Choosing the right accounting software can be a daunting task. There are so many options available, each with its features and benefits. This article compares Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB to help you decide which one is right for you. We'll cover pricing, features, ease of use, and customer support to help you decide.
Which accounting software is the best for your business? This is a question that many business owners ask, and unfortunately, there is no easy answer. This blog post will compare Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB to help you decide which one is right for you. Each software has its unique strengths and weaknesses, so be sure to consider all of them before making a decision.
There are many options out there, and it can be hard to decide which one is right for you. In this post, we'll compare Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB to help you decide which one is best for you. Remember that the best accounting software for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences. So read on to learn more about each option and see which one is right for you.
We'll break down the pros and cons of each software so that you can make an informed decision about which one is right for you. Remember that this comparison is just a snapshot – individual needs may vary. So read on to learn more about Xero vs. QuickBooks vs. MYOB!
Let's get started!
Desktop Vs Cloud
In recent years, using accounting software that is hosted online has begun to dominate desktop accounting software. Desktop software maintained its strong position for almost ten years. There is no room for debate regarding their precision, and they do not call for a continuous internet source. However, many problems have been eliminated thanks to the advent of online accounting software.
To begin, desktop software can only be installed on a single machine at a time, making it a significantly more expensive option than its online counterpart. The second disadvantage of using desktop software is that it is inaccessible while a person is travelling, and it also requires regular maintenance and programme upgrades.
In this day and age, software that runs in the cloud is superior to desktop software in terms of both quality and speed. They offer an environment that is automatic and standardised, allowing users to connect to management systems, online payment gateways, and bank accounts. The following is a list of reasons why 67 percent of accounting companies and 27 percent of enterprises in Australia have shifted to using online accounting software, as stated in an Australian statistical report:
- Security measures improved for business
- Cost Savings in Information Technology
- Reduced Risk of Loss in the Event That the System Becomes Defective
- Enhanced Capabilities in Terms of Both Networking and Functionality
- Accessibility in Any Situation and at Any Hour
- Automatic Availability of Updates and Backups
- Fewer Mistakes Susceptibility
Why The Cloud?
If you are connected to the internet, you are never more than a login away from any of your online accounts, even if you are only using your mobile device.
It's all there: You store everything in a single file, and it's automatically backed up. There's nothing else to do.
It's important to understand that cloud accounting software is designed to provide you with an easy-to-understand, comprehensive, and always-up-to-date view of your current financial status. This will enable you to make decisions that are both timely and intelligent.
It is simple to share: Whether you have an accountant, a bookkeeper, a mentor, a bank manager, or a spouse, all of these people can easily and safely access your accounts.
It is always up to date: Because it is online, the software is always being developed and updated in real time. This also applies to your data, so you can rest assured that it is always accurate.
The best part, though, is that cloud accounting is simple to use, reduces the likelihood of making mistakes, is fully automated, and is inexpensive. But how simple is it? Will it fulfil all of your requirements as well as your desires? And to what extent is this affordability?
If you search for "cloud accounting options" on Google, you will see that there are many different choices available to you, and the number of these choices keeps rising over time. But whatever you decide, it is imperative that it be compatible with your company's procedures, objectives, and financial constraints.
This post includes our top three recommendations, all of which are great choices, so you really can't go wrong with any of them.
Let's see how the market leaders, Xero, MYOB, and Quickbooks, stack up against one another:
Xero
Xero is an accounting solution that is intended to be used by people who are not accountants. One book is all that makes up this collection. The workflow of this software is notably distinct from that of other accounting tools as a result of the fact that it allows you to feed in many bank accounts using a variety of account codes.
It is incredibly user-friendly, in addition to being automatic. One of the accounting systems that offers free full-cycle payroll processing for up to five employees is Xero. This service is available to users at no additional cost. While its competitor, QuickBooks, gives you the ability to process payroll checks, submit payroll tax payments, and file your payroll tax forms, it does not offer these capabilities.
Xero, which is the market leader in Australia, offers a user interface that is very visual and is designed to be user-friendly. This makes it a trustworthy option for virtually any small business.
It will manage your cash flow, payments, costs, quotations, and inventories, and it will even handle bank reconciliation for you. It will complete your payroll for you. The entire process, beginning with providing a quote and continuing with producing an invoice and collecting payment, is quite smooth—even for the consumer. Support for mobile applications and assistance with customer service are both available round-the-clock. Strict and multi-tiered security measures are in place.
Xero, on the other hand, is not flawless despite the fact that its only concentration is on cloud technology. For instance, dealing with cash transactions can be difficult and complex, establishing the payroll function is not a very simple process, and the use of third-party add-ons is required for things like monitoring time.
Xero is packaged with a multitude of vital tools for financial reporting, regardless of the size of the company being managed. You have complete control over the reports you generate, including the ability to personalise, produce, and monitor them. Xero's open application programming interface (API) is another one of the software's strong points. If the service that you use is not already integrated with Xero, you have the option of having a developer create the integration for you. The documentation for Xero is available to the public and is quite comprehensive, which will assist developers in adding more products.
Xero provides three distinct kinds of cloud-based or online accounting business plans, which are referred to as Xero Starter, Xero Standard, and Xero Premium. Free trials of any of these products are available for a period of 30 days.
- Xero Starter will set you back $25 each month to use. You are permitted to send up to 5 invoices and quotes with Xero Starter, register and pay up to 5 bills, pay one person, and reconcile up to 20 bank transactions per month.
- The Xero Standard plan will set you back $50 each month. In the ordinary version of Xero, you are permitted to send an unlimited number of invoices and quotes, input and pay an infinite number of bills, but you are restricted to making payments to just one individual. You are, however, permitted to reconcile an unlimited number of bank transactions.
- Xero Premium is available for a monthly fee of $60 USD. In Xero Premium. You enable users to send an unlimited number of invoices and quotes, input and pay an unlimited number of bills, and see an unlimited number of bills. You are able to pay up to five employees here, and there is no limit to the number of bank transactions that can be included. Additionally, the option to manage several currencies is available with Xero Premium subscriptions.
Features of Xero
- Reconciliation of the bank
- The monitoring of both customers and vendors
- User-friendly dashboard
- Keep tabs on and control your spending.
- Simply connect documents to the financial data you've collected.
- Reporting on finances
- Free and unrestricted access to technical support through email
- Control of stocks and supplies
- Create and send invoices on your own automatically.
- Mobile applications available for both Windows and Mac platforms
- Support multi-currency
- Payroll processing is provided free of charge for up to five users.
- Orders placed for purchase
- Expenses and bills must be paid.
- Observe and direct the progress of projects.
- Give out assessments and quotes
- Create insightful and useful financial reports.
- Obtain receipts of payment
- Bills can be received electronically.
- Capitalised assets
Note that the sole drawback to using Xero is that there is not a free version of the software. Xero, on the other hand, gives its customers access to free payroll solutions designed for small businesses and allows an unlimited number of individuals to view their data without charging them any further fees.
Are you undecided about making a commitment? Give the free trial of 30 days a go.
MYOB
MYOB, which stands for "Mind Your Own Business," is the accounting software that is used in Australia instead of QuickBooks. It comes with a variety of specialised features that are applicable to both large and small enterprises. Because MYOB is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, you can rest assured that it works seamlessly with other Microsoft products.
Additionally, it is a partner with PayPal, which is a payment processing subsidiary for online retailers. MYOB is a desktop application that runs on Windows; it comes packaged with payroll, budgeting, and project management tools, all of which come equipped with specialised accounting functions.
Although Xero is widely used, MYOB is the accounting software of choice for over one million companies.
MYOB is a long-time accounting software vendor that is used by even large firms; yet, it is a few dollars more expensive per month than Xero across the two plans, with Essentials coming in at $27/mo and AccountRight coming in at $67/mo. Xero is the clear winner in this comparison. It's possible that MYOB is still coasting on its stellar reputation from the days of desktop computing and has been slow to make the transition to the cloud because of this. The absence of a lock-in contract is, nevertheless, a welcome development.
Every plan will take care of your bank feeds, payroll, and GST, and just like Xero, you can test it out for free for an entire month before committing to one of the paid plans. The Essentials package, which is the entry-level offering, is snappy, and customer assistance is provided on a seven-day-a-week basis, just as a business would expect.
The transformation from a quote to an invoice only takes one click, but the fact that the consumer cannot view it online may be frustrating for them. The limitations of the basic plan will become apparent to you at this point because only AccountRight is capable of managing your stock.
You will not be able to access cloud-based applications through MYOB; rather, if you require cloud services, you will be required to purchase an add-on that grants you access to certain tool capabilities from any location via a web browser. MYOB's mobile dongle is one of the many helpful tools that it offers. When consumers hook their device into their Apple or Android smartphone or tablet, it becomes simple for them to swipe credit cards and make payments using an EFTPOS terminal.
Additionally, MYOB Kounta is available for use. It is a well-known cloud-based point of sale system that may be used in conventional brick-and-mortar stores, by salespeople who travel, or at event booths and tradeshows. Regrettably, in contrast to competing accounting software, the cloud-based edition of MYOB does not offer nearly as many customization options.
MYOB is one of the most pricey accounting systems, with a monthly cost of between $100 and $130. Nevertheless, it is not negotiable in any way. Because of this, unlike with some other accounting software, you won't have to pay more for additional users.
MYOB provides its customers with the option to choose between three distinct accounting business plans.
- MYOB Essentials Starter will set you back $25 per month in fees. With this subscription, you are permitted to send as many as 5 invoices, are limited to making payments to a single individual, and are permitted to get 25 bank transaction feeds per month.
- MYOB Essentials Payroll is available for a monthly fee of $40. With this plan, you are permitted to send an unlimited amount of invoices, you can make a single payment, and you are permitted to get 250 bank transaction feeds each month.
- MYOB Essentials Unlimited Payroll includes the following: You'll have to pay $50 every month for it. You are permitted to submit an unlimited amount of invoices using this plan, as well as pay an unlimited number of employees, and you are allowed 250 bank transaction feeds.
Features of MYOB
- Permit work to be done offline.
- Calculate and keep track of your taxes easily.
- Bills, invoices, and reports may all be quickly managed.
- Receive money in a simple manner.
- Maintain accounting and financial obligations
- Keep your consumers and your suppliers happy.
- Prepare bank feeds
- Keep track of the purchasing orders.
- Permit the use of a number of different bank accounts.
- Pay workers and keep track of vacation time.
- Maintain a log of the time worked by employees.
- Simple estimating of job and project costs
- Make plans for and keep tabs on specific jobs.
- Take care of inventory
QuickBooks
For more than 30 years, QuickBooks has been one of the most well-known names in the accounting industry. QuickBooks was originally a desktop application, but there is now a web-based, cloud-based alternative called QuickBooks Online.
QuickBooks Online is an easy-to-use accounting programme that utilises a double-entry system and provides a robust chart of accounts in addition to a wide variety of reporting options. In addition to this, it provides tools for inventory management, payroll support, and invoicing, as well as a tool for managing projects; in addition to this, it provides an amazing 200 connectors with other products.
Another one of our favourites, Quickbooks, is something we'd like to talk about today.
To begin, the extremely encouraging news is that it is, by a substantial margin, less expensive than either Xero or MYOB. A person who works for themselves as a sole proprietor can sign up for the mobile app alone, which will cost them as little as $5 per month. However, this will restrict them to only being able to handle the GST, write invoices, and track income for much more than that.
Quickbooks, on the other hand, has been around for a very long time, which is a significant advantage. The firm was established in 1983 and, similar to MYOB, was a major player in the period of desktop accounting software. And the transition to the age of cloud computing has been successfully navigated by Quickbooks.
Customers, for example, can be provided with little more than a web link to access an invoice in a browser and settle their account with a single click if that is all that is required. However, just like Xero, cash transactions can be complicated, and in order to track your costs, inventory, projects, and budget, you'll need the most expensive plan available.
QuickBooks provides its customers with the choice of four distinct cloud-based or online accounting business options.
- It will cost you $9.99 a month to use the QuickBooks Mobile App. The company markets it to independent contractors and small business owners as the ideal cloud-based or online accounting software for their needs. This programme provides the capability of sending invoices, tracking revenue and expenses, recording tax deductions, and tracking travelled kilometres.
- Simple Beginnings with QuickBooks: It will cost you $16.50 each and every month. It gives you the ability to keep track of and maximise tax deductions. You will be able to access your data from your desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone, track revenue and costs, issue invoices, allow you to pay up to ten individuals, send an infinite number of quotes, track GST, and maintain your BAS. In addition, you will be able to pay up to ten people.
Note that there is an additional cost of $4 per staff member per month that must be covered if you wish to pay more than 10 employees each month.
- The Essentials of QuickBooks: You will need to pay $27.50 per month for it. It enables multiple users to control what information each of your users can access, manage your bills and payments, record transactions in multiple currencies, arrange to pay recurring invoices and bills, and track your billable hours. Additionally, it can record transactions in multiple currencies.
- You will be charged a monthly fee of $38.50 for QuickBooks Plus. It gives you the ability to track your billable charges, as well as manage and track your inventory, provide capability for tracking projects, place purchase orders, and create budgets.
Features of QuickBooks
- A List of QuickBooks Features
- Establish connections between numerous accounts.
- Keep an eye on the inventory as well as the cost of each item.
- Manage bills and merchants
- Take care of your customers' accounts receivable and invoices.
- Create custom invoices
- Gives users the option to make immediate payments by selecting "Pay now."
- User-friendly Dashboard
- Simple record-keeping
- Access can be readily shared with an accountant.
- Keeping track of receipts
Xero vs MYOB vs QuickBooks on Numerous Features
1. Ease of Use
The primary feature that encourages individuals to learn how to utilise a product is the design's practicability.
MYOB is quite simple to use, and its functionality can be quickly mastered with only a few hours of instruction. However, on the other hand, the possibilities for its reporting function are simple and restricted, making it less ideal for use by large businesses. For instance, it does not contain any ABA files. In addition, the payroll report can be printed out in PDF format; nevertheless, MYOB does not offer its customers access to supplier or payroll data.
Xero, on the other hand, offers everything you need in a single package. The whole feel of using it was taken into consideration during the design process. A training facility is included with the software, in addition to offering online support. In addition to that, this software comes with a comprehensive employee portal, which makes comprehension much better. It is also outfitted with an automatic payment mechanism for superannuation, which contributes to its popularity.
The reporting capabilities of Quickbooks Online are superior to those of its competitors. In order to reduce the likelihood of confusion, it was developed to conceal complicated activities. The design layout of Quickbooks Online is one of the program's flaws. Sometimes you are unable to find items in the places where your rational mind would have predicted they would be. On the other hand, video tutorials and other forms of online training make it possible to thoroughly investigate all aspects of QBO.
2. Fully Automated
Xero is without a doubt a contemporary hero for the ease with which it provides solutions to company problems. Calculators and ledgers were consistently utilised throughout the process of data classification and compilation when working with desktop applications. When you use Xero, the process of reconciling transactions and maintaining a constant categorisation may be completed in a matter of seconds.
MYOB remained a powerful accounting tool all the way up until 2014 in Australia, where it was first introduced in the 1980s. MYOB also provides automated alternatives to the manual labor-intensive chores that come included with various upgrades. On the other hand, Xero outperforms it in terms of efficacy and depth of coverage.
Quickbooks Online: When it comes to online Quickbooks, this is a solid piece of software for beginners. However, because it lacks strong accounting features, QuickBooks Online is not an appropriate choice if you are seeking for automatic executive report sheets as it is one of your options.
3. Number of Users
- You are free to register an unlimited number of users in Xero at your discretion.
- There is a cap on the number of users that can be supported by QuickBooks. For instance, if you have Quickbooks Essential, you can have up to three users, but if you have Quickbooks Plus, you can have up to five users.
- You are just required to have one user to get started with MYOB Accounting. MYOB Premier, the more complex edition, is available with either 1, 3, or 5 users, and this number can be increased to a maximum of 15. Connection speeds can be slowed down by multiple users accessing the network at the same time, but you can boost your connection speeds by installing add-on software such as Access Anywhere.
4. Mobile App Facility
Ninety percent of websites have developed mobile applications in order to preserve their traffic flow and attractiveness as a result of a significant shift in user behaviour that favours mobile internet browsing. In a similar vein, this movement is pushing accounting software to the point where it can include mobile app facilities. The fact that you may log in to the dashboard associated with your account whenever you choose is a significant plus in today's world.
Xero- Xero provides many alternatives for mobile apps. Users have the ability to generate invoices, add files, issue receipts, and even photograph receipts themselves. In addition, it is possible to manage contacts and check the balances of bank accounts. It is also possible to accept payments with the use of third-party plugin programmes such as Ezi Debit and Paypal.
Quickbooks Online - This version of Quickbooks offers a mobile app that is both effective and convenient. It is ideally suited to provide quoting, bank reconciliations, invoicing, profit and loss balance sheet reporting, as well as the ability to trace down recent operations.
When you approach the app on your tablet, you will also be able to access location-based pre-filling information on bills and GPS service. This is only available to you. There is no question that Quickbooks Online has the most advanced mobile app facility.
Invoicing, keeping track of contacts, and making payments are the three key features offered by the MYOB mobile app. The software is quite straightforward and easy to use. However, if you use the PayDirect app developed by MYOB, you can make payments in a direct manner.
5. Add Ons
The maintenance of books is the basic purpose of any and all accounting software. Timesheets, quoting, and inventory monitoring are some more features that are included. In addition, any software that you choose to use should be flexible enough to easily interact with different types of businesses, such as e-commerce, stock, inventory, and so on.
When compared to XERO and MYOB, QBO is superior in this area because it has 138 add-ons available in its online app store. Xero, on the other hand, has 400 advertisements, whereas MYOB only has 200, in addition to 22 certified ones. In addition to this, certain typical apps place a significant emphasis on timesheets, job quoting, and point-of-sale (POS) systems.
6. Pricing
Taking into account costs is likely to be of the utmost importance, particularly for a company operating on a more limited scale. However, the value of the cost should be determined in relation to the simplicity of the service that is being offered.
Quickbooks Online - When compared to the other two choices, Quickbooks Online is the one that will save you the most money. In addition, the price is less expensive than Xero and MYOB, although having a higher level of capability. Every month, they provide three distinct discounts that range in value from $15 to $25 to $35. In addition to that, they provide a maximum discount of 30% for the first year after the purchase.
MYOB- Given its narrow feature set, MYOB is the accounting software that provides the worst offering. On the other hand, they have two different packages: the first one costs $35 a month for a single employee, while the second one costs $45 for multiple employees.
In 2015, Xero implemented price increases across the board. It has the highest price tag of them all. However, considering the quality of the services provided, the price is money well spent. Depending on the payroll, their benefits can range anywhere from $25 all the way up to $60 or even more.
Conclusion
There is no question that Xero triumphed over both QuickBooks and MYOB in the competition between the three accounting software programmes Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks. According to our findings, Xero is the superior option. Imagine, however, if in addition to this, you are seeking accounting software for your company. The first step is to read over all of the features and explanations that were shown earlier, and then the second step is to decide which option is the most appropriate for your company taking into account its size and budget.