Choosing the right accounting system for your business:
Xero vs. Quickbooks and Sage
Introduction: Why you need an accounting system for your small business. As your business is growing, your financial transactions and data become more complicated and difficult to track manually. Handling your accounts in documents and spreadsheets becomes confusing and prone to errors. When growing your business, the need will arise for a scalable accounting solution. In order for you to track your financial transactions and go beyond spreadsheet accounting, you need accounting software. Read on to find out what options are out there and which software we recommend.
Benefits of having accounting software for your small business.
When looking to implement accounting software into your business, we feel that it is important first to understand some of the benefits that it holds.
1. Invoicing and billing
Invoicing and billing are functions that are indispensable in your business. They are the main source of your cash flow, and managing them on paper can only lead to wasted time and human error. If you have clients that make recurring purchases, it is time-
consuming to continuously create physical invoices every time your client makes a purchase. Having an accounting software system allows you to automate these types of functions.
2. Online payments
Some accounting systems allow you to create a payment gateway where you can securely receive payments. This is also integrated in such a way that the payments received are recorded and updated according to the invoices that are in your accounting system.
3. Tax compliance
Trying to manually keep up with the latest tax regulations can leave plenty of room for error. Your accounting software is designed to help you adhere to all tax regulations and laws, which makes working with all your taxes easier. Your accounting software will automatically calculate all your taxes faster and ensure that all your transactions are done in an accurate manner.
4. Report generation
As a business owner, you need to keep track of your business’s financial progress. Reports shown in your accounting system can help you understand your business and analyse growth. And allow you to catch any problems early on. Your accounting software will automatically generate reports, saving you time and effort.
5. Bank reconciliation
Bank reconciliation is a core feature of accounting in your business, and having good accounting software allows you to streamline it. Your accounting software can allow you to connect your bank account and fetch any information from your bank feeds and other
relevant information that you may need. If any of these benefits sound like they will benefit your business, we suggest you adopt Xero as your accounting system. Xero offers all of these features and more.
What is Xero accounting software?
Xero is a cloud-based accounting system that has been specifically designed for small to medium businesses. Xero offers a wide range of features that allows you to customise the software to suit your specific business needs. Xero has been designed so that small business owners are able to keep track of their financial transactions and data in a simple and easy-to-use manner, especially when they do not have accounting experience or do not have an accounting department dedicated to the business.
Using Xero’s accounting software allows you the benefit of being able to access your accounting from anywhere, at any time, from any device. Many functions of Xero allow you to automate tasks and get your books done faster.
Why choose Xero accounting software over Quickbooks and Sage?
Overall, Xero, Quickbooks, and Sage perform the majority of the same functions. Each of these accounting software has the capabilities to do all of the same work. However, Xero’s accounting software has an advantage over Quickbooks and Sage.
Xero offers ease-of-use for non-accountants. This means that once our team at Cloudworx has built and customised your Xero system, we will be able to hand over the system to you, and you’ll be able to easily navigate and manage your own accounting
with ease.
With Xero, a process can be put in place that tells you what you need to do and when you need to do it. And it allows you to easily send invoices and capture all your business expenses, as well as access and understand all financial-related reports. When using Xero, you will also have confidence in knowing that all your numbers and data are securely protected and stored, which in turn makes your analytics process easier.
Xero also offers various different plans, so there’s a solution that will suit your business’s needs and fit into your budget. Cloudworx can help you determine which one is right for you.
What makes Xero different from Quickbooks or Sage accounting software?
One of the biggest benefits that Xero offers to non-accountants is how easy it is to access reports, which isn’t the case with Quickbooks or Sage. With both Quickbooks and Sage accounting software, you are first required to answer a list of questions regarding what you require your report to contain before you can view it. With Xero’s accounting software, you can receive a basic report upfront. Thereafter, you can customise your reports based on the specific information you want them to contain. Cloudworx can assist you in setting up your customised reports on Xero to ensure they always have the information you need.
Quickbooks and Sage accounting software is more suitable for businesses with a dedicated accounts department. These accounting systems were developed mainly for use by accountants and bookkeepers. Xero exists to make managing business
accounts easier for non-accountants.
Conclusion
If you are looking for accounting software that is customisable, easy to use, and makes managing your accounts a streamlined and efficient process, we recommend Xero.
Book a call with a Cloudworx accountant and let us help you move to Xero’s accounting
software today.