For instance, If you have complex bookkeeping needs and require a QuickBooks-specific virtual bookkeeping service, then choose QuickBooks Live. However, if you want a more scalable solution with the option to hire additional services like payroll and tax filing, then Xero is the more suitable choice. It offers plenty of customization options, which can be a great deal for those wanting to present and maintain a professional brand image. On the other hand, Xero lets you add your company logo and edit fields, but you can’t change the invoice colors. Both platforms make it easy to reconcile bank feed transactions by matching them to transactions in your accounting software.
- However, despite Wave’s advantages, its overall offering is pretty basic and support tools leave a lot to be desired, giving it a 4/5 score overall.
- However, Xero is missing some of our favorite QuickBooks expense-tracking features, such as cash flow statements.
- Whatever the current deal, users will need to skip their free trial to qualify.
- For those who like everything in neat compartments, Xero may be your best option.
- You can only accept payments via card or direct debit with Xero, boxing out clients who prefer newer technologies.
You can also use QuickBooks to schedule payments in advance, including partial bill payments. We were impressed with this flexibility — you can make appropriate payments for your current cash flow. We liked that Xero’s app store neatly organizes and categorizes these apps.
Summary – Xero vs. QuickBooks Online
I have learned never to underestimate the importance of live product support, particularly when it comes to managing my money. Another benefit is that QuickBooks Online is better for small businesses, as you’re able to scale with your growing company. QuickBooks Online’s accounting software has a looser setup structure, allowing you to enter the bare minimum and add the rest as you go along. Pricing levels for Xero and QuickBooks Online are very similar, with both applications offering three pricing plans.
With more than 3 million users worldwide, Xero is popular but not as ubiquitous as QuickBooks Online. Xero’s Early plan, recommended for self-employed people or brand-new businesses, allows 20 invoices per year. If you only send out an invoice or two each month, the Early plan is an affordable option at $13 per month. Otherwise, you’ll have to bump up your subscription or consider QuickBooks Online plans. Includes project tracking tools in most expensive plan; limited transaction tracking tags; lacks industry-specific reports; users with multiple businesses must pay for separate subscriptions.
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. Xero uses third-party add-on connections allowing users to accept payments online. With Stripe integration, users can accept credit cards, debit cards, and Apple Pay from their customers. With GoCardless, customers can pay them by using an ACH debit (bank transfer).
Simply choose a bank account, navigate to Xero’s Reconcile tab, review the two columns (your bank statement vs your Xero transactions) and click the OK button in each row to confirm a match. You can also add comments to transactions to flag them for other users before posting. QuickBooks offers more invoicing tools and client payment options than Xero. While you can certainly use Xero to check most of your invoicing boxes, you get more flexibility and options with QuickBooks. FreshBooks is another accounting platform with invoicing features that rival and even outdo QuickBooks.
Phone support and live chat support are available 24/5 to all paying customers, but third-party integrations are limited compared to QuickBooks Online and Xero. The QuickBooks Advanced plan costs $200 per month, supporting 25 users. While searching for accounting software, you might also come across something called QuickBooks Online Essentials.
Features: QuickBooks Online Wins
Xero and QuickBooks Online are two of the most popular and powerful accounting software solutions for small business owners. But while both can help you manage complex processes like billing, invoicing financial reporting, and tax management, each is better suited to different types of companies. We also recommend Xero if you’re seeking project profitability data alongside https://accountingcoaching.online/ superior bill pay and expense management features. We found the platform’s profitability tools to be highly user-friendly. Your team’s tracked time and expenses power your profitability reports and give you all the necessary information to adjust inputs and minimize costs. This frees up the cash you need to make the timely bulk payments that Xero facilitates.
This means that Xero Early may be as cheap as $6.50 per month when 50% off, while QuickBooks Simple Start would cost just $9 a month, provided it is offering the same deal. Still, if your business relies heavily on other software services, Xero is a better bet then QuickBooks for making them all work together and ensuring everything is easily accessible. Xero’s raft of expensing abilities allows you to scan receipts to record and track expense claims, slotting each expense into the best category for a report. The Established plan also supports a multi-currency function, which converts 160 different foreign currencies into your business’s local currency. In addition, the software has fine-tuned control over banking functionality. It’ll do a better job of categorizing your transactions and even put them in an organized spreadsheet.
Alternative Accounting Software Options
We considered features such as invoicing, billing, payments, expense tracking, mileage tracking, project and time tracking and inventory management. We also weighed factors such as pricing, user experience, customer service and integrations. QuickBooks makes its state-of-the-art expense-tracking features available to all customers. Although Xero’s tools are nearly as high in quality, only users who pay for the vendor’s most expensive plan can access them. Plus, only QuickBooks includes cash flow statements in its expense-tracking suite. Choose QuickBooks if you need exceptionally robust expense management within your accounting software.
Both services have plenty to offer, but in the end, Xero has more integrations than QuickBooks. Both solutions performed very well in our testing, with QuickBooks earning an overall score of 4.7 out of 5 from our accounting experts, compared to Xero’s 4.5 out of 5. These are the two highest scores our research team gave any accounting solutions. Most of the best features of QuickBooks, however, is only available in the most expensive version.
Both services do offer an app marketplace, for both in-house mobile apps and integrations or extensions offered by third-party services. Xero offers more integrations overall, but both are very comprehensive. Both accounting softwares are easy to navigate, allowing you to find your required feature from a main dashboard with a sidebar. QuickBooks’ sidebar is vertical and on the left, while Xero’s is horizontal across the top, both deliver about the same user experience, and user satisfaction is high for both.
QuickBooks pricing
QuickBooks can also track your mileage reliably and automatically using a GPS-enabled smartphone app. Has robust reporting tools and report customization options, invoicing for an unlimited amount of clients, inventory tracking in higher tier plans, plus a capable mobile app. It includes everything in marginal costing: meaning features and advantages Simple Start, plus bill management tools and a time tracking ability for adding up billable hours. Xero and QuickBooks Online (QBO) provide bookkeeping and accounting software with pricing much lower than an ERP system with full functionality to manage business processes throughout the organization.