Xero vs. QuickBooks: Which Is Better in 2026?

This post is for information only. You are responsible for reviewing and using this information appropriately. This content doesn’t contain and isn’t meant to provide legal, tax, or business advice. Requirements are updated frequently and you should make sure to do your own research and reach out to professional legal, tax, and business advisers, as needed. To sell products using the Shopify platform, you must comply with the laws of the jurisdiction of your business and your customers, the Shopify Terms of Service, the Shopify Acceptable Use Policy, and any other applicable policies.

Choosing accounting software influences everything from daily expense tracking to financial reporting and long-term planning. The right plan also needs to fit how you sell and the people who manage your books.

A 2025 US Chamber of Commerce survey found that 35% of small businesses use financial management tools like QuickBooks at work, and 42% use technology for accounting. But pricing, user limits, and retail features differ across providers.

Xero and QuickBooks Online both offer cloud-based accounting tools. Here’s how their features, pricing plans, and Shopify integrations compare, plus the trade-offs to consider for your store.

What is Xero?

Xero is a cloud-based accounting software for small to medium-sized businesses. Launched in 2006, it provides tools for invoicing, bank reconciliation, expense management, inventory tracking, and financial reporting.

Xero uses accounting automation to reduce manual work. Your team can review transaction matches and follow up on unpaid invoices from the same account.

Xero features include:

• Online invoicing. Create branded invoices, schedule recurring invoices, and send automatic payment reminders to manage accounts receivable. Accept payments through services such as Stripe or GoCardless, with separate processing fees. Explore Xero invoicing.
• Bank reconciliation. Import transactions through bank feeds and match them with your accounting records. Growing and Established add automatic reconciliation for eligible transactions.
• Expense management. Capture bills and receipts with Smart Document Capture across all accounting plans. Submit and approve employee expense claims through Xero Expenses on Established.
• Inventory management. Track stock quantities, inventory value, and cost of goods sold with basic inventory tools. Add paid Inventory Plus or another integration for more complex stock workflows, such as managing multiple warehouses.
• Multicurrency accounting. Record invoices, supplier bills, and bank balances in more than 160 currencies, with automatic exchange-rate updates. Available on Established.
• Project tracking. Log time and expenses against individual jobs to compare project costs with revenue. Use Xero Projects on Established to track billable work and assess profitability.
• Financial reporting. Generate financial statements, including profit and loss statements and balance sheets. Access cash flow forecasts covering 30 days on Early, 60 days on Growing, and 180 days on Established.
• Sales tax management. Calculate sales tax on invoices using location and item details through Xero’s Avalara-powered tools. Review sales tax reports to prepare for filing.
• User access. Invite unlimited general users, including your accountant and bookkeeper, on every plan. Assign permissions to control which financial information each person can access.
• Dashboard access. Review bank balances, outstanding invoices, and bills from the accounting dashboard. Monitor the figures as your transactions and accounting records update.

Xero’s Shopify integration imports Shopify sales into Xero as daily summaries or individual transactions, with refunds and payment fees available for reconciliation. Merchants needing a different posting workflow can use third-party apps such as Xero Connector by CarryTheOne, which creates Xero invoices from Shopify orders and POS sales.

Xero pricing plans

Xero has three pricing plans. The standard monthly rates below exclude sales tax and introductory discounts. Xero has announced price increases effective October 1, 2026.

Payroll and advanced inventory tools such as Inventory Plus are paid add-ons, separate from the base accounting subscription.

Xero pros and cons

Pros

• Team access. Unlimited general users let your bookkeeper, accountant, and employees work in the same account. You can give each person an appropriate access level.
• Shopify imports. Sales integrations can import Shopify sales, refunds, and payment fees, reducing manual entry. 

Cons

• Entry-plan limits. Early caps invoices and bills. Check how your Shopify connector posts transactions, since imported invoices can count toward the limit. Growing removes those caps.
• Multicurrency pricing. Foreign-currency accounting is reserved for Established. Budget for that plan if you need to record supplier bills or bank balances in other currencies.
• Additional subscriptions. Payroll and advanced inventory carry separate charges. Add those costs to your accounting subscription before comparing Xero with another provider.

What is QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is accounting software from Intuit. This comparison covers QuickBooks Online, the cloud-based accounting plans Intuit sells to new US customers. QuickBooks Desktop is a separate product.

QuickBooks Online has tools for invoicing, expense tracking, and financial reporting. Higher-tier plans add inventory management and project profitability tracking. Payroll is available through an additional subscription.

QuickBooks Online features include:

• Online invoicing. Create customizable invoices, track payment status, and schedule reminders. Accept card and bank payments through QuickBooks Payments, with separate processing fees.
• Bank reconciliation. Import transactions from linked bank and credit card accounts. Match downloaded transactions with existing entries and reconcile your books against bank statements.
• Expense management. Photograph receipts with the QuickBooks mobile app and match them with recorded transactions. Review expense categories to keep your records organized.
• Inventory management. Track stock quantities, cost of goods sold, and reorder points with Plus or Advanced. Add the paid inventory subscription to Simple Start or Essentials if you need inventory features on a lower-tier plan.
• Multicurrency accounting. Record foreign-currency transactions and convert them into your home currency with.  Essentials, Plus, or Advanced. Review the settings before activation, because Multicurrency cannot be switched off afterward.
• Project tracking. Group income, expenses, and labor costs by job to assess project profitability. Available on Plus and Advanced.
• Financial reporting. Generate financial statements, including profit and loss statements and balance sheets. Segment income and expenses with class tracking and location tracking on Plus and Advanced—for example, to compare profitability across stores.
• Payroll integration. Pay US employees and automate payroll tax calculations and filings through a paid QuickBooks Workforce subscription. Manage payroll alongside your QuickBooks accounting records.
• Time tracking. Record billable time on Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. Add employee clock-ins and timesheets through QuickBooks Time or a Workforce Premium or Elite subscription.
• Sales tax management. Calculate sales tax on invoices and sales receipts, review tax owed, and monitor payment deadlines with automated sales tax tools. Review and file your returns separately; tax calculation does not mean automatic filing.
• App integrations. Use Intuit’s QuickBooks Online app to import Shopify sales, refunds, and payout details, and map sales, taxes, and fees to accounting categories. It can also record B2B orders as invoices.

Retailers who moved from QuickBooks Desktop POS to Shopify POS and kept QuickBooks Desktop accounting can use the QuickBooks Desktop Connector app to sync sales and purchase data with their desktop accounts.

QuickBooks Online pricing plans

Intuit has four QuickBooks Online plans for US businesses. These are standard monthly prices as of September 2026, before promotional discounts and applicable taxes.

Accountant access is separate from the standard user allowance. Intuit also markets self-employed plans separately, including Free at $0 and Lite at a standard $20 per month. These plans target one-person businesses with simpler bookkeeping needs.

Payroll costs extra, and transactions processed through QuickBooks Payments carry processing fees.

QuickBooks pros and cons

Pros

• Retail reporting. Plus and Advanced offer class and location tracking, so you can compare income and expenses across stores or product lines.
• Shopify integration. Intuit’s app imports sales activity and payment details. Matching those records to payouts can reduce the time spent reconciling your store’s transactions.

Cons

• Feature-based upgrades.Inventory tracking is included with Plus and Advanced and available through a paid add-on for Simple Start and Essentials.
• User limits. Plus allows five standard users. Count who needs full accounting access before subscribing; a larger team can push you toward Advanced.
• Separate service costs. Payroll and payment processing add to the subscription price. Compare the full monthly cost, including employee charges and transaction fees, against your expected usage.

Xero vs. QuickBooks: what’s the difference?

Xero has unlimited general users across its plans. QuickBooks Online ties user access and features such as inventory tracking to higher-priced tiers. 

Here’s a comparison of their US offerings.

Pricing and user access

Xero doesn’t charge more based on the number of users, because every plan allows unlimited general users. QuickBooks Online limits standard users by subscription tier but provides separate access for accountants.

QuickBooks Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus allow two accountant firm users and Advanced allows three. Compare the lowest tier that meets your actual needs. A business that needs six standard users would exceed the five-user limit on QuickBooks Plus and may need Advanced. 

With Xero, Early’s invoice and bill limits can prompt an upgrade even though general user access is unlimited. Add payroll and integration charges to either subscription before comparing total costs.

Features and ease of use

Xero has basic inventory tracking on every plan and QuickBooks Online has it on the Plus and Advanced plans. QuickBooks adds class and location reporting at those tiers, and Xero sells Inventory Plus for more demanding stock workflows.

For reporting, both provide core financial statements. QuickBooks Advanced adds custom reports and expanded permissions. Xero’s reporting and forecasting tools also vary by tier.

Ease of use depends partly on who manages your bookkeeping and accounting and your existing workflows. During a trial, test common bookkeeper and accountant tasks.

During a trial, reconcile a Shopify payout containing a refund. Check how easily you can trace the bank deposit back to the original transactions and correct a category.

Integrations and geography

Both platforms import Shopify activity through accounting apps and reconcile records against bank transactions, but posting methods differ. Your connector’s posting method determines how easily you can match sales, refunds, and fees to deposits.

Shopify integration by Xero offers daily summaries or individual sales. Intuit’s QuickBooks Online app imports sales activity and payout details. Check whether your connector records each order or summarizes activity, then test its payout matching before importing historical data.

For invoice payments outside Shopify checkout, Xero works with providers such as Stripe and GoCardless. Intuit has QuickBooks Payments. Processing fees and eligibility are separate from the accounting subscription.

International businesses need the appropriate currency features in Xero Established or QuickBooks Essentials and higher. Verify your currencies, bank feeds, and local product edition before subscribing. Recording foreign-currency transactions does not automatically enable international payment processing.

For accounts payable, US stores can use Shopify Bill Pay to pay supplier invoices from Shopify and sync bills with QuickBooks Online.

For US stores using Shopify Tax, sales tax reports break down sales and tax by jurisdiction. You can also export transaction-level details for your accountant or other software.

Payroll and time tracking

Both platforms sell US payroll as an add-on, with monthly base fees and per-worker charges. Xero’s Gusto-powered service runs inside Xero, and Intuit sells payroll through QuickBooks Workforce.

These prices exclude the accounting subscription, promotions, and applicable taxes. Xero’s payroll service operates across the US but is not available to US mobile subscribers.

Xero Established provides project time tracking for costing and billing work. QuickBooks Online Essentials and higher let you record billable time. These features are distinct from employee clock-ins and payroll timesheets.

Workforce Premium and Elite provide employee time tracking in addition to payroll. Alternatively, QuickBooks Time Premium costs $20 per month plus $10 per user and needs a QuickBooks Online account. Confirm local payroll availability if your business operates outside the US.

Customer support

Xero has online help and callbacks arranged through its support system. QuickBooks Online has an in-product assistant, help articles, live chat, and callback options, with service hours varying by plan.

To contact Xero support, search Xero Central and select “Get in Touch” on a support article. Submit your issue and request a call if needed. Xero offers online support around the clock but does not publish an inbound support phone number.

For QuickBooks support, sign in and open Help. Use “Contact Us” or ask the assistant to “Talk to an expert.” Advanced has longer weekday hours and Sunday service; Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus have service Monday through Saturday.

Xero vs. QuickBooks: which should you choose?

The best fit depends on which tasks your store needs the accounting software to do. Compare the complete setup, including extra apps and staff access, against these four scenarios:

• Businesses with more complex inventory needs. QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced include stock tracking, purchase orders, and inventory reports in their accounting subscription. Xero provides basic inventory tracking across its plans and offers Inventory Plus.
• Businesses that need multiple users at a lower cost. Xero allows unlimited general users on every plan, so adding colleagues doesn’t trigger a user-based upgrade. QuickBooks online limits standard users by tier, so businesses with larger accounting teams should factor future plan upgrades into the total cost. 
• US businesses that need payroll and time tracking. Compare QuickBooks Workforce Premium with Xero’s Gusto-powered payroll add-on based on number of employees and total monthly cost. 
• Businesses selling across multiple currencies. Xero Established offers multicurrency accounting, supplier bills, and bank accounts. QuickBooks Essentials is also worth pricing out if you need fewer users and already use Intuit’s software. Compare supported currencies, user requirements, integrations, and total subscription costs.

After selecting a plan, install the appropriate Shopify accounting app, such as Intuit’s QuickBooks Online app or Xero Connector by CarryTheOne. As an accounting best practice, map your accounts with your bookkeeper, then reconcile a sample payout to confirm that sales, refunds, fees, and taxes are recorded correctly.

Xero and QuickBooks alternatives

If neither platform fits your business, alternatives include FreshBooks, Zoho Books, or Wave. Their features and pricing models suit different bookkeeping needs.

Prices reflect US monthly list rates as of September 2026, excluding promotional discounts and taxes. For more options, read Shopify’s QuickBooks alternatives guide.