Xero Reviews

Pros

It helpd to connects small business owners with their bank and advisors anytime.

Cons

There are no cons as I can think of now

Pros

To have all these tools from an accounting program that is an administrative program and a settlement program in one application. This is the best thing that an employee or manager can get.

Cons

I hope that the speed of settlements within the application will improve

Alternatives Considered

Paycor

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Ease of use, ease of communication with customer service, ease of access to employees

Pros

Nothing. After moving from Reckon Accounts desktop to sync with our Project Management software, I am regretting the move. We are looking elsewhere

Cons

Lack of customisable reports. Lack of aging in statements. Lack of support for state payroll tax. The way that Xero counts credit cards as an asset and not a liability. The way that "bank reconciliations" are done. The deafening silence from Xero staff in Xero Central.

Alternatives Considered

MYOB Business, Wiise, Sage 50cloud Accounting and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

Purely to integrate with our Project Management software.

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Company Accountants recommendation. He has heard my opinion.

Pros

With Xero, I have been able to easily manage my finances, track income and expenses, and stay organized with its simple and intuitive interface. The reporting features are great, and the ability to connect to my bank accounts is a huge plus.

Cons

One downside to Xero is that it can be a bit pricey for small businesses. It also lacks some more advanced features that more expensive accounting software offers.

Pros

The balance sheets are great. The way they are presented in the sheet after you decide on the coverage period makes it easier for you to decide where you are with profit and losses.

Cons

They are not doing payroll anymore which means you need to pay a third party to perform that for you. This is very vital for a company that is using an accounting system.

Alternatives Considered

Sage Intacct and FreshBooks

Reasons for Switching to Xero

The options Xero has with the interfaces are more user friendly.

Pros

Ease of implementation, easy to learn, integrations are endless

Cons

The expense function needs reworking. It's hard work and duplicates work

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Cheaper and easier to implement + better integrations

Pros

anyone can pick it up and use it for simple tasks without needing accounts training or knowledge

Cons

Not designed for project-based businesses, and quoting function can sometimes be a distraction causing staff to quote on Xero for small enquiries when it should be done in our dedicated estimating software.

Pros

Xero ease of use plays a key role to its success when using it to meet your accounting needs. It has a very robust and intuitive user interface which gives users an easy time accessing its features and using the features to achieve their needs. It had very outstanding bookkeeping services which allows you to easily collect, assemble and securely store all your financial documents and receipts in an easily accessible location. Xero also provides successful expenses tracking features which allows you to track all your bills, check on your accounts payable as well as having a clear view of your cash flow. Another masterstroke in Xero is the ability to integrate it with other payment gateways like Stripe which makes it possible to accept online payments conveniently. Xero also helps one have a clear understanding of your business by generating accurate financial reports which gives clear insights on the health of your business financially.

Cons

Xero has really worked well for me and my team. I have literally nothing ill to talk about it nor do i have anything to complain about.

Pros

Xero plugs in to a lot of different software tools making it easy to reconcile. The reconcile tool itself is also pretty amazing, making it easy to manage bookkeeping.

Cons

The UI seems very dated, it could really do with a refresh and a new menu structure, sometimes its hard to find basic things without having to mess around in the settings to look it up.

Pros

What I like about this tool is its operation, it facilitates financial work procedures with even bank procedures, allowing it to register the financial process within the organization. It is usually a system implemented mostly by accounting industries, but with its billing procedures there are no limitations

Cons

The system can be deployed well in any company, it allows operations and calculations as well as more accurate records, a tool that in terms of negatives does not have many

Pros

Customisable dashboard is a time saver and ability to customise templates helps with consistency for our company branding. Customisation of user permissions means the bonus of staff being able to enter their own expenses which is a further time saver. Being able to work across multiple currencies now is a plus, albeit I wish we could manually adjust exchange rates being used.

Cons

Many advanced features that are standard for longer established accounting software solutions are available, but as "bolt on" packages, so costs can escalate quickly if you need full "bells and whistles".
Customer service response can be very slow compared to other cloud software providers we use - in the beginning they were responsive for engagement but over time they're clearly pushing all customers towards getting answers from their user community and/or through the Q&A section. I appreciate that customer service probably don't want to be wasting time with queries better addressed by professional book-keepers or accountants, but in our instance, as "advanced users", our customer service queries tend to be related to technical challenges with the product. It would be great of Xero could analyse the types of queries coming from their customers and perhaps have a priority helpline on offer for "low maintenance" subscribers.

Alternatives Considered

Quicken, Sage Business Cloud Accounting, QuickBooks Online Advanced and FreshBooks

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Felt more user friendly, especially for team members who, at the time, had limited or zero accounting knowledge

Pros

Easy reconciliation but this is a feature of most brands now.

Cons

Reports are impossible to configure and source the data I need. The layout is poor and not user friendly. The technical terms used are common to accountants but make no sense to small business operators. The online help is useless and takes forever to get a response. Feature requests are ignored and not even responded to. There are other brands that offer a much easier user interface and at a fraction of the cost. I was forced into XERO as it was the only brand my accountant would support. I have to ring the accountants for help all the time who change a fortune for simple advice. Every feature I need is an extra add on charge. The remember me at login does not work and I have to waste time with 2 step login every time I leave the computer for 5 minutes. XERO does not work well on the tablet. The bank feeds do not deliver all the transaction data detail and its very difficult to identify some businesses. Memorizing transactions and splitting purchases is a real time-waster.

Alternatives Considered

MYOB Business, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise and Reckon One

Reasons for Switching to Xero

I was forced to use it by my accountant who would not support the other brands.

Pros

Xero has been one of the first solutions for cloud bookkeeping and accounting and has successfully competed with the likes of Sage and QuickBooks. It has probably the most other software providers that link directly with Xero over APIs.

Cons

Over the years there were some features that were requested and it took a long time for them to be implemented, also more and more features are additional paid for addons.

Alternatives Considered

FreshBooks, Sage 50cloud Accounting, Quickbooks Online, Wave Accounting, FreeAgent and Microsoft Excel

Reasons for Choosing Xero

Clients were unhappy with existing software.

Switched From

Sage 50cloud Accounting and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Xero

It has the most connections with other apps, links with workpapers among other things.

Pros

Nothing, nothing at all. The software is nothing more than a glorified analysed cashbook. Support is poor and some of the replies from Support demonstrate the advisor doesn't understand accounts, the accounts structure or the damage that can be done by the advice they are giving.

Cons

All purchases whether a supplier, or a bottle of milk from Tesco's is a contact. A bottle of milk for the office should be coded directly to the nominal code, not a new supplier "Tesco's" created.

Cash in an out of bank should be the same as the bank statement on a live bank feed, but it excludes transfers from savings to current account so not a true reflection of cash in and out.

Xero doesn't reconcile customer receipts, even through the name on the receipt in the bank is the same as the customer account exactly.

Xero dump a lot of support on to the accountant who provides the service.

Xero creates accounts for customers and suppliers on it's own if it doesn't recognise a payment or receipt in the bank account. Software should never be allowed to decide if it wants to create something automatically.

Xero isn't as automated as Sage Accounts, for instance when bulk invoicing over several days, you can't set the date at software level, you have to keep changing the date.

When importing from Sage into Xero for the first time, if Xero doesn't understand an item on the invoice, it simply creates a new line on the invoice whether you want it to or not and there is no way apparently to undo this once done.

Xero works with receipt bank and you can spend hours trying to tell it an expense is not to be coded to a customer.

I could go on.

Pros

Xero is a pretty straightforward product that is effectively almost immediately deployable. Xero's dashboard is not bulky or overwhelming like a significant number of other accounting software tends to be. Xero's help manuals and tutorials were also very useful and are great for helping users quickly refamiliarize themselves with the software. Xero worked well for my law firm for IOLTA (Lawyer Trust Account) reconciliation purposes. With the software linked to your desired account, you can easily reconcile all incoming and outgoing payments and expenses on a given account. Once set up, you literally can log in right after making a purchase to reconcile your accounts without having to fumble through old receipts later to try to remember specific actions that were taken on behalf of a client.

Cons

The only con that I personally experienced with Xero was that I routinely was required to relink and subsequently "resync" my banking account with Xero. Admittedly, this may have been a banking issue and not necessarily a Xero issue. However, when the relinking had to happen, this created a significant amount of issues because I was forced to relink the account, reimport expenses and incoming sums and then ensure that all the amounts had actually synced appropriately from my physical bank account to the Xero software.

Alternatives Considered

Peach Software

Reasons for Choosing Xero

We switched from Quickbooks because the software felt really cumbersome and was not very user friendly to someone that isn't an accounting professional.

Switched From

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Xero

The price of Xero and the ability to effectively use the software almost immediately made the decision to choose Xero a straightforward one.

Pros

Xero is very easy to navigate around and is user friendly. Even a non-finance employee is able to use Xero. The product is able to integrate seamlessly with a school management system importing invoices and contacts which are managed in the school management system. The integration is almost automatic and does not require a user to sync. AMAZING PLATFORM!

Cons

Nil - Honestly there is nothing I dislike about Xero.

Alternatives Considered

MYOB Business

Reasons for Choosing Xero

MYOB was not able to integrate with a school management system.

Switched From

MYOB Business

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Integration, Ease of use, ease of navigation, reporting

Pros

Xero has everything for startup companies and small businesses. Their software is 10 out 10 on user interface. It was born in the cloud and continues to exceed Quickbooks by a long shot. Most everything Quickbooks has added to its software in the past 10 years, is because Xero did it first.

Cons

The software does not have a tax add-on when compared to Quickbooks (Intuit). They are plenty of integrations to solve this issue but it would be nice to have. Integrating bill payment is more difficult compared to Quickbooks as well.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Desktop Pro, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Xero has better pricing, pricing options, features (fixed assets module), reporting, integrations, reconciling than its competitors. For example, if you import 500 transactions into Quicks incorrectly, you have to delete them all one by one. You can batch delete data in Xero. Quickbooks also does not have cash vs accrual basis accounting. You literally cannot make accrual journals in Quickbooks.

Pros

customer service is great, even for an SMB like ours, we get good response times and knowledgeable people. the system is very easy to use and has great functionality for managing our sales and supplier invoices so that we can keep track of our cashflow accurately. Apps library is great and has everything that we need.

Cons

certain functionality around automation and AI is not there but can be added via connected apps.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

needed more functionality and fewer manual processes

Switched From

Sage Business Cloud Accounting

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Allowed for a more flexible account and functionality was better than other solutions and better connected to other apps and services

Pros

Although may not feature the type of reporting that would set it apart from competitors, it has good integration with other apps that can generally to the job.

For accountants, the customer support is good enough. There is a large community so you can usually find the answer you need if you run into an issue

Cons

Not every useful report is available. And may never get them if they arent on the roadmap. Only really found one strange issue around perpetual revaluing of forex that has not been resolved, and likely wont ever be. Its not critical, but would be useful.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Xero

Sage 50 wasnt cloud at the time, its the only way you can work these days. Sage cloud service wasn't up to scratch back then

Switched From

Sage 50cloud Accounting

Reasons for Switching to Xero

Most advanced at the time

Pros

Xero is an accounting software that just works. I have used so many different platforms, and Xero has been the easiest and most reliable software I have found.

Cons

1099 reports are too limited. Tracking categories are too limited. Support can phone it in when you first reach out to them, but if you set up a time to chat with someone they are extremely helpful.

Alternatives Considered

AccountingSuite and Wave Accounting

Reasons for Choosing Xero

Quickbooks ethics and support was enough to drive me crazy. When you would call QBO support 5 times, you will most likely get 5 different answers and they will usually contradict each other.

Switched From

Quickbooks Online

Pros

I loved the usability of this software. It was super easy to set up relatively sophisticated accounting with no accounting background. I thought the bank reconciliation was dynamite, and while they still had it, I loved the payroll. When I would eventually get triaged to tech support, the person was so patient, and so helpful it was really great, and they never seemed to mind spending a long time helping to fix some oddball problems that I'd made. Oh yes, loved it that they did the quarterly tax filings for me, but that also went away with the payroll

Cons

One thing about this accounting software - when you have a question their first response is to tell you to have your accountant look at it. I was using this software as a replacement for an accountant, in order to save money, so that advice didn't help much. When you do a google for help, you run into a problem: Xero seems to be doing accounting software for all the english speaking countries,e.g. new zealand, australia, UK, USA and canada. each of these countries has different business formations/corporations, different taxation rules, etc, as well as meaningfully different accounting vernacular. I would end up mnost of the time getting somewhere only to realize I'd pulled up the UK instructions to solve a problem.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

Reasons for Switching to Xero

good recommendation from another provider who had a similar size busness. Was SUPER easy to set up, and the account reconciliation was a godsend.

Pros

Easy to use for non-accountants. Inexpensive.

Cons

Invoices, purchase orders etc are not sent out from your own email address but from messaging-service @post.xero.com. This looks unprofessional and spammy, I have had customers reply by copying and pasting that email address and it's binned by Xero. You can't format email text in any way either. No bold, no italics - nothing!

The inventory (products and services) listings cannot be accessed by administration staff unless given full access to financial reports. So the accountant or business owner has to make small modifications to the inventory even though they are not familiar with product descriptions, prices etc. This is very poor.

Pros

I have been using Xero for a good number of years now and can only recommend it! The usability is fantastic, the ability to see really clearly how the accounts work is groundbreaking in its field. I love the bank reconciliation and the bank feeds. The automation of data is actually fun and linking it into the add-ons can make life a lot easier and save time and money. It is a great way to keep things simple and clear. I love the advisor features, that you can't break it (although you can make a real mess if not careful). For me the biggest benefit is the clarity of the data and the ability to drill down into virtually anything.

Don't use Xero in super complex scenarios and I would recommend that you employ a proper XERO accountant - who actually knows how to use Xero and uses the data when using it though or you will end up paying twice - once for entering the data to xero - and again when the accountant pulls it out into their own software. Overall I would absolutely recommend Xero for people who are more serious than working in spreadsheets but who are turning over £50k-£3m+ with a fairly simple process.

Cons

We have found that Xero does not work well in all scenarios but there are work arounds - the bigger the business and the more complex the processes the less it suits but then if you are bigger/more complex you should arguably be using something else!
Support is not awesome! It can take time and you are often met with unhelpful suggestions. There has been an increased number of 'blips' in the software in more recent months and the support has been almost useless in those cases and I have had to find workarounds. Conversation/instant message support should surely be on the cards?
Another thing that I don't like is the highly evangelical nature of the conferences! It borders on the cultish and if you are not 'in' then you are definitely 'out'! I have not found there to be any benefit to being on the 'directory' for that same reason.

Pros

What is good about Xero are 1) Real-time bank feeds and bank reconciliation - this is what scared the pants off of Intuit and forced them to develop new functionality. 2) Xero fully embraces and enables third-party developers to provide niche solutions that have rich interaction with Xero. 3) The features keep getting better and better quarter after quarter. 4) Perhaps my relationship as a partner skews this, but I've had nothing but excellent support from Xero. I can call someone if I have to, but I almost always get issues resolved through technical support in a timely fashion.

Some of my favorite add-ons for Xero are GeoOp for field services, Deputy which integrates its scheduling, time and attendance functions with Xero payroll, and Float which projects cashflow. The new reporting and the tags are fantastic.

Cons

There are some features I would like to see "sooner," but they are on the roadmap for "later." People jump on Xero because of the price without having a Xero consultant evaluate their suitability for the application - that can create an expectation gap, and that inevitably leads to an unhappy customer. I just hate it when people let their wallet do their thinking for them and then blame the software because it "doesn't do enough."

The payroll is fine. I spoke to the VP in charge of payroll development and he is all about improving the functionality, so it will continue to improve. What is there now is very well designed to be comprehensive and flexible, but there are situations where a third-party payroll like Gusto will make more sense for your organization. They are the first ones to suggest you look at solutions like Gusto, ADP, Paychex and others that integrate seamlessly with Xero.

It is annoying that the tags are limited to two categories, and this won't be revised until they have their design for job costing completed. No word yet on when that will be.

Pros

I like the ease of reconciling because once you get set up and code a few items it remembers them for next time for a faster job (you still have to check them to see if they are correct first).
I find it fun and satisfying to reconcile in Xero as it is quite visual, you see several lines waiting to be reconciled and then as you work through the transactions, coding them and clicking on the middle button, they disappear. Setting up bank rules is also a huge benefit, as they get coded automatically, ready for you to just hit the green 'ok' button. You can use this for your usual bills for example, electricity bill, local cafe, cell phone bill, internet charges. Although it does take time to set bank rules up to make sure all details are accurate, it saves time in the long run.
I like the fact that customers can upload documents into the files section of Xero and their accountant can see these documents immediately to work on them or code them.
I also like the search function as you can search for a particular number, or the first few letters of a name or business to find relevant transactions.
Being able to generate invoices and email them direct from Xero is great as it saves time.

Cons

It is not the software's fault exactly, but because reconciling is so easy there is a temptation to accept what Xero suggests for a transaction and reconcile to this account, instead of pausing and really checking if the code is the best one.
Xero is first and foremost a business accounting software, so the reports it can generate may not be exactly what other users of the software need, like schools for example, who may need a Xero add-on to get what they most need in regards to reports.