Xero

Absolutely love Xero

Comments: Xero has allowed us to get a real, detailed view on the financial situation within our company from one place. With a comprehensive setup, it can provide real value from day one.

Pros:

Xero has transformed our financial management and provides us with all the real time data we could imagine, and where it lacks, integrations take over. While more "accountancy" friendly than some of the more simple products, once you work with your accountants to get this right, you won't regret it. The detail, features and holistic approach to managing company finances means that we are using this every day and with pleasure.

Cons:

The interface is being updated, and it is needed as it is a little old fashioned in its design. That said, it is clean and clear and otherwise we love everything about Xero.

Make Your Accounting Automated

Comments: Xero is cloud-based accounting software that connects banks, accountants, management, and advisors from anywhere with any device with active internet. It performs all accounting tasks from preparing ledgers, accounts receivable, accounts payable, financial statements to the management of payroll, taxation, bank reconciliation, and inventory. Online billing enables to send bill through email.

Pros:

Xero manages the whole accounting of business straight forward. Particularly automating the process of bank reconciliation is amazing time saver, it connects to banks and credit cards. Moreover, it effectively and easily integrates with other cloud based software which enhances usability of Xero.

Cons:

Process of bank reconciliation has been automated but the process got glitches causing bank feeds stopped and entity has to restore to importing bank statement manually which takes time and attempts more than once. Inventory management needs improvement. Customer support is not perfect comparatively. It is not user friendly for those who have little accounting knowledge.

Mobile Access such a bonus.

Comments: The integrations and mobile access is a plus, unlimited users also makes life easier. The lack of phone support can be a hurdle especially with a learning curve for new users. Overall a good platform that makes life easier.

Pros:

Could have Unlimited Users, has extensive integrations, felt user friendly, real time reporting, mobile app was a big bonus.

Cons:

Customer Support wasn't offered by phone, Could be a challenge to new users to understand how to use, Customization is limited, pricing can get steep especially for Small businesses.

Best for experienced accountants.

Comments: Easy to setup. We never had trouble with Xero. We liked being able to easily customize reports.

Pros:

Easy, simple interface. No multi-layer menus or hard-to-find commands. Easy to find options and customize.

Cons:

The product is meant for more advanced accountants. It doesn't lead you through accounting procedures like QuickBooks. Xero is meant for experienced accountants.

Amazing at efficiency

Comments: Overall I can't imagine using different software. We briefly used Sage for payroll and it was too detailed and clunky, with Xero it was an easy setup and efficient process each time.

Pros:

Simplicity and ease of use. You don't have to be a qualified accountant to be able to use it, but if you are, the whole system is very helpful and you can automate so much!

Cons:

The support takes time to get your ticket answered but when it is, any follow-ups are quick.

Xero - great for beginners

Comments: I have used it for both my self employed web design work - basic, no VAT and for a partnership that subsequently became VAT registered. I have found it easy to use. Payroll is slightly harder to get a grasp of and holidays can be quite complicated but it works well with Making Tax digital

Pros:

From a none accounts background, I found this easy to set up.

Cons:

The support is not very good, and relies heavily on other users

Useful way to track your business' performance

Comments: Xero has been a useful tool for my business for the past 8+ years, and I use it in conjuction with my accountant to keep track of my business accounts. It's a handy way to code account transactions, and also see how my business is performing.

Pros:

Super easy to track and stay on top of my business financials.

Cons:

It can be hard to get help and support, and also to set up new reports.

Functionality of Xero

Comments: Overall it’s great. I’m able to really utilise the reporting functions for month end reconciliation.

Pros:

I use Xero on a daily basis and I like the functionality of the system. I especially like the historical tracking it has and the ability to adjust bookkeeping entries.

Cons:

I would like to have more options with entering invoices or bills. For example to have the line items be able to reflect individual dates vs as a whole.

Strong app, shame the performance has dropped

Pros:

Provides a strong financial product for managing my business. The mobile app is really useful.

Cons:

The performance in the browser is very sluggish these days.

Good accounting software for small businesses

Comments: I have been using Xero for over 15 years. I have worked for other clients who use other competitors and this is by far the best user experience. I also think the pricing is fair and transparent.

Pros:

Easier to use than most on the market and for a small business does everything I need. Including VAT submission.

Cons:

I think if you have limited accounting experience it would be hard to set up. But once you are up and running it is easy to maintain.

Accounting Software Design for the Business Owner

Comments: Xero give me, an accountant, a tool to provide my clients with that effectively gives them a tool for keeping their daily records in an orderly fashion make my job easier at the end of each month.

Pros:

Xero have been designed to be used by non-account business folks. However, once the data has been listed an accountant has a great tool to use to finish the company financial records (Monthly, Quarterly & Annually). It is also priced at a rate that works for most business owners.

Cons:

I really do not know of any areas within the software that I can list as "Least" liked. I do not know of any significant problems which I believe need correcting.

My investment in Xero didn't work out

Comments: I became Xero certified in 2016, I was very enthusiastic about the product at the time, and thought I would be building a practice using it. Unfortunately, the more I used it, the less well it worked for me, due to the reasons given above and more. I also find the Xero portal for practitioners unnecessarily complex and difficult to navigate. The company was always also assigning new account managers to me. I think I've met four or five in total. Xero frequently asked me for feedback and I provided it several times, especially about my discontent with their reconciliation process, which I consider inadequate to my needs as a professional bookkeeper, and which I had seen cause significant problems for business owners trying to maintain their own file. Though I repeated this feedback over the course of several years, it hasn't changed. I realize I'm just one customer, and I don't know if others feel the same way or not. Anyway, in the end, I didn't want to work with this issue anymore.

Pros:

Transaction processing in the bank feed is, as they claim, very well set up. At the time I started using Xero, the company also seemed to provide some needed competition and an alternative to intuit in the small business accounting software space.

Cons:

The other accounting software apps I use are QBO and Wave. Both, IMO, are better than Xero. Back to the bank feed -- Xero is unable to connect with a number of banks. In addition, the bank feed sometimes drops out transactions with no notice to the file owner or bookkeeper. Thanks to the lack of a reconciliation process tied to hard numbers, inaccuracies can pile up in the registers as a result. In addition, overall access to data in the registers is more awkward to accomplish than in either QBO or Wave. Editing transactions is significantly more complex than in QBO. The system of comparison between the "bank statement lines" and the account register was confusing at times. And there are odd glitches in the reporting (cannot recall all the details now, I only have one client left using this app) that I had to watch out for. Xero is a product that has some really amazing capabilities mixed in with real weaknesses.

Xero for Business

Comments: I am happy, can be connected with my clients all the time, can prepare reports anywhere, anytime. I think the price for South Africa is a bit high

Pros:

I like the product is easy to use, no need high knowledge of accounting, the person who never was doing accounting can easily manage this product

Cons:

there is still missing a few things as inventory shall be a bit changed as people with two inventories in different places can not have two storages, there are few things that missing and can make it easier to work with

Perfect Accounting Software - Nothing Comes Close

Comments: Xero changed the face of accounting for our business. It has made accounting work far less painful than it used to be. And the true cloud-based setup makes it so much easier to access from anywhere.

Pros:

Ease of use - seriously. Nothing comes close. And trust me, I've tried a number of accounting software and they're all a nightmare to use unless you're an accountant.

Cons:

Customer support could be quicker, and phone support would help.

Very different to Sage 50

Comments: We moved from Sage line 50 to Xero, this has mainly been a positive experience. From our day-to-day usage, sending invoices, chasing debt, bank reconciliation it is very easy to use. Our accountant set up Dext to import receipts and expenses which means we spend much less time with data entry now and we are much more paperless than we were. The key driver for us was to work in a cloud based system that would integrate with other business management systems and Xero kept coming up as the one that plays nicely with lots of other services. Our managment accountant has taken a lot more convincing as the web-based interface can be a little more clumsy in some 'pure-accountancy' areas and getting the chart of accounts nicely presented has taken a bit of effort. Generally we're really happy with Xero and are also happy with the split that the CRM/MRP/ERP system is supported by that vendor leaving the accountancy to the accountancy experts.

Pros:

Ease of use from a day-to-day perspective for a non accountant and integration with other cloud software such as Dext and Flowlens

Cons:

We have had a couple of glitches where bank feeds have stopped working for periods of time, manual import of bank statements can take a few attempts to get right.

Xero makes finance so easy

Comments: Since starting with Xero over six years ago, we couldn't be happier. We've centralised all our financial activity into one platform, which is great for non-finance people like myself!

Pros:

Xero makes managing the finances for a business really straightforward. The user interface is intuitive and it centralises all my accounts information. One of my favourite features is the the dashboard, which is clear and customisable, and gives a great summary of the position position at any time. The software also integrates really well to other platforms for things like receipt capture and detailed business analysis.

Cons:

I'm really happy with how it performs, however, our bookkeeper still does some levels of manual reporting, which he finds easier in Excel, than in Xero. The integration of BA tools does negate this issue.

Xero leads the way for cloud based accounting software for small to medium businesses

Comments: Very good. It certainly seems to be market leader and for good reason.

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.

Great software for SMB

Comments: We came to Xero from Sage and has changed the way we manage our accounts, and helped the team be more productive.

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.

The clean and clear accounting software

Comments: Since I started using it, everything I have needed Xero for has been straightforward. It takes minutes to get a basic invoice setup and sent to a client, and not much longer to make a more advanced invoice. It is easy to connect to your bank account and reconcile incomings and outgoings. It is also easy to give your accountants access.Overall, Xero makes it easy for you to avoid mistakes, and very importantly it has plenty of functionality that will allow it to grow with a company, as you need more advanced features, they are there, often at little to no extra cost. Having Xero helped a lot when starting my business, by making handling my fiances and accounting clean and clear.

Pros:

Xero provides a clean and straightforward experience. It has plenty of features for most use cases, but provides functionality that is easy for anyone to use from small business owners up. The integrations they provide, both with Open banking, and allowing you to give your accountants access, make it a breeze to correctly handle your finances and avoid time consuming mistakes come the end of the tax year.

Cons:

Having used Xero for many years, there is not much that I have found that I don't like about the system. Sole traders may find the 20 invoice a month restriction limiting, but that only applies to the Starter subscription. The prices of the others are more than reasonable to validate upgrading which gets you unlimited invoices. On occasion there will be bank feed issues, at which point you might be left wondering why your balances don't match. Finding out there is an issue with the feed from your particular bank is not obivous, but can be found by clicking through to their "Why is this different" page. From my experience this is the only con, and it is quite minor.

Brilliant product

Comments: Really good, does what it says on the tin (so to speak!), perfect for our use case.

Pros:

Xero is very easy to use, it has a lot of useful features that make it stand out ahead of similar software

Cons:

There isn't much that I don't like, but maybe some more customisation to the interface would be nice, to make things cleared to see when needed or to remove bits I don't want to see.

Xero makes reconciling fun

Comments: I use Xero in two roles in my life, one as an employee and the other for the accounting software for my husband's business.
In my work New Zealand schools use this software as it is relatively easy to learn, quite intuitive and uses cloud accounting, enables document uploads for accountants to view etc. Once well set up it is also fast to use on a day to day basis.
At home I assist my husband to reconcile our business transactions for our accountant. We don't have to go in to the accountant's office or email invoices etc as we can upload them to Xero for him to see. You can set up the dashboard to get an overall view of your business and how much money is owed to you, and bills you owe, how you are tracking month to month, and the balances of your accounts you have linked to Xero.

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.

Effortless Accounting with Xero, but at a Price

Comments: I have been using Xero for accounting for quite some time now, and overall, I am quite satisfied with the software. The best thing I like about Xero is how easy it is to use. The interface is intuitive, and the software is designed to be user-friendly, even for those who are not accounting experts. It makes managing my financials a breeze and saves me a lot of time. The software has a wide range of features and integrations that allow me to keep my business finances organized and up to date.However, the one thing that I do not like about Xero is its pricing. It is quite expensive compared to other accounting software in the market. While I understand that Xero offers a lot of features, I believe that the pricing could be more affordable, especially for small businesses like mine.Overall, Xero is a great accounting software that is easy to use and has a lot of features that can help streamline your business finances. While the price may be a bit steep for some, I believe that the benefits it provides are worth the investment.

Pros:

I have been using Xero for accounting for quite some time now, and overall, I am quite satisfied with the software. The best thing I like about Xero is how easy it is to use. The interface is intuitive, and the software is designed to be user-friendly, even for those who are not accounting experts. It makes managing my financials a breeze and saves me a lot of time. The software has a wide range of features and integrations that allow me to keep my business finances organized and up to date.

Cons:

However, the one thing that I do not like about Xero is its pricing. It is quite expensive compared to other accounting software in the market. While I understand that Xero offers a lot of features, I believe that the pricing could be more affordable, especially for small businesses like mine

Xero is the ideal accounting solution for small businesses - easy, comprehensive and integrated.

Comments: Overall, my experience with Xero has been extremely positive. I found the transition to the platform smooth and straightforward. The intuitive user interface allowed me to get started with the software quickly without the need for extensive training. I’m now able to easily manage invoices, payments, and track expenses. The integrations with banks and payment apps enabled me to automate financial processes. The reporting and dashboards helped me make better decisions to grow my business. I'm very happy with choosing Xero as my accounting solution, and would recommend any startup to consider it.

Pros:

What I liked most about Xero was its user-friendly interface. The dashboard is simple and streamlined, allowing me and my accounting team to use the software smoothly even without extensive accounting background. I also enjoy the mobile access on phones and tablets, enabling me to manage accounting tasks anywhere. Additionally, the seamless integration with other banking and invoicing apps is great. Overall, Xero is easy to use and helpful for handling the day-to-day accounting of my business.

Cons:

What I liked least about Xero was the limited custom reporting options. While Xero provides many standard financial reports, the ability to customize reports or create more complex accounting reports is restricted. So sometimes I need to export data to Excel to build custom reports. It also lacks advanced support for inventory or manufacturing accounting. But overall, Xero covers my needs as a small business for now, and I expect the platform will continue improving over time.

An ideal system for our financial management.

Comments: It is a software that allows the automation of routine tasks such as bank reconciliation has freed up valuable time, allowing me to focus on strategic financial analysis and achieve better decision making. With Xero I can generate personalized reports and in real time it gives me a clear vision of the company's financial performance, which makes it easier to identify areas for improvement and growth opportunities. Honestly, it is a system that greatly facilitates my duties as Finance Manager.

Pros:

Since I've been using Xero, I've really liked it, as it has proven to be an exceptional solution for optimizing our financial management. It has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that allows me to quickly access key financial data such as balance sheets, income statements, and cash flows. It has an automated bank reconciliation feature, which is a real plus, because it saves us time and ensures the accuracy of our financial records. It has characteristics that are key to our objectives.

Cons:

Xero is an almost perfect system, because it can have limitations in terms of customization. Some of the advanced reports and features may require technical knowledge or expert assistance. Another disadvantage is its integration with other business systems, which can be difficult in some cases and cause data synchronization difficulties.

Concerns with Xero

Comments: We've been using Xero for about two years now. There have been a few hiccups along the way but for the most part things have been ok. Recently however, we've had a problem with our bank feed uploading into Xero in order to reconcile transactions. We first encountered this issue on 2/10/18. We informed Xero and they said they would look into the issue. A couple of weeks went by without hearing anything about the feed working as it should. We contacted them again and they said they were still working on the issue but that we could manually download the transactions ourselves in the meantime. Today is 4/10/18 (2 months later) and they still have not fixed the issue. We are still having to manually download these transactions ourselves in order to reconcile our bank accounts within the Xero software. I spoke with Xero this morning and they still do not have a timeline for when this will be fixed. They said they use an outside company to perform the importing of bank feeds functions and that they are not responsible for it not working. They said when we signed up for the Xero service we were informed about the possibility of the feed possibly cutting out at some point in the fine print (terms & conditions). They refuse to issue any sort of refund for their monthly service during this time of inconvenience because they say the bank feed import function is a free service offered by a third party. The problem we have is that Xero is marketing this service as part of their overall monthly service package which you assume is really included in your monthly service fee you pay to them. When it doesn't work they take no accountability for it not working. We think it's very deceptive for them to market a service (bank import functionality) to prospective buyers, which you assume is included with your monthly service fee, but then take no responsibility for it not working when things breakdown. We believe they do this to gain a competitive advantage over other companies like Quickbooks. Instead of just charging for the bank import service which would increase their monthly service fee and make them less competitive on a price basis with their competition they artfully setup their service to be able to offer a more competitive price but not assume any of the responsibility when the service doesn't work as expected. The general consumer doesn't think to put this deceptive tactic together when they sign up for the service and Xero assumes once they have you onboard you'll deal with the issue until they can get it fixed because switching accounting software companies at a later date is extremely inconvenient.

Pros:

The service accomplishes most of what it was intended to do albiet at a bit of a learning curve for the new user.

Cons:

There is no customer service support number to call. Bank feeds do not work properly. IOS app is mising some functionaility