Many would agree that accounting is the backbone of a business, and your success depends a lot on how you decide to manage it. More and more small and medium-sized companies are finding that it is best to do this using modern accounting software such as Xero and they have a very good reason for that. In this Xero Review, we are going to see what this software has to offer and help you determine if this is the best choice for your business.
Pros
- High-quality key reports
- Convenient tracking category function and ability to quickly configure it
- Convenient and intuitive interface
- Ease of use, no nuances that would take a lot of time to learn
- Unlimited users
- No setup fees, upgrade fees, or contracts
- Good customer support
- Standard advantages of SAAS: access to the system online, availability of a mobile application, technical support, and system updates, ability to easily and quickly connect new users, no need to provide system support, hosting, backups.
Cons
- No phone or chat support
- A separate application for expenses
- Standard disadvantages of SAAS: no way to customize the system to your needs, change anything in its functionality
Overview
Xero accounting software is considered a worthy alternative to QuickBooks, which is widely used but more expensive. As you will see from this Xero Review, it is an accounting solution that gives you real-time insight into your business finances, cash flows, as well as various other tools to help you control the financial side of your company.Xero is a New Zealand company that develops popular accounting software. It is designed to meet the needs of small and medium businesses. Xero’s capabilities and powerful program features have been appreciated by thousands of customers around the world.
Features
Key features of Xero:
- Automatic data entry – the platform automatically receives information from the bank, accounts, online stores and records them in appropriate categories.
- Importing and exporting – if you have an array of data in Excel format, you can import the data automatically. Any report can be automatically exported in Excel, pdf, and Google sheets formats.
- Safe communication with the bank – data received from the bank is encrypted and transmitted through secure channels.
- Reconciliation of bank data – the service automatically reconciles accounts and classifies them based on past user actions.
- Online invoicing – Xero can be used to send invoices and allow recipients to choose a payment method. It is also possible to send payment reminders to users.
- Sales tax – this is a valuable feature because you can add different sales tax rates (e.g. for different states) and the program will calculate the total tax for each transaction for you.
- Bill payment – companies can pay their bills, including paying bills in batch, and track bill payments.
- Automatic preparation of financial statements – the service automatically generates financial reports for management and other purposes and presents a current balance.
- Project management – keep track of project costs and time spent on a project, as well as quote and send invoices to get paid for the job.
- Tracking categories – this function will allow you, for example, to analyze the results of the company’s activities by projects. You need to create the so-called tracking categories, and later you will be able to specify the tracking category in each document, link the entire document to the selected tracking category, or split the amount between several tracking categories.
- Inventory tracking – besides being able to track your inventory, you can add inventory items to invoices and analyze which products are selling good or bad.
- Dashboard – a very informative dashboard with statistics and reports on the company’s financial activities.
- Integrations – Xero can be integrated with the most popular services, which makes it possible to get the necessary functions for doing business.
- Payroll – an option for employees to complete timesheets and the ability to pay salaries based on them. It has an elegant interface and all the calculations are done for you.
- Add-ons – the company offers numerous extensions, so if you want to connect your bookkeeping software to Square or PayPal, it’s possible. In addition, various e-commerce extensions are also offered to Xero users.
Pricing
Xero offers a 30-day free trial without the user being required to provide your credit card information. This allows to test the software and see if it’s the right fit for your business. Overall, the price tag with Xero is pretty straightforward.The pricing ranges between $20 and $40 per month, depending on the chosen package. It can be Starter, Standard, or Premium. The number of users is not limited for any of the packages, but there are restrictions on the number of invoices and bills that you can send when opting for the Starter package. Note that the Standard package is quite sufficient for a small business.
Support
Xero has exceptional online support. All Xero customers have access to the Business Help Center, which allows you to enter a keyword or anything else you need to find. The community section is like a forum where you chat with other Xero accounting software users and discuss your questions or concerns.
Bottom line
If you are a small and medium-sized business, any, even the simplest and most inexpensive software product or solution will be much better than an Excel file. After all, first of all, it is important to ensure the completeness of the data (not to lose anything), as well as its systematization (to collect it in accordance with a certain approach). Xero is not just a simple bookkeeping software and comes with many advantages.
- Convenience and simplicity of the interface. Installing and running Xero is straightforward and intuitive, so you do not need to be an accountant to master this program.
- Online access from anywhere. Xero is cloud-based software: you can use it wherever you are as long as you have internet access.
- Minimized errors. Xero’s accounting system takes information directly from your online banking. This eliminates typing errors.
- Up-to-date financials. By uploading your banking information on a daily basis, you can know exactly where you are financially.
- Eco-friendly. Xero helps reduce the amount of paperwork used in the office.
- Great invoicing. Xero helps with debt collection. You can automate the invoicing for your regular customers and save your time.
- Numerous integrations. Xero’s automated accounting system integrates with hundreds of business development applications.
- Ideal value for money. Besides a free trial, Xero has different plans so everyone can get what they need and can afford.
The solution is quite suitable for conducting financial accounting of start-ups and small businesses without complicated business processes. Special knowledge and skills are not required for work with the program.
