While Xero doesn’t offer payroll directly, it does integrate with Gusto. Gusto is cloud-based payroll software that can support businesses of all sizes, from contractors to enterprise organizations. You can turn on automatic payment reminders to save time otherwise spent pursuing overdue invoices. You can choose how often customers receive reminders, and turn off reminders for specific customers or invoices. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence.
What is better: QuickBooks or Xero?
Small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers locally and across the world trust Xero with their numbers. Includes audit trails and easy accountant access; has millions of users so your accountant will likely be familiar with it. Includes tools that help automate the reconciliation process, along with a what is remote bookkeeping global search function and customizable dashboard; however, there is a learning curve. Includes tools that help automate the reconciliation process, along with a global search function and customizable dashboard; has a simple layout. More than 750 app integrations, including live, in-house bookkeeping.
Featured apps
However, late payment times worsened in the most recent data, with payments continuing to be made almost two working weeks late. We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent, a Motley Fool service, does not cover all offers on the market.
Limits on bills and invoices in the entry-level plan
Customers can contact QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks via phone, but Xero doesn’t provide a phone number for customer service. Business owners on Xero’s Growing or Established plans can purchase Inventory Plus for an additional $39/month. Xero allows you to add your logo and a personalized message to your invoices, which conveys a sense of professionalism and helps customers trust that it’s you they’re receiving the invoice from.
Announcing the 2024 Xero US App Award finalists
- Xero enables you to easily view the payment status of your invoices to see who has paid and what is overdue.
- While not everything is available in the Xero accounting app, you can seamlessly work between your desktop or laptop and mobile device as you need to.
- Xero’s Early plan, recommended for self-employed people or brand-new businesses, allows 20 invoices per year.
- You can also scroll through Xero’s default chart of accounts and customize it as needed, or import an already existing chart of accounts.
- Xero helps transform the data you enter into actionable information at every subscription level.
You can schedule a call with a Small Business Specialist if you need more help with setting up the dashboard. Customers cite speed, efficiency, and the tendency to go the extra mile as things they love about Xero’s customer support. The business snapshot table shows some of the key differences between Xero’s analytics and Analytics Plus features. To get started with capturing and storing data, users can navigate to Xero’s Organization menu to either set up a new Hubdoc organization or connect an existing Hubdoc account. The quote form includes multiple fields, enabling you to provide a thorough description of everything your estimate entails.
Popular features
All three plans come with an optional add-on for payroll with Gusto for $40 per month plus $6 per month per person. Gusto is a platform that automates payroll filing for all 50 states in addition to automating payroll taxes, deductions and filings and providing employees with the platform to view pay stubs and W-2s online. Get access to all of Xero including add-ons like Xero Projects and Xero Expenses.
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. Robust feature set includes thorough record-keeping, comprehensive reporting, excellent invoicing and inventory management, plus a capable mobile app. Xero allows business owners to easily customize their invoices, collect payments from multiple sources, access accounting information on the go, and more. While competitors such as FreshBooks provide a discount for annual plans, Xero only offers a monthly option. This plan is designed for sole proprietors or early-stage enterprises and includes 20 invoices and five bills or purchase orders per month.
Users can access their bank balances, invoices, bills, and more with just a few clicks. Xero doesn’t provide a phone number on its customer support page, but a representative will call you if necessary. This is a serious drawback if you want to be able to pick up the phone and talk through an issue or are new to accounting mental health billing software and have lots of questions. For example, you can give all employees the ability to send quotes and invoices, allow some to enter expenses and limit who can see the company’s complete financial picture. To keep things organized, Xero logs every action users make and compiles the history of every transaction.
FreshBooks can be a good option for freelancers and contractors looking for an affordable, simple accounting software. There’s time tracking in all plans and phone support is available from 8 a.m. The first two plan tiers put a limit on billable clients, but not on invoices. The Early subscription is tailored for solopreneurs and business owners who are just getting started. You’re able to send 20 quotes and invoices per month, enter five bills, reconcile bank transactions, capture bills and receipts with Hubdoc and view a short-term cash flow and business snapshot. Many accounting software for small businesses offer a 30-day free trial; however, Xero’s plans are less expensive than many of its competitors, starting at just $15/month.
If you can’t justify the $90-per-month QuickBooks Online Plus plan, you won’t get inventory management, because QuickBooks Online’s lower-tier plans don’t come with it. This could be a real shortcoming for small online retail businesses, for instance, that need to keep track of their a step-by-step guide to catching up on your bookkeeping products and the materials used to make them. All of Xero’s plans come with inventory management so business owners can track what’s in stock and which products are selling. Xero’s Early plan, recommended for self-employed people or brand-new businesses, allows 20 invoices per year.
FreshBooks charges $17 per month and QuickBooks charges $30 per month). However, the best option and price point will depend on the specific capabilities and features you are looking for. Xero’s accounting software is highly rated among small businesses. Read our 2024 Xero review to find out if it’s the right solution for your business. You’ll receive your invoice at the end of your monthly billing period.
With Xero, you can add an unlimited number of users to your account at each subscription level. This is a notable feature for accounting software; often, lower-tier plans allow fewer users while only higher-tier plans allow unlimited users. The Growing plan is best suited for growing businesses, grants the same capabilities in addition to the ability to send unlimited quotes and invoices, enter unlimited bills, and reconcile transactions in bulk. Xero includes extensive features that make it suitable to handle complex accounting processes for small- and medium-sized businesses as well as larger ones.
Customers say that they love how easy it is to use the software, and the dashboard feature that provides a snapshot of all your business stats in one place is a big draw. Customers praise Xero’s speedy customer service; however, some customers say that it would be nice if Xero offered a phone number for quick answers to common questions. Xero’s inventory feature helps business owners track and report on the quality and value of existing stock. All of Xero’s plans come with a data capture and online file storage feature, making it easy to store information from receipts and scanned documents.
Business owners, freelancers and entrepreneurs often spend a large chunk of time on administration and accounting. Suited for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Xero is an affordable cloud-based accounting software system that streamlines these processes with plans starting at $13 per month. You can import data from another accounting system in bulk via CSV files once you’ve done the initial set up in Xero.
Data also showed that average payment times improved slightly overall, but late payment times have worsened to almost 10 days late. After you start a free 30-day trial of Xero, you’ll activate the account and provide details about your business. Then, you can connect your bank accounts to Xero and decide if you’ll accept electronic payments for online invoices. Xero’s online accounting software connects small business owners with their numbers, their bank, and advisors anytime. Xero wins out over the competition as far as price, scalability, and integrations go.
†Invoice limits for the Early plan apply to both approving and sending invoices. Transactions initiated by app partners may automatically contribute to your invoice limit. All pricing plans cover the accounting essentials, with room to grow. Make Xero your own by connecting other apps to the Xero accounting software.
This can be helpful if your company is growing fast, or you simply want the reassurance that there’s no limit to how many people can be part of the team. Keep in mind that the ability to use multiple currencies in the software and invoice is limited to the company’s highest tier, at $70 per month. If using multiple currencies is a priority to you, consider other platforms that offer this capability at a lower cost. Zoho, for example, is accounting software with a free invoice platform that allows you to bill in multiple currencies.