What is Xero used for?

Xero is cloud accounting software for small businesses that connects to your bank, accountant and apps for invoicing, bills, expenses and reconciliation. It is a good fit for small businesses sharing books with accountants, freelancers invoicing clients, and growing companies managing bills and payroll.

How much does Xero cost?

Paid plans for Xero start at $7 per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.

No. Xero is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Xero include Akaunting, GnuCash and Bigcapital.

What are some alternatives to Xero?

Xero competes with QuickBooks, Zoho Books and FreeAgent. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Xero alternatives.

Xero: features, pricing and alternatives

About Xero

Xero is a commercial cloud accounting platform aimed at small businesses and their accountants and bookkeepers. It links to bank accounts and other business apps so that transactions flow in and can be reconciled against the books without heavy manual entry.

The core feature list covers accounting, sending invoices, accepting online payments, paying bills, creating purchase orders, claiming expenses and bank reconciliation. Extras include payroll, project tracking, mileage tracking, quotes and fixed asset management. The vendor also describes an AI finance partner called JAX that is meant to automate work and clarify finances. A free trial is offered along with promotional pricing for new subscribers.

Xero is hosted, proprietary software with a pricing page, and it cannot be self-hosted. It suits small and growing businesses that want a browser-based accounting tool they can share with an accountant.

Key features

Invoicing and online payment acceptance
Bank reconciliation against feeds
Bill payment and purchase orders
Expense claims for staff
Payroll and project tracking
Connections to bank feeds and apps
JAX AI finance assistant

Good fit for

→Small businesses sharing books with accountants
→Freelancers invoicing clients
→Growing companies managing bills and payroll

Tags: accounting; invoicing; bank-reconciliation; payroll; small-business; cloud

Xero: questions and answers

What is Xero used for?: Xero is cloud accounting software for small businesses that connects to your bank, accountant and apps for invoicing, bills, expenses and reconciliation. It is a good fit for small businesses sharing books with accountants, freelancers invoicing clients, and growing companies managing bills and payroll.
How much does Xero cost?: Paid plans for Xero start at $7 per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.
Is Xero open source?: No. Xero is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Xero include Akaunting, GnuCash and Bigcapital.
What are some alternatives to Xero?: Xero competes with QuickBooks, Zoho Books and FreeAgent. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Xero alternatives.