Xero vs. Zoho Invoice

If they are using foreign exchange I always use Xero. If I need reporting to be customized we always use Xero. If the client is already working in a software and it is working for them we will leave them in the software they are in.

Zoho Invoice streamlines invoicing, payments, and customer interactions, improving financial health and saving time, money, and energy. It ensures billing accuracy, reduces errors, and streamlines client billing by tracking goals and streamlining invoice generation. Zoho Invoice focuses on automation and invocation management to efficiently complete multiple tasks. Zoho Invoice has all the features needed for an invoicing system, but it could be better at integrating with other CRM platforms and simplifying taxation.

• Their method of moving between screens was very logical and intuitive which is not a "given" attribute among software packages.
• Finding transactions was relatively easy with just common sense.
• The use of this software was generally well received in that the accountants did not discredit the software as cheap, poorly organized, or timely to learn. No one at Corporate had a vendetta against using Xero.
• It does a good job of allowing the users to drill down to the final detail of an account balance - which is fundamental to the accounting department's needs.

Incentivized

• Multiple payment platforms integrated for ease of client payment.
• You can create different hourly rates for various tasks or individuals within an organization.
• You can attach files to your invoices.
• Clients get their very own log-in.
• Ability to create credit notes.

Incentivized

• Occasionally, the price increases and I feel that prices should be fixed for long-term users as there are very few changes in the software from when I started using it 6 years ago.
• It would be useful to have the emails sent with invoices saved.
• Visual dashboards are limited.

Incentivized

• Time tracking, though easy enough, could be simplified. Having the ability to change default settings when entering time could save a few keystrokes.
• The ability to automatically take unbilled hours and pull into a new invoice seems to be there, but it is a bit cumbersome. It also defaults to too much detail. Having the ability to customize would be great.
• The ability to auto-BCC yourself on all invoices sent out would be a nice feature.

Incentivized

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.

Xero has all the features that you need, basically. From chart of accounts, reconciling books, to making annual financial reports. What I'm currently looking for Xero right now is to provide more broader integration with the other apps so we can use it for customer-facing experience also. All in all, everything works well!

Incentivized

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.

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.

Incentivized

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.

The format was great; someone was there to ask questions or help if you were stuck.

Incentivized

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.

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

I've used a lot of different accounting systems. Many of them so big and powerful, but a hassle to get set up. Xero is light, inexpensive, and easy to use. When I originally selected them they seemed like they were developing new features at a quick rate as well. I was invited to be part of focus sessions to make the product better. That part has slowed down significantly though.

Google Drive stored my invoices in one accessible location but required more time and maintenance. I didn't want to invest the time into building out sheet functions to carry over figures across sheets, so I researched invoicing options. I am already a fan of Zoho services, so it was an easy decision to try out their Invoicing site. Same login, the same level of support, free trial. No risk! I was pleased to find the solution on my first try.

Incentivized

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

• Saved many hours through automatic invoices and followups
• Saved many hours by allowing transactions to start via bank feeds (ie I don't have to input a transaction and mark it against what is in the bank/cc account; rather, the transaction in the account is where you input the transaction into the books.
• Has the scalability my business requires, and not much more.

Incentivized

• Zoho Invoice has created a positive impact by allowing us to successfully organize and track online payments and invoices.
• Zoho Invoice has saved us both time and money by making our invoicing business processes automatic and effortless.
• Zoho Invoice has created a positive return on our investment many times over. It's increased business functions to help generate more profits in shorter periods of time.

Incentivized