Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Online Advanced
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Online Advanced is a SaaS-based accounting software designed to scale with growing businesses. It includes the functionalities of QuickBooks Online, as well as more robust business analytics, customization, and resource management.N/A
Xero
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
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 further.
$13
per month
Pricing
QuickBooks Online AdvancedXero
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Early
$13
per month
Growing
$37
per month
Established
$70
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Online AdvancedXero
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
QuickBooks Online AdvancedXero
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Online Advanced
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
I evaluated other packages. Wave is/was very appealing because it is free. However, I'm not certain is would scale enough with our business. Xero was tempting but it could not integrate with our bank and thus required manual entry. QuickBooks allowed us to maximize our …
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
Both of these have similar functionality. I ultimately decided on QuickBooks for two reasons. It is much more common for people to have QuickBooks previously so it's easier to convert the file to QuickBooks Online. And 2nd, I did not want to have to convince my clients that X…
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
I like [QuickBooks Online Advanced] a lot better than Xero, it has more widespread system integrations and seems to be more user friendly. I do think that the support on Xero is better though.
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
QBO Advanced does not have the multi-unit capabilities that QB Enterprise offers. Xero is not capable of handling the contractor apps.
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
QuickBooks Online Advanced is on par with Xero, and both are market leaders in the Online Bookkeeping solutions. Multi-dimensional reporting is better than Xero but Xero has better WorkPapers, Hubdoc app and allows for online filing of accounts to Companies House and to HMRC. …
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
Our company currently uses both of these platforms. In my opinion, QuickBooks Online Advanced has more capabilities than Xero, but Xero is more aesthetically pleasing. The biggest difference is the QuickBooks Online Advanced payroll processing and payroll tax filings. With …
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
QuickBooks Online Advanced is our first choice, we love using this software, it does everything we need and also it is a great choice for great majority of our clients. It also evolves and the new features are always great. Xero, for example, does not listen to user feedback …
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
Similar in structure but Xero reporting is better. Considering a shift to Xero in the near future if the many issues with QuickBooks Online Advanced are not resolved quickly.
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
I think QuickBooks Online is better system to use with more third-party integration options and more intuitive to record and reconcile transactions where I feel that I have to double triple check if things work according to our objectives
Xero
Chose Xero
Xero is my first choice for bookkeeping for our clients. I now refer anyone looking for bookkeeping software to Xero.
Chose Xero
Sage at the time we moved to Xero did not really have a suitable Cloud offering and the full SaaS solution it did have was only applicable to very small businesses. Quickbooks was very similar to Xero but during testing, most users preferred Xero for various reasons. Xero's UI …
Chose Xero
Xero has remained simple yet robust for years. They have a few items that make it difficult (what product doesn't), but I feel very confident in partnering with them. I have used (and still use) QuickBooks Online and I have witnessed Intuit continually pull the bait and …
Chose Xero
Xero has a much easier, user-friendly interface for ease of use in comparison to the above software and also saves time with day-to-day processing, payables, visibility on items due or requiring attention and the payroll is far easier to use. You can view previous pay runs and …
Features
QuickBooks Online AdvancedXero
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.0
96 Ratings
4% above category average
Xero
8.2
157 Ratings
6% above category average
API for custom integration7.779 Ratings7.979 Ratings
Plug-ins8.384 Ratings8.5144 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.0
170 Ratings
3% below category average
Xero
7.2
197 Ratings
13% below category average
Single sign-on capability8.1149 Ratings5.572 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.0166 Ratings8.9195 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.1
183 Ratings
3% above category average
Xero
8.4
223 Ratings
7% above category average
Dashboards8.7172 Ratings8.5219 Ratings
Standard reports8.4182 Ratings8.9221 Ratings
Custom reports7.2174 Ratings8.0195 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.2
187 Ratings
7% above category average
Xero
8.6
233 Ratings
12% above category average
Accounts payable8.3181 Ratings8.5213 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.5176 Ratings8.8218 Ratings
Cash management8.2157 Ratings8.2200 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.7179 Ratings8.6226 Ratings
Expense management8.2166 Ratings8.4206 Ratings
Time tracking7.492 Ratings7.476 Ratings
Multi-currency support8.446 Ratings7.8136 Ratings
Multi-division support7.781 Ratings8.3117 Ratings
Regulations compliance8.185 Ratings8.3118 Ratings
Electronic tax filing9.3103 Ratings9.2122 Ratings
Self-service portal7.9101 Ratings8.1138 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers8.978 Ratings8.670 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting8.078 Ratings9.940 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.0162 Ratings10.090 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting7.969 Ratings9.933 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.489 Ratings9.959 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework8.567 Ratings6.033 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.1125 Ratings7.959 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings8.3141 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings7.573 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings10.039 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
7.9
74 Ratings
5% above category average
Xero
6.5
107 Ratings
15% below category average
Inventory tracking7.974 Ratings8.4103 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings6.224 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings6.229 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings6.016 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
7.6
126 Ratings
0% above category average
Xero
7.2
89 Ratings
5% below category average
Pricing7.691 Ratings9.962 Ratings
Order entry7.085 Ratings9.956 Ratings
Credit card processing8.2110 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
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
-
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
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Online AdvancedXero
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.5 out of 10
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.5 out of 10
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User Ratings
QuickBooks Online AdvancedXero
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(188 ratings)
8.1
(248 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.4
(14 ratings)
6.6
(36 ratings)
Usability
7.1
(7 ratings)
8.2
(174 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Performance
9.6
(2 ratings)
10.0
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
5.1
(38 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Implementation Rating
4.3
(5 ratings)
7.0
(11 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(2 ratings)
7.3
(132 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(6 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.6
(2 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Online AdvancedXero
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
Smaller businesses that need affordable accounting software that many people are used to should look at Quickbooks. QuickBooks makes it easier for people to access your books from multiple locations. If cost is an issue, QuickBooks is very affordable, given you do not need to install and maintain a server.
Read full review
Xero
I am a massage and physical therapist. We are not a fancy business but business admin can take a lot of time and effort. Xero came recommended to me by colleagues in the sector. You raise invoices, you get paid. and you pay your bills. These are all daily scenarios for most businesses and Xero does this particularly well. Since my accountant can query my records directly, this greatly saves on bookkeeping time when it is time to do the company returns.
Read full review
Pros
Intuit
  • It allows us to link to bank accounts in order to get up-to-date, real-time information, which is so important in today's lightning speed work world.
  • The "canned" reports are excellent and allow for extreme customization also. This makes them very helpful to both me and my clients.
  • The user interface for QuickBooks Online Advanced is easy to navigate and is intuitive for novices. The screens are well laid out and have cohesiveness on each screen to match tasks with others that match up well.
Read full review
Xero
  • Repeating invoices (most of my business is monthly recurring invoices) - it does these very well.
  • Reporting - particularly being able to dig into the different lines of the P&L statement.
  • Tracking categories - I assign a category to every line of every invoice so it's easy to see how much has been sold of each type of service every month and year, and compare them to previous periods.
Read full review
Cons
Intuit
  • Proper advice in QuickBooks Online Pro for the usage if QuickBooks Online Advanced will be more efficient.
  • More features and space in the app for organization of the self-created workflows.
  • The stability of QuickBooks Online Advanced can still be better.
  • There are still file-size issues and limitations on transactions and attributes of transactions.
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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Intuit
QuickBooks Online Advanced is very easy to use and the data is very transparent. The reporting shortfalls (not being able to report the current month and YTD results on the same report) as well as the issues with the limitations with the management 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
Intuit
QuickBooks Online Advanced is great and effective. I use it for almost three months and it definitely does their job
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.
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Reliability and Availability
Intuit
No issue at any time with Availability
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
Intuit
It can be access at any time and reports is generate in less than a minute
Read full review
Xero
Pages generally load quickly, but it's a fairly common occurrence to have pages taking a bit longer than I'd like to load (as in, 4+ seconds). Occasionally I have to refresh a page to get it to work. Bank feed and integrations tend to be slow in general, but that could easily be due to API latency on the side of the other parties. Most of the time, though, the bank feeds refresh before I login so it's not a huge problem. Not necessarily good performance compared to a local app like QuickBooks desktop, but definitely good performance for a cloud application. Room for growth? yes.
Read full review
Support Rating
Intuit
No answers on this topic
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
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Xero
The format was great; someone was there to ask questions or help if you were stuck.
Read full review
Online Training
Intuit
Training was simple
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.
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Implementation Rating
Intuit
Need to make an option for non-profit organizations
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.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Intuit
QuickBooks Online Advanced isn’t as robust as Netsuite or Sage, but it is generally a great choice for most businesses. This software will meet or exceed the needs of most companies, and should be the first part of your accounting software decision. I would even reach out to a QuickBooks Online Advanced expert to ensure you need to step up to Sage or Netsuite before doing so on your own.
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.
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Scalability
Intuit
Software is very flexible
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
Read full review
Return on Investment
Intuit
  • QBOA has shown my clients the increase and decrease of my monthly income activity
  • I am able to project my income and spending more easily
  • The P&L reports has shown me a lot and by customizing to focus on my income and expenses has allowed me to better budget
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.
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ScreenShots

Xero Screenshots

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