Xero

Xero was founded in 2006 by Rod Drury and accountant Hamish Edwards. The company was founded because the founders believed that traditional account software could not keep up with advancements in technology and no longer met all of the needs of advisers and small business owners. Xero offers small businesses effective financial planning and accounting services. They have offices in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and United Kingdom.

Xero Accounting Services and Features

Xero offers many great accounting services and features for the following:

• Small Businesses
• Accountants
• Bookkeepers

Xero also offers education and training, videos and guidelines and training events. In addition to these great features, Xero is a full service accounting software product with the following features:

• Invoicing and Quotes: You will be able to create professional recurring invoices and receive updates when they are opened.
• Bank Reconciliation: All of your latest banking, PayPal and credit transactions are categorized and imported for you.
• Inventory: Inventory items will speed up invoicing while at the same time track sales and purchases.
• Manage Bills and Expenses: Xero allows you to manage your cash flow by scheduling payments.
• Employee Pay: This feature will let you calculate the payroll, pay employees and also manage payroll taxes. This also allows you to create 1099s and W2 easily.
• Purchase Orders: With Xero, you can create and email custom purchase orders and copy bills for payment.
• Mobile and Apps: There are more than 400 third-party apps for inventory, tracking expenses, invoicing and much more.
• Budgeting: You can create budgets that will estimate future income and expenses.
• Smart Reports: With smart reports, you can share and view interactive reports and budgets in real time. 

Xero also has mobile apps that are available for the iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets. They also give customers 24/7 customer support and security is always their top priority.

Xero Pricing

Xero offers several pricing plans for you to choose from and each of their plans include the following features:

• The ability to invite as many bookkeepers and accountants as you need to look at your data.
• Unlimited free 24/7 customer support.
• Unlimited users.
• Secure and automatic bank feeds.
• Free conversion from Quickbooks to Xero.
• The ability to import from Quickbooks, Excel, sheets or CSV.
• Export easily to your tax software package.
• Monitor your financials with a number of customized business reports.
• And many more features.

Xero offers the following pricing plans and features:

Starter

Standard

Premium

Price

$9.00 per month

$30.00 per month

$70.00 per month

Create and send quotes and invoice

5 invoices

Yes

Yes

Enter and pay bills

Enter 5 bills

Yes

Yes

Reconcile bank transactions

20 bank transactions

Yes

Yes

Payroll

No

5 employees

10 employees

Payroll direct deposits and checks

No

Yes

Yes

Intuit QuickBooks

Intuit was founded in 1983 by Scott Cook and Tom Proulx. The founders believed that there would be soon a need for tax software and to do away with the paper and pencil. That lead to their created Quickbooks and TurboTax, two of the most popular tax and accounting software packages today.

Intuit Quickbook Features

Intuit QuickBooks offers accounting software for both small businesses and accountants. Their accounting software offers the following services:

• Email invoices and the ability to accept online and mobile payments.
• Pay your employees.
• Stay in sync with your bank and automatically download, download and reconcile your bank accounts.
• Manage and pay bills, plus you can also schedule recurring payments.
• Look at where your business stands by seeing your profit and loss, balance sheets and dozens of other valuable reports.
• Up to date access for up to 5 users.
• Intuit QuickBooks will back up your data every day using bank level security.
• Free mobile apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android.
• Point of Sale

Intuit QuickBooks also offers many other valuable accounting resources and products including:

• Intuit QuickBooks demos
• Intuit QuickBooks tutorials
• Intuit QuickBooks training classes
• QuickBooks Online
• QuickBooks Pro
• QuickBooks Self-Employed
• QuickBooks Enterprise

Intuit QuickBooks Plans and Pricing

In addition to all of their tax and accounting software, they offer the following payroll packages:

Intuit QuickBooks Basic

• Currently $20 per month plus $2 per employee per month
• Runs payroll instantly
• Calculates taxes (no tax forms are provided)

Intuit QuickBooks Enhanced

• Currently $31.20 per month plus $2 per employee per month
• Includes everything in the Basic package
• Fills in tax forms automatically
• Files and pays taxes electronically

Intuit QuickBooks Full Service

• Currently $79 per month plus $2 per employee per month
• You will enter the hours and they will do the rest for you
• Set up and run the payroll for you
• Moves data from prior providers
• Error-free accuracy is guaranteed

FreshBooks

FreshBooks was founded by Michael McDerment and Joe Sawada. The idea for FreshBooks began in 20013 when Michael accidentally saved over an invoice and lost all of his work. He believed there just had to be a better way to bill clients. They are a leader in cloud based accounting services.

FreshBooks Accounting Features

FreshBooks is a cloud based accounting services, which means your work will be saved and handled on their cloud servers. They offer the following features:

• Send Invoices: Customers can brand their invoices, set recurring invoices and accept online payments.
• Track Time: You will be able to track time, manage team timesheets and customize project rates.
• Capture Expenses: The ability to import expenses automatically, attach receipts to invoices, create recurring expenses and snap photos of receipts.
• Know Your Business: Know just how your business is doing at any time with profit and loss statements, tax summaries, expense reports and much more.

FreshBooks does not list prices on their website, which is very disappointing. Other sources state their prices range from $19.95 to $39.95. They do offer a free 30 day trial without needing to use a credit card to take advantage of this offer.

Accounting Software Conclusion

Accounting, bookkeeping and taxes are never an easy part of owning and running a business. These three companies can you run your business efficiently with their accounting software. Xero has the most affordable prices with their three pricing plans to choose from. Intuit QuickBooks is well known for their tax preparation and accounting software, plus they offer books and other services on their website. FreshBooks is a cloud based accounting service that is great for small businesses.