As a senior manager of a D2C company, you can choose Xero if you want simple software that handles day-to-day accounting. QuickBooks is built for businesses that need stronger control over their finances. Try to choose software that matches your size, workload, and future plans. You can assign user roles, such as Limited, Standard, or Administrator, and control what each person in your business can view or handle.
Integration & Automation
The platform provides a centralized file library where you can attach receipts, invoices, and supporting documents directly to transactions. Another thing that sets Xero apart is its approach to document management within the reconciliation process. In practice, this means you can maintain your current tech stack while adding what is the difference between operating & non-operating expenses powerful new accounting capabilities. The platform’s open API approach also encourages developers to create specialized tools that extend its functionality.
Xero pricing
This guide pulls together real feedback from accountants, bookkeepers, and business owners who’ve used both platforms. The real question is how each platform handles your business needs day to day and whether it actually makes your financial life easier or adds more work. Many users find Xero more enjoyable to use and love its easy-to-use and sleek interface. There’s excellent core functionality for processing invoices and payments as well as add-ons for projects, time tracking and expenses. When you start using Xero as a small business or early-stage startup, you know it’s going to support and evolve with you as your company grows. All plans also include receipt capture, expert support, and out-of-the-box integrations.
All things considered, our research found that Xero’s and QuickBook’s invoicing features are neck-and-neck, and are actually some of the best we’ve researched – alongside those offered by Zoho Books. From recurring invoicing and automated invoice and quote sending, to useful payment reminders, the platforms provide you with any capability you’ll need to effectively track payments. QuickBooks and Xero offer some of the best invoicing and quoting features in the industry. However, with QuickBooks, you’ll need to set up VAT records first, and manually add tax categories to stock products, which might make the process a bit more daunting for a beginner than Xero. Both providers offer stand tax capabilities like tax rate calculations and tax form generation, scoring neck and neck in this research category. We sum up some key deciding factors straight off the bat, to help you determine their suitability for your business.
QuickBooks provides a superior customer support infrastructure with 24/7 live chat and scheduled phone support available across all plans. The platform connects with over 21,000 financial institutions globally, providing real-time bank feeds that automatically import and categorize transactions. The compliance framework is used in most countries except the US and Canada, making it the natural choice for businesses expanding globally or already operating across multiple jurisdictions. This allows businesses to invoice clients, pay suppliers, and track transactions in over 160 currencies without expensive add-ons or higher-tier subscriptions.
Organize customer data
So, consider the following factors when choosing the right accounting software for you. When comparing Xero vs QuickBooks in 2025, it’s clear that both are powerful cloud accounting platforms but the right choice depends on your specific business needs. QuickBooks Online is ideal for businesses seeking an intuitive, out-of-the-box experience with a polished user interface and mobile-first functionality. With unlimited users on all plans, it’s particularly well-suited for SMBs that have internal finance teams or multiple team members involved in bookkeeping.
Free Tools
It also has a performance center section to generate visual charts on expenses, revenue by time, cash flow, net profit, etc. QuickBooks also has options for management reports, custom reports, and creating new reports on invoices, sales, bills, expenses, etc. QuickBooks dashboard has a customizable home page with widgets and a planner page, allowing a real-time cash flow view. The QuickBooks payroll feature streamlines payday tasks by setting up the payroll to run automatically.
Clean interface, often preferred by business owners. So, which platform is the right fit for your specific business needs and budget in 2025? We help you grow your business as an extension of your team. We listen to your needs and identify where we can support you. However, higher-tier plans can become costly.
Varies by plan (1 to 25 users). Both are powerful, cloud-based platforms designed to help you manage your income, expenses, and overall financial health. The two undisputed heavyweights in the small business accounting ring are QuickBooks Online (from Intuit) and Xero. Get it right, and you’ll save hours on bookkeeping, gain clarity on your cash flow, and feel confident come tax time. QuickBooks offers more features, but this also means a longer learning curve.
- It also lets users keep a mileage log according to the IRS’s requirements.
- Need a tailored assessment of your accounting software strategy?
- QBO aims to cover almost every accounting need within its own software, scaling from simple sole trader needs (“Simple Start”) up to complex small enterprises (“Advanced”).
- Try to choose software that matches your size, workload, and future plans.
Which Platform Fits Your Business Type?
QuickBooks Online (Plus and Advanced plans) has more robust built-in inventory management using the FIFO (First-In, First-Out) method. Its biggest advantages are its unlimited users on all plans, its clean and intuitive user interface, and its excellent bank reconciliation workflow.42 Both platforms boast large app marketplaces connecting to hundreds of tools for CRM, POS, e-commerce, payroll, maximizing your section 179 deduction in 2021 payments, and more.
Global Reach and Market Focus
- Users can also add trips manually and categorize trips as businesses for tax deductions.
- But over time, Xero improved its product and expanded its features.
- Because of these tools, QuickBooks is often chosen by businesses that want more insight into their numbers and expect to expand over time.
- At this point, the choice often comes down to your business model.
QuickBooks supports mileage tracking with its mobile app, which enables automatic GPS tracking from mobile phone locations. QuickBooks is not designed for proposal writing, but users can turn estimates into proposals by attaching files or adding messages. Xero does not offer an estimation feature, but users can fill out the form on its website to download a free estimate template in editable PDF format. QuickBooks allows users to include project details to calculate profitability. It also shows the profitability of a project and allows users to generate reports on project summary, project details, etc.
Manage content
Users can connect their bank accounts to automate income and expense tracking. 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. QuickBooks supports in-person payments using the QuickBooks GoPayment app and mobile credit card reader. It supports online payments using debit cards, credit cards, direct debit using GoCardless, and Apple Pay or Google Pay using Stripe.
Which software is better for inventory-heavy businesses?
It focuses on core accounting excellence and encourages debt service calculation users to connect specialized third-party apps for niche needs via its extensive app store. Compare various accounting software options Generally higher, tiered by features & users. Basic inventory tracking; relies on app integrations for advanced needs. Unlimited users on all plans. Xero has basic inventory tools suitable for simple product lists but not for complex item management.
QuickBooks is stronger for businesses that handle stock, variants or detailed tracking. Whereas, you may go after QuickBooks if you need more advanced tools and expect your business to grow into a more complex operation. It offers deeper features, more customization, and stronger reporting. Additionally, it covers the core tasks most small businesses need, such as invoicing, tracking money in and out, and managing basic records. Both Xero and QuickBooks offer strong tools, but each is built for different types of businesses.
QuickBooks also lets users collaborate on documents in real time, which will be especially useful for remote teams. Xero’s reporting dashboard gives you an instant overview of how your business is tracking. Learn more about how QuickBooks compares to the free accounting software Wave. Unlike budget providers like Wave, QuickBooks, and Xero offer multi-currency support for invoicing, helping them both to net a perfect score in our research subcategory, and making them a solid choice for international businesses.
