TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) vs. Xero

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/AEmburse Enterprise is the enterprise expense and invoice-management product that replaces the former Chrome River name. Emburse states that the renaming does not change the product’s expense and invoice functionality, workflows, interface, or support; existing Chrome River customers use the same product under Emburse branding.N/A

    Xero

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AXero 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 further.

    $13

    per month

    Pricing
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)Xero
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Early
    $13
    per month
    Growing
    $37
    per month
    Established
    $70
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)Xero
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsWe offer three cost-effective, subscription-based pricing models: A transaction-based model, priced according to expense report volume A submitter-based model, priced according to an average number of monthly submitters An enterprise-level model that includes unlimited expense reports. Pricing for this model is based on total employee headcount Feel free to contact us to discuss the best one for your organization.Prices in table are in USD and just apply to the US - other markets & prices are listed below: Canada - Starter $18 CAD/month, Standard $45 CAD/month, Premium 5 $58 CAD/month UK - Starter £14/month, Standard £28/month, Premium £36/month AU - Starter $29 AUD/month, Standard $59 AUD/month, Premium 5 $76 AUD/month NZ - Starter $31 NZD/month, Standard $66 NZD/month, Premium $84 NZD/month
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)Xero
    Considered Both Products
    Emburse
    No answer on this topic
    Xero
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    93%
    Would buy again
    160 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    153 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    19 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    160 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    82%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    9 Answers
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    131 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    149 Answers
    Features
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)Xero
    Expense Management
    Comparison of Expense Management features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    8.5
    4 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Xero
    -
    Ratings
    Employee Expense Reporting8.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Corporate Card Reconciliation9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payment Management
    Comparison of Payment Management features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    7.9
    4 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Xero
    -
    Ratings
    Customizable Approval Policies8.33 Ratings00 Ratings
    Financial Document Management7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payment Status Tracking6.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payment Audit Trail9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Duplicate Bill Detection8.33 Ratings00 Ratings
    Advanced OCR8.52 Ratings00 Ratings
    Electronic Funds Transfer8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    7.5
    73 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Pay calculation00 Ratings8.065 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.023 Ratings
    Direct deposit files00 Ratings7.249 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.141 Ratings
    Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.054 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    8.0
    169 Ratings
    6% above category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings7.979 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings8.1156 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    7.1
    213 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings5.572 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.7211 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    8.3
    241 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings8.3237 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings8.9239 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings7.9212 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    8.3
    251 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings8.0229 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.1234 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings7.7217 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings8.6244 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings7.8224 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings6.387 Ratings
    Fixed asset management00 Ratings7.7152 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.9149 Ratings
    Multi-division support00 Ratings7.5129 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings8.3131 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing00 Ratings8.6134 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings7.7153 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings7.884 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings7.881 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings10.040 Ratings
    Localizations00 Ratings10.039 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings10.090 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings10.033 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings10.059 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings6.033 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.059 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    6.3
    119 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Inventory tracking00 Ratings7.2115 Ratings
    Automatic reordering00 Ratings6.224 Ratings
    Location management00 Ratings6.229 Ratings
    Manufacturing module00 Ratings6.016 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) and Xero
    Feature
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    7.3
    89 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Pricing00 Ratings10.062 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings10.056 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings6.358 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings6.366 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings6.121 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings6.124 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution00 Ratings6.117 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)Xero
    Small Businesses
    Brex
    Score9 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Expensify
    Score9 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP Concur
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)Xero
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.1
    (124 ratings)
    8.3
    (266 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.8
    (18 ratings)
    4.7
    (38 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (108 ratings)
    8.3
    (192 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    3.1
    (12 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (113 ratings)
    5.6
    (40 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.8
    (7 ratings)
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (10 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.4
    (150 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    6.5
    (4 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    6.5
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)Xero
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Emburse
    The Emburse Chrome River is well suited for tracking expenses and reimbursement. The compliance part of the software makes the task very easy to ensure all the reports that are being used within the company are updated and easy to verify. The Automating invoice processing makes some redundant task easy to execute.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    The only time I wouldn't be suggesting it is to consultants or solopreneurs. I think it's too overwhelming unless you are experienced or have a background related to finance. So it's not that the product isn't powerful, it's that it can be too powerful. For all other size businesses it really is what you need to use to make life simple to track everything in your business. It definitely saves me time by having it all in one place and not multiple spreadsheets etc
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Emburse
    • [Emburse] Chrome River listens to its customer's needs and does its best to match current products to those needs, or collaborate internally to determine if an enhancement can be made available that will not only benefit that customer, but will be a good use case for all Chrome River customers.
    • The [Emburse] Chrome River customer service team is great. Unlike most companies, you can speak to a liver person!
    • [Emburse] Chrome River's training offerings are relevant and pertinent to the day to day operations of the software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    • The bank feed integration makes reconciling transactions easy
    • Once you load a template for your invoices, every client gets a professional looking invoice
    • Bill paying and tracking of payments is also easy; you load your bill into Xero, pay it through the bank, and when the transaction is completed it comes through on bank feeds. If you need to query when a bill was paid, it is all there in Xero
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Emburse
    • Would be great to have pre-saved templates available to apply to line items at the expense report header level rather than having to go into each line.
    • Would be nice to have a mass upload functionality for things like cost codes, allocations, and credit card users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    • Having different email addresses for different parts of a customer's business (eg invoices and statements to different places)
    • Easily seeing the text of emails that have been sent through Xero
    • More easily archiving old pay items. Our HR software updates rates when awards are updated which means a lot of old pay rates are in the system and they have multiple clicks to archive each one. Clicking the ones to archive in bulk and then just click archive for all would be much more efficient.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Emburse
    Chrome River is easy to use. We needed little training for our users and instead pointed them to Chrome River's Help Guides which are clearly written and easy to understand. With tools SNAP and the ability to email receipts means we can be completely remote when submitting reports.
    Read full review
    Xero
    In addition to the matters covered in this review, my reason for renewing this product is that Xero's functionality and the constant updates that the company provides, makes the software even more business friendly. The software therefore builds a brand loyalty among customers.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Emburse
    I would rate Chrome River Expense a 10 because, as I mentioned before, it is very simple and easy to use. This is important from an administrative point-of-view as well as for the field employee. Being a general contractor, it makes it all the better for our employees to use a program that is easy to understand and requires little time and effort. It has made tracking expenses very simple and has been well received by the entire company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    As a standalone software, it allows users to fulfill most of the basic functions (e.g. transaction input and report generation) simply and conveniently. It also allows for multiple APIs to help augment various tasks that accounting-adjacent (e.g. claims processing). The cloud based model and portability to mobile devices allows tasks to be carried out in a more convenient way.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Emburse
    The software is always running effectively. I use many Cloud based systems and never had issues with Chrome River
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    We have been actively using and 100% Xero based for our ecommerce accounting practice for over 4 years. There has on been one real outage for more than 5 minutes. Xero was open and transparent about the outage, what they were doing to resolve the issue, and provided 15 minute updates. Showing how they care about their customers and partners. Plus, showing that their customers care too, were understanding, and went surfing or in our case took a nap. Couldn't run our business without Xero as a partner.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Emburse
    System runs normal pretty much all the time. Does not slow any other systems down.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    On a good day, things worked but after upgrades, things began to slow and or not work at all at times. I coined the moving circle while I waited as the "Xero Wheel of Death". Sometimes it never stopped and force quitting was necessary.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Emburse
    This has been easy for me because we have a rep that contacts the supporters for this product to correct any issues we may have with the software or changes needed to help out employees use Chrome River easier. This from my understanding has been a hit or miss kind of interaction with our rep and Chrome River.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    Always respond and keep issues open until you are satisfied with the result. Generally good responses, in the past, I had some support responses that were really basic and really annoying. They type where "have your tried restarting your computer" style of answers. Well, of course, I went through all the basics before contacting them. Duh, but I suppose not everyone does. Otherwise, it would be a 10. The last year has shown a marked improvement in the support responses however.
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Emburse
    No answers on this topic
    Xero
    The format was great; someone was there to ask questions or help if you were stuck.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Emburse
    The software is very user friendly, so the online training was easy to pickup for everyone.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    All of Xero's training is online and available for anyone (business owner or accountants) to learn and become experts in their system. There is a range of content from product training to real world webinars from their partners. Xero is beautiful accounting software and their training is the same.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Emburse
    Before implementation begins, make sure you have a plan on how you would like your workflow and platform setup for a system like Chrome River. It will speed the process and eliminate the need to make changes when you go live.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    If it can be done, time the implementation near a new fiscal year so you can start clean. Otherwise, you have to go back and do historical data from the beginning of the fiscal year, which can be brain draining.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Emburse
    It's the [industry-leading] software for Enterprise level organizations with [large-scale] teams and financial responsibilities. The software has the most robust set of tools and pays for itself with the amount of time it saves. Many newer alternatives have sprouted up but I don't know that we would ever trust another software to do our Expense Tracking and Management.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    Each of the products I listed had their own list of drawbacks, but the one thing they all had in common, which was right on top of that list of drawbacks, was ease of use. I struggled to get myself accustomed to each system and struggled, but when it came to getting a client to even try and use it was when the true struggle started. Just found it easier to make use of Xero from the very beginning.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Emburse
    It's very easy software to design to your needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    I have yet to fully stress test the product given the size of the company where I am using it. I am sure as we scale to more customers, more vendors and more reporting requirements, I will have a better understanding of what it is capable of in terms of bandwidth and processing
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Emburse
    • We have seen a return on approver time of nearly 60% meaning our approvers have tripled their output.
    • We have had feedback from our users that time spent creating expenses has gone from an average of 2 hours to perhaps 20 minutes, tops.
    • We have seen in our dashboards that the Emburse Certify Suite of tools has returned an average savings of over $500K a year.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    • Xero is a basic accounting system that performs basic accounting tasks easily and accurately. For that, it provides a positive impact on our day to day accounting operations.
    • Because of Xero's basic structure, I feel it lacks some of the sophistication that some users want and need. The ability to create unique custom reports would enhance the impact Xero would have on meeting business objectives by providing current and useful accounting information.
    • In my opinion, Xero's lack of focus on their customers - their users - is a real issue with me. In my opinion, those of us that are in the trenches that work with the system on a daily basis have to deal with the shortcomings of the system with the knowledge that Xero support refuses to address the operational issues that make their user's lives difficult. I feel if Xero would focus on truly making their software better from a users point of view, it has the potential to be a great system.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River) Screenshots

    Screenshot of A consistent experience across any screen size or operating systemScreenshot of Simple, customizable tiles for expense entryScreenshot of Approve expenses directly from your inbox with a single click

    Xero Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot