Xero currently the best Cloud Based Accounting App for Small Business
Updated June 08, 2016

Xero currently the best Cloud Based Accounting App for Small Business

Scott McReynolds, CPA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Xero

Xero provides a Practice Addition to it's Bookkeeper/Accountant community. This allows you to set up your practice and also see your clients that have added use as an Advisor for Xero.

The big advantage of Xero is it was built as a cloud based service from the beginning. They do a great job of providing core functionality for the platform but also provide a great API for developers to add vertical solutions.

Their Bank Feed and Reconciliation functions are the killer app. Very easy to quickly and accurately code transactions received from the bank.

They were just named Forbe's Most Innovative Growth Company for the 2nd consecutive year. They are New Zealand based and have a strong presence in Australia, the UK, and Canada. Intuit has made great strides with their online product the last couple years due to competition from Xero. I still find Xero to be the better cloud based service but a little competition has made both companies innovate.
  • Bank Feeds
  • Bank Reconciliation
  • Integration with other Cloud Services
  • They recently added a basic inventory module that can be used for merchandising but if you're tracking manufacturing costs you will need an add on service.
  • Payroll is solid but still in development, more state coverage and features will be found with other providers.
  • One of the benefits of Xero is all the vertical services you can integrate, but that means only the most basic users can get by with just the basic Xero set up.
  • Much easier to access customer information anytime/anywhere to look something up or reconcile transactions.
  • Most or all paper can be eliminated from your processes.
I did a side by side with Quickbooks online and I find Xero is just much easier to jump in, get things done, and get out. They are very deliberate in the same way Apple is making sure that any feature added works extremely well and adds to the user experience. Very well thought out design and the Bank Reconciliation process is so fast and easy.
For someone that is mobile and running a consulting or service business then Xero's cloud/mobile focus is ideal. Many people have an S Corp with minor payroll requirements and Xero provides a complete solution for them (assuming your state is available for payroll). If you are involved in manufacturing processes then the decision is a little tougher and you may want to look at Intacct or NetSuite if you want something cloud based. Quickbooks Online has more cost accounting tools available and some small manufacturers may be better suited for Quickbooks Online.

Xero Feature Ratings

Accounts payable
8
Accounts receivable
8
Cash management
Not Rated
Bank reconciliation
10
Expense management
8
Time tracking
7
Fixed asset management
Not Rated
Multi-currency support
9
Multi-division support
Not Rated
Regulations compliance
Not Rated
Self-service portal
9
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
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
8
API for custom integration
9
Plug-ins
9
Role-based user permissions
9
Single sign-on capability
Not Rated

Xero Reliability