If you want to choose between Xero and QuickBooks then you must need to know the difference between them. According to a monopoly, only one ruler rules over it. Here the ruler is QuickBooks. As we know that every ruler has some contender that tries to defeat others. Here, Xero comes as a contender for QuickBooks. Xero has its own policies and QuickBooks has its own. Now, how can you decide which one is best for your business? Here we are going to discuss both the contender i.e. Xero vs QuickBooks. This discussion will help you to make a better decision. If you need a suggestion or help contact our QuickBooks ProAdvisor toll-free: +1-844-405-0904
Table of Contents
Xero or QuickBooks Online: Which Should You Choose?
Now you can take your decision easily after comparing and knowing what are the differences between QuickBooks, and Xero;
QuickBooks Desktop
It was created in 1992. It offers a lot of incredible features like positive customer reviews, accounting tools, good integrations, and the most extensive features. For major information, You can focus on QuickBooks Desktop 2018. You can also read 4 great reasons to move to QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Plus, Premier. As per some difficulties, some users can’t decide which is best for help and which is the best one to choose i.e. QuickBooks Pro Vs. Premier.
Xero
It is cloud-based and robust accounting software. In terms of capability and popularity, Xero rivals QuickBooks. It comes around 2006 and provides amazing customer service, access for unlimited users, full-featured mobile apps, and an impressive feature selection. Xero is a user-friendly software that is easy to use to manage the accounting of your business, its tagline is “Beautiful business”. In the accounting software market, Xero is the main competitor of QuickBooks and the most popular startup among users.
Now, here is a question, who is on top?
To know the answer and to choose the better one we analyze each minor and major part of both the Contender. Here we are going to discuss all the possible comparisons like features, pricing, customer experience, reputation, and many more, that will help to decide which one is best and suitable for your small business according to your needs.
See the comparison through the given picture:
| XERO | QuickBooks | |
| Starting Price | $13 per month | $15 per month |
| Payroll Integration | $40 per month | $45 to $125 per month |
| Capture and Organize Receipts | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Version | Not available | Yes |
| Track Mileage | Yes | Yes |
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes |
| At-a-Glance Cash Flow Snapshot | Yes | Yes |
| Maximum Users | Unlimited | Up to 40 |
| Sales Tax Return | Yes | Yes |
Comparison Between QuickBooks & Xero
Accounting Capability
If we talk about the accounting capability QuickBooks defeated Xero because of its excellent reputation and when it came into existence with the capabilities of QuickBooks Pro, no one can beat it. Now the QuickBooks Pro is known as QuickBooks Pro Plus. It offers a secure chart of accounts, fixed asset management, journal entries, hundreds of reports, etc. There are many benefits of using QuickBooks Pro and many reasons why to choose QuickBooks Pro.
Here, these offers don’t lead to less competition because Xero also offers almost the same accounting features with a slightly less developed scale.
Feature:
| Features | QuickBooks | Xero |
| Unlimited invoices | ✅ | Standard (from £24/month) |
| Unlimited bills | ✅ | Standard (from £24/month) |
| Track expenses | ✅ | Extra £2.50/month/user |
| Unlimited bank reconciliations | ✅ | Extra £3/month for most banks |
| VAT SmartScan™ | ✅ | Not available |
| Free telephone support | ✅ | Not available |
| Multi-currency handling | Available | Available |
According to the features, QuickBooks Pro wins, and Xero loses due to some factors. In detail, Xero has all the features as well as QuickBooks Pro such as:
- Invoicing
- Estimates
- Expense tracking
- Bank reconciliation
- Chart of accounts
- Fixed Asset Management
- Depreciation
- Contact Management
- Accounts Payable
- Time Tracking
- Inventory
- Reports
- Tracking categories
- Budgeting
- Print checks
- Multi-currency
- Sales tax
- Tax support and
- Importing & exporting
Except for some features which are extra in QuickBooks Pro i.e.
- Project management
- To-do list
- Calendar
In an accounting feature, QuickBooks Pro is unbeatable unless you have not completed an Enterprise Resource Planning solution(ERPs).
Pricing:
Both QuickBooks Pro and Xero offers different pricing structure. Now if we talk about QuickBooks Pro, the cost for a single user is $349.99 which is logically installed software. You have to download software for your computer when you purchase QuickBooks Pro. The license is for three years.
As we know that Xero is a cloud-based software that offers five pricing plans ranging from $13-$65 per month.
It’s very hard to make a conclusion about both the contenders related to pricing because of variation. For example, QuickBooks is for three years and you use it without additional users. This leads to saving some money. However, the extra cost of QuickBooks Pro adds up quickly.
Now if you need unlimited users, live bank feeds, payroll, and strong customer support, then Xero is a better option. This is the reason for the tie Between Xero VS QuickBooks.
For all types of businesses i.e. small or mid-to-large-sized businesses, both (QB Pro and Xero) contenders are best.
Hardware and Software Requirements:
Due to being cloud-based, it is compatible with every device that can access the internet through a browser such as:
- Google Chrome
- Internet Explorer 11
- Microsoft Edge
- Mozilla Firefox
- Safari 8+
Now, the QuickBooks Pro is locally installed software, due to this it has specific hardware requirements and it is compatible with Windows 7,8.1,10, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2003(SP2), 2008. 2008(R2), 2011, and 2012.
Here Xero wins because of cloud-based and QuickBooks Pro loses because it is much more limited.
User & Permissions:
Xero is best for multi-user because it provides unlimited users in its pricing plan and some important user permission available in cloud-based accounting.
In QuickBooks Pro Plus, if you want to add users to work together then you need to purchase some additional license agreements.
Ease Of Use:(Ruler-Xero)
Again Xero is a winner. It is very simple to use and especially for those users who don’t know much more about accounting. Both contenders have steep learning curves while Xero is very simple to use.
Additionally, Xero has better service and a comprehensive help center that help the customer to make efficient and simple use of functions and features of the software.
Mobile Apps:
As we know that the mobile app is not offered by QuickBooks Pro but QuickBooks Online provides some mobile apps for user comfort. But here, Xero is the winner because it offers mobile apps for Android as well as iPhone. There are some users who are not happy with the app due to its limited and buggy problems. But there is more user who believes in “something better than nothing.”
Customer Service & Support:
Xero provides effective and incredible customer support. It offers efficient information to the customers. The main advantage is a comprehensive help center, software training, and small business guides, where representatives are well-informed and prompt. Due to this Xero is the winner here.
On the other hand, Intuit provides Customer support. Here the problem is, a user can’t connect with experts due to the large number of customers who are already concerned with QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
Negative Reviews & Complaints:
As we know that everything has two faces negative as well as positive here QuickBooks have some negative reviews and complaints due to the problem faced by the users. But it also has many advantages that make it better than others. It has fewer reviews i.e. 1/5 stars. The common problem is the steep learning curve, forced upgrades, and customer service.
Security & Integration:
If we will talk about the integration then in QuickBooks you can use more than 650 apps. On other hand, you can only integrate 500 apps in Xero.
If we talk about QuickBooks Pro, is locally installed software. This software does not have built-in security. You have to pay extra charges for additional security.
However, QB Pro has potentially more secure with respect to cloud-based software. This can be possible if you know how to maximize your data security.
Now, we know that Xero is cloud-based software, which has built-in security. Due to its cloud-based technique, it has some strongest security precautions out there.
Why Intuit QuickBooks is Winner
We have discussed all possible points and we found that Intuit QuickBooks win. If you have a question How? Then your answer is, whenever we talk about accounting software it is QuickBooks Pro. This accounting software is not beatable because of its features and account capability. You can also read to know when to choose QuickBooks accounting and why you need an accounting service for small businesses. There are many advantages to using accounting software. You may read QuickBooks a specialized accounting Software to know more things about it.
QB Pro has some developed accounting tool that offers incredible features and each feature is most highly developed. With the help of the steep learning curve, the user interface and navigation is very easy. QuickBooks support leads to clearing the confusion about Xero VS QuickBooks Pro. If this happens the software becomes an ideal solution for small as well as large size businesses with only a few users and big needs for complex accounting.
You can also get information about steps to register or to activate QuickBooks Desktop here.
Now, With Xero, it is a cloud-based software that is a robust accounting that has an unlimited users, positive customer reviews, complex features, and great customer support. Although Xero didn’t win. The main motive to name it “ Best Accounting Software for larger business” is because it is ideal for large-sized businesses and grows with their company. As Xero is easier to learn and advantages of cloud-based software.
Although both software is different from each other in almost all fields, we can get a lot of benefits by integrating Xero with QuickBooks.
Finally, we have a winner that is QB Pro which has much better features and capability. You can also read Intuit Pro-Series Professional Tax Software Update 2018 to know more about its new features. This does not mean that Xero is not useful to you. Here we provide all the information related to both the contender. Now you have to decide whether you will go with the Accounting feature i.e. more important for you or you will choose Xero. The choice is yours.