Xero vs QuickBooks: Complete Features comparison 2025

Bill.com enhances financial efficiency for small and midsized businesses by facilitating invoice sending, bill payments, and expense management. QuickBooks offers a time-tracking app called QuickBooks Time for employers to create schedules, track projects, and manage time-offs. Xero offers a built-in invoicing feature where users can create invoices and customize them using the company logo, custom message, and added fields. It is popular among small to medium-sized businesses and offers cloud-based and on-premises applications. QuickBooks is a popular all-in-one accounting software for small to medium business. QuickBooks offers inventory management as part of two of its plans.

Xero has no built-in proposal feature but can integrate with third-party proposal software. It also generates reports on project profitability, time cost by employee, and unbilled time and expense for individual projects. Users can add invoices, estimates, expenses, time, bills, purchase orders, etc., into a project. Xero also has a built-in timer to track time invested in a particular task.

• Therefore, if you only need an accounting platform to handle simple tasks, we’d recommend going with a more beginner-friendly like FreshBooks, instead.
• Advanced features require apps.
• Both platforms have established themselves as key players in the small and mid-sized business space.
• Both providers offer stand tax capabilities like tax rate calculations and tax form generation, scoring neck and neck in this research category.
• Q. Which is better for inventory management?

Our research almost positions QuickBooks and Xero neck-and-neck, but Xero is the better accounting platform overall, due to its superior bookkeeping and collaboration features, and its wider library of integrations. A broad range of accounting features, professional look and feel, helpful and free trial period If you’re a freelancer or small business primarily focusing on invoicing and tracking expenses, FreshBooks is another great alternative. Neither QuickBooks nor Xero offers a permanent free plan. Whatever the current deal, users will need to skip their free trial to qualify.

Xero vs QuickBooks Ease Of Use

QuickBooks simplifies finance management by allowing users to organize receipts and track mileage easily using its mobile application. Midsize to large businesses that need advanced reporting, budgeting, and invoice management. Companies that need financial planning, inventory management, and project expense tracking. However, its cost could drive away many SMBs despite its strong accounting tools, inventory and project tracking tools and excellent mobile application.

Users get insights into business cash flow with the status of expense claims, bills, and details of money coming in with charts and graphs. It supports foreign exchange bank accounts and payments in any currency. Users can set the software to send multiple reminders to the clients for due and overdue invoices at their preferred intervals. Xero allows real-time cash flow updates and online collaboration with bookkeepers, employees, and accountants for tasks like submitting expenses and sending invoices. Companies that deal with multiple currencies and need to add employee time in the invoice.

• So if you don’t have much time to invest in navigating the software complexities, we’d recommend foregoing both options altogether and using a simpler alternative like FreshBooks instead.
• If you’re on the hunt for an effective bookkeeping software, you’ve likely come across Xero and QuickBooks, two bookkeeping giants that stand tall above the rest.
• QuickBooks dashboard has a customizable home page with widgets and a planner page, allowing a real-time cash flow view.

When we tested out the platform, we found it easier to use than Xero and QuickBooks, and its 24/7 help center rivals QuickBooks, making it a reliable option for businesses using accounting software for the first time. Xero and QuickBooks are two popular cloud-based accounting software platforms widely used by small and medium-sized businesses. There’s no question that both platforms have revolutionized how small businesses manage their finances, each offering powerful tools wrapped in user-friendly interfaces. Known for its strong financial management tools, Sage is often favoured by larger enterprises or businesses with more complex accounting needs. Xero offers features such as invoicing, expense management, payroll, and comprehensive financial reporting. Founded in New Zealand in 2006, Xero is another example of robust accounting software that focuses on providing a user-friendly experience for small to medium-sized businesses.

As a trusted Microsoft Dynamics Partner, Dynamics Square bridges the gap between software capability and business outcome. Designed for businesses that prefer nimbleness and global operations, Xero often appeals to digitally native teams and international startups. Launched in 2006 in New Zealand, Xero positions itself as a born-in-the-cloud, user-first accounting platform.

The QuickBooks payroll feature streamlines payday tasks by setting up the payroll to run automatically. Xero automates recurring online pay runs and stores employee data, personal details, and payroll records. These integrated apps support flexible workflows and data syncing for a comprehensive business overview. Xero integrates with various certified apps categorized by industry and function, like CRM, invoicing, inventory, and payroll. Users can access sales tax information from the Sales Tax Liability Report and get assistance from live tax experts for tax filing. QuickBooks automatically calculates tax from invoices using date, location, product or service type, and customer as the base for sales tax rate.

Which Plan Fits Your Business Best?

Melio is ideal for nonprofits, contractors, freelancers, and SMBs, offering robust management of business payments for clients. Yes, there are free accounting software applications available for companies and freelancers. However, novice users will find it difficult to navigate the software because its menu bar contains a few options. Users can also add trips manually and categorize trips as businesses for tax deductions.

Xero vs QuickBooks: Feature Comparison

QuickBooks Online is renowned for its robust functionality in areas like tax preparation and filing. However, it does offer more functionality. Other countries, such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom, have different pricing plans and rates. Please note that the plans above are for Xeros’ USA pricing plans. Both dashboards offer global search functionality and display an up-to-date view of your latest balances and pending expenses that need reconciling.

To help you make an informed decision about which you should use for your small business! If you’re on the hunt for an effective bookkeeping software, you’ve likely come across Xero and QuickBooks, two bookkeeping giants that stand tall above the rest. Ultimately, the decision should be based on your company’s size, needs, and the level of financial complexity you need to manage effectively. Choosing between QuickBooks and Xero depends on your business’s specific requirements.

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QuickBooks is slightly more expensive but offers advanced features tailored to U.S. regulations. Should your company be U.S. based and require better tax compliance, comprehensive reporting, and robust payroll features, QuickBooks is the better option. Comparing Xero and QuickBooks, there is a need to compare their most critical features which are most vital to small future value formula and calculator businesses, startups, and growing businesses. Both save time while lowering errors, therefore simplifying invoicing, expense tracking, and tax reporting. Selecting the correct accounting software helps you to handle your company’s finances successfully.

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Like Xero, these integrations cover anything from eCommerce to payment processing, payroll services, and more. QuickBooks integrates seamlessly with 750+ business apps, which, although a slightly lower number than Xero, is still pretty decent! Xero’s accounting API is also known for being developer-friendly! Both platforms are known for their seamless integration capabilities–but which is better?

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Both Xero and QuickBooks offer essential accounting tools like invoicing, reporting, bank reconciliation, and tax management—but differ in UX, automation, and integration depth. QuickBooks is better for the U.S.-based small businesses due to strong tax compliance and payroll features, while Xero suits global businesses with multi-currency and easy collaboration tools. It is popular among accounting firms and businesses with less than 25 users, requiring advanced invoicing customization and industry-specific features. Xero is primarily an accounting software that offers payments in over 160 currencies, making it ideal for international business. QuickBooks is an online accounting software that helps users track receipts, bank transactions, and income.

Xero offers three price plans with differing levels of features. Xero and QuickBooks are powerful accounting platforms, but their complexity compared to other systems means that you may need to rely on help and support features from time to time. It also offers API support and its App Store what is an audit everything about the 3 types of audits lets you filter results by category and industry, making it easier for users to locate useful integrations.

It allows users to compare transactions with bank statements and check them off one by one until the difference between them is zero. QuickBooks offers charts of accounting to track assets and liabilities using balance sheet accounts and categorize transactions with income and expense accounts. QuickBooks is advanced accounting software that can manage a company’s fixed assets. QuickBooks offers advanced invoicing features such as customization, recurring invoices, email sending, and payment options. We will examine the differences between Xero and QuickBooks in detail and determine the best accounting software.

There isn’t much in it though, with QuickBooks boasting a slicker interface, stronger help and support tools, as well as industry-leading cashflow projection features that make budgeting a breeze. I’ve been helping small and local businesses with digital activties over the last 7 years. Join us to receive actionable tips, tutorials and tools to grow your small business online My name is Stewart, I have a strong passion for digital marketing, business software and small business strategy.

QuickBooks vs Xero: Which accounting software is better for your small business in 2025?

It also provides a staff time overview to monitor individual employee efficiency. It supports matching bank statements to invoices or bill payments using rules or accepting a suggested match. Xero enables daily bank reconciliation through live bank feed or manually import bank statements if the bank does not connect to Xero. It blank endorsement: definition & example automates the bookkeeping process by sorting business expenses into the right categories and setting up rules to categorize recurring transactions.