When it comes to small business accounting, creating invoices is one of the key accounting features that endear small business owners to an accounting provider amongst other providers. Xero grants users access to 800+ integrations to third-party apps to improve the overall running of your small business. Xero can integrate with PayPal, Shopify, and other known e-commerce options. Beyond the software itself, Xero and Quickbooks offer a variety of tools and services to help accounting professionals maximize job success. If you’re an independent CPA, this could be a pretty big selling point, so it’s important to know where the two vendors diverge.

Xero automates bill payments in bulk and across vendors, whereas FreshBooks only allows manual bill recording, not payment. We found Xero’s bill pay tools to be the best of any accounting software we reviewed ― not just when compared to FreshBooks. Choose Xero over FreshBooks if you want to organize and expedite your vendor payments. Talk to your accountant and start a free trial to see how easy it is to work together. And if you need a hand our phone support with a live rep extends to both you and your accountant with no additional fees.

Suppose you have any questions with regard to cash flow, bookkeeping, expense tracking, and other accounting features provided by Xero. In that case, they have resources like articles, guides, walk-through videos, and guides all available for you either as a visitor or as a user. Yes, FreshBooks offers a robust mobile app for both iOS and Android users. It lets you enter bills, accept payments, issue invoices, and capture expense receipts. Our evaluation was based on a rubric scoring methodology in six categories, each with a designated appropriate percentage.

Expense Tracking

There weren’t tips guiding me through the process of adding clients and invoices or creating reports. All Xero plans come with accountant access, but FreshBooks’ least expensive option does not. Working with an accountant is beneficial, https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/ regardless of your business’s size, because they can help ensure you’re interpreting your financial data correctly and provide assistance come tax season. In the same vein, FreshBooks does not provide audit trails for accountants.

Traditionally, small business owners grappled with intricate spreadsheets and manual calculations, leading to errors and inefficiencies. Accounting software automates these processes, reducing the likelihood of errors and saving everyone’s time. This efficiency boost is particularly crucial for small businesses, where every minute counts towards keeping and growing the business. Customer support is essential for the user experience of business owners and freelancers alike. Both Xero and FreshBooks have various customer support options; let’s look at both options. You might check all the necessary features, including if the software is cloud-based or not.

1. We’re committed to making accurate verdicts at Tech.co, so when comparing accounting software our research team measures a number of metrics including ease of use, advanced features, and support tools.
2. Xero used a timesheet that can be used to track time at a location, but it is not often considered its greatest strength, and there are provisions for integration options.
3. We saw that it’s impossible to combine payments received from customers into a single deposit entry, even if they’re all checks or all cash.
4. Both platforms offer approximately the same number of integrations and organize them neatly in their respective app stores.
5. If your business is already experiencing a growth spurt, FreshBooks might not be able to meet the customization demands that alternatives like QuickBooks online can.

Saved payment information can always be removed if you want to opt-out of Recurring Payments at any time. One thing about Xero – when you have a question their first response is to tell you to have your accountant look at it. I was using this software as a replacement for an accountant, in order to save money, so that advice didn’t help much. After the 4-month promotional period, you will be billed at full price for the plan you have selected. Both vendors offer reporting, analytics and data visualization to meet the demands of companies that wish to become data-driven.

The integration between Xero and FreshBooks can be set up through a third-party integration service called Zapier. You can only use Xero online when working on your laptop or desktop. Navigating from feature to feature is not difficult, but it has a small tick of having multiple access points to one feature, https://www.online-accounting.net/ which can make the process feel repetitive. Freelancers, solopreneurs, and small businesses with few employees. Features are one of the most important areas to consider when you’re comparing software, and, incidentally, where you’ll see some of the clearest differences between Xero and FreshBooks.

Integrations

FreshBooks’ unlimited time tracking feature and invoicing capabilities are better-suited for freelancers, independent contractors and other self-employed professionals. FreshBooks doesn’t offer https://www.quick-bookkeeping.net/ quite as many connections, with just 100 partner apps. However, you’ll be able to find integrations to help you analyze data, book appointments, manage projects, run payroll and so much more.

So, to learn more about how we review accounting software and other types of tech products, check out our full research process here. Inventory management is one of those advanced features that you don’t get in FreshBooks. You can keep a count of up to 4,000 items you have in stock as you buy and sell. Xero provides up-to-date accounting reports that enable you to track your finances and collaborate with your advisor in real-time. You can tailor the content and layout of your reports and reuse customized report layouts. FreshBooks provides you with an intuitive and insightful dashboard where you can conveniently access important reports like Profit & Loss, sales tax summary, expenses, and more.

While FreshBooks includes bills as part of its Expense dashboard, Xero has a unique centralized bill dashboard that was recently launched by the company. Whether you opt for Xero or FreshBooks, both seamlessly sync with Zapier, allowing you to set up automations and ditch the tedious bookkeeping. Dive into these ready-to-use workflows and give your business the boost it deserves. If you’re running a small business with simple finances, you might be able to handle it all on your own with Xero. But if you have intricate transactions or can’t tell a balance sheet from a grocery list, it’s probably time to call in the bookkeeping cavalry.

Plans to suit your business

Without mincing words, FreshBooks has a more robust invoicing option for freelancers and small business owners, as it provides unlimited invoices at its cheapest pricing plan. FreshBooks offers almost the exact same integration features as Xero including offering developers APIs and integrating with Zapier for more add-on access. Where it falls behind is its original integration options as it grants about 100 integration to third-party apps. FreshBooks’ add-on marketplace doesn’t disappoint, even if it’s less expansive. They offer a few options for marketing (HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, Wufoo) and project management (Basecamp, Citrix Podio, Proposify) that you won’t find with Xero.

You can let customers pay you with a credit card straight from the invoice using third-party payment services by adding a ‘Pay now’ button for one-click payment. Now, we bet you’ve come across the names FreshBooks and Xero in most, if not all, of your search results. Sure, they’re not well-known like accounting tool, QuickBooks, however they are both extremely viable options for your accounting solutions.

In fact, with advanced capabilities like inventory management available on FreshBooks’ lowest tier, the value of the accounting tool is unmatched when the discount is applied. Unfortunately, both Xero and FreshBooks offer pretty stringent client limits. So, if you collaborate with a high number of customers, Sage’s generous limits will be better for you. Sage’s unique cash-flow projection tool makes financial planning a whizz too.