Xero

It's been easier to use Xero than I expected, but I had a nasty surprise at tax time when I realized the default accounts/descriptions for expenses did not correlate 1:1 to IRS categories. (I should have checked this more closely when I set up my accounts because it's a New Zealand company, and the previous product was local.) This means I will need to double-check all my transactions for 2018 and the IRS has my vastly overestimated tax payment until I can do that and file my return on an extension.

I've had a much better experience importing data from financial institutions because Xero uses a well-known importing service that is trusted by the institutions.

I like being able to match multiple invoices to bank deposits because I usually don't run to the bank for each check. This will be more valuable as my company grows.

I should probably find an accountant to assist me with this, but I haven't found an accountant who understands both craft businesses and Xero.

Puntos a favor

Professional double entry software at a very affordable price
Accommodates both cash and accrual accounting
Links to financial institutions to get transactions
Uses standard importer recognized by the financial institutions instead of just trying to log in remotely (and triggering fraud alerts)
Can match multiple invoices to a single deposit transaction imported from bank
Can keep using Xero as company grows

Puntos en contra

Pre-existing expense categories/descriptions don't map 1:1 with IRS definitions, so I'm having to go back to all my receipts to make sure expenses are entered in proper accounts because I didn't realize this when I switched
More difficult to focus on specific expense categories to check transactions
Have not been able to import historic data from previous app (possibly because it's not double entry) so I am still paying the subscription on that software to retain access to my data
No integration with Craftybase, so I have to enter supply purchases and customer invoices there independently

So far, it has been amazing. I have little to no complaints. Everyone that I have moved to Xero have told me thank you.

Puntos a favor

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.

Puntos en contra

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.

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.

Puntos a favor

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.

Puntos en contra

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 is an awesome bookkeeping and accounting software solution for startups and small business owners. It is indeed a good match for business owners who know nothing about accounting in order to keep their books and to properly manage their finances.

From my own experience, I found that Xero is very user-friendly and its accounting interface is streamlined, almost seamless, and uncluttered. The Demo Company is very useful as you can manipulate data without worrying about messing up vital information in your practice company.

Xero’s accounting dashboard shows the snapshot of your business (i.e., bank balances and reconciling items, outstanding invoices, and bills, accounts on the watchlist, etc.) and fully customizable depending on your needs.

Quickbooks had been the leader of accounting software for small businesses for quite some time but Xero is becoming more popular because of its competitive offering and value proposition. Xero’s starting plan is very affordable and you have the option to add-on some features depending on your need. It also offers a basic inventory and fixed asset management functionality in all of its plans, which is very cool! And the best thing about Xero is the unlimited users allowed to access the financial information.

Puntos a favor

- Affordable and cost less for startups and small businesses
- Includes fixed assets and inventory management in all of its plans
- Very user-friendly especially during migration or conversion of data
- Allows unlimited users
- Friendly 24/7 customer support

Puntos en contra

- Some countries lack a built-in payroll option.
- Customized reporting options are still limited. I wish Xero can allow you to create your own report.
- The contact list of customers and suppliers is mixed together and needs to set-up manually to organize.

Overall, it's a decent program, with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a cloud based accounting program. Unfortunately working without being able to reconcile monthly made life too difficult. And not many accountants work with it, so that made it difficult to have professional eyes on my accounting.

Puntos a favor

I loved how easy it was to integrate XERO with my bank accounts and Paypal. XERO seamlessly connected and kept my balances up to date. I also liked how easy it was to invoice clients and connect invoices to Paypal or Stripe.

Puntos en contra

Unfortunately, the reconciliation process in XERO is a no-go for me. Rather than the Quickbooks and standard approach, where you do a monthly reconciliation against a bank statement, XERO had no such function. Once an item was matched up to a bank transaction, it was considered "reconciled." No option to close out a month and double-check transactions. I went back to QBO to get that feature.