Xero Reviews

Xero manages the whole accounting of business straight forward. Particularly automating the process of bank reconciliation is amazing time saver, it connects to banks and credit cards. Moreover, it effectively and easily integrates with other cloud based software which enhances usability of Xero.

Process of bank reconciliation has been automated but the process got glitches causing bank feeds stopped and entity has to restore to importing bank statement manually which takes time and attempts more than once. Inventory management needs improvement. Customer support is not perfect comparatively. It is not user friendly for those who have little accounting knowledge.

It's super friendly to use, functions are so easy to navigate, and their support team is very active when it comes to our concerns.

As of now they're having issues with foreign exchange in Wise causing a huge bank revaluation amount... but could be resolved by removing and redoing the reconciliation of the transaction. By far my only issue is the extra-time needed to do the recon due to this issue.

Professional double entry software at a very affordable price
Accommodates both cash and accrual accounting
Links to financial institutions to get transactions
Uses standard importer recognized by the financial institutions instead of just trying to log in remotely (and triggering fraud alerts)
Can match multiple invoices to a single deposit transaction imported from bank
Can keep using Xero as company grows

Pre-existing expense categories/descriptions don't map 1:1 with IRS definitions, so I'm having to go back to all my receipts to make sure expenses are entered in proper accounts because I didn't realize this when I switched
More difficult to focus on specific expense categories to check transactions
Have not been able to import historic data from previous app (possibly because it's not double entry) so I am still paying the subscription on that software to retain access to my data
No integration with Craftybase, so I have to enter supply purchases and customer invoices there independently

As an accountant and bookkeeping business owner I have been using accounting software for well over 10 years. I have to say when Xero entered the market I was definitely curious as to what it could bring to the market. I believe Xero have captured a very nice niche of the industry with it's very business orientated user interface and simplisitic feel. It makes accounting somewhat fun for the business owner. The way that they have revolutionized the way the bank reconciliation is performed makes it easier for buiness owner and accountant/bookkeeper to work together. I love the comments functionality and the rules that can be set to repeating transactions. The AI in the bank reconciliation also has a very nice balance to it. It will allocate your transactions when you need it to, but not too aggressively - meaning you don't have to undo all the automatic allocations (unlike some other software like MYOB).

They also have a lot of resources to help business owners and financial professionals. In addition they make continual updates to their software to adapt to the times.

I think the biggest con of the software is the price tag. Many of my clients have found this to be a stumbling block, saying that the monthly subscription fee is too high for their business.

Other than the price, the only other con is the support is only via email (this is the last time I had an issue which was a few months ago). They do not have a support contact phone line (in Australia at least) - so response has to be via email (which may lead onto a call later if it cannot be resolved by email). Which takes longer to resolve the issues.

- Affordable and cost less for startups and small businesses
- Includes fixed assets and inventory management in all of its plans
- Very user-friendly especially during migration or conversion of data
- Allows unlimited users
- Friendly 24/7 customer support

- Some countries lack a built-in payroll option.
- Customized reporting options are still limited. I wish Xero can allow you to create your own report.
- The contact list of customers and suppliers is mixed together and needs to set-up manually to organize.

With most clients abroads, we find its best to bill them in their local currency. Luckily for us, Xero is there to help sort our books out and keep them in order. It integrates with many bank feeds & popular wallets/fintechs like PayPal, Payoneer & TransferWise so accounts are upto date - always.

Another feature we really use is their tracking fields. Xero allows users to setup 2 tracking fields that can be added to invoices, expenses, bills and assigned to each line. This helps us keep track of project based work and has been our way since before Xero ventured into Project based accounting (that users need to pay additional fee for)

It also integrates with online payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, GoCardless, and a few others; thus payments are a breeze for clients.

As a non-accountant, Xero is easy to use even when you get into all the features it provides.

They have made some changes to their UI esp where invoices and expenses are concerned. Luckily for older users, expenses are still free however, for new users it isnt and each person filing expenses on it needs to pay a small fee. I think it should be free for a small number of users (atleast 2) and then charged.

What I like most about Xero is its open-platform ethos. It's not one particular feature, it's the whole way that Xero approaches what it does, and it shows up all over the product. One small example is how easy it is to manually import bank transactions via CSV file, and then how easy it is to undo that import if it went wrong. It's less about features (although Cash Coding and Find & Recode are brilliant) and more about design choices.

I want them to hurry up and integrate Hubdoc into Xero itself. And when that happens, I want there to be a way to generate a report that shows which GL transactions don't have a source document.

Xero is a pretty straightforward product that is effectively almost immediately deployable. Xero's dashboard is not bulky or overwhelming like a significant number of other accounting software tends to be. Xero's help manuals and tutorials were also very useful and are great for helping users quickly refamiliarize themselves with the software. Xero worked well for my law firm for IOLTA (Lawyer Trust Account) reconciliation purposes. With the software linked to your desired account, you can easily reconcile all incoming and outgoing payments and expenses on a given account. Once set up, you literally can log in right after making a purchase to reconcile your accounts without having to fumble through old receipts later to try to remember specific actions that were taken on behalf of a client.

The only con that I personally experienced with Xero was that I routinely was required to relink and subsequently "resync" my banking account with Xero. Admittedly, this may have been a banking issue and not necessarily a Xero issue. However, when the relinking had to happen, this created a significant amount of issues because I was forced to relink the account, reimport expenses and incoming sums and then ensure that all the amounts had actually synced appropriately from my physical bank account to the Xero software.

Xero serves well as an "out of the box" accounting system, not unlike Quickbooks. It also has more functionality and use internationally, making it a superior choice to QB if your business operates on a global, multicurrency basis. There are some solid automations which can be implemented with Xero as well, and the canned reporting generally suffices for the majority of basic financial needs.

Xero lacks the open customization options that software like Netsuite or Dynamics offers. For a small business this will often be fine, but a scaling operation looking to automate many functions based on unique business needs may someday find they have outgrown Xero and need to undergo an (often painful) ERP migration.

Although may not feature the type of reporting that would set it apart from competitors, it has good integration with other apps that can generally to the job.

For accountants, the customer support is good enough. There is a large community so you can usually find the answer you need if you run into an issue

Not every useful report is available. And may never get them if they arent on the roadmap. Only really found one strange issue around perpetual revaluing of forex that has not been resolved, and likely wont ever be. Its not critical, but would be useful.

Xero is very easy to use, it has a lot of useful features that make it stand out ahead of similar software

There isn't much that I don't like, but maybe some more customisation to the interface would be nice, to make things cleared to see when needed or to remove bits I don't want to see.

For bookkeeping, small and medium-sized businesses this software is a dream. It is the most intuitive and easiest to use of all the accounting software that we reviewed. As an accountant, it is easy to fix user errors and mis-postings. There is a proper audit trail and safety checks built in. There are so many time-saving features like find and recode, repeating bills/invoices/journals, bank rules. The move toward AI is exciting too.

The reports aren't GAP or IAS compliant so it is no good for reporting, final accounts production or tax. To get accountants interested and recommending Xero in the early days, they promised accountants that Final Accounts Production and Corporation Tax software was in their development queue but it never materialised and they burnt a lot of bridges with accountants when they announced that they had dropped FAP plans. This is why Quickbooks are getting such a big foothold and stealing market share from Xero.

The software is expensive for what it is and you can get a lot more and better for your money with FreeAgent and QuickBooks.

The biggest let down for Xero is that there is no telephone support, at all. Not even call back. You have to email and if you are on the opposite side of the world from New Zealand, it can take a full day to get an inital response and if there is any misunderstanding or info required, it can take days to get your problem resolved. This is really useless and a deal breaker for serious businesses.

Another major failing in Xero is the number of times that the Bank Feed just doesn't work. This is outwith Xero's control and so it can often take months to resolve. This is amateur and best and negligent at worst.

The software is easy to setup, easy to use, very transparent and well-supported by many accountants. It is designed with the end-user in mind, rather than the accountant. Depending on your package, it allows filing direct with IRD for GST and Payroll.

There is no phone support, only via a web portal. Some matters are not documented well in any of the Xero-supplied "how to" e.g. best practice for issuing dividends.

I have been using Xero for accounting for quite some time now, and overall, I am quite satisfied with the software. The best thing I like about Xero is how easy it is to use. The interface is intuitive, and the software is designed to be user-friendly, even for those who are not accounting experts. It makes managing my financials a breeze and saves me a lot of time. The software has a wide range of features and integrations that allow me to keep my business finances organized and up to date.

However, the one thing that I do not like about Xero is its pricing. It is quite expensive compared to other accounting software in the market. While I understand that Xero offers a lot of features, I believe that the pricing could be more affordable, especially for small businesses like mine

What I liked most about Xero was its user-friendly interface. The dashboard is simple and streamlined, allowing me and my accounting team to use the software smoothly even without extensive accounting background. I also enjoy the mobile access on phones and tablets, enabling me to manage accounting tasks anywhere. Additionally, the seamless integration with other banking and invoicing apps is great. Overall, Xero is easy to use and helpful for handling the day-to-day accounting of my business.

What I liked least about Xero was the limited custom reporting options. While Xero provides many standard financial reports, the ability to customize reports or create more complex accounting reports is restricted. So sometimes I need to export data to Excel to build custom reports. It also lacks advanced support for inventory or manufacturing accounting. But overall, Xero covers my needs as a small business for now, and I expect the platform will continue improving over time.

Since I've been using Xero, I've really liked it, as it has proven to be an exceptional solution for optimizing our financial management. It has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that allows me to quickly access key financial data such as balance sheets, income statements, and cash flows. It has an automated bank reconciliation feature, which is a real plus, because it saves us time and ensures the accuracy of our financial records. It has characteristics that are key to our objectives.

Xero is an almost perfect system, because it can have limitations in terms of customization. Some of the advanced reports and features may require technical knowledge or expert assistance. Another disadvantage is its integration with other business systems, which can be difficult in some cases and cause data synchronization difficulties.