Xero
About Xero
Awards and Recognition
Xero Pricing
Early: $5.50/month Growing: $16/month Established: $31/month
Starting price:
$7.50 per month
Free trial:
Available
Free version:
Not Available
Most Helpful Reviews for Xero
1 - 5 of 2,091 Reviews
Karim
11 - 50 employees
Used more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
Reviewed January 2021
One stop Accounting solutions for Small to Medium organisations.
Kathryn
Verified reviewer
Arts and Crafts, 1 employee
Used weekly for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed August 2019
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.
PROSProfessional 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
CONSPre-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
Reason for choosing 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.
Reasons for switching to 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.
Julian
Verified reviewer
Computer Software, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed January 2024
Excellent accounting software
Been using Xero for years and have only good things to say. Its been a game changer for us.
PROSOnce it is setup, it will change the way you work. With a streamlined and easy to use interface it is great for day to day business, and for checking reports too. Bank reconciliation and reminders are super important features.
CONSThe chart of accounts was a bit confusing but understand it now.
Reasons for switching to Xero
Xero was a lot more powerful and had many more features.
Steve
Marketing and Advertising, 1 employee
Used weekly for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed March 2024
Great tool to help Create Financial Docs for Business
Overall I liked the idea of the tool. The fact it pulled data into a P&L and Balance Sheet helped give me the status of the business.
PROSLinking it to my bank accounts and credit cards allowed it to pull in data to create some financials. This was very helpful early on in our start-up journey
CONSIt would pull data into our financials which after closer review was incorrect. This caused us to spend extra time modifying the financial reports.
Andrew
Construction, 2-10 employees
Used daily for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
2
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
2
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
2
FUNCTIONALITY
2
Reviewed March 2024
Projects Feature/Module
We use Projects in our business which is critical to getting accurate real-time reporting, but is actually a waste of money and time. The features have not been designed with "Projects" in mind. It was as if someone at Xero decided it was a good idea to make this an add-on which users have to pay for.
PROSNot much. It really only serves the accounts payable/receivable function fairly well.
CONSIt was touted to be the go-to software but in reality it is really no better that most others. It is frustratingly clunky to use.