CLOUD BASED ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE: QUICKBOOKS vs XERO

Even before I started my own accounting firm, people often asked me which accounting software they should get.  From memory, cloud accounting only became really popular around 2011-2012.  In 2012, Reckon Enterprise was in my opinion the best cloud based accounting software, better than Xero and Quickbooks. In fact, Quickbooks Intuit wasn't even in the picture then in Australia even though they have been the engine behind Reckon.  Then, choices were limited, but cloud accounting development grew in leaps and bounds every year.  In fact, it still developing rapidly both in functionality and market penetration.

There's been a lot of competition amongst Xero, Quickbooks, MYOB and Reckon in cloud based accounting.  A winner one year may not stay the winner the next.  As an accountant, the criteria we use to review an accounting software is very different  to a small business or sole trader user but this article will not cover that kind of review.

For the purposes of answering the question of which software is better, I've found the internet abounds with articles of this sort already so may I refer you to this article. This article was posted in Sept 2019 so it's pretty current.  With high pace changes and developments in cloud based software, reviews have to be current -within the last 6 months is my ideal and definitely not anything older than 6 months.

So yes, this recommendation is good till March 2020.  Till then, go Quickbooks.  It's cheaper if you ask me and the difference between the two would not affect most users. When two products are so similar, and I have to give a general recommendation because I don't know your specific requirements and needs, I can only choose based on price point.

Do bear in mind though that as your business becomes more complex and grows bigger, your accounting and reporting needs will also become more complex. Neither Xero and Quickbooks highest plans will be good enough for your business.

What about MYOB or Reckon?  Personally from my experience as an accountant, I find MYOB very frustrating. I prefer Reckon Enterprise over MYOB AccountRight any day for its reporting and data analysis capability. Reckon Enterprise has accounting functionality that is very desirable for an accountant. However Reckon Enterprise has a bit more to go with its 3rd party integration options compared to QB and Xero.  At an era where integration and automation capability is what differentiate one accounting software from another, especially with increasing new to small business owner, Reckon loses out.  

Hope my rant about cloud based accounting software has been helpful.  If so, appreciate if you can leave a comment.  Also would love to hear what is your favourite cloud based accounting software and why?

 

 

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