Xero vs QuickBooks Online: Features Comparison, Pros, Cons

12 Jan Xero vs QuickBooks Online: Features Comparison, Pros, Cons

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 $15 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 can also track your mileage reliably and automatically using a GPS-enabled smartphone app. Unlike QuickBooks, Xero supports unlimited users and organizations for all accounts. It also offers a 30-day free trial so you can test drive the software before committing to a paid plan. QuickBooks and Xero are two of the best accounting software options with a range of pricing plans to fit multiple budgets. We researched both tools extensively to help you choose the right accounting software for your business. In this article, we compare their core features, pricing and pros and cons to help you decide which one is the right accounting software for your company.

Features: QuickBooks Online Wins

These are the two highest scores our research team gave any accounting solutions. Entry-level plan limits bills and invoices to five and 20 per month, respectively. Danielle Bauter is a writer for the Accounting division of Fit Small Business. She has owned Check Yourself, a bookkeeping and payroll service that specializes in small business, for over twenty years.

In this guide, we’ll compare Xero and QuickBooks head to head, looking at the pros and cons, features, fees and much more. Each time you log into either app, you can see your latest balance and expenses that need reconciling from the dashboard. QuickBooks and Xero both have excellent dashboards that give you an easy glimpse of all of your main business metrics after logging in.

Spotlight: Product Updates

Features include expense tracking, contact management, and unlimited invoices and estimates. Reporting abilities are limited, though a raft of third-party integrations are available (many cost a little extra, but some are free). QuickBooks is the leading accounting software for small businesses, designed to simplify financial management and empower growth. From automating payments to managing payroll, QuickBooks offers a scalable solution that can adapt to your business needs.

Integrations

While both software will let you create recurring bills, only QuickBooks will allow you to schedule automatic apb meaning recurring payments. In addition, because QuickBooks is so well known and widely used, it is easy to find a local bookkeeper fluent in QuickBooks accounting software. While Xero’s entry-level plan seems like the better deal when compared to QuickBooks, limitations on invoices and bills make it suitable for very small businesses or freelancers.

1. Unlike QuickBooks, Xero users do not have any phone support options.
2. We researched both tools extensively to help you choose the right accounting software for your business.
3. The app has a built-in timer you can use to record time as you work, or you can use the location-based job tracker through the mobile app.
4. 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.
5. Both QuickBooks Online and Xero are good accounting solutions, but the right software is going to depend on your company’s budget and feature needs.
6. That said, Xero has a lower price point, starting at $13 per month, compared to QuickBooks’ $30 per month starting cost, and Xero offers more integrations than QuickBooks as well.

QuickBooks Online leads in many categories, but Xero has some slight advantages in terms of fixed asset management, project accounting, and taxes. We tackle these differences between Xero and QuickBooks in detail in the following sections. QuickBooks goes beyond accounting with 750+ integrated apps, streamlining everything from payroll to customer relationships. This eliminates the need for multiple platforms, reducing time and effort while empowering smarter business decisions. However, the layout and navigation may not be as intuitive for some users, especially those who are new to accounting software.

Fixed asset accounting is part of all Xero’s plans, whereas it’s offered only in the most expensive plan of QuickBooks Online, Advanced. Businesses with inventory items should choose accounting software that can track inventory costs, manage cost of goods sold (COGS), and monitor inventory units. The A/P section focuses on vendor management, bill management, bill payments, and other payable-related transactions. A/P features include creating vendors and bills, recording purchase orders and converting them to bills, creating service items, and recording full or partial bill payments.