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Xero and QuickBooks are powerful accounting software designed to streamline business finance management. Both accounting software performs exceptionally well with tax management, finance health reporting, inventory management, invoicing, spending and income tracking, and more. Still, each tool offers unique features suitable for different businesses.
In this article, I compare the two accounting software based on ease of use, pricing, customer support, key features, scalability, and customer reviews. By the end, you’ll have a clear insight into which is best for your business.
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- Advanced inventory management
- Custom reporting
- Project profitability tracking
- Quarterly tax estimating
Xero vs QuickBooks Compared
In this section, we’ve highlighted critical elements to compare Xero and QuickBooks, helping you determine which one best suits your needs.
| Xero | QuickBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $15/month (75% off for the first six months) | $15/month (50% off for the first three months) |
| Free Plan | 30-day free trial | 30-day free trial |
| Number of Users | Supports unlimited user access across all plans | 1 billable user in the starting price plan, 3 in the Essentials plan, 5 in the Plus plan, and 25 in the Advanced plan |
| Inventory Management | Yes | Yes |
| Budgeting Tools | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Over 1,000 external integrations, including Xero Practice Manager, Zapier | Over 750 apps, including Shopify, Gusto, etc. It also offers an in-house bookkeeping add-on |
| General HR | Bill management, tax management, project tracking tools, time and expense tracking, recurring invoices, etc. | Cash flow, receipt capture, inventory and tax management, mileage tracking, payroll, reporting, etc. |
| Customer Support | 24/7 online support, support articles, phone | Live chat, email, phone, community forums |
| Read Review | Xero review | QuickBooks review |
Xero vs QuickBooks Pricing Compared
Pricing is a major factor when choosing financial software. Below is a table highlighting Xero and QuickBooks’ pricing information to help you evaluate which fits your budget.
| Pricing Plans | Xero | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Free Version | 30-day free trial | 30-day free trial |
| Tier 1 | $15/month – Early | $30/month – Simple Start |
| Tier 2 | $42/month – Growing | $60/month – Essential |
| Tier 3 | $78/month – Established | $90/month – Plus |
| Tier 4 | – | $200/month – Advanced |
Both QuickBooks and Xero offer competitive price plans and 30-day free trials, allowing you to test the software and make informed decisions. However, Xero is a more cost-effective option than QuickBooks in terms of price value and its support for unlimited users. These major differences make Xero a better option for organizations with many team members than QuickBooks.
Comparing Xero and QuickBooks’ basic plan, QuickBooks’ Simple Start plan includes more features than Xero’s basic plan but only supports one user. Likewise, QuickBooks accounting and reporting features advance across each tier, making it a good option for small businesses with complex advanced needs and scalability.
For small to medium-sized businesses looking for robust functionality at a reasonable price, Xero is the clear winner. Its plans are particularly well-suited for businesses seeking a cost-effective solution without sacrificing basic accounting features.
Xero vs QuickBooks Ease of Use
Xero takes the lead when it comes to ease of use, beginning from its set-up. In fact, beginners of accounting software may easily navigate its interface owing to its intuitive designs. Its invoice creation process is seamless, with clearly labeled fields and options for customizing the layout. Its mobile app also presents a simple interface with ease of performing basic accounting tasks on the go without a steep learning curve.
Considering that QuickBooks includes advanced features, it’s no surprise that its usage imposes a learning curve for beginners. As a result, experienced users may prefer QuickBooks as its high level of automation may help them get more done with the software.
In terms of payroll processing, both QuickBooks and Xero provide an exciting, user-friendly experience, but with some differences. Xero provides strong automation of sales tax calculation and filings with clear audit trails. Its add-ons and integrations facilitate payroll processing efficiency and reduce errors.
Likewise, QuickBooks has robust payroll features available in tiers, including integrations with time-tracking and multiple tax filing options. However, advanced payroll features like payment file reports, and time tracking on the go require additional or advanced subscriptions.
In summary, Xero is the best choice for users who prefer simplicity. QuickBooks is the best choice for experienced users who want a robust accounting system with a slightly more advanced interface with payroll integration.
Xero vs QuickBooks Key Features
Xero and QuickBooks are strong accounting software, depending on critical business needs. However, from the perspective of scalable accounting features and customization, QuickBooks takes the lead. Its flexibility with invoice customization to suit your business image and needs is top-notch.
Therefore, our comparison between Xero and QuickBooks will focus on invoicing, automation, expense tracking, and general accounting features to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
Xero vs QuickBooks Integrations
Xero offers over 1,000 integrations across multiple industries, such as hospitality, manufacturing, accounting, retail health, etc. Each application is categorized into functions such as CRM, debtor tracking, inventory, payroll, etc.
Similarly, QuickBooks integrates with over 750 popular business apps to facilitate automatic data flow across business tools. In terms of figures, it’s obvious Xero offers more integrations than QuickBooks. However, QuickBooks stands out for the range and complexity of its integrations. It targets more sectors and has more precise categories than Xero.
Therefore, choosing the best between Xero and QuickBooks solely depends on your specific business needs. This is because both offer strong integration functionalities. With their free trials, you can be able to evaluate each software’s key integrations for your business and see which platform provides a smoother workflow.
Xero vs QuickBooks Scalability
It’s common for your accounting needs to become complex as your business grows. Both Xero and QuickBooks can grow with your business, but it depends on your specific needs. Xero supports unlimited users, allowing for seamless collaboration across your teams without additional fees. Its intuitive interface may help team members learn its usage quickly. However, advanced features and high customization may be limitations in this case.
To address these limitations, QuickBooks is known for its advanced accounting and reporting features and high customization. Its advanced plan supports up to 25 users. QuickBooks’ multiple subscription plans cater to different business needs at various levels, allowing small businesses to enjoy its advanced accounting features.
QuickBooks scales well with large enterprises’ complex accounting needs. On the other hand, Xero’s limitation for advanced accounting makes it suitable for small businesses with basic accounting needs and growing team members.
Xero vs QuickBooks Customer Reviews
Xero’s customers are happy to express their satisfaction with the customer support, professionalism, and ease of usage. One of its users mentioned how Xero responded promptly and communicated professionally to resolve their queries.
Likewise, one of QuickBooks users praised the ease of contacting customer service and highlighted their excellent helpfulness.
Both Xero and QuickBooks offer good experience in terms of customer support. However, several QuickBooks customers pointed out issues with customization and navigating the interface, because it required some knowledge to set up and use correctly. Advanced users with needs for a large number of integrations prefer QuickBooks, whereas beginners opt for Xero.
Conclusion – Xero vs QuickBooks: Which One Wins?
| Xero | QuickBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Winner | ❌ |
| Ease of Use | Winner | ❌ |
| Features | ❌ | Winner |
| Integrations | ❌ | Winner |
| Scalability | ❌ | Winner |
| Customer Reviews | ❌ | Winner |
| Overall | ❌ | Winner |
Xero tops with its affordability and ease of use, which makes it suitable for organizations that have a high number of accounting beginners. Setting up Xero is easy, and most of its automation is pre-configured.
QuickBooks’ extensive feature set shows that it is a comprehensive solution for businesses with complex accounting needs. This answers the learning curve that comes with its usage.
Overall, QuickBooks outmatches Xero in terms of features, integrations, scalability, and customer satisfaction.
How We Review and Test Accounting Products
To provide our readers with accurate and well-informed recommendations, we test the most popular accounting products on the market to find the best options for you. Our methodology consists of the following criteria:
- Features: We examine the features of each accounting software to determine what capabilities are offered- such as creating, editing, and deleting transactions.
- Compliance: We evaluate accounting software based on whether it offers local compliance when it comes to payroll, taxes, documentation, and more.
- Bank Reconciliation: We test the reconciliation process to ensure transactions match bank statements accurately.
- Multi-Currency Support: We verify the accuracy of currency conversions and transactions in multi-currency environments.
- User Experience: We get hands-on with each product and act as a new user, testing each platform to gain understanding if the platform is easy to use or not.
- Reporting and Documentation: We verify the accuracy of financial reports generated by the software such as balance sheets and income statements.
- Integrations: We evaluate the integrations of each piece of software to determine how well it fits in with other key pieces in a business’s software stack, and whether its functionality can be expanded as required.
- Audit Trails: We ensure the software maintains comprehensive audit trails for tracking changes made to financial data.
How to Choose the Best Accounting Software
Choosing the best accounting software for your business goes beyond merely comparing prices and features. Below are critical elements to consider when choosing accounting software for your business.
Evaluate your business spending budget on accounting software to determine a software that meets your needs. It’s important to note that the total price will include the software subscription fee, number of users, and the fee for any add-ons you’d like to add to your account.
Understand how easy it is to use the software, as many accounting software require advanced accounting expertise for use. Understanding this will spare you from having to pay for further training or a large setup, which could strain your budget.
Ensure the accounting software you choose offers a mobile app and is compatible with your mobile device. This is because some software does not offer mobile apps or limit apps to certain operating systems. Accounting software with mobile apps enhances usability on the go and boosts productivity You should also ensure this mobile compatibility feature isn’t restricted to higher tiers.
Identify your business’s key features and map them to different accounting software available. Ensure that these features are available on your chosen plan, as some may be limited to higher-tier plans.
Consider the features that are crucial to your organization as it grows, and determine whether the software can scale with it. Make sure you understand both the cost of scaling and the software’s scaling capabilities.
Understand the available mode of contacting customer support and their working hours. Also, consider what other users say about the response time and the overall quality of customer support in their reviews.
