Xero - definitely worth a look.
Updated January 15, 2018

Xero - definitely worth a look.

Travis Campbell, CPA, CA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Xero

We are using Xero to manage our A/P and produce financial statements. We also record revenue and A/R transactions, but have a specific piece of software (Hy-Tek) to manage members' accounts for our swim club. As the product is able to pull a feed from our bank, we also use it to track our banking information and cut cheques.
  • Excellent support - whenever I have a question, the answer is fast and understandable.
  • Extremely easy to figure out - anyone with a bit of sense can figure out how to successfully get from point A to point B.
  • Tracking cash is simple - together with the bank feed, keeping the bank reconciled and up to date is extremely straightforward.
  • Reporting is okay, but the customization options are a bit clunky. I believe they are trying to address this.
  • The cost at $22.50 US (discounted NFP rate) is a bit on the high side for a small organization like ours. Does it make more sense to drop a few hundred bucks on an accounting package like Quickbooks or pay $270 US for Xero? I'm not totally sure.
  • The connection between payroll and cheque-writing isn't terribly straightforward and I don't understand why.
  • Helps us produce accurate, timely financial statements. Admittedly, we moved from a spreadsheet and cash-based system so anything would have been a substantial improvement.
Xero appeared to have a superior experience to FreshBooks. I understand FreshBooks has its fans, but it seemed too simple for our needs.
Xero is an excellent choice for a small business. I'm not sure how well it would handle more complex, larger organizations - but admittedly I haven't done the research to determine either way how well it would adapt. Sign up for the free trial and tinker with it, that should give you sufficient information to determine if it's right for you.

Xero Feature Ratings

Accounts payable
9
Accounts receivable
9
Cash management
10
Bank reconciliation
10
Expense management
Not Rated
Fixed asset management
Not Rated
Multi-currency support
Not Rated
Multi-division support
Not Rated
Regulations compliance
Not Rated
Electronic tax filing
Not Rated
Self-service portal
Not Rated
Global Financial Support
Not Rated
Primary and Secondary Ledgers
Not Rated
Intercompany Accounting
Not Rated
Localizations
Not Rated
Journals and Reconciliations
Not Rated
Enterprise Accounting
Not Rated
Configurable Accounting
Not Rated
Centralized Rules Framework
Not Rated
Standardized Processes
Not Rated
Inventory tracking
Not Rated
Automatic reordering
Not Rated
Location management
Not Rated
Manufacturing module
Not Rated
Pricing
Not Rated
Order entry
Not Rated
Credit card processing
Not Rated
Cost of goods sold
Not Rated
Order Orchestration
Not Rated
End-to-end order visibility
Not Rated
Order exception Resolution
Not Rated
Pay calculation
Not Rated
Benefit plan administration
Not Rated
Direct deposit files
Not Rated
Salary revision and increment management
Not Rated
Reimbursement management
Not Rated
Dashboards
8
Standard reports
8
Custom reports
7
Not Rated
API for custom integration
Not Rated
Plug-ins
Not Rated
Not Rated
Role-based user permissions
Not Rated
Single sign-on capability
Not Rated

Xero Support

Quick and responsive. The only drawback, at least when I've used support which hasn't been recent, they are located in New Zealand which can create some time zone issues.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
None
No - Support has been reasonably quick and responsive when I've needed it - not sure why I would need premium support (don't even know if they offer it!).