version allows up to 25 users at no additional cost, provided you’re paying for the Advanced plan.
Others also mentioned that it integrates with third-party apps that they use in their business. Some negative feedback seems to focus on very niche features, like problems with foreign exchange (forex) translations and customization options. In our rubric, we emphasized heavier weights on project estimate assignment, labor cost assignment, and the recording of inventory used in projects. We saw all of these features in Xero, and we’re satisfied with how it can help companies stay on top of projects in terms of income, expenses, and profitability.
These ratings are meant to provide clarity in the decision-making process, but what’s best for your business will depend on its size, growth trajectory and which features you need most. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one. The number of users is also technically unlimited, but FreshBooks does charge an extra fee per user. This means that FreshBooks is a good choice for small businesses that need to send more invoices than the Xero basic plan allows and need more users than the QuickBooks basic plan allows. Xero offers a highly guided setup process that walks you through every aspect of the software with pop-up windows and tutorials (Figure C). It also provides a demo company account that allows you to practice on dummy data.
Xero Pricing
We’ve seen so many small businesses implement digital tools and grow their confidence, and we’re hearing from our customers that they’d like to be able to do even more with Xero. Xero offers a choice of three subscription plans, which range in price from closing out the cash journals in your business $13 to $70 per month. Yes, you can, as Xero has Android and iOS mobile apps that allow you to access your account and manage your finances. With this feature, you can monitor your employees’ spending with ease and reimburse their expenses without delay.