QuickBooks Online provides real-time data, reports, and dashboards. FreshBooks can be a good option for freelancers and contractors looking for an affordable, simple accounting software. There’s time tracking in all plans and phone support is available from 8 a.m. The first two plan tiers put a limit on billable clients, but not on invoices. With a free plan and paid plans starting at $20 per month, Zoho Books has plans for most budgets.
Customer Service
Xero’s Early plan, recommended for self-employed people or brand-new businesses, allows 20 invoices per year. If you only send out an invoice or two each month, the Early plan is an affordable option at $15 per month. Otherwise, you’ll have to bump up your subscription or consider QuickBooks Online plans.
Xero vs QuickBooks: Customer Service & Support
QuickBooks and Xero are both popular accounting software options for small businesses, but which one is right for you? Here, we break down the key differences in features, benefits, and pricing to help you choose the platform that best suits your business needs and budget. Add-on third-party AP automation software can be integrated with both Xero and QuickBooks Online accounting software or ERP systems.
Xero’s automation features and scalability make it a strong choice for small to medium-sized businesses, although it can also work well for larger enterprises. Both Xero and QuickBooks Online can be used and synced with online payments processing transactions from different online payment processors. Xero serves two million users worldwide, with leading cloud accounting market share in New Zealand, Australia, and the U.K. Its data-entry screens are more minimalist than those of QuickBooks Online, and its invoice and billing entries require less in the way of data entry. You can enter as much or as little information as you need, and simply add the rest when it’s necessary. Help is accessible from any data-entry screen, and a demo company is available for those who want to enter practice transactions without worrying about messing up their own data.
Customer Support: QuickBooks Online Wins
We have an extensive history of reviewing small business accounting software, and we stay up-to-date with the latest features and enhancements. Our first-hand experience, guided by our internal case study, helps us understand how the different products compare with each other and how they work in real-world scenarios. Both Xero and QuickBooks Online include invoicing, but there are a few reasons why QBO has the edge. Xero’s Growing and Established plans have unlimited invoicing, while the Early plan caps how hard is the cpa exam and why are pass rates only 50% users at 20 invoices per month.
And if you find that neither company meets your needs, you may be better off with one of our top accounting software picks for small businesses. Both Xero and QuickBooks Online have troubles when it comes to customer service. The biggest downside of Xero’s customer service is that there final accounts of non-trading organizations is no phone support available. Email support is available, but it may take up to one day to receive a response to your inquiry.
- QuickBooks Online offers much better invoicing with multiple templates to choose from as well as built-in packing slips.
- All QuickBooks plans can let businesses track sales tax and manage 1099 contractors, with the exception of the Self-Employed plan, which instead helps freelancers estimate their quarterly taxes.
- Xero only has one invoice template, and you have to download and import a packing slip template into the software.
- If you have Windows, you’ll need to be running Windows 7 or newer, with at least 4GBs of RAM and a processor comparable to the Intel Core i5.
- Xero uses AI and machine learning, including HubDoc, to automate workflows, available in all of its pricing plans.
It includes everything in Simple Start, plus bill management tools and a time tracking ability for adding up billable hours. If you upgrade to at least the Essentials plan from QuickBooks, you can enter employee time by client or project and automatically add that time to invoices. For more robust scheduling and PTO management, you’ll need bureau of motor vehicles registrations and titles to purchase the separate QuickBooks Time product in addition to the accounting software.
Plans start at $15 per month for up to 20 invoices, five bills, bank account reconciliation, receipt capture and short-term cash flow snapshots. Its $78-per-month plan also includes multiple currencies, project tracking, in-depth analytics and employee expense claims. QuickBooks offers a more integrated suite of features compared to Xero.
QuickBooks Online has a number of other support resources, including a help center, in-software help, training, and guides, to help you get the answers you need. QuickBooks Online is easy to use, so it’s a good choice for beginners. This software is best suited for small to mid-sized businesses, although its Advanced Plan that supports up to 25 users does make it a viable option for larger businesses. QuickBooks Online also has advanced accounting features you won’t find with some of its competitors. However, unlike Xero, the software is quite intuitive and easy to use — even beginners with no prior accounting experience can master the software quite easily.
Yes, you can use Xero to track inventory, and the feature is available in all plans. Ease of use includes the layout of the dashboard and whether new transactions can be initiated from the dashboard rather than having to navigate to a particular module. Other factors considered are user reviews specific to ease of use and a subjective evaluation by our experts of both the UI and general ease of use.