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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Expensify

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AExpensify automates the entire spend management process. Scan receipts, track mileage, submit and approve expenses, manage corporate cards, reimburse employees, pay bills, send invoices, and book travel. Built for individuals and companies of all sizes, anywhere in the world.

    $5

    per month per user

    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
    ExpensifyXero
    Editions & Modules
    Collect
    $5
    per month per user
    Control
    $9
    per month per user
    Early
    $13
    per month
    Growing
    $37
    per month
    Established
    $70
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    ExpensifyXero
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPrices 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
    ExpensifyXero
    Considered Both Products
    Expensify
    Chose Expensify
    A dedicated app like Expensify does better than a combined platform at the main use case - expense tracking, reporting, and reimbursement. Bigger, wider-scope platforms take more effort or have other features that can occasionally get in the way. We prefer Expensify's simpler, …
    Incentivized
    Xero
    Chose Xero
    Expensify was more than we needed. The free version is fine, but we were getting close to needing the fee paying version, which isn't inexpensive
    Incentivized
    Chose Xero
    SAP Concur is very heavyweight, and is appropriate for a large enterprise Expensify scales to whatever size the business is. In my opinion, Xero is only appropriate for a very small company
    Incentivized
    Chose Xero
    Xero is much simpler and similarly cheaper. It is able to accomplish both quote generation as well as expense management.
    Incentivized
    Chose Xero
    The main reason for switching to Xero was the ability for it to handle multiple currencies as well as the integrations available to streamline our bookkeeping.
    Incentivized
    Chose Xero
    • Xero is easier for new businesses that need cloud-based accounting software.
    • Xero has functional integration with other applications that our clients need.
    • Gusto is a great payroll application that is now used by all our clients with their Xero software.
    Incentivized
    Chose Xero
    I started with Xero in 2014 and they seemed to be the leader in online small business accounting. They seemed to have already ironed out a lot of issues and made it very easy to get started. And they quickly ramped up and ironed out solutions to problems. Plus they were …
    Incentivized
    Chose Xero
    Free Agent was more user-friendly and had *much* better customer support but is really designed for freelancers &/or small companies with regular needs. We used Xero in the end because our accounting firm provided it as part of the service. We were then fairly tied into it due …
    Incentivized
    Chose Xero
    Xero is the superior product to Quickbooks, Quicken, and FreshBooks. Hands down.
    Incentivized
    Chose Xero
    Previously exclusively a desktop QuickBooks "shop". Hate the version control issues and need to collect and transfer data files to get source documents. Auto bank downloads clunky and not as intuitive as Xero bank recon features. Few clients use FreshBooks - nice customer …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    224 Answers
    93%
    Would buy again
    160 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    183 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    153 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    222 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    160 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    121 Answers
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    131 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    123 Answers
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    149 Answers
    Features
    ExpensifyXero
    Expense Management
    Comparison of Expense Management features of Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    9.6
    170 Ratings
    15% above category average
    Xero
    -
    Ratings
    Employee Expense Reporting9.8170 Ratings00 Ratings
    Corporate Card Reconciliation9.474 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payment Management
    Comparison of Payment Management features of Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    9.4
    158 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Xero
    -
    Ratings
    Customizable Approval Policies9.4109 Ratings00 Ratings
    Financial Document Management9.4114 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payment Status Tracking9.8130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payment Audit Trail9.8101 Ratings00 Ratings
    Duplicate Bill Detection9.3130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Advanced OCR9.0108 Ratings00 Ratings
    Electronic Funds Transfer9.491 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    -
    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 Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    -
    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 Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    -
    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 Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    -
    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 Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    -
    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 Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    -
    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 Expensify and Xero
    Feature
    Expensify
    -
    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
    ExpensifyXero
    Small Businesses
    Brex
    Score9 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    BILL Spend & Expense
    Score8.9 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    ExpensifyXero
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.6
    (264 ratings)
    8.3
    (266 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    4.7
    (38 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (165 ratings)
    8.3
    (192 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    3.1
    (12 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.5
    (44 ratings)
    5.6
    (40 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (10 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.4
    (150 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.5
    (4 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.5
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    ExpensifyXero
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Expensify
    I think it's really good for small businesses. At least in the way we use it. It's very good for keeping an eye on employee spending in nearly real time. I'm not sure how it works for larger companies when there is a larger number of people to keep track of.
    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
    Expensify
    • Easy to access online portal whether using a mobile device or desktop app
    • Receipts can be uploaded in a breeze and automatically categorized
    • Expense Reports are submitted monthly on autopilot
    • Expenses for gas is calculated on the app by entering the starting/ending destinations.
    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
    Expensify
    • I wish that I could sync accounts on the back end kind of like with banking software, so that Expensify would automatically port over receipts for recurring expenses as soon as they're available
    • It would be nice to one-click submit an expense all the way through instead of having to attach it to a report
    • Wackier profile icons? :) Not a big deal. This software is pretty much amazing as it is now, and typically the urge to update and modify very good software leads to poor outcomes!
    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
    Expensify
    We like using the tool and we receive positive feedback from employees and management who use the tool. It saves time and helps us concentrate on the value adding activities so we are very likely to keep using Expensify in the future
    Incentivized
    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
    Expensify
    My rating of 8 out of 10 for Expensify's overall usability reflects its strong performance in empowering individual users and streamlining core expense processes, while acknowledging that there are specific areas, particularly on the administrative or enterprise side, where the user experience could be further refined. Exceptional End-User Experience (for basic tasks).Automation & Time-Saving Features.Clear Workflow for Approvers. Why it's not a perfect 10 (areas for improvement that dock points): Limited corporate bank to choose from, limited multi-currency to pay to ( for instance, as a foreign corporatio,n i cannot pay with my US account to Israeli employees, or pay to our UK employees)
    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
    Expensify
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Expensify
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Expensify
    Our rep has been amazing. He has built custom reports for us that have been very time consuming and difficult. Our reps are also currently looking into new submission solutions for us that we are excited about. They came up with this and recommended it on their own without me complaining about an issue. They are about our success and are very excited about the product they offer.
    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
    Expensify
    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
    Expensify
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Expensify
    The implementation process went rather smoothly, linking it to the bank and cards was handled easily. without too many unnecessary steps. Getting the accounts setup did take some time, but that would be true with any organization. All in all things went smoothly and I was very pleased with the setup and implementation process
    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
    Expensify
    It is definitely 10 times better than using an Excel spreadsheet. We are talking a digitized with AI type capabilities to do the work for you. It’s honestly a lifesaver. This beats manual calculations and data entry any day. Scanning 100 receipts and saving them to pdf files not only takes space on your storage but it is an extra unnecessary step
    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
    Expensify
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Expensify
    • We went from paying credit card fees with no approval process to a no fees and complex approval processes.
    • I personally save time in not having to develop a spend report I just have my admin assistent fill in the details of the auto generated report and it is done. Went from an hour long process to 5- 10 minutes max to prepare a high quality audit ready report.
    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

    Expensify Screenshots

    Screenshot of the dashboard used to manage expenses, book travel, reimburse employees, and create expense reports.Screenshot of corporate cards. The Expensify Card offers cash back on every US purchase.

    Xero Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot