Affordable professional level accounting software for small business

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

Xero is an awesome bookkeeping solution for small business owners!

Xero is an awesome bookkeeping and accounting software solution for startups and small business owners. It is indeed a good match for business owners who know nothing about accounting in order to keep their books and to properly manage their finances. From my own experience, I found that Xero is very user-friendly and its accounting interface is streamlined, almost seamless, and uncluttered. The Demo Company is very useful as you can manipulate data without worrying about messing up vital information in your practice company. Xero’s accounting dashboard shows the snapshot of your business (i.e., bank balances and reconciling items, outstanding invoices, and bills, accounts on the watchlist, etc.) and fully customizable depending on your needs. Quickbooks had been the leader of accounting software for small businesses for quite some time but Xero is becoming more popular because of its competitive offering and value proposition. Xero’s starting plan is very affordable and you have the option to add-on some features depending on your need. It also offers a basic inventory and fixed asset management functionality in all of its plans, which is very cool! And the best thing about Xero is the unlimited users allowed to access the financial information.

Pros

- Affordable and cost less for startups and small businesses - Includes fixed assets and inventory management in all of its plans - Very user-friendly especially during migration or conversion of data - Allows unlimited users - Friendly 24/7 customer support

Cons

- Some countries lack a built-in payroll option. - Customized reporting options are still limited. I wish Xero can allow you to create your own report. - The contact list of customers and suppliers is mixed together and needs to set-up manually to organize.

Easy to Use package with lots of addons

Overall, with the available add-ons, it has significantly reduced our data entry time

Pros

Integrates well with adds on to provide more sophisticated reporting. Integration with AI products such as ReceiptBank and Approval Donkey also work well.

Cons

The project reports are not particularly good. There is more information in the project tabs than what you can obtain in the report which is disappointing.

Pretty good, but in the end, more complicated than needed for two person practice

largely positive, but when they got rid of payroll, given my business of 2 employee/owner s-corp in a medical practice, with no retail/inventory, it made things a ton easier to just do my accounting in Excel. It was really the payroll that made this a no brainer for me.

Pros

I loved the usability of this software. It was super easy to set up relatively sophisticated accounting with no accounting background. I thought the bank reconciliation was dynamite, and while they still had it, I loved the payroll. When I would eventually get triaged to tech support, the person was so patient, and so helpful it was really great, and they never seemed to mind spending a long time helping to fix some oddball problems that I'd made. Oh yes, loved it that they did the quarterly tax filings for me, but that also went away with the payroll

Cons

One thing about this accounting software - when you have a question their first response is to tell you to have your accountant look at it. I was using this software as a replacement for an accountant, in order to save money, so that advice didn't help much. When you do a google for help, you run into a problem: Xero seems to be doing accounting software for all the english speaking countries,e.g. new zealand, australia, UK, USA and canada. each of these countries has different business formations/corporations, different taxation rules, etc, as well as meaningfully different accounting vernacular. I would end up mnost of the time getting somewhere only to realize I'd pulled up the UK instructions to solve a problem.

Solid platform

So far, it has been amazing. I have little to no complaints. Everyone that I have moved to Xero have told me thank you.

Pros

Xero is an accounting software that just works. I have used so many different platforms, and Xero has been the easiest and most reliable software I have found.

Cons

1099 reports are too limited. Tracking categories are too limited. Support can phone it in when you first reach out to them, but if you set up a time to chat with someone they are extremely helpful.