Additionally, Xero’s unlimited users on all plans can be a significant advantage for larger teams. It has a complete set of accounting tools, including features for tracking money coming in and going out, managing bills and invoices, following spending and keeping tabs on inventory. This makes it the best accounting software we’ve researched and helped it to edge out Xero in this round. QuickBooks offers a main dashboard that can be customized with a series of tile-like graphs or lists, which lets you see real-time KPIs at a glance. Premium includes scheduling for jobs and shifts, real-time reporting, custom alerts, and time-off management. Xero also lets you send quotes and estimates that can quickly pull up how a general ledger works with double-entry accounting along with examples data on contacts, inventory, and pricing.
Inventory Management: Tie
Compared to QuickBooks, Xero’s time tracking features are easy to use. You can simply download the free Xero Projects app on iOS and Android, using it to record time and costs, as well as seamlessly and automatically feed the data into invoices and reports. With a free plan and paid plans starting at $20 per month, Zoho Books has plans for most budgets. Higher-tier plans include unique features, like workflow rules, on top of tools that help you measure project profitability.
Plans start at $15 per month for up to 20 invoices, five bills, bank account reconciliation, receipt capture and short-term cash flow snapshots. Its $78-per-month plan also includes multiple currencies, project tracking, in-depth analytics and employee expense claims. All plans currently have a 95% off promotion for the first three months. Xero and QuickBooks are two the of most popular accounting software solutions for small businesses looking to keep track of finances. While the two both offer similar features, such as tax management, financial reports, integrated payroll, inventory and file storage, the two are not without their differences.
Xero vs QuickBooks: The Verdict
Xero has a clean, distraction-free interface where users can find what they want. Each dashboard section has an ‘i’ button containing basic information about it. It also offers one-click access to help articles that users can refer to anytime. However, novice users will find it difficult to navigate the software because its menu bar contains a few options.
QuickBooks offers advanced invoicing features such as customization, recurring invoices, email sending, and payment options. Users can add customer information, choose payment methods, add service details, and send invoices via WhatsApp or a link after saving them. It helps small and medium-sized enterprises keep track of their finances and manage their income and expenses.
The Benefits of QuickBooks Online
- Effortlessly monitor your business expenses throughout the year to ensure you never overlook a tax deduction.
- Granted, this doesn’t mean Xero is the most cost-effective option for your business needs.
- Although QuickBooks and Xero are industry leaders with extensive features, the ease of use and overall experience of these platforms can affect how smoothly a business runs.
- However, novice users will find it difficult to navigate the software because its menu bar contains a few options.
It’s most basic ‘Starter’ plan is for sole traders and startups and offers up to 20 invoices/quotes and 5 bill payments a month. The Standard plan doesn’t have an upper limit on invoices and bills, while the most expensive Premium plan lets you manage accounting in multiple currencies. A multi-currency account that integrates with the major accounting software is one of the most wanted features for global businesses. Most high street banks support international payments but they’re often expensive, slow and with limited features and currencies that you can send and receive.
If you pay VAT, work with suppliers or are a growing business, you can take your pick from Essentials (up to 3 users) or Plus (up to 5 users). The features list grows with the monthly subscription cost, and you can bolt-on extra services such as Payroll for a small extra monthly fee. More specific categories – Business, Accounting, Payroll, Projects, and more – have their own dashboards, accessible with a horizontal sidebar. You can click any data to see a full, detailed breakdown, complete with historical context, and you can set up data tracking to automatically generate specific reports.
Its intuitive interface and extensive customer support make it accessible to business owners with varying levels of accounting knowledge. 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.
We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. Xero and QuickBooks Online are robust accounting software programs, and—in our case study—both prove why they’re the leading tools in the industry. They may have almost the same features, but each has its own strengths and drawbacks. Support network refers to a community of software users that can extend professional help to businesses. Having an independent software expert perform the bookkeeping is good for overall ease of use. Lastly, our expert opinion score is our subjective rating based on our experience in trying the software.