Item: Xero
Rating: 7
Author: Ben Clifford

Overall Satisfaction with Xero

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Xero to invoice our clients, track our financial data and submit reports to HMRC. We also use integrations with our bank feed and payment processors (Stripe and GoCardless), in order to reconcile transactions and automate recurring payments from our clients, either using a saved credit card or Direct Debit.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Recurring invoices
Detailed financial reports
Integrations with 3rd party tools
Customer payment automation

Cons

Easy customisation of invoice design
User-friendliness / learning curve

Return on Investment

It helps me to delegate and automate a lot of work
However it also means I have to rely on having professional support

Usability

It offers all the features I currently need, however it isn't very user-friendly in certain areas. In particular, it's very unhelpful that invoices can only be customised by using a Microsoft Word document template - our business runs on Google Workspace rather than Microsoft Office, so we don't have direct access to Word and I need to borrow a family member's PC when I need to edit the Word template. I also find Xero quite a lot harder to use compared to competitor products which are targeted more directly at business owners instead of bookkeeping / accounting professionals.

Cloud Costs

It hasn't saved us any money, but it provides us with access to the tools we need for our business.

Ease of Integration

We use its integrations with bank feeds, Stripe and GoCardless, and they all work very well.

Alternatives Considered

Wave Accounting

I really enjoyed using Wave as it was very user-friendly, well designed and slick as a business touchpoint with our clients, but I was forced to move away from it as Wave decided to restrict its use to only North American customers whereas I'm in the UK.

I selected Xero as its replacement mainly because its very widely used and because it has all the features I need. However I find Xero quite a lot harder to understand and use compared to Wave, and I need to rely on having professional bookkeeping support in order to use it.

Key Insights

Do you think Xero delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Xero's feature set?

Yes

Did Xero live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Xero go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Xero again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Basecamp, Hubstaff, Typeform, Google Workspace, Intuit Mailchimp

Likelihood to Recommend

Overall it works well if you have a professional bookkeeper and accountant to support you, however it's difficult to learn and not very user-friendly if you are a business owner looking to handle all the bookkeeping yourself.

Xero Feature Ratings

Comments

Please log in to join the conversation

Xero accounting