
About Xero
Xero is a cloud-based small business accounting software with tools for managing invoicing, bank reconciliation, inventory, purchasing, expenses, bookkeeping and more. Xero is an alternative to QuickBooks. It is a modern, small business accounting software that lives in the cloud. It's accessible from any computer or mobile device, making for a smarter and easier accounting process, with features including cash flow tracking, payment processing, bank reconciliation, expense tracking, inventory management, financial reporting, and more.
The Xero dashboard presents users with a clear and concise overview of their financial situation. It provides small business owners with a greater understanding of their cashflow by highlighting bank balances, outstanding invoices, upcoming bills and expense claims in a visually appealing way. Daily bank and credit card transactions are automatically imported into Xero and matched to their corresponding accounting transaction. Doing bank reconciliation is as easy as confirming the match is corrected and clicking "OK."
Xero integrates with over 1,000 third-party apps commonly used by small businesses including Stripe, PayPal, Capsule, HubSpot, and more in order to streamline workflows and synchronize data such as sales invoices, client data, cashflow reports, payroll data, and more. Data flows directly into the Xero ledger, removing the time and effort required for manual data entry. Every Xero plan comes with unlimited users, so there's no need to pay for extra licenses. Collaborate with colleagues or invite financial advisors to view data remotely and get valuable real-time advice.
Pricing starting from:
$15.00/month
- Free Version
- Free Trial
- Subscription
Top 5 alternatives to Xero
Key benefits of Xero
Devices
Business size
Markets
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, United Kingdom, Guernsey, Ireland, India, Jersey, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, United States and 9 others
Supported Languages
English
Pricing starting from:
$15.00/month
- Free Version
- Free Trial
- Subscription
Top 5 alternatives to Xero
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Features
Total features of Xero: 162
Alternatives
Quickbooks Online

MYOB Business

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

QuickBooks Online Advanced

Reviews
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- Industry: Arts & Crafts
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support Software
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Affordable professional level accounting software for small business
Reviewed on 2019-08-26
It's been easier to use Xero than I expected, but I had a nasty surprise at tax time when I...
It's been easier to use Xero than I expected, but I had a nasty surprise at tax time when I realized the default accounts/descriptions for expenses did not correlate 1:1 to IRS categories. (I should have checked this more closely when I set up my accounts because it's a New Zealand company, and the previous product was local.) This means I will need to double-check all my transactions for 2018 and the IRS has my vastly overestimated tax payment until I can do that and file my return on an extension.
I've had a much better experience importing data from financial institutions because Xero uses a well-known importing service that is trusted by the institutions.
I like being able to match multiple invoices to bank deposits because I usually don't run to the bank for each check. This will be more valuable as my company grows.
I should probably find an accountant to assist me with this, but I haven't found an accountant who understands both craft businesses and Xero.
Pros
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
Cons
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
Alternatives Considered
Quickbooks OnlineReasons for Choosing Xero
Outright depends on importing data from financial institutions but they were extremely unreliable (apparently they don't use a standard importing service and my credit union kept flagging them as hackers for remote logins) and customer service kept giving me the runaround. It also isn't "professional" double-entry bookkeeping and can't be audited. Outright can't handle Cost of Goods Sold properly and requires manual workarounds. It can't generate professional reports needed when applying for loans.Switched From
GoDaddy Online BookkeepingReasons for Switching to Xero
QuickBooks introduced a special product for Etsy integration, but early adopters had problems with data disappearing and no way to recover it. Otherwise, the cost of QuickBooks to cover the same features I use in Xero would have been very expensive; even a QB consultant told me it's overkill for a business of my size. I forget which other products I looked at, but Xero was recommended by several owners of similar businesses.- Industry: Marketing & Advertising
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support Software
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Xero makes finance so easy
Reviewed on 2022-03-25
Since starting with Xero over six years ago, we couldn't be happier. We've centralised all our...
Since starting with Xero over six years ago, we couldn't be happier. We've centralised all our financial activity into one platform, which is great for non-finance people like myself!
Pros
Xero makes managing the finances for a business really straightforward. The user interface is intuitive and it centralises all my accounts information.
One of my favourite features is the the dashboard, which is clear and customisable, and gives a great summary of the position position at any time.
The software also integrates really well to other platforms for things like receipt capture and detailed business analysis.
Cons
I'm really happy with how it performs, however, our bookkeeper still does some levels of manual reporting, which he finds easier in Excel, than in Xero. The integration of BA tools does negate this issue.
Alternatives Considered
Quickbooks OnlineReasons for Choosing Xero
It wasn't SaaS at the time and was only able to be understood and used by our bookkeeper.Switched From
MYOB BusinessReasons for Switching to Xero
At the time the product looked to have better features and functionality, and the user experience was excellent.- Industry: Food Production
- Company size: 2-10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support Software
- Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10
if you have bills and invoiced with a product list over 40 lines - this system is not for you
Reviewed on 2022-04-11
the concept is good the IT is not.
the concept is good the IT is not.
Pros
It's easy to learn, very strait forward.
Cons
when a bill or invoice is larger then 2 pages, if you save, you will not be able to edit, approve or print.
also putting in a ticket for a fix is completely useless the responding staff care and are friendly- but the problem does not get fixed.
I've put in several tickets.
I've always had to find a work around, no one has ever fixed my problem
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support Software
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Xero use in a School
Reviewed on 2022-03-23
Reconciliations are so much easier, integrating with other products is so much easier, there are so...
Reconciliations are so much easier, integrating with other products is so much easier, there are so many apps which can easily integrate into Xero.
Pros
Xero is very easy to navigate around and is user friendly. Even a non-finance employee is able to use Xero. The product is able to integrate seamlessly with a school management system importing invoices and contacts which are managed in the school management system. The integration is almost automatic and does not require a user to sync. AMAZING PLATFORM!
Cons
Nil - Honestly there is nothing I dislike about Xero.
Alternatives Considered
MYOB BusinessReasons for Choosing Xero
MYOB was not able to integrate with a school management system.Switched From
MYOB BusinessReasons for Switching to Xero
Integration, Ease of use, ease of navigation, reporting- Industry: Health, Wellness & Fitness
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Weekly for 6-12 months
-
Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support Software
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
Would be perfect with a few tweeks.
Reviewed on 2022-03-31
It is still good, better then Kashflow which is like from 1780. Or at least it feels like it is. It...
It is still good, better then Kashflow which is like from 1780. Or at least it feels like it is. It has great feautures that need tweeking. And it is also recognized worldwide which is so good. Collecting feeds from all the cards is good.
Pros
What I like most is that it has access to realtime feeds from all the company accounts. This is futuristic stuff in my country of Hungary. But I can look at all my balances and see if I have enough money for a purchase or not.
Cons
It doesn't really handle subscriptions well... and you guessed, it, I sell subscriptions. What is the least favorite part is the reconciliation. I sell the same thing, many times (as you do with subscriptions) and there is no way that I found where I do not have to take the so many hours of reconciling everything manually. So there might be automatic invoicing (which I couldn't really use) and manual reconciliation.
There is no such thing as group reconciliation:
All the parties that bought in May for 10 usd should be reconcilied one '10 usd' invoice for may.
That would save so much time. Xero, please do that.
I also hate that products are mandatory. If a client orders something, in a new combination, or asks for a penny discount it is a new product. Why cannot I just invoice John for 14.57 dollars, why do i need to add the 14.57 product?
I understand you are trying to be smart, xero, but please keep the dummy functions. I am a dummy. I need them.
Lastly, according to my current knowledge, it does not integrate with payment providers like stripe or braintree without zapier - which is another subscription cost. Here I want to cut Xero some slack, it is not only their fault, but the payment provider's fault as well, and I am in deep conversations with them on what can we do.
Xero FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions for Xero.Q. What type of pricing plans does Xero offer?
Xero offers the following pricing plans:
- Starting from: $15.00/month
- Pricing model: Subscription
- Free Trial: Available
Early: $15/month Standard: $40/month Premium: $52/month
Q. Who are the typical users of Xero?
Xero has the following typical customers:
Self Employed, 2-10, 11-50, 51-200, 201-500, 501-1,000
Q. What languages does Xero support?
Xero supports the following languages:
English
Q. Does Xero support mobile devices?
Xero supports the following devices:
Android (Mobile), iPhone (Mobile), iPad (Mobile)
Q. What other apps does Xero integrate with?
Xero integrates with the following applications:
Accelo, Actionstep, ActiveCollab, Acuity Scheduling, Administrate Training Management, Adobe Commerce, Agile CRM, ApprovalMax, AroFlo, Authorize.Net, AutoEntry, BarTab, Batchbook, BigCommerce, BlueFolder, BookingBug, BuilderTREND, Capsule, Chargebee, Chargify, Chaser, Checkfront, Checkmybooks, Chrometa, Cin7, ClicData, Clio, CollabSpot, Constant Contact, Copper, Corecon, Current RMS, CustomerSure, Cyfe, DEAR Systems, Datamolino, Debtor Daddy, Deputy, Dext Prepare, Dryrun, EZRentOut, Ecwid, Emburse Nexonia Expenses, Emburse Tallie, Entryless, Epos Now, Everhour, Expensify, Exsalerate CRM, FUTRLI, Fathom, Fergus, FieldAware, Financial Driver, Fishbowl, Float, Float Cash Flow, FreshBooks, Freshdesk, GeoNext, Google Workspace, Grow, Handshake, Harvest, Hike, Hotelogix, Hubdoc, Insightly, InvoiceSherpa, JobAdder, Kickserv, Klipfolio, Lightspeed POS, LivePlan, MRPeasy, Mailchimp, Manu Online, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Power BI, Mindbody, MinuteDock, MyBuys, Nobly, OnePageCRM, OneSaas, Onsight, Operations Hub, Panalitix, PandaDoc, PayPal, Payment Evolution, Payoneer, Pepperi, Plooto, Podio, Practice Ignition, ProWorkflow, ProfitSee, Proposify, QuickBooks Commerce, QuickBooks Time, Quickbooks Online, Quoter, Quotient, Qvinci, Qwilr, RESULTS.com, Re-Leased, Really Simple Systems CRM, Rydoo, Sage 50cloud, Sage Business Cloud Accounting, SalesSeek, Sapaad, Satago, ServiceM8, Shoeboxed, Shopify, Simple Salon, Solve CRM, Spotlight Reporting, Square Point of Sale, Starshipit, Streamtime, Stripe, SugarCRM, Synchroteam, Synergy Practice Management, Tidy, Time Tracker, TimeCamp, Timely, Tradify, Trigger, Unleashed, Veeqo, Vend, WORKetc, WooCommerce, Workato, WorkflowMax, XEDI Web EDI, XO Cashflow, ZENOTI, Zahara, Zapier, Zendesk Sell, Zoho Analytics, Zoho Books, Zoho CRM, ezyCollect, ezyVet, simPRO, vWorkApp, webexpenses
Q. What level of support does Xero offer?
Xero offers the following support options:
Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base Software, 24/7 (Live rep), Chat
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