15 years helping Australian businesses
choose better software

What Is Xero?

Award-winning online accounting software designed for small business owners and accountants. Available on any computer or mobile device with an internet connection. Business finances and cashflow are updated in real time. Imports transactions from bank accounts. Unlimited user logins. Integrates with over 1,000 3rd-party business applications. Supports multiple currencies. Data is accessible through a single ledger, allowing accountants and clients to collaborate around finances.

Who Uses Xero?

All small and medium sized businesses and accounting & bookkeeping practices.

Where can Xero be deployed?

Cloud-based
On-premises

About the vendor

  • Xero
  • Founded in 2006

Xero support

  • 24/7 (Live rep)
  • Chat

Countries available

Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany and 9 others

Languages

English

Xero pricing

Starting Price:

$13.50/month
  • Yes, has free trial
  • No free version

Xero does not have a free version but does offer a free trial. Xero paid version starts at $13.50/month.

Pricing plans get a free trial

About the vendor

  • Xero
  • Founded in 2006

Xero support

  • 24/7 (Live rep)
  • Chat

Countries available

Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany and 9 others

Languages

English

Xero videos and images

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Features of Xero

  • "What If" Scenarios
  • ACH Payment Processing
  • Access Controls/Permissions
  • Accounting
  • Accounts Payable
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Activity Dashboard
  • Alerts/Notifications
  • Approval Process Control
  • Approval Workflow
  • Asset Accounting
  • Audit Management
  • Audit Trail
  • Automated Quoting
  • Bank Reconciliation
  • Benefits Management
  • Billing & Invoicing
  • Budgeting/Forecasting
  • Calendar Management
  • Case Management
  • Cash Management
  • Check Printing
  • Check Processing
  • Check Writing
  • Client Management
  • Client Portal
  • Compliance Management
  • Consolidation/Roll-Up
  • Contact Database
  • Contact Management
  • Contract/License Management
  • Core Accounting
  • Cost Tracking
  • Cross Ledger Posting
  • Customer History
  • Customer Statements
  • Customisable Branding
  • Customisable Invoices
  • Customizable Reports
  • Data Import/Export
  • Delivery Management
  • Direct Deposit
  • Discount Management
  • Document Management
  • Due Date Tracking
  • Dunning Management
  • Duplicate Payment Alert
  • Electronic Payments
  • Expense Claims
  • Expense Management
  • Expense Tracking
  • Fee Calculation & Posting
  • Financial Analysis
  • Financial Management
  • Financial Reporting
  • Fixed Asset Management
  • For AEC Industry
  • For Accountants
  • For Legal Professionals
  • For Real Estate
  • For Religious Organizations
  • For Restaurants
  • For Schools
  • For Small Businesses
  • Forecasting
  • Fund Accounting
  • Fund Management
  • General Ledger
  • Income & Balance Sheet
  • Inventory Control
  • Inventory Management
  • Inventory Optimization
  • Invoice Creation
  • Invoice History
  • Invoice Management
  • Invoice Processing
  • Job Costing
  • Mobile Access
  • Mobile App
  • Mobile Payments
  • Monitoring
  • Multi-Currency
  • Online Invoicing
  • Online Payments
  • Order Management
  • Order Tracking
  • Overpayment Processing
  • Partial Payments
  • Payment Processing
  • Performance Metrics
  • Pricing Management
  • Pricing and Cost Calculations
  • Product Identification
  • Profit/Loss Statement
  • Project Accounting
  • Project Management
  • Purchase Order Management
  • Quotes/Estimates
  • Real Time Data
  • Real Time Reporting
  • Receipt Management
  • Receivables Ledger
  • Recurring Invoicing
  • Recurring/Subscription Billing
  • Reimbursement Management
  • Remote Access/Control
  • Reorder Management
  • Reporting & Statistics
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Requisition Management
  • Revenue Recognition
  • Search/Filter
  • Self Service Portal
  • Shipping Management
  • Sourcing Management
  • Spend Management
  • Status Tracking
  • Supplier Management
  • Task Management
  • Tax Calculation
  • Tax Management
  • Template Management
  • Third Party Integrations
  • Time & Expense Tracking
  • Time Tracking
  • Transaction Management
  • Trust Accounting
  • Vendor Management
  • W-2 Preparation
  • Warehouse Management

Alternatives to Xero

Mobile-based social commerce platform that enables users to carry out money transmission across all types of purchases.
SimplBooks is an online accounting software for small and micro business owners that offers users a user-friendly interface.
Online application that helps small businesses automate accounting, from expense tracking to tax filling and bank reconciliation.
Easy and affordable online accounting software for small businesses. Plans start at just $12 per month. Learn more about Reckon One
MYOB Advanced Business software is tailored to mid-sized businesses & integrates real-time data across your entire business. Learn more about MYOB Advanced Business
Accounting Power puts accountants back in control of client accounting and lets you offer highly profitable Client Accounting Services.
Business management solution that includes features for financial forecasting, supply chain optimization, and project planning.
Rental property and personal finances management solution with tenant information tracking, income management, and expense tracking.
All-in-one business application that features accounting, cloud banking, order management, inventory, project time tracking and more.

Reviews of Xero

Average score

Overall
4.4
Ease of Use
4.3
Customer Service
4.0
Features
4.3
Value for Money
4.2

Reviews by company size (employees)

  • <50
  • 51-200
  • 201-1,000
  • >1,001
Wambui
Wambui
Water and Sanitation Systems Controller in Kenya
Verified LinkedIn User
Civic & Social Organization, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Xero saves a lot of time in accounting.

5.0 last month New

Comments: Xero is helping us achieve a successful financial management experience. With Xero, it is easy to know the amount of money spent on each and every project as well daily expenditure and this helps us to always spend within our budget. It keeps us updated about our financial health and performance which is a valuable aspect for our success in what we are doing in the society as it prevent us from promising what we are unable to offer.

Pros:

Xero helped us eliminate all the complexity of accounting by giving us a simpler way of managing our finances and financial activities. It has the most accurate financial reports that allows us to monitor and understand our financial performance in a more dynamic yet simple way. It keep us on reminded of due bills allowing us to pay all our bills in time to avoid inconveniences of delayed payments. Xero makes it easy for us to capture data of every transactions being made for enhanced expense monitoring.

Cons:

Xero has been a consistent accounting tool in our organization generally because of how excellent it is in delivering the exact services that we are looking for. No negative impressions so far.

Andrew
Technical Support in Australia
Information Technology & Services, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Xero- Finance software for non-financial people

4.0 2 months ago New

Comments: Xero took me from relying solely on the word and opinion of my Accounts Officer and Treasurer, to actually being able to read and understand financial reports. P&L's and balance sheets. Xero's ease of use also lead me to quickly be able to confidently action financial matters myself if needed, which was never an option with the previous software used. I would encourage every small business to use Xero.

Pros:

So very easy to use once it is all set up. the reporting is clean and easy to understand, invoicing is seamless and account reconciliation is simple.

Cons:

Migrating from MYOB or another accounting software can be time consuming, however this would happen with any software.

Jacquie
Program Manager in US
Computer Software, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

This is a self-taught product

3.0 2 months ago New

Comments: From day one, I was absolutely on my own setting this up. We were a new company and did not have anything to import from another product. There was no, and still is no, customer support at all. There is a help center where you can search and search to find an answer to your question(s). As long as the product is working, you will do ok once you figure it all out. However, if something stops functioning, it may be months before it gets fixed. This made it very difficult for me to be able to do month-end, quarter-end and year-end reconciliations and reporting. The product worked for a couple weeks in the month of January which caused multiple duplications that had to be worked through then the product stopped working again for about another month. I don't care what the cost of a product is, if you can't use it because of their product defects, what is it truly worth? It cost my employer more money to pay me to work through all this than if I had done it all manually on spreadsheets.

Pros:

After six years of use, I am comfortable using Xero when it is working.

Cons:

Read your reviews on the customer service aspect of this product. It doesn't matter how well a product is rated when there is zero customer service. All the negatives you read about their customer service are TRUE. We have used Xero for 6.5 years and it was six years before I ever got to message with what seemed to be a human. There is no phone number to call nor is there live chat. You can submit a customer support ticket but good luck getting a timely response or a response at all. You can ask the "community" for help but a reply from the Xero community may never come.

Sue
Director and Governance Lead in UK
Health, Wellness & Fitness, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Xero for non profits

5.0 3 months ago

Comments: Now that I am up and running I really like it. The nominal structure is very different to Sage Line 50 but the principles are the same. I was advised by multiple accountants to choose Xero or Sage online above Quickbooks

Pros:

Online means that we can share information across the team as we do not work from a central office.

Cons:

I did need an expert to help me set up Xero and make sure all the data was imported correctly. We bought in around 10 hours of expert help to get us started.

Alternatives Considered: Sage 50cloud Accounting

Reasons for Choosing Xero: We needed an online option... we were using Sage Line50 but that is not an option for me to choose here.

Switched From: Sage 50cloud Accounting

Reasons for Switching to Xero: Pretty sure it was recommendation from accountants. The costs were pretty comparable.

Ali
Ali
Oilfield infrastructure Administrator in Kenya
Verified LinkedIn User
Oil & Energy, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Xero is taking good care of our accounting and finance management.

5.0 2 months ago New

Comments: Xero has become a very crucial product in our organization mostly on the finance department. It allows us to take control over our finances and expenditure. With Xeo, it is easy to account for every penny we receive as payments from clients and balance our finances with our expenditure. It has helped us eliminate any loopholes which could see us experience loses in our business.

Pros:

Xero has been such a savior product for us and has helped us streamline our financial management experience. We find it very useful how it allows us to track funds move within the organization including our overall expenditure as it helps avoid overspending. The financial reports are easy to read and extract useful insights which shows our position financially. Xero security features has also been a big plus for us in keeping our financial information secure and private.

Cons:

It was easy to start it off with Xero as the interface is very smooth. No issues at all when using it.