MYOB vs Xero review – 6 months post-implementation
In recent months, visits to our blog has increased measurably, with lots of people looking for reviews of Xero and comparisons between Xero and MYOB. My initial post on MYOB vs Xero – A comparison, explaining the reasons why Euroasia swapped from MYOB to Xero is now our most popular blog entry for 2009. My follow-up post in July 2009 on our experience with implementing Xero is number 10 on the list.
Regular readers will be somewhat surprised that a blog on culture and language would have a post on accounting as the most popular entry. I’m interested in this topic not just because I think Xero has a great product, but I’m also happy to see a New Zealand company doing so well. I’ve enjoyed playing around with Xero, looking at reports and checking out their website. Xero has given me some design ideas for the soon-to-be-launched new Euroasia website.
When I first wrote about Xero in March 2009, Xero had 6000 users, having doubled in the preceding 6 months. At last count, they had over 12000 users, doubling again in the last 6 months. How could this be? For starters Xero is very attentive to client needs. For example, just look at their Twitter posts from today.
Xero is not insecure about their product. Check out the re-tweet here from a fan who is offering to help with both MYOB and Xero. I was quite surprised to see that Xero twittered this on to their fanbase.
In my last post, I complained about some of the drawbacks of Xero and some suggestions for improvement. I was surprised to see in their September update the specific feature requests I suggested. This includes customisation of user roles and a name field for contacts. The customisation of user roles is a step in the right direction, but administrators are still not allowed to customise access rights for individual users (MYOB does this). I hope this is addressed soon. The budgeting function can also be improved to make it a more useful tool for businesses that do more planning/forecasting.
I’m still waiting for my bank to link up my credit card accounts to the live feed. The daily live feed of bank entries is one of the top reasons why Xero is such a great proposition. But Xero is sometimes held back by banks who do not have the same sense of urgency in implementing changes that save customers’ time/money. So users still have to import credit card statements into Xero ala MYOB. So don’t think by implementing Xero you get away from 100% of the dirty work.
I have previously blogged on the drawbacks of MYOB. There are also drawbacks to Xero. For example, anyone that handles a lot of stock will find MYOB a better proposition. So in summary do your research before jumping in.
Xero went live today with their new pricing plans. Euroasia is on the “medium” plan at NZ$49/month, which works well for us. And because we’re an existing customer, we can always activate multi-currency when we need it without having to pay for the “large” plan at NZ$64/month.
For freelancers / property investors who process less than 5 AR and 5 AP invoices per month, the “small” plan would be ideal for you at NZ$29/month.
You might want to check out saasu.com too, they have all of xero’s functions plus more e.g. salary and inventory. Less sexy UI but very down to business, and fast. Also have clients in singapore and malaysia and looking for partners there. Saasu are also seeing people switching from Xero once they have used it for a while. Cheers, Pete.
@pete Wow, thanks for the info on saasu.com. Very Interesting competitor to xero.com. Just wished both of them reduced their number of plans, and reduce the pricing as well.
Hi, have you guys tested out quickbooks online live in australia and new zealand
http://www.quicken.com.au/quickbooksonline/
I think the consensus is that Quickbooks just isn’t as good as Xero.
Hi, I’m currently comparing Xero and Saasu. I agree with Pete, Saasu has more functions than Xero, and Xero seems to be more user friendly. Having not used either I was wondering if either Xero or Saasu are offering more than just accounting. Does anyone know if these systems provide financial ratios or what if analysis? Cheers, Karolyn.
I’ve been reading about Xero for a couple of days now and with all the publicity you would think we’re talking about a top model, not an online accounting solution
I even used their trial and played with it a little, to be honest with all the hype I was expecting something else – its always better to under promise and over deliver.
both companies still don’t support the Australian SBR as well as many features in the basic versions, what did they do with the +$50M?
I would like to share with you what we’ve done with minimal budget, hopefully we will find the way to make this a little bit better known.
See our site http://www.nominal.com.au for our SBR enabled Small Business Accounting software
There must be hundreds of accounting software options. Ultimately it comes down to having a reasonable product, and great marketing. With more users, you then have the cash to build a better product. Xero has continued to roll out improvements over the past 2 years. Hope it goes well with your product.
Thanks for the quick reply – Ken!
The importance of great marketing has been starting to sink in with me over the past months.
I don’t think there are hundreds of products, at least not in Australia, that are appropriate for the lower-end of the range. Off course the big two are well known and the rest (<10) not so much…. but how do you get known.
Ah now I know what they did with that $50M.