Xero Reviews

Xero

4.4 (2,822)
Accounting Software for SMBs

Overall rating

4.4 /5
(2,822)
Value for Money
4.2/5
Features
4.3/5
Ease of Use
4.3/5
Customer Support
4.0/5

87%
recommended this app
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2822 Reviews

Adam
Overall rating
  • Industry: Computer Software
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Absolutely love Xero

Reviewed on 3/11/2019

Xero has allowed us to get a real, detailed view on the financial situation within our company from...

Xero has allowed us to get a real, detailed view on the financial situation within our company from one place. With a comprehensive setup, it can provide real value from day one.

Pros

Xero has transformed our financial management and provides us with all the real time data we could imagine, and where it lacks, integrations take over. While more "accountancy" friendly than some of the more simple products, once you work with your accountants to get this right, you won't regret it. The detail, features and holistic approach to managing company finances means that we are using this every day and with pleasure.

Cons

The interface is being updated, and it is needed as it is a little old fashioned in its design. That said, it is clean and clear and otherwise we love everything about Xero.

Alternatives Considered

Sage 100 and FreeAgent

Reasons for Choosing Xero

FreeAgent was a little too simple and too many things were "locked in". We have much more flexibility and a wider range of integrations with Xero.

Switched From

FreeAgent
Richard
Overall rating
  • Industry: Warehousing
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Saves hours once you put the work in to learn

Reviewed on 27/10/2023

Pros

Xero has been an absolute game-changer for my business, and I can't imagine managing my financial tasks without it. I use it daily, and it has become an indispensable tool that streamlines my financial processes. Furthermore, the seamless integration with Link My Books has made it even more powerful and time-saving.

Cons

You need to put in some work to learn the process which is hard but trust me long term will pay off 100 times over.

Alternatives Considered

Sage Fixed Assets
Colin
Overall rating
  • Industry: Mechanical or Industrial Engineering
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Dissapointing software

Reviewed on 31/10/2023

Overall, based on many years as a business owner, the experience with the XERO product can only be...

Overall, based on many years as a business owner, the experience with the XERO product can only be described as disappointing.

Pros

XERO certainly provides a number of novel and useful automated functions, especially for business owners.

Cons

XERO software contains far too many errors and non-practical functions, such as payroll. It does work, but the limited functionality means that it doesn't provide the range of reports and information that a business owner would expect.

Matthew
Overall rating
  • Industry: Computer Software
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Easy as it gets

Reviewed on 11/09/2023

We use Xero for all day to day accounting and financial reporting. It has been a wonderful tool for...

We use Xero for all day to day accounting and financial reporting. It has been a wonderful tool for us. It is easy to use, even for the non-finance members of team, and it produces clean and easy to read reports that make reporting to various stakeholders very easy.

Pros

What I like most about Xero is the simplicity of it. I have used this in a multi location company and it has worked flawlessly. As well, I have trained many a non-finance person on Xero and they find it easy to pick up.

Cons

I think Xero is great for single jurisdiction, single currency companies. I think you need to improve the multi-currency and multi-jurisdiction functionality.

Alternatives Considered

Sage 50cloud Accounting and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Xero

I chose Xero because I liked the user interface and it seemed more intuitive to use.
Larni
Overall rating
  • Industry: Health, Wellness & Fitness
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Great bookkeeping program

Reviewed on 19/10/2023

Fairly simple to learn most parts of the program, helpful search functions and lots of functionality...

Fairly simple to learn most parts of the program, helpful search functions and lots of functionality!

Pros

Integration with Nookal is a great option. Xero Toolbox has also been used to upload payments when integration wasn't set up. I appreciation the vastness of the program with payroll, reporting and AP/AR all in one place. I keep finding new ways to use the program! I like that my user profile can be used for more than one business.

Cons

It is difficult to find answers to my questions and I found it hard to reach customer support during my initial weeks as a user.

Clarke
Overall rating
  • Industry: Insurance
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Xero: AP & AR Automation GURU

Reviewed on 20/10/2023

Accounts payable and receivable automation.Automate repetitive accounting tasks such as AP and AR.

Accounts payable and receivable automation.Automate repetitive accounting tasks such as AP and AR.

Pros

Xero gives me the ability to automate accounting tasks such as billing, invoicing and inventory control.

Cons

Ever since I started using Xero for over six years now, I have never experienced any drawback even on a single instance.

Richa
Overall rating
  • Industry: Civil Engineering
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Zero is the best tool for business accounting!

Reviewed on 30/10/2023

Very good, makes it easy to manage accounts, staff and invoicing.

Very good, makes it easy to manage accounts, staff and invoicing.

Pros

Very professional and user friendly. Many more features like staff management, leave planning/approvals etc.

Cons

A bit complicated and deeper level of analysis (which may not be necessary for all).

Nidhi
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospital & Health Care
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Nidhi Gupta

Reviewed on 11/10/2023

Very efficient and user friendly

Very efficient and user friendly

Pros

How easy it is to use and the interface is very user friendly.How easy it is to even chalk up financial statements for year-end.

Cons

There is nothing that I dislike at the moment.

David
Overall rating
  • Industry: Construction
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

Xero is pretty useful

Reviewed on 2/11/2023

Pros

Its easy for you're average worker to learn and get started using.

Cons

It is somewhat lacking in some of the more technical features and tools that i'm used to working with.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Human Resources
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Easy integration with uptick in pricing

Reviewed on 22/11/2023

Pros

The dashboard is designed well with good UI. The software makes better robust offerings, including invoices and inventory management.

Cons

Reports are taking more time , now the quality is reduced with the pricing of more than $70 plus a month.

Maciej
Overall rating
  • Industry: Marketing & Advertising
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Comprehensive Accounting Software for Small Businesses

Reviewed on 28/04/2023

Overall, Xero is a great accounting software for small businesses. It is packed with features and...

Overall, Xero is a great accounting software for small businesses. It is packed with features and has a user-friendly interface. The cost is quite high, but it is worth it for the features that it provides. The customer support could be better, but the overall experience has been positive.

Pros

Xero is an incredibly comprehensive accounting software that is perfect for small businesses. It has all the necessary features for managing finances and the user interface is easy to use and understand. I love how it can be integrated with other accounting programs and it is constantly being updated with new features and improvements.

Cons

Xero can be quite expensive as compared to other accounting software and the customer support is not always as helpful as one would hope. I have also encountered some glitches that can cause problems when trying to get things done.

Simon
Overall rating
  • Industry: Accounting
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Xero leads the way for cloud based accounting software for small to medium businesses

Reviewed on 12/09/2022

Very good. It certainly seems to be market leader and for good reason.

Very good. It certainly seems to be market leader and for good reason.

Pros

Although may not feature the type of reporting that would set it apart from competitors, it has good integration with other apps that can generally to the job.

For accountants, the customer support is good enough. There is a large community so you can usually find the answer you need if you run into an issue

Cons

Not every useful report is available. And may never get them if they arent on the roadmap. Only really found one strange issue around perpetual revaluing of forex that has not been resolved, and likely wont ever be. Its not critical, but would be useful.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

Sage 50 wasnt cloud at the time, its the only way you can work these days. Sage cloud service wasn't up to scratch back then

Switched From

Sage 50cloud Accounting

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Most advanced at the time
Elliot
Overall rating
  • Industry: Accounting
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Best choice in the market !!

Reviewed on 18/11/2022

It has provided a solution for more than 200 of our clients of varying sizes and complexities.

It has provided a solution for more than 200 of our clients of varying sizes and complexities.

Pros

Xero is first and foremost easy to use and benefits from clever AI functionality. Keeping an eye on the business is much easier via Xero as it shows a snapshot of key data on the dashboard. With the available integrations there are very little limitations to its use and it is well priced for the majority of our clients

Cons

The Payroll module is quite clunky and better options are out there in our opinion. An enhanced cash flow and adding a forecasting element within the software would help. Making it easier to post customer payments on account would also improve an already good product

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

Functionality and cost

Switched From

Sage 50cloud Accounting

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Impressed by account manager and future roadmap presented
karl
Overall rating
  • Industry: Retail
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Great software for SMB

Reviewed on 9/11/2022

We came to Xero from Sage and has changed the way we manage our accounts, and helped the team be...

We came to Xero from Sage and has changed the way we manage our accounts, and helped the team be more productive.

Pros

customer service is great, even for an SMB like ours, we get good response times and knowledgeable people. the system is very easy to use and has great functionality for managing our sales and supplier invoices so that we can keep track of our cashflow accurately. Apps library is great and has everything that we need.

Cons

certain functionality around automation and AI is not there but can be added via connected apps.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

needed more functionality and fewer manual processes

Switched From

Sage Accounting

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Allowed for a more flexible account and functionality was better than other solutions and better connected to other apps and services
Christopher
Overall rating
  • Industry: Computer Software
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

The clean and clear accounting software

Reviewed on 21/04/2023

Since I started using it, everything I have needed Xero for has been straightforward. It takes...

Since I started using it, everything I have needed Xero for has been straightforward. It takes minutes to get a basic invoice setup and sent to a client, and not much longer to make a more advanced invoice. It is easy to connect to your bank account and reconcile incomings and outgoings. It is also easy to give your accountants access.Overall, Xero makes it easy for you to avoid mistakes, and very importantly it has plenty of functionality that will allow it to grow with a company, as you need more advanced features, they are there, often at little to no extra cost. Having Xero helped a lot when starting my business, by making handling my fiances and accounting clean and clear.

Pros

Xero provides a clean and straightforward experience. It has plenty of features for most use cases, but provides functionality that is easy for anyone to use from small business owners up. The integrations they provide, both with Open banking, and allowing you to give your accountants access, make it a breeze to correctly handle your finances and avoid time consuming mistakes come the end of the tax year.

Cons

Having used Xero for many years, there is not much that I have found that I don't like about the system. Sole traders may find the 20 invoice a month restriction limiting, but that only applies to the Starter subscription. The prices of the others are more than reasonable to validate upgrading which gets you unlimited invoices. On occasion there will be bank feed issues, at which point you might be left wondering why your balances don't match. Finding out there is an issue with the feed from your particular bank is not obivous, but can be found by clicking through to their "Why is this different" page. From my experience this is the only con, and it is quite minor.

Alternatives Considered

FreshBooks

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Having had a trial with both Xero and FreshBooks, I much prefered the user interface and experience of Xero. Ultimately it was the ease of use that won me over.
Mahnaz
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Xero use in a School

Reviewed on 23/03/2022

Reconciliations are so much easier, integrating with other products is so much easier, there are so...

Reconciliations are so much easier, integrating with other products is so much easier, there are so many apps which can easily integrate into Xero.

Pros

Xero is very easy to navigate around and is user friendly. Even a non-finance employee is able to use Xero. The product is able to integrate seamlessly with a school management system importing invoices and contacts which are managed in the school management system. The integration is almost automatic and does not require a user to sync. AMAZING PLATFORM!

Cons

Nil - Honestly there is nothing I dislike about Xero.

Alternatives Considered

MYOB Business

Reasons for Choosing Xero

MYOB was not able to integrate with a school management system.

Switched From

MYOB Business

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Integration, Ease of use, ease of navigation, reporting
Rowena
Overall rating
  • Industry: Accounting
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

It took me a while, but I am a Xero convert!

Reviewed on 30/09/2021

When I first began using Xero, I had heard a lot about it and was skeptical. Surely, no software...

When I first began using Xero, I had heard a lot about it and was skeptical. Surely, no software could be so "all that"! I was introduced to it by a colleague who has converted the whole of her mid-size accountancy practice to it, and literally within a day and a half (which did include watching some of the short but very clear tutorial videos) I was not only up and running, but felt confident using it, finding my way around it, locating and fixing errors etc. It's literally that simple and straightforward. It's also incredibly stable - I think in 3 years it's only been offline (to my knowledge) 3 times, each for a very short period. I've also not found ANY bugs so far - almost unheard of! - and the support is fantastic, even though it's online.

Pros

Provided it's set up properly, Xero is probably the most friendly accounting software - to non-accountants that is - of any I've ever come across. Back in the 90's, MYOB revolutionised accounting software for small business, but Xero takes it to a whole new level, by removing so much of the data entry work that takes time, leaves room for errors and is in general a pain, when you'd rather be - you know, running your business. With Xero, it's up to the individual operator how much they want to automate their accounting transactions; if you want to, you can use the really powerful, but still simple tools to do a lot of the legwork for you. If you prefer to do it more manually, that's OK too - it's still simple and very quick and easy to use.

Cons

Xero is constantly adding and refining its software. Inventory control is an area I'd like to see strengthened, but that's already way ahead of where it was a couple of years ago. Similarly processing payments in advance. But these are relatively small niggles which for the majority of small businesses don't present any issue.

Alternatives Considered

MYOB Business

Reasons for Choosing Xero

I was contracting to an accountancy firm who had converted their entire practice to Xero.

Switched From

MYOB Business
Monika
Overall rating
  • Industry: Accounting
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Xero for Business

Reviewed on 25/02/2021

I am happy, can be connected with my clients all the time, can prepare reports anywhere, anytime. I...

I am happy, can be connected with my clients all the time, can prepare reports anywhere, anytime. I think the price for South Africa is a bit high

Pros

I like the product is easy to use, no need high knowledge of accounting, the person who never was doing accounting can easily manage this product

Cons

there is still missing a few things as inventory shall be a bit changed as people with two inventories in different places can not have two storages, there are few things that missing and can make it easier to work with

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

the cloud, it is an advantage to be cloud due to my work I am travelling a lot and if client need help can do it on the move

Switched From

Pastel

Reasons for Switching to Xero

more user friendly I think
Andrew
Overall rating
  • Industry: Accounting
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Xero is the One

Reviewed on 16/08/2021

I am very satisfied to be building my practice on Xero. They have a good product with a good...

I am very satisfied to be building my practice on Xero. They have a good product with a good company behind it. They seem to really care about their advisors and see them as key to their business model. They have a great community and great support.

Pros

What I like most about Xero is its open-platform ethos. It's not one particular feature, it's the whole way that Xero approaches what it does, and it shows up all over the product. One small example is how easy it is to manually import bank transactions via CSV file, and then how easy it is to undo that import if it went wrong. It's less about features (although Cash Coding and Find & Recode are brilliant) and more about design choices.

Cons

I want them to hurry up and integrate Hubdoc into Xero itself. And when that happens, I want there to be a way to generate a report that shows which GL transactions don't have a source document.

Alternatives Considered

Accounting Power and Sage 50cloud Accounting

Reasons for Choosing Xero

Quickbooks treats their ProAdvisors the way Scar treats the hyenas in the Lion King. For Quickbooks, the advisor community will always be a means to an end. Their products are built for consumers, not professionals, and I expect they always will be.

Switched From

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Xero

In the end, I decided that the ability to integrate apps was going to be determinative over the long term. Xero and QBO are way out in front when it comes to integration and I expect that as the market matures, they will end up with a Coke-and-Pepsi-level of market dominance. They may already be there. Early on, I tried to get someone to sell me Accounting Power and/or Sage 50, but neither company seemed organized enough to close the sale. I was looking for a software partner that I could build my practice on and Xero were the ones who showed me they wanted to be that and had a plan to make it happen.
jonathan
Overall rating
  • Industry: Accounting
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Appalling Software - Avoid at all Costs in My Opinion

Reviewed on 7/11/2019

Overall, Xero costs us a lot of time we didn't spend before, does things on it's own such as create...

Overall, Xero costs us a lot of time we didn't spend before, does things on it's own such as create new suppliers for an expense and to me, it seems the software was written by ex Bookkeepers who didn't really understand bookkeeping anyway and had a good go at designing a software package that would compete I am guessing with the likes of Sage and failed abysmally.

We use Xero because our accountants do the bookkeeping for us and this is what they use, if not for this, I wouldn't touch Xero if my life depended on it.

Pros

Nothing, nothing at all. The software is nothing more than a glorified analysed cashbook. Support is poor and some of the replies from Support demonstrate the advisor doesn't understand accounts, the accounts structure or the damage that can be done by the advice they are giving.

Cons

All purchases whether a supplier, or a bottle of milk from Tesco's is a contact. A bottle of milk for the office should be coded directly to the nominal code, not a new supplier "Tesco's" created.

Cash in an out of bank should be the same as the bank statement on a live bank feed, but it excludes transfers from savings to current account so not a true reflection of cash in and out.

Xero doesn't reconcile customer receipts, even through the name on the receipt in the bank is the same as the customer account exactly.

Xero dump a lot of support on to the accountant who provides the service.

Xero creates accounts for customers and suppliers on it's own if it doesn't recognise a payment or receipt in the bank account. Software should never be allowed to decide if it wants to create something automatically.

Xero isn't as automated as Sage Accounts, for instance when bulk invoicing over several days, you can't set the date at software level, you have to keep changing the date.

When importing from Sage into Xero for the first time, if Xero doesn't understand an item on the invoice, it simply creates a new line on the invoice whether you want it to or not and there is no way apparently to undo this once done.

Xero works with receipt bank and you can spend hours trying to tell it an expense is not to be coded to a customer.

I could go on.

Paul
Overall rating
  • Industry: Consumer Goods
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Super Simple Accounting Software for Small to Medium Sized Businesses

Reviewed on 15/09/2019

As a small business our main priority is to keep our monthly book keeping tasks simple and quick....

As a small business our main priority is to keep our monthly book keeping tasks simple and quick. Since moving to Xero from MYOB we have found a significant reduction in our book keeping time input. We are NOT accountants or book keeping experts and Xero as an accounting system has definitely made this part of our business much more efficient. We are guided by our accountant as how best to use the software and have been able to develop a simple client - accountant relationship with Xero being the main conduit of information between us.

Pros

As a small business we found Xero to be a simple and very cost effective solution for all our accounting - book keeping needs. Xero is very easy to set up with your accountant and reduces the time you need to spend on book keeping tasks each month. With automatic bank feeds the time we need to reconcile our accounts each month is minimal. The audit trail features mean any issues that arise can be quickly found and fixed. Being able to notate any transactions enables our accountant to quickly respond to our queries. As a small business keeping our external accountant costs down is very important to us and by using Xero means the time our accountant has to actually spend on our accounts is less and therefore so are the invoices we receive from him!

Cons

Some of the automatic accounts Xero suggests you reconcile to are not correct so it is important to double check each transaction before reconciling. We had issues setting up some of the automatic bank feeds and still have one bank account that will not process the feeds so we need to enter those transactions manually. When uploading a file of transactions we also had some issues and found it quicker just to manually enter them into the software.

Alternatives Considered

MYOB Business

Reasons for Choosing Xero

We found MYOB to be very time intensive on our part. As non booking experts our accountant recommended we make the switch and set up automatic bank feeds which we did. It has improved out book keeping efficiency tremendously. It has also saved us money in software costs and we don't need to be constantly ringing our accountant for help in reconciling transactions.

Switched From

MYOB Business

Reasons for Switching to Xero

N/a. We were using MYOB and on our accountants advice we made the switch to Xero.
Kathryn
Overall rating
  • Industry: Arts & Crafts
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Affordable professional level accounting software for small business

Reviewed on 26/08/2019

It's been easier to use Xero than I expected, but I had a nasty surprise at tax time when I...

It's been easier to use Xero than I expected, but I had a nasty surprise at tax time when I realized the default accounts/descriptions for expenses did not correlate 1:1 to IRS categories. (I should have checked this more closely when I set up my accounts because it's a New Zealand company, and the previous product was local.) This means I will need to double-check all my transactions for 2018 and the IRS has my vastly overestimated tax payment until I can do that and file my return on an extension.

I've had a much better experience importing data from financial institutions because Xero uses a well-known importing service that is trusted by the institutions.

I like being able to match multiple invoices to bank deposits because I usually don't run to the bank for each check. This will be more valuable as my company grows.

I should probably find an accountant to assist me with this, but I haven't found an accountant who understands both craft businesses and Xero.

Pros

Professional double entry software at a very affordable price
Accommodates both cash and accrual accounting
Links to financial institutions to get transactions
Uses standard importer recognized by the financial institutions instead of just trying to log in remotely (and triggering fraud alerts)
Can match multiple invoices to a single deposit transaction imported from bank
Can keep using Xero as company grows

Cons

Pre-existing expense categories/descriptions don't map 1:1 with IRS definitions, so I'm having to go back to all my receipts to make sure expenses are entered in proper accounts because I didn't realize this when I switched
More difficult to focus on specific expense categories to check transactions
Have not been able to import historic data from previous app (possibly because it's not double entry) so I am still paying the subscription on that software to retain access to my data
No integration with Craftybase, so I have to enter supply purchases and customer invoices there independently

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

Outright depends on importing data from financial institutions but they were extremely unreliable (apparently they don't use a standard importing service and my credit union kept flagging them as hackers for remote logins) and customer service kept giving me the runaround. It also isn't "professional" double-entry bookkeeping and can't be audited. Outright can't handle Cost of Goods Sold properly and requires manual workarounds. It can't generate professional reports needed when applying for loans.

Reasons for Switching to Xero

QuickBooks introduced a special product for Etsy integration, but early adopters had problems with data disappearing and no way to recover it. Otherwise, the cost of QuickBooks to cover the same features I use in Xero would have been very expensive; even a QB consultant told me it's overkill for a business of my size. I forget which other products I looked at, but Xero was recommended by several owners of similar businesses.
Ibrahim
Overall rating
  • Industry: E-Learning
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Xero is changing the landscape of cloud accounting

Reviewed on 28/08/2022

My experience with Xero can be described as fulfilling, it has simplified my workflow and saved me...

My experience with Xero can be described as fulfilling, it has simplified my workflow and saved me a lot of time and effort, I no longer spend long hours at the office. This has also impacted positively on my health. I would recommend this software to everyone.

Pros

“It’s so clean to apply, even for non-financial human beings”

My financial institution transactions are robotically connect to Xero so I don’t have to manually input them myself.

I get my Financial statements the first week after the year end

Another charming issue of this software is that it is a great idea if a corporation is unfolded across a couple of places with personnel operating in various locations. The accountants from every location can get admission to the financial data of all branches at any moment irrespective of their vicinity or time.

As a world main provider of online accounting software program, Xero utilizes world-elegance cloud safety. Your data is appropriately saved in the cloud, and guarded from both Cyber criminals and perils like fire or flood.

Cons

The expenses tracking can be formatted to allow multiply currencies to be easily uploaded in batches or real time.

No integrated ‘Debtor Chasing’ function so companies will have to manually follow up on their unpaid invoices.

Sibylle
Overall rating
  • Industry: Financial Services
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

My investment in Xero didn't work out

Reviewed on 23/11/2020

I became Xero certified in 2016, I was very enthusiastic about the product at the time, and thought...

I became Xero certified in 2016, I was very enthusiastic about the product at the time, and thought I would be building a practice using it. Unfortunately, the more I used it, the less well it worked for me, due to the reasons given above and more.

I also find the Xero portal for practitioners unnecessarily complex and difficult to navigate.

The company was always also assigning new account managers to me. I think I've met four or five in total.

Xero frequently asked me for feedback and I provided it several times, especially about my discontent with their reconciliation process, which I consider inadequate to my needs as a professional bookkeeper, and which I had seen cause significant problems for business owners trying to maintain their own file. Though I repeated this feedback over the course of several years, it hasn't changed. I realize I'm just one customer, and I don't know if others feel the same way or not. Anyway, in the end, I didn't want to work with this issue anymore.

Pros

Transaction processing in the bank feed is, as they claim, very well set up. At the time I started using Xero, the company also seemed to provide some needed competition and an alternative to intuit in the small business accounting software space.

Cons

The other accounting software apps I use are QBO and Wave. Both, IMO, are better than Xero.

Back to the bank feed -- Xero is unable to connect with a number of banks. In addition, the bank feed sometimes drops out transactions with no notice to the file owner or bookkeeper. Thanks to the lack of a reconciliation process tied to hard numbers, inaccuracies can pile up in the registers as a result.

In addition, overall access to data in the registers is more awkward to accomplish than in either QBO or Wave. Editing transactions is significantly more complex than in QBO. The system of comparison between the "bank statement lines" and the account register was confusing at times. And there are odd glitches in the reporting (cannot recall all the details now, I only have one client left using this app) that I had to watch out for. Xero is a product that has some really amazing capabilities mixed in with real weaknesses.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

At the time, Xero looked better. Over time, QBO caught up and now surpasses Xero in quality, IMO.

Switched From

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Xero

See above.
Sherm
Overall rating
  • Industry: Marketing & Advertising
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10

XERO reconciliation is an issue

Reviewed on 20/08/2020

Overall, it's a decent program, with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a cloud based...

Overall, it's a decent program, with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a cloud based accounting program. Unfortunately working without being able to reconcile monthly made life too difficult. And not many accountants work with it, so that made it difficult to have professional eyes on my accounting.

Pros

I loved how easy it was to integrate XERO with my bank accounts and Paypal. XERO seamlessly connected and kept my balances up to date. I also liked how easy it was to invoice clients and connect invoices to Paypal or Stripe.

Cons

Unfortunately, the reconciliation process in XERO is a no-go for me. Rather than the Quickbooks and standard approach, where you do a monthly reconciliation against a bank statement, XERO had no such function. Once an item was matched up to a bank transaction, it was considered "reconciled." No option to close out a month and double-check transactions. I went back to QBO to get that feature.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

I wanted better connection with online banks. At the time, XERO performed that better than QB.

Reasons for Switching to Xero

I wanted better connection with online banks. At the time, XERO performed that better than QB. I have since switched to Quickbooks Online.