Xero v Accounts Portal

Xero v Accounts Portal

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I've been looking at Accounts Portal and Xero and wondered if anyone has any comments/observations on either?

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By davinfowler
26th Sep 2010 21:07

Xero vs Accounts Portal

We use Xero and I have to say its very good indeed, very easy to understand whats going on and quick and easy to keep up to date.

I've not used Accounts Portal but I would recomend Xero, they have 20,000 + customers and a lot of good reviews.  I have a few clients using it and they are also very impressed, its certainly taken the hassle out of book keeping and accounts for us.

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By zarathustra
27th Sep 2010 09:38

Accounts portal is PAYGO

The accounts portal struck as being more attractive from the accountants point of view, as there is no ongoing contract, so if a client stops using it you just stop paying. Cheaper also.

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Gary Turner
By garyturner
27th Sep 2010 10:26

Focus on the real value

Hi there,

Xero is also pay-as-you go with no contract and for accountants we have a pricing plan that starts at £2 per client.

If there was a venn diagram depicting feature comparisons between various online solutions, there would be significant areas of overlap as most systems offer the basics such as invoicing, cash and accrual accounting, comprehensive VAT support and lots of operational detail functionality.

However that would be to assume that the areas of overlap are of greater value or importance than the areas which don't overlap.

The high value areas where Xero would stand more alone on this busy diagram would include...

- Automated daily bank feed data capture.

- Integrated with PayPal.

- An API with many third party add-ons.

- A comprehensive (and free) Xero Practice Edition for accountants to manage, organise and service their Xero clients, including an Accountant only cashbook edition at £9 per client per month, and 25% off all standard pricing on other editions.

- Your own practice's branding and colours and configuration on a management report compilation tool which generates amazingly high quality management report packs for your clients at the click of a button. 

- Unlimited users with full multi-level user security controls, unlimited transactions on all but one of our products.

- Personal expenses integration with Xero Personal, our personal finance app. 

- More than 22,000 paying customers.

- Fixed Asset register with automatic depreciation.

- Stock control (from next week).

- Full foreign currency support.

- Smartphone clients for use with iPhone, Android & Blackberry.

- Best in class hosting, backup and operations.

- Accredited by the ICAEW.

- Award winning design and user interface.

Check out what other accountants and clients have to say about Xero on Twitter.

 

We'd be happy to take you through what we think makes us different in more detail over a short web presentation.

Regards,

Gary Turner
UK Managing Director, Xero

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By happy
27th Sep 2010 10:55

How do costs compare?

Gary I was rather hoping for accountants as users to answer this but as you've posted bearing in mind Accounts Portal dont charge accountants to become 'partners' how does this aspect compare to Xero?

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Gary Turner
By garyturner
27th Sep 2010 11:02

Xero doesn't charge Accountants to join

 I'm sure some will chip in, but as there was a pricing misconception implied about Xero in the response you got, I hope you don't mind me jumping in.

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By happy
27th Sep 2010 11:26

Xero pricing

Thank you Gary so as accountants can we can sign up for Xero free of charge and offer discounted prices to our clients?

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Gary Turner
By garyturner
27th Sep 2010 12:18

Absolutely.

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By happy
27th Sep 2010 12:25

Xero

Thank you very much Gary.

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By happy
27th Sep 2010 12:37

Not quite as 'free' as it seems

Just checked out your website and see its not really free. I'd have to pay for training to become 'certified' and have 3 clients signed up - not conditions for Accounts Portal.

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By SE_Confused
27th Sep 2010 12:38

accounts portal does not charge accountants either

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Gary Turner
By garyturner
27th Sep 2010 12:49

It is free

Those requirements are the minimum requisites for an entry on our Certified Partners directory which is a useful mechanism for picking up new clients.

We categorically do not charge for you to join as a partner or to obtain all the other benefits, including discount.

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By happy
27th Sep 2010 13:10

Apologies Xero

I do apologise - a classic case of not reading the detail fully.

Hopefully we'll have some users of the packages who can give some views/opinions.

 

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Paul Bulpitt profile image
By Paul Bulpitt
27th Sep 2010 14:02

Xero

I've not used Accounts Portal, but we use Xero for our practice and also recommend it to our clients. We love Xero.

Before using Xero, I couldn't have imagined just how easy it would be to use. The big thing for us is that Xero are incorporating auotmatic bank feeds into the product, so at no extra cost, we'll be able to have our bank information directly imported into our accounts package on a daily basis. The bank reconciliation in Xero is the most straightforward I've ever seen, and the bank feeds will take this to another level.

As an Accountancy practice, it's great for us to be able to help our clients. Literally at the click of a button we can see how a client is doing - without having to e-mail around back-ups, etc. - it means that the level of proactivity we can offer a client is much greater for those clients on Xero than those not.

This comment is just an overview of my opinion on Xero. If you any specific questions, I'd be more than happy to discuss - just send me a message. Hope this helps...

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By catherine.davis
27th Sep 2010 15:45

Can recommend Xero

Hi Happy,

We've been using Xero for both our practice and for a number of our clients.  The general consensus is it's very user friendly, intuitive and, being web-based, performs a number of functions very well that other software packages can't compete with (eg: pulling in live exchange rates from the web etc).    Whilst I haven't used Accounts Portal, I would definitely recommend trialling Xero (the trial is free), to see what you think.  Having used an been exposed to a number of accounting packages over my 20 year Chartered Accountancy career, needless to say I was suitably impressed to use Xero as my system of choice.  Give it a try - you've got nothing to lose - and I suspect you'll be very impressed too.

Catherine Davis

Managing Director - Urban Ledgers Limited

 

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By gerrysims
27th Sep 2010 16:03

Depends on functionality required

I looked at both and opted for Accounts Portal for a client but only because they did not need sophisticated functionality and the low cost was attractive. We pay £5 per month as an AP partner which vs £15 for Xero is not insignificant for a small client.

AP is good at what it does but there is presently no departmental costing and other features listed above by Xero. I have to say the support has been good though. I had a reply to one query within 30 minutes of emailing on a Sunday evening !

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Kieran Phelan
By KPEM online
27th Sep 2010 18:53

Xero is a must!

I set up in practice this year and started using Xero for my practice and with a few clients. From the clients perspective it is so easy to use in comparison to other desktop based packages. From a practice perspective, the interlinkage with client affairs and the reports you can run for clients is second to none!

I am a certified advisor and have picked up referrals from the Xero webiste too. Couldn't recommend it enough. Plus the Xero business development manager covering my area of the UK tells me a Xero payroll package is in the pipeline at no extra cost to practice/clients. Plus Xero will be bringing in year-end financials and abbreviated accounts in due course - how great will that be from practising accoutants! Using the same bookkeeping package to produce the statutory accounts!

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By completebookkeeping
01st Oct 2010 11:14

Sparkey 999

-- Complete Book-Keeping Ltd

Hi, believe you stated you are a consultant, would you be able to email me and explain more please?  Ive got a few small clients and juggle back up but this may be just the answer.

if possible: [email protected]

thank you - Donna

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By completebookkeeping
01st Oct 2010 11:50

gary turner

-- Complete Book-Keeping Ltd

 

Hi thanks for info - where on earth do you find such a low rate please?  have looked on website looks good but no where can I see the low priced plan or free.

 

THANK YOU - Donna

just in case you have a link I am not looking at:

[email protected]

 

Re: Online Accounts - what happens if company goes into admin?

 

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By SE_Confused
01st Oct 2010 13:25

clear books

there is also http://www.clearbooks.co.uk/

seems very reasonably priced 

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