As part of your accounting software evaluation, decide whether Xero or QuickBooks for small business is a better match for your business needs. QuickBooks Online’s intrinsic value of preferred stock accounting software has a looser setup structure, allowing you to enter the bare minimum and add the rest as you go along. Moving up to the more expensive plans will get you features such as inventory, custom user permissions, and accelerated invoicing, with all plans providing the basic functionality your business needs.
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Xero often offers promotional pricing, so be sure to check for any applicable discount codes before purchasing a plan. Includes audit trails and easy accountant access; has millions of users so your accountant will likely be familiar with it. More than 750 app sales journal entry integrations, including live, in-house bookkeeping.
Banking: QuickBooks Online Wins
Then, we award each piece of software a rating out of five for each of these categories to understand how they compare against each other. Aside from helping us to determine which solution is stronger overall, these scores also help us to determine which product is better suited to different types of businesses. In sharp contrast with QuickBooks’ extensive language support, Xero does not offer support for languages other than English. There are some workarounds, like downloading the basic invoice template, manually changing the language, and reuploading it, but there’s no easy support for multiple languages.
QuickBooks’ sidebar is vertical and on the left, while Xero’s is horizontal across the top, both deliver about the same user experience, and user satisfaction is high for both. Xero stands out with unlimited users on all plans, which can be a big advantage for larger teams or businesses that require collaboration with accountants. Businesses with inventory items should choose accounting software that can track inventory costs, manage COGS, and monitor inventory units.
However, if you work with multiple vendors and customers and need more enhanced features, you should consider QuickBooks Online’s Plus tier. Xero offers simple inventory tracking software that can track up to 4,000 finished items. With Xero, you can view the number of items you have available and see the total value of stock on hand for any item. Its inventory management reports will show you how well different items are performing and which ones are the most profitable.
Customer Support: QuickBooks Online Wins
Here’s our comparison of the core features provided by Xero and QuickBooks. Both solutions performed very well in our testing, with QuickBooks earning an overall score of 4.7 out of 5 from our accounting experts, compared to Xero’s 4.5 out of 5. These are the two highest scores our research team gave any accounting solutions. Depending on the plan you select, QuickBooks Online’s monthly prices run from $30 for the Simple Start plan to $200 for the Advanced plan.
One of the more recent additions of QuickBooks Online is a mileage tracking feature. Unfortunately, the lowest-priced Xero plan is quite limited, allowing users to enter only five bills and send 20 invoices per month. While this may be suitable for independent contractors or self-employed individuals, most users will need to upgrade to one of the more expensive plans. While Xero supports unlimited users on all plans, QuickBooks Online only supports up to 25 — and this is only available on the most expensive plan. Another key difference between the two companies is the maximum number of users it allows.
QuickBooks can also track your mileage reliably and automatically using a GPS-enabled smartphone app. QuickBooks and Xero are two of the best accounting software options with a range of pricing plans to fit multiple budgets. We researched both tools extensively to help you choose the right accounting software for your business. In this article, we compare their core features, pricing and pros and cons to help you decide which one is the right accounting software for your company.
- The A/P section focuses on vendor management, bill management, bill payments, and other payable-related transactions.
- Prices for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping scale with the monthly expenses of your business, which means higher costs for businesses with higher expenses.
- QuickBooks Online is the clear winner because of its wide range of services available for users of the software.
- QuickBooks is the leading accounting software for small businesses, designed to simplify financial management and empower growth.
- There are other ways to get the help you need fast, including the Xero Central help center, Xero TV videos, and in-software help.
Higher-tier plans include unique features, like workflow rules, on top of tools that help you measure project profitability. Phone support and the three parts of a cash flow statement live chat support are available 24/5 to all paying customers, but third-party integrations are limited compared to QuickBooks Online and Xero. Service or project-based businesses should choose accounting software that can track project costs, revenues, and profits.