Xero
Xero is the most affordable accounting software for freelancers who need to give access to other users. With the exception of Wave, Xero is the only product on our list that does not charge you to add additional users. All three Xero plans (Early, Growing, Established) allow you to add an unlimited number of users at no additional cost.
Xero includes three pricing plans between $9 and $60 per month versus $20 to $60 per month for QuickBooks plans. All plans include an unlimited number of users, the ability to manage accounts payable, accounts receivable, recurring invoicing, and the ability to accept online payments from customers. While Xero does have the ability to track hours and projects, it is an additional feature that you will have to pay for, whereas it is included in the mid- and top-tier QuickBooks plans.
|
|
Early |
Growing |
Established |
|
Monthly Pricing |
$9 |
$30 |
$60 |
|
Accounts Payable |
Limited |
✔ |
✔ |
|
Accounts Receivable |
Limited |
✔ |
✔ |
|
Recurring Invoices |
Limited |
✔ |
✔ |
|
Number of Users Included |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
|
Project/Time Tracking |
$25/month |
$25/month |
$25/month |
|
Accept Online Payments |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
The pricing plans for Xero are:
Xero Early is the most affordable plan at $9 per month ($108 per year). As a result, it has limited features like the QBO Simple Start plan. Xero Early allows you to manage up to five bills each month, bill up to five customers, and create recurring invoices as long as you have not reached the five-bill limit. Similar to all Xero plans, you can try the project and time tracking feature for free for the first 30 days; after that, a monthly fee of approximately $25 will apply.
Xero Early is ideal for freelancers who are just starting out and have fewer than five customers and vendors. However, I recommend that you purchase the project and time tracking feature so that you and your team can track hours worked by project. More than likely, you will outgrow this plan pretty quickly and need to upgrade to the Growing plan, which does not have any limitations on accounts payable and accounts receivable.
The Xero Growing plan is the middle plan at $30 per month ($360 per year). Unlike the Early plan, it allows you to invoice an unlimited number of customers and you can pay an unlimited number of vendor bills. If you have repeat customers who need a recurring invoice, you can schedule an unlimited number.
Xero Growing is ideal for a freelancer who has a number of customers that they need to invoice and vendor bills that they need to manage and pay. I recommend that you include the project and time tracking feature so that you can easily track the hours worked by subcontractors and employees for each project.
Xero Established is the most expensive plan, at $60 per month ($720 per year), and it includes all of the features that both the Early and Growing plans come with. This plan has a multicurrency feature that allows you to invoice customers in their native currency as well as accept payments in a foreign currency.
Xero Established is ideal for a freelancer who has customers located all over the globe, and who would appreciate the flexibility to pay invoices in their native currency. Similar to the other Xero plans, you will need to add on the time and project tracking feature so that you can keep track of hours worked by employees and subcontractors on all projects.
The one downside to using Xero is that you have to pay an additional fee to access the time tracking and project tracking features, whereas ZipBooks, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks include this feature at no additional cost.
Xero users like how user-friendly it is for someone with no accounting background. Some areas that users feel Xero need to improve are centered around adding inventory management, which many small businesses need, and adding a comprehensive search tool and integration with a tax software. You can read all reviews on our Xero user reviews page.
Take Xero on a test drive for the first 30 days to see if it’s right for your freelance business. You can sign up for a free account without providing your credit card details. At the end of the trial, if you decide to continue using Xero, you will just need to sign up for a paid subscription.