Overview
What is Xero?
Xero is an online accounting software product for small businesses and personal finance. Its features beyond general ledger and double-bookkeeping include quotable invoicing, bank reconciliation, purchase order and expense management, and tax management. Third party apps can extend its features…
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Great software for businesses
Accounting made easy
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Prosper in the symphony of financial excellence with Xero.
Xero to Hero
Xero, your Accounting-starter buddy!
Xero - I Love That It is One Touch Bank Reconciliations
Xero the Hero
Xero or Zero
Easy to use accounting software.
Xero is great for quotes.
Xero
Xero
How Xero Differs From Its Competitors
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Awards
Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards
Popular Features
- Bank reconciliation (190)9.191%
- Accounts receivable (183)9.090%
- Standard reports (185)8.383%
- Dashboards (182)8.080%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Video Reviews
1 video
Pricing
Early
$13
Growing
$37
Established
$70
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Starting price (does not include set up fee)
- $13 per month
Features
Payroll Management
Provides for pay calculation and benefit plan administration, in addition to managing direct deposit, salary revisions and payroll tracking.
- 7.9Pay calculation(65) Ratings
Pay calculation provides for computation of employee pay with state and federal deductions.
- 8.1Benefit plan administration(23) Ratings
Benefit plan administration is administration of health insurance plans and 401k plans, and other benefits.
- 7.7Direct deposit files(49) Ratings
Direct deposit is the ability to electronically transfer pay to an employee’s personal bank account.
- 7.6Salary revision and increment management(41) Ratings
Salary revision is the ability to modify individual employee pay.
- 7.2Reimbursement management(54) Ratings
Reimbursement management provides cash reimbursement for employee expenses related to business travel or other.
Customization
This addresses a company’s ability to configure the software to fit its specific use case and workflow.
- 7.8API for custom integration(79) Ratings
An API (application programming interface) provides a standard programming interface for connecting third-party systems to the software for data creation, access, updating and/or deletion.
- 7.3Plug-ins(117) Ratings
A number of third-party plug-ins are available to expand the core functionality of the software.
Security
This component helps a company minimize the security risks by controlling access to the software and its data, and encouraging best practices among users.
- 7Single sign-on capability(72) Ratings
The software system supports a centralized authentication mechanism allowing the user to access multiple systems with a single, centrally managed password.
- 8.8Role-based user permissions(163) Ratings
Permissions to perform actions or access or modify data are assigned to roles, which are then assigned to users, reducing complexity of administration.
Reporting & Analytics
Users can report on and analyze usage, performance, ROI, and/or other metrics of success.
- 8Dashboards(182) Ratings
Users can create, customize and share dashboards, which provide an overview of the most important metrics.
- 8.3Standard reports(185) Ratings
The software offers pre-built reports with metrics standard to the category.
- 8.1Custom reports(165) Ratings
Users can create custom reports.
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Financial management solution, including capabilities for general ledger and configurable accounting
- 8.8Accounts payable(182) Ratings
This includes the automation and tracking of payment to vendors and suppliers, with features such as payment scheduling, check printing, open purchase order alerts, document management, direct ACH bill payment, and vendor records.
- 9Accounts receivable(183) Ratings
This includes the management and automation of invoices and collections, with features like statements, invoices, receipts, payment reminders, customer records, auto billing, and refund checks.
- 8.1Cash management(167) Ratings
The software provides a complete picture of a company’s cash flows, streamlines payment processing, and includes cash forecasting.
- 9.1Bank reconciliation(190) Ratings
The software connects to a company’s financial institutions in order to reconcile accounting records with checking, savings and credit card accounts. Often month and year closing capabilities are included.
- 8Expense management(173) Ratings
The software can log and track business expenses and reimbursements, including travel-related expenses, with the ability to tie them to particular projects.
- 7.9Time tracking(63) Ratings
The software can track billable and non-billable employee time by project.
- 7.9Fixed asset management(118) Ratings
This includes the ability to track fixed assets (e.g., laptops), including location, check-in and check-out, maintenance scheduling, audit history, specialized property tax period reports, cost and depreciation.
- 7.6Multi-currency support(113) Ratings
The software supports transactions across multiple currencies.
- 7.5Multi-division support(95) Ratings
The software is flexible and supports bookkeeping practices along multiple dimensions such as locations, branches or products.
- 8.3Regulations compliance(97) Ratings
The software helps users adhere to typical accounting standards and regulations such as IFRS, GASB, or GAAP.
- 8.9Electronic tax filing(99) Ratings
The software provides a full electronic interface for the filing of repeatable taxes, such as payroll or sales tax.
- 7.8Self-service portal(110) Ratings
The software provides online portals for certain stakeholders to find information relevant to them, such as employees, vendors and customers.
- 6.3Global Financial Support(55) Ratings
Account using multiple ledgers, multiple currencies, and multiple entities
- 7.4Primary and Secondary Ledgers(53) Ratings
Record and report across multiple currencies and accounting standards with primary and secondary ledgers
- 5.5Intercompany Accounting(40) Ratings
Automatically balance and reconcile GL for intercompany transactions
- 8Localizations(39) Ratings
Meet reporting requirements with country-specific localizations
- 9.3Journals and Reconciliations(90) Ratings
Automate and synchronize ledgers and processes
- 3.7Enterprise Accounting(33) Ratings
Create accounting for disconnected ERP and non-accounting source systems
- 5Configurable Accounting(59) Ratings
Configure accounting rules and segments for each chart of accounts
- 4.5Centralized Rules Framework(33) Ratings
Integrate disparate ERP and transactional systems into single ERP instance
- 5.5Standardized Processes(59) Ratings
Centralize financial management to facilitate standardized financial processes
Inventory Management
The ability to track and manage the flow of goods or materials into and out of an inventory.
- 6.4Inventory tracking(85) Ratings
The software syncs orders and stock to maintain a real-time picture of inventory and supports multiple methods such as LIFO and FIFO.
- 6.8Automatic reordering(24) Ratings
The software can be set up to automatically reorder a good when it falls below a certain threshold.
- 6.7Location management(29) Ratings
The software can track multiple goods across multiple locations.
- 6.2Manufacturing module(16) Ratings
The software helps track and manage raw materials, work-in-progress items, and finished goods.
Order Management
The ability to process orders, and track them from quote to cash.
- 6.6Pricing(62) Ratings
Users can set up complex and unique pricing requirements.
- 6.7Order entry(56) Ratings
Users can enter an order once, and the data flows to all the necessary units such as fulfillment and billing.
- 7.1Credit card processing(58) Ratings
The software facilitates credit card processing.
- 7Cost of goods sold(66) Ratings
The software calculates the direct costs attributable to a finished product, such as materials and labor, and includes roll-up pricing.
- 6.4Order Orchestration(21) Ratings
Define and execute order fulfillment processes for products as well as services on the same order.
- 6.4End-to-end order visibility(24) Ratings
Get updates on orders, inventory, shipments, planned supply, and invoices, and improve the quality of decisions through in-context analytics
- 6.4Order exception Resolution(17) Ratings
Monitor fulfillment tasks and resolve issues, view and evaluate varios options via what-if analysis and define and enforce change order rules
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Xero?
The product is sold by subscription (a distribution model commonly known as software as a service or SaaS) requiring the payment of a monthly fee. This charge is proportionate to the number (and type) of company entities managed by the subscriber. The lowest tiered pricing option is the $9 per month Starter pack, which supports unlimited users but a limited number of transactions. The $30 Standard pack breaks open usage limits and adds e-filing and payroll options. The $70 Premium package doubles the number of supported employees on payroll from 5 to 10, and supports multiple currencies.
Xero Features
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting Features
- Supported: Accounts payable
- Supported: Accounts receivable
- Supported: Cash management
- Supported: Bank reconciliation
- Supported: Expense management
- Supported: Time tracking
- Supported: Fixed asset management
- Supported: Multi-currency support
- Supported: Multi-division support
- Supported: Regulations compliance
- Supported: Electronic tax filing
- Supported: Self-service portal
- Supported: Global Financial Support
- Supported: Primary and Secondary Ledgers
Inventory Management Features
- Supported: Inventory tracking
Reporting & Analytics Features
- Supported: Dashboards
- Supported: Standard reports
- Supported: Custom reports
Customization Features
- Supported: Plug-ins
Security Features
- Supported: Role-based user permissions
- Supported: Multi-factor authentication
Xero Screenshots
Xero Video
Xero Integrations
Xero Competitors
Xero Technical Details
Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Unspecified |
Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Comparisons
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Reviews and Ratings
(726)Attribute Ratings
- 9.9Likelihood to Renew32 ratings
- 9Availability10 ratings
- 10Performance8 ratings
- 8.8Usability135 ratings
- 9.1Support Rating36 ratings
- 10Online Training5 ratings
- 9.1In-Person Training1 rating
- 7.3Implementation Rating10 ratings
- 9Configurability1 rating
- 10Product Scalability6 ratings
- 6.7Ease of integration95 ratings
- 10Vendor pre-sale2 ratings
- 9Vendor post-sale2 ratings
- 9.1CPA Rating10 ratings
Reviews
(1-3 of 3)Xero superior to QuickBooks
- Bank feeds & reconciliation
- Single ledger
- Xero to Xero network invoices and bills
- Integrations to various, more specific solutions
- Multicurrency
- Reporting query flexibility
- Global search functionality
- Easier return to prior pages after drill-down
- Accounts payable
- 80%8.0
- Accounts receivable
- 90%9.0
- Cash management
- 100%10.0
- Bank reconciliation
- 100%10.0
- Expense management
- 50%5.0
- Fixed asset management
- 70%7.0
- Multi-currency support
- 100%10.0
- Multi-division support
- 70%7.0
- Regulations compliance
- 70%7.0
- Electronic tax filing
- 50%5.0
- Self-service portal
- 80%8.0
- Global Financial Support
- 50%5.0
- Primary and Secondary Ledgers
- 100%10.0
- Intercompany Accounting
- 80%8.0
- Localizations
- 50%5.0
- Journals and Reconciliations
- 100%10.0
- Enterprise Accounting
- 90%9.0
- Configurable Accounting
- 80%8.0
- Standardized Processes
- 90%9.0
- Inventory tracking
- 30%3.0
- Pricing
- 30%3.0
- Order entry
- 30%3.0
- Credit card processing
- 80%8.0
- Cost of goods sold
- 30%3.0
- Order Orchestration
- 30%3.0
- End-to-end order visibility
- 20%2.0
- Order exception Resolution
- 10%1.0
- Pay calculation
- 70%7.0
- Direct deposit files
- 70%7.0
- Salary revision and increment management
- 70%7.0
- Reimbursement management
- 50%5.0
- Dashboards
- 90%9.0
- Standard reports
- 80%8.0
- Custom reports
- 50%5.0
- API for custom integration
- 100%10.0
- Plug-ins
- 100%10.0
- Role-based user permissions
- 80%8.0
- Quicker, more efficient client closing process
- Eliminates need to transfer data files or company versions
- SaaS model, like QuickBooks Online or similar software vs. one-time fee for desktop or enterprise or other multi-licensed desktop software; include as part of fixed, monthly value fee
- Standard reporting functionality allows consistency across multiple entities and users.
- Fewer than 25% of my clients
- Automated bank feeds
- Open API & integrations
- Bank rules
- Hubdoc to Bill.com to Xero integration for full accounts payable and payment system
- Better use of standard report templates
- Convert more clients from QuickBooks
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Third-party Reviews
- Implemented in-house
- Need good opening balance sheet
- Identification of correct bank for initial bank feed set-up
- Bank security questions. Not a Xero issue, but rather financial institutions.
- Online training
- Self-taught
- Bank reconciliations
- Connecting apps in Xero marketplace
- Files to attach receipt or other document to transaction
- Payments or receipts that included a standard invoice or bill plus another, unusual component
- New vs old reporting structure unnecessary and clumsy
- Vend
- Spotlight Reporting
- File import/export
- AppExchange or similar marketplace
- Greater payroll functionality and efiling capability
- Enhanced reporting
- More integrated apps
- More states for payroll
- More flexible reporting tools
Not as enthusiastic as everyone else is with Xero, but I do use it and it works well.
UPDATE: I've turned on Xero's Payroll features and loving it! I can't wait until it supports all US states.
- Reconciliation feature is great as long as I log in regularly enough to do it.
- Mobile app is brilliantly simple.
- FreshBooks sync (although there are some annoyances)
- Payroll features are FANTASTIC!
- Freshbooks sync only works with one incoming account.
- Unified cash flow graph. The at-a-glance ability to see where cash flow is at would be phenomenal in getting an instant feel of whether things are OK or not.
- A quicker way to reconcile would make an already-fast process even faster. Right now I have to click OK to accept all the rules-based matches. I wish I could set rules to actually auto-reconcile.
- Accounts payable
- 70%7.0
- Accounts receivable
- 70%7.0
- Cash management
- 80%8.0
- Bank reconciliation
- 90%9.0
- Expense management
- 60%6.0
- Fixed asset management
- N/AN/A
- Multi-currency support
- 80%8.0
- Regulations compliance
- N/AN/A
- Electronic tax filing
- 80%8.0
- Order entry
- 60%6.0
- Cost of goods sold
- 70%7.0
- Pay calculation
- 90%9.0
- Benefit plan administration
- 20%2.0
- Direct deposit files
- 50%5.0
- Salary revision and increment management
- 70%7.0
- Reimbursement management
- 70%7.0
- Dashboards
- 80%8.0
- Standard reports
- 90%9.0
- Custom reports
- 90%9.0
- API for custom integration
- 90%9.0
- Plug-ins
- 100%10.0
- Role-based user permissions
- 100%10.0
- Single sign-on capability
- N/AN/A
- Increased speed of accounting generally due to solid bank and Freshbooks integrations.
- Not needing to deal with old-school payroll providers. LOVE IT!
QuickBooks is incredibly bloated.
Freshbooks is just for invoicing (we still use it for that).
QuickBooks Online may be a good competitor to Xero, I am just not excited about Intuit's approach to software any more.
Wave accounting is free and even simpler than Xero. I would have switched to it but they haven't opened API access.
- Income and expense reporting by client (using Xero's flexible tracking categories)
- Reconciliation of all our financial accounts.
- Providing visibility on our company's financials for advisory and auditing purposes
- We were very happy to find that Xero included integration with Freshbooks, an app we already knew and loved, and didn't want to leave.
- Xero's personal finance management was another thing we were really happy to find in the app (very disappointingly this was removed).
- Payroll
- Expense reimbursement claims
- Product Features
- Implemented in-house
- Figuring out how to use transaction categorization -- something that's turned out to be one of our favorite Xero features.
- Self-taught
- Reconciliation
- Retrieving Freshbooks invoices
- Tracing down the reason an account balance is slightly off.
- Changing the account a customer payment is made from.
- FreshBooks, our billing software
- Have thought about integrating with our time tracking software.
- Xero, being a cloud application, rolls out new functionality periodically. I haven't had any issues with any new functionality -- it's all been smooth sailing.
- I am not aware of a publicly viewable product roadmap, so I'm not sure what's coming next.
Xero or Nothing?
- Multi currency - this is very important function for companies that transacts business in various denominations and locations.
- Bank Recs - Reconciliation (bank accounts) are done on a daily basis so your accounts are refreshed every day - as oppose to once a month (after you receive your bank statements). In QB, there are so many additional steps to balance your bank account on a daily basis if you are managing cash and trying to figure out what payments have not cleared.
- Financial Reporting - reporting is pretty good that you can determine the layout of your financials - so you can format it based on how you track your KPIs - cost per acquisition (customer), recurring revenue,etc.
- Classes - allowing "classes" so that a company can track financials in various companies or locations.
- Sales Tax Reporting - creating reports that presents sales before sale taxes and after taxes as well as reporting by state/city tax rates. There is an Income by Contact report but that is not sufficient for reconciling sales taxes payable by city and by state.
- Expense Claim - being able to set up the tax rates such that when employees submit their expenses with sales tax included in it, the sales tax rates are not available for selection as it usually ends up in the sales taxes payable (system treats it as a sales taxes payable).
- Bank Feeds - some bank feeds are not available. For example, Chase Credit Card transactions have to be manually uploaded as Xero is still developing interface? For a small company, this may be a hardship as most purchases are not on a PO basis or vendors are not willing to do terms.
- Accounts payable
- 80%8.0
- Accounts receivable
- 80%8.0
- Cash management
- 80%8.0
- Bank reconciliation
- 90%9.0
- Expense management
- 80%8.0
- Time tracking
- N/AN/A
- Fixed asset management
- 80%8.0
- Multi-currency support
- 100%10.0
- Multi-division support
- 80%8.0
- Regulations compliance
- 80%8.0
- Electronic tax filing
- 80%8.0
- Self-service portal
- 80%8.0
- Inventory tracking
- N/AN/A
- Automatic reordering
- N/AN/A
- Location management
- N/AN/A
- Manufacturing module
- N/AN/A
- Pricing
- N/AN/A
- Order entry
- N/AN/A
- Credit card processing
- N/AN/A
- Cost of goods sold
- N/AN/A
- Pay calculation
- N/AN/A
- Benefit plan administration
- N/AN/A
- Direct deposit files
- N/AN/A
- Salary revision and increment management
- N/AN/A
- Reimbursement management
- N/AN/A
- Dashboards
- 80%8.0
- Standard reports
- 80%8.0
- Custom reports
- 80%8.0
- API for custom integration
- N/AN/A
- Plug-ins
- N/AN/A
- Role-based user permissions
- 80%8.0
- Single sign-on capability
- 80%8.0
- Good T&E functionality - one less manual Excel process that is subject to manual errors. Eliminates double work.
- Role based access - allows unlimited number of users to access the application and view what they have been assigned access to (not all or nothing)
- Good reporting - reports can be customized (accounts group) somewhat.
- Online customer support is pretty good (not being able to speak to some directly can be tough when you need answers immediately).
- QBO
- Financial reporting - actuals
- Cash Management
- Expense Reporting
- N/A
- Budgeting and Forecasting
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Implemented in-house
1. Historical financials - because the company never had a formal system prior to XERO, I have to establish what the prior year balances were. In effect, making an creating an income statement and a balance sheet from scratch from which I will get the OPENING balances for certain accounts.
2. Chart of Accounts - from #1 above, I built the beginnings of a Chart of Account which will be used going forward. The COA will be adjusted, updated and or new accounts will be added as I learn more about the specifics of the business and the business model (for example, a SaaS company).
3. Uploading data - once the COA is completed, I can start loading the data and linking bank accounts and credit cards.
4. Reporting - created monthly financial reports based on the COA and that pulls the transactions that were uploaded. There is some room to adjust/re-group the accounts to a more meaningful order within Xero financial reporting.
- Data migration
- Chart of accounts limitations
- Financial reporting function limitations
- Budgeting/Forecasting limitations - not one size fits all.
- Self-taught
- Bank reconciliation
- Financial reporting
- Sales Tax Reporting
- Limited "class" or sub-category functionality
- Data feeds from certain banks or credit card companies are not available