Both Quickbooks and Xero offer bank reconciliation features that allow businesses to reconcile their bank accounts with their accounting records. However, Xero’s bank reconciliation feature is more user-friendly, with a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy to reconcile transactions. Quickbooks’ bank reconciliation feature, while still https://www.online-accounting.net/ effective, can be more complex and take longer to reconcile transactions. With QuickBooks, you can record the purchase of a fixed asset, but with Xero, you can track fixed assets, calculate and track their depreciation, and much more. Xero also has a more robust tool for tracking project profitability, giving you access to real-time reports.
Another notable difference is that QuickBooks Online lets you upload your file of transactions, so you aren’t required to connect your bank account. With Xero, you have to connect your account to reconcile your transactions. We thoroughly research and test the apps we include in our regular workflow for Client bookkeeping services. After deciding on criteria for evaluating the software and then researching the app itself, we tested the app, noting its strengths and weaknesses. We then work with the app for at least a few weeks before deciding whether to recommend it to our readers.
It has comparable invoicing features, but lacks an audit trail and doesn’t integrate with third-party apps. If you need to give accounting access to more than five people, Xero could be the better option for you. QuickBooks Online’s most popular Plus plan tops out at five users; its highest-tier Advanced plan allows up to 25 users, but that plan is expensive at $200 per month. In contrast, all Xero plans offer unlimited users and its highest-tier Established plan is a more affordable $70 per month.
QuickBooks Online (QBO) is cloud-based accounting software that streamlines many of the repetitive tasks involved in managing bills, invoices, and business projects. QuickBooks is Intuit’s general accounting software, while QuickBooks Online (QBO) is specifically the cloud-based service. For QBO, you pay a monthly subscription rather than an upfront fee, and you get all the patches and software updates from Intuit. In this article, we’ll mostly refer to QuickBooks Online, which is what we think you’ll likely opt for instead of Intuit’s desktop version of QuickBooks. You can use QuickBooks to run roughly two dozen prebuilt accounting reports, whether using the mobile or desktop QuickBooks version.
We were especially impressed with Xero’s built-in Gusto payroll integration. When we tested Xero, this seamless integration powered the entirely automatic updating of our accounting records when we ran payroll through Gusto. We also liked Xero’s built-in integrations with the payment processor Stripe, the CRM HubSpot, the email marketing platform Mailchimp and the e-commerce platform Shopify. We like that QuickBooks offers extensive features in each pricing package. We also like that QuickBooks is transparent about features and pricing online. Unlike some other vendors, QuickBooks leaves no questions about what you get for your dollar.
Xero supports unlimited users with all their subscription plans–in contrast, QuickBooks allows only up to 40 users with its highest-tiered plan. Additionally, if more software apps and integrations are critical to the scalability of your business, then Xero is a winner in this category as well. Xero and QuickBooks are both great accounting software options for small businesses.
How much does QuickBooks Online cost?
It’s also less expensive than QuickBooks Online and a bit easier to use, thanks to its customizable dashboard and simple layout. 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.
- This way, you can access these reports near-instantly upon logging into Xero.
- You can review and pay outstanding bills in QuickBooks, and the platform will automatically record and match your vendor payments and invoices.
- However, QuickBooks offers more support channels than Xero (including a dedicated phone line for small businesses), which could be an important factor when choosing software.
One user expressed that they like that QuickBooks has more robust accounting features than most competitors. Some also explained that QuickBooks offers excellent expense-tracking features. We agree with this, and one of the features we like is that QuickBooks remembers the categories of items that have been entered previously. Additionally, you can create explicit rules to help QuickBooks correctly classify transactions automatically. Xero is also ideal if you’re seeking accounting software that grows with you.
Seven Key differences between QuickBooks and Xero
Another benefit is that QuickBooks Online is better for small businesses, as you’re able to scale with your growing company. The ability to integrate a software product with other applications can increase its functionality tremendously. Both Xero and QuickBooks Online offer excellent integration with hundreds of apps. While Xero might https://www.quick-bookkeeping.net/ be a good application to start with, growing businesses will appreciate the scalability offered by QuickBooks Online. Xero’s main entry screen uses a menu bar at the top of the screen for access to system functions. This pared-down menu makes it easy for new users to find their way around the application without too much trouble.
However, you can use Reconcile.ly with either accounting software solution to bring in an extra level of detail. Our tool allows you to create invoices for every single sale, refund, and fee so that you get a comprehensive view of all the money coming in and going out of your Shopify store. These two programs are also great for business owners who need to collaborate with their accountants.
NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, reasonably priced, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. Ironically, we don’t recommend this plan to freelancers due to its lack of tools, even though we do recommend QuickBooks as the best accounting software for the self-employed. Despite not offering unlimited invoices and bills in its base plan, Xero accounting software is a more scalable solution than QuickBooks in the number of users it supports.
User Resources
A popular online accounting app designed to meet the needs of small and medium businesses in any industry. One of the most user-friendly accounting solutions available today, Xero features real-time tracking of accounts receivable, expenses, billing, and invoicing. QuickBooks Online, the market-leading accounting software from Intuit, offers “Smarter business tools for the world’s hardest workers”. Its standard features include creating invoices from the mobile app and customizing invoices with your company logo and branding. Like most platforms, you can also use QuickBooks to view invoice payment status and remind clients to pay their bills.
You can add your logo to your invoice templates, and change the color to fit your business’s branding. And while the Advanced tier of QuickBooks offers 24/7 support through live chat, phone lines, and email, their other tiers only offer a live chat option. Both platforms have a https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/ wide range of features, but not all of them are important to every business. You’ll need to decide which features you can’t live without and then choose the platform. QuickBooks allows unlimited invoices on all of their plans, which is great news if you send out many invoices.
QuickBooks Online provides this feature starting in their Essentials plan, and Xero offers it in their Established plan. Additionally, both software provide online support, but QuickBooks excels by offering phone customer support as well. Standard phone support is available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 8 PM EST, and 24/7 with the QuickBooks Online Advanced plan. QuickBooks Online and Xero are well-known cloud-based business accounting software solutions that are a favorite of growing companies due to their affordable pricing and scalability. Accounting features such as invoicing, accounts payable and receivable, and inventory management help your business stay organized and profitable.
We liked that Xero’s app store neatly organizes and categorizes these apps. This makes it easy to find the integrations you need and compare several options side-by-side. First-time QuickBooks customers can choose to explore QuickBooks without committing to a plan by signing up for a 30-day free trial. You can also skip the free trial in favor of locking in 50% off for your first three months — but you can’t choose both. You can do a lot with QuickBooks Online, but all the options may feel like information overload starting out.
Ease of setup and use
QuickBooks and Xero are tied in this category because each platform offers features that the other one doesn’t. For instance, QuickBooks Online lets you accept payments but can’t record bills while Xero allows you to enter bills but can’t process online payments. If you often need to record bills and bill payments on the go, Xero’s mobile app might be preferable.
QuickBooks Online’s customer support is better than Xero’s since you can interact with an agent through a phone call. You can’t initiate a call, but you can submit a ticket and wait for an agent to call you. One reviewer mentioned that a critical feature missing in Xero is the inability to export expense receipts and attach them to invoices. This feature is available in QuickBooks Online, and it even allows you to create a digital transaction using the uploaded receipt. Moreover, another likes that Xero has a batch-delete feature, unlike QuickBooks Online. They explained that if you import 500 transactions into QuickBooks incorrectly, you have to delete them all one by one.
