Xero is a great fit for small businesses that prioritise an intuitive platform without needing advanced accounting tools. With its user-friendly interface, transparent pricing, and wide range of integrations, Xero is well-suited for businesses focused on core financial tracking. It offers an affordable entry point that can be scaled as your business grows. On the other hand, Xero is known for its user-friendly interface and strong focus on cloud-based technology. It might be a more cost-effective option for businesses that don’t require the most advanced features.
Best Accounting and Bookkeeping Apps for Small Businesses
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. We declared this category a tie because Xero and QuickBooks Online aced it. Both providers allow you to record adjusted journal entries, modify your chart of accounts, and provide accountant access.
Then, we award each piece of software a rating out of five for each of these categories to understand how they compare against each other. Aside from helping us to determine which solution is stronger overall, these scores also help us to determine which product is better suited to different types of businesses. In sharp contrast with QuickBooks’ extensive language support, Xero does not offer support for languages other than English. There are some workarounds, like downloading the basic invoice template, manually changing the language, and reuploading it, but there’s no easy support for multiple languages. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website.
QuickBooks simplifies finance management by allowing users to organize receipts and track mileage easily using its mobile application. If you are new to accounting, Xero’s user-friendly interface might be more appealing. However, if you have more accounting knowledge, QuickBooks’ advanced features might benefit your operations more. On-site service businesses will benefit from mileage tracking, invoicing and hourly tracking. These features can significantly streamline operations and reduce administrative workload. Like Xero, QuickBooks also provides receipt capture using the QuickBooks mobile app.
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It allows companies to accept payments through credit cards, debit cards, ACH payments, Apple Pay, PayPal, or Venmo. QuickBooks allows users to customize their invoices by selecting templates, adding logos and brand colors, choosing fonts, and editing sections. Users can also personalize their email to send invoices electronically. Free accounting software for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small businesses.
How We Evaluated Xero vs QuickBooks Online
Here’s our comparison of the core features provided by Xero and 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 impairment definition highest scores our research team gave any accounting solutions. Easy to share information with your accountant and to find QuickBooks experts and online resources if needed. Depending on the plan you select, QuickBooks Online’s monthly prices run from $30 for the Simple Start plan to $200 for the Advanced plan.
The software must also have a mobile app to enable users to perform accounting tasks even when away from their laptops or desktops. Businesses with inventory items should choose accounting software that can track inventory costs, manage cost of goods sold (COGS), and monitor inventory units. QuickBooks Online takes the lead because it’s generally easier to use than Xero. While Xero is easier to set up, QuickBooks has a more intuitive and customizable dashboard and has time-saving features. For instance, QuickBooks Online allows you to add an inventory item from the invoicing screen, something you can’t do with Xero. They’ll help you reconcile your bank and credit card statements and prepare monthly reports.
If you have a microbusiness and only need to manage and track a few bills and invoices, then you might do well with Xero’s Early plan. However, if you work with multiple vendors and customers and need more enhanced features, you should consider QuickBooks Online’s Plus tier. QuickBooks is a popular accounting software used by small businesses, solopreneurs and freelancers. The software helps users to keep track of their finances, customers and vendors.
- Both services have plenty to offer, but in the end, Xero has more integrations than QuickBooks.
- Our meticulous evaluation process makes us a trustworthy source for accounting software insights.
- Instarem can be your ideal first step for managing your finances as you find the right accounting platform.
- QuickBooks‘ user-friendly interface makes navigating your finances a breeze, even if you’re not an accounting expert.
- QuickBooks works on Windows PCs, Macs, and major browsers including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge.
Core Features
After that, the data will be updated automatically every business day. There are no manual uploads needed, and you can set up secure, encrypted feeds from any number of different bank accounts. QuickBooks bills itself as ‘smart, simply accounting software – with no commitment’⁴. It’s particularly good at helping businesses to streamline repetitive tasks, and manage accounting processes from just their smartphone. 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.