Xero or Quickbooks: Which One is Better?

Doing Business in Indonesia: Xero or Quickbooks: Which One is Better?

Xero or Quickbooks – If you’re to choose only one from these cloud services for your accounting needs, what would it be? If your answer is “I have to take a deep look first on the features and prices for both of the two”, we understand you. It’s hard to make a decision when you don’t know what you’re getting into.

 

Accounting Functions

Xero or Quickbooks? Let’s compare them in terms of its Accounting Functions. What can Xero do exactly compared to Quickbooks?

The two cloud-based accounting software, fortunately, provide all the essential Accounting Functions like invoicing, quotes, contact management, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, chart of accounts, inventory, project management, time tracking, reports, budgeting, print checks, multi-currency, and sales tax.

Quickbooks, however, has two functions that Xero doesn’t have. These are tax support and lending.

For this category, there’s no winner. Although Quickbooks has two more functions, it’s not so significant.

 

Pricing

If your company happens to be a small business, unwise spending of money on these Accounting Softwares could affect your cash flow, which you don’t want to happen. You need to carefully plan your decisions.

Xero offers 9-60 USD per month, depending on what type of subscription you’re going to avail. On top of this, you need to add 39 USD per month (plus 6 USD per employee) to avail of their payroll function.

Quickbooks, on the other hand, offers 20-120 USD per month, depending as well on what type of subscription you’re going to avail. Just like Xero, you also need to add 35-80 USD per month (plus 4 USD per employee) to avail of their payroll function.

At first look, you may say that Xero is much cheaper because as low as 9 USD, you can already have a subscription. But wait, the smallest plan of Xero renders only 5 invoices and 20 transactions, which is kinda useless.

For this category, the winner is Quickbooks. However, if you’re a medium to large-sized business and will subscribe to the enterprise edition of Xero, you’re the winner as it will be much cheaper than Quickbooks.

 

Hardware and Software Requirements

Since the two Accounting Softwares are cloud-based, you need to have a good internet connection and some web browsers to run them.

Xero is compatible with Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari 8+. It also offers an App for your Android and iPhone devices.

Quickbooks, however, is compatible with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 10+, and Safari 6.1+. Just like Xero, it also has an App for your Android and iPhone devices.

For this category, there’s no winner. Although Xero can be operated in more browsers, it’s not so significant.

 

Users and Permissions

Xero is powerful in this category as it offers unlimited users for all of their pricing plans. Not only that, it also has strong user permission so you can control who can use and what features they’re only allowed to use.

Quickbooks, however, doesn’t offer unlimited users. It can only do 1-10, depending on your subscription.

For this category, the winner is Xero. However, if you’re not that control freak, Quickbooks will work just fine as you can simply instruct users as to which Accounting Functions they’re not allowed to use.

 

Ease of Use

When it comes to ease of use, Quickbooks has an organized User Interface (UI) that makes it easy for users to navigate the software. Xero, however, can do a lot of things only when you familiarize yourself with its UI.

For this category, the winner is obviously Quickbooks. However, if you’re the user who always wants to learn and explore, Xero will amaze you.

 

Mobile Apps

The mobile app for Quickbooks is easy to use and navigate. It receives fewer complaints than the competitor Xero. It was reported as well that some of the users experience bugs and crashes on Xero.

For this category, the winner is obviously Quickbooks. We hope that Xero does something about the problem eventually.

 

Security

Xero provides more security than Quickbooks. It boasts its 99.97% uptime which is good in the cloud computing world. Both Accounting Softwares, however, provide the basic data encryption for security so hackers will be prevented from their invasion.

Quickbooks experiences some downtime and outage issues which need to be fixed if they want to beat Xero in this category. Yes, it’s Xero for this one.

 

Customer Service and Support

Both companies need to improve on this category. Xero offers no phone support and the time they respond to their email is long. Similarly, Quickbooks has poor customer service and long wait times and holds.

For this category, there’s no winner. Both companies need to do something about the problem.

 

Reviews, Complaints, and Testimonials

Just like what we’ve mentioned on Customer Service and Support, both companies have issues when it comes to dealing with customers’ complaints.

Quickbooks is known to be notorious when it comes to receiving complaints but it doesn’t mean Xero isn’t receiving any.

For this category, there’s no winner. Just like what we’ve said, both companies need to do something about the problem.

 

Integrations

Xero has over 700 integrations while Quickbooks has 590. If you’re a casual user of both of the two Accounting Softwares, the difference is not that significant.

For this category, there’s no winner. It’s a tie for them.

 

The Call to Make a Decision is Up to You

Xero or Quickbooks – Who’s the winner and what’s really the best one for you?  Well, it really depends on the current situation of your company. For small businesses, Quickbooks would be a good choice while for medium to large businesses, it would be Xero. But of course, if you have your preferred criteria in selecting which Accounting Software to use, it’s better to have it your way.

If you’re having difficulty choosing which Cloud Accounting Services are the right ones for you, we at 3E Accounting would like to help. We provide quality Accounting and Bookkeeping Services for your company’s needs.

We can’t wait to serve you. You can contact us for more details.