And businesses looking for employee management features—like full-featured time tracking—won’t find these with Xero. For each contact, you can review recent activity, add banking information for easily sending and receiving payments, and even upload files to keep related documents organized and accessible. I found that all these features greatly streamline communication, letting you manage client relationships almost exclusively from Xero’s software. You run payroll directly from Gusto, and the transactions automatically show up in Xero. You can reconcile the payments and keep your financial records current with minimal manual data entry. You can connect Xero to the financial tools you’re already using, or find new ways to simplify and speed up your admin with other apps you use.
- Each tier includes progressively more advanced features and capabilities to support businesses as they scale.
- Easily find reports in our searchable business reporting software.
- It doesn’t have a free plan, but you can get a 30-day free trial of any one of its plans.
- Xero makes it simple to accept payments directly through your invoices, supporting options like credit card, debit card, and direct debit.
- Track cash flow, easily accept payments, and pay staff quickly.
- If your business has employees, payroll in Xero makes it easy to keep pay records and get pay runs sorted.
- I did not have to go through any training resources to learn how to use it.
Room to grow
You can receive automated bank feeds into your accounting software and connect to other business apps for greater efficiency. You can also collaborate with other people, like accountants and bookkeepers, by giving them access to xero software view and share your figures. Xero regularly backs up your data and protects it with multiple layers of security. The software is intuitive, so people with no accounting or finance background can learn the basics quickly. It’s easy to connect your bank so your transactions flow into Xero, and to create professional invoices from scratch.
👎 New invoicing interface
Universal Accounting School offers industry-recognized bookkeeping training programs that help students master essential tools, gain confidence, and become job-ready quickly. Their courses are structured for beginners and working professionals alike, allowing you to learn at your own pace while getting real-world, practical bookkeeping experience. Easily find reports in our searchable business reporting retained earnings software. Xero Central is full of resources to help you get the best out of Xero’s financial reporting software.
Bookkeeping
- Otherwise, you’ll find it under the “Business” tab, which isn’t necessarily the most logical place for it, but more on that later.
- Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews.
- Gusto saves you time on all aspects of your payroll – including calculating employee pay and deductions – thanks to its clever automations.
- To help manage her practice and serve her small business customers, Nury Saenz turns to Xero’s features and automated workflow.
- Our dedicated experts research and test SMB solutions so you can make smart, confident decisions.
- You can even quickly access drafts, published, and archived reports through dedicated tabs.
- For example, the entry-level tier, Ignite, typically costs a flat rate of $35 per month.
Claim expenses, set up bank feeds, and collaborate with your accountant or bookkeeper online. Manage your finances, control cash flow and integrate with apps. Comprehensive is best for businesses with 2 to 5 employees, as well as importers, exporters, and other businesses that trade internationally. If you’re a dropshipper buying goods from overseas and working for yourself, you’ll still need to select this tier, as it’s the first to let you manage multiple currencies. The entry-level tier, Ignite, is the starter option for businesses. Xero markets this as an “easy financial foundation” with just the essentials.
Why accountants and bookkeepers choose Xero vs QuickBooks Online
It compiles time data into payroll-ready timesheets that reduce manual entry and make payroll processing much simpler. Xero serves a diverse range of businesses, from self-employed professionals and small startups to established midsized companies. The platform particularly excels for businesses with multiple employees, remote teams, or those requiring collaboration with external accountants and financial advisors. Growing ecommerce businesses benefit from inventory management capabilities, while service-based companies leverage project tracking and billing features.
- You can import data from another accounting system in bulk via CSV files once you’ve done the initial set up in Xero.
- However, there are other additional costs that are easy to overlook.
- Learn how different types of business owners pay themselves – and decide on how much.
- It’s a dizzying selection that testifies to how widely used Xero is across the business landscape.
- Whether you’re a grassroots nonprofit or an established charity with a full team, Xero’s features help you stay organized, track your finances, and make confident decisions.
- Use formulas and calculations in Xero’s financial reporting software to spot patterns in your data, compare your activity against key performance indicators (KPIs), and forecast outcomes.
Consistency Across Tools
I appreciate that Xero offers project tracking functionalities despite not being a project management software. You can use it if you have basic project tracking needs such as budgeting, time tracking, and project planning. Based on my experience using Xero, the software is completely capable of managing the accounting needs of a small business or freelancer. However, you may want to use some Xero alternatives for additional features like unlimited invoices. In that case, other options, such as QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks, are available.
Are there hidden Xero accounting costs?
You’ll save manual entry time, reduce errors, and get a complete view of your payroll costs and liabilities in Xero. Successful accounting and payroll involve managing relationships with both external contacts and internal team members. I found another feature really helpful as I was editing a bill. Let’s say you’re coding in a new bill to a client, and you already have multiple unpaid bills outstanding to that client (it happens). As you’re creating that Partnership Accounting new bill, Xero will alert you with a pop-up—and with a single click, you can have the amounts from all the other outstanding bills automatically roll into the new one. This is great for consolidating payments and avoiding missing any outstanding balances.