Xero versus Quickbooks that is the question

Online accounting software, there are undoubtedly two big names out there – QuickBooks and Xero. Both offer payroll, invoices, transactions, bank feeds and much more so how do you choose which accounting software is best for your business? To help, we’ve summarised some of their features below and what we think are best.

Accessibility
Both are cloud based so all your businesses financial data is available securely online anywhere from you PC, smartphone or tablet. Both Xero and QuickBooks have mobile apps for Android and iPhone but Xero apps offer better access to fundamental tasks, such as banking or adding expenses to invoices.

Dashboard
A snapshot of your company’s finances and day-to-day tasks can be achieved using this. QuickBooks has a nicely designed homepage dashboard for general monitoring, however Xero has faster single-click access to fundamental accounting features and is generally more user friendly.

Invoice Management
Managing invoices is important to maintain a record of any late payments, expenditures and extract day-to-day accounting reports. With Xero, when you email your customer an invoice, they can access it online and pay in a few seconds with the click of a button. If they use Xero too, they can save the invoice directly into their Xero software.

Bank Account Reconciliation
This is often a time-consuming process but online accounting software can help to make bank reconciliation less complicated. Both QuickBooks and Xero allow you to link your bank account to retrieve transactions automatically into the software. However, Xero instinctively matches bank transactions with invoices, which is extremely beneficial.

Integrations
Both Xero and QuickBooks provide third-party app integrations in order to boost efficiency when accounting for your business. Xero has more than 500, while QuickBooks only has about half that. Xero also enables you to mail and sort documents with the likes of Google Docs.

Users
QuickBooks offers up to 30 users; QuickBooks Pro offers three-user licenses; Premier offers a five-user license and Enterprise offers licenses from five to 30 users in five-user increments while Xero offers unlimited users – you can’t get much better than that.

Technical Support
There really is no competition here; Xero’s technical support is round the clock with a superfast response time in comparison to QuickBooks. Its online resources also include a help centre, in-software help button, community forum and business and accounting guides.

In our opinion Xero is the best accounting software on the market, not just for mid to large-sized businesses but for those small businesses looking for scalable software that will grow with their company. It is at the heart of everything we do.

For more information on how Xero can help your business call us on 01959 570686 or email us at info@castleheslop.com