XERO alternatives?

[MaxB]

As a small consultancy offering global services, I only issue a couple of VAT invoices a month but I do have a lot of travel.

I've been a great fan of Xero for many years since switching from Kashflow because Xero has been so easy to use (I'm no accountant!).

Yet recently, Xero's prices are increasing while at the same time things like automatic bank-feed updating seem to be getting worse.

Does Xero have any worthy competitors in the easy-to-use, great bank feeds, easy expense handling etc space please? (spreadsheets are not an option).

Thanks and all the best

Max

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

Does Xero have any worthy competitors in the easy-to-use, great bank feeds, easy expense handling

FreeAgent .NatWest give it away free for business Customers.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

try zoho books for £18. They have some quite nice features and 60 days trial available.Went from quickbooks ( very buggy ) to Microsoft invoices ( really bad ) and now with zoho books, they offer all the same but with some nice added features like project work and they system is very customisable. Like the client portal too, where customer can see all current and past invoices and estimate and can approve or change them. Very handy.

 

[MaxB]

Thanks very much. I’ll look into those, particularly their bank feeds.

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

https://support.freeagent.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360006470520-How-to-set-up-a-bank-feed

 

[The Byre]

GnuCash - it's free and does everything. Payroll, taxes, multiple currencies, stock control, banking, the lot!

 

[STDFR33]

GnuCash - it's free and does everything. Payroll, taxes, multiple currencies, stock control, banking, the lot!

It doesn't do VAT.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Accounts Portal is worth a look. It'll deal with all of your requirements. I've had quite a few clients change to it from Xero. It's £10 per month (or £6 plus VAT for my firms clients)

https://www.accountsportal.com

 

[The Byre]

It doesn't do VAT.

Yes it does!

https://gnucash.fandom.com/wiki/GnuCash_Accounting_tips_Wiki

 

[STDFR33]

Yes it does!

https://gnucash.fandom.com/wiki/GnuCash_Accounting_tips_Wiki

Personally, I'd rather use a system that is designed for use in the UK rather than having to do workarounds.

 

[nelioneil]

Surprised at the move away from Xero - I thought their feeds and bank rec are a strong feature!

In any case, I would second recommendation of freeagent.

 

[Pish_Pash]

Having solid bankfeeds normally means Saas accountancy packages...expect more subscription creep wrt whichever package you migrate to! (that's there modus operandi)

 

[Deleted member 315707]

Yes it does!

https://gnucash.fandom.com/wiki/GnuCash_Accounting_tips_Wiki

3 letters.. MTD

 

[John Hemming]

It strikes me that the OP is an ideal case for my MTD enabled cashbook. (Currently free £6 for next year ie 50p per month plus VAT).

 

[justintime]

Have a look at Pandle. Not as feature rich as Xero but has bank feeds and costs £5 + VAT a month. Switched one of my new customers to it last year and it's good.

 

[John Hemming]

The smaller businesses which have a handful of invoices don't really need to learn how to do invoices via a complex computer system or necessarily to download bank data.

 

[Deleted member 315707]

The smaller businesses which have a handful of invoices don't really need to learn how to do invoices via a complex computer system or necessarily to download bank data.

That's just it, systems are complicated anymore and it's pretty much automated if you know what you're doing. Plus if you are over the VAT threshold and therefore MTD you're going to do it somehow, piece of cake on Xero or QBO.

 

[ecommerce84]

Have a look at Pandle. Not as feature rich as Xero but has bank feeds and costs £5 + VAT a month. Switched one of my new customers to it last year and it's good.

Thanks for mentioning your experience with Pandle.

I’ve been using Wave which has been fine but they aren’t ever going to properly support MTD and are stopping bank feeds in September and Pandle is top of my list.

I might give free agent a look as well though.

 

[The Byre]

Another vote for Pandle! There is a free version and it does MTD. Combine that with GnuCash and you've got to go to something like SAP before it gets and more sophisticated!

 

[Alan]

I've been a great fan of Xero for many years since switching from Kashflow

Why did you switch, BTW?

 

[Bob Morgan]

Google: Accounts Bookkeeping Open Source!

 

[The Byre]

Google: Accounts Bookkeeping Open Source!

For those of you playing the 'Home-Game' -

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/best-free-accounting-software