Bookeeping - Xero or QuickBooks

lavandergirl_2

What is the recommended software for someone who is inexperienced in accounting

QuickBooks or Xero



Thanks

Honey-Dee

An accountant to start with maybe?

Pennywise

Depends what book-keeping training you'll be doing. Neither are good for raw beginners. If your business is simple enough that you don't think you need any formal training, then both are over the top. There are simpler and more forgiving options for simple businesses. Neither QB nor Xevo are for amateurs and both have the ability to really foul up the books of someone who doesn't know what they're doing. I'd suggest you look at Freeagent or Kashflow instead or if business is very small & simple look at SageOne.

lavandergirl_2

Dhoney22002 wrote: »

An accountant to start with maybe?

Yes, he recommended I use Xero but friend says Quick books due to no bookeping experience.

I have tried Pandle and Xero but I'm not sure if I am doing it right. Business is at start up phase and just buying stock and incurring few expenses. It simple at present but might get complicated in the future.

My accountant's bookeping fee is £50 /month plus software fees.

maisie_cat

It largely depends on how complex your business is and how many transactions. Many simple businesses have only income, purchases of goods & services and mileage. If you are a sole trader you can use cash accounting so simply detail cash in & cash out.
A diary kept detailing the the work & mileage as well as recording purchases and keeping receipts is really all you need. I created a excel spreadsheet where I detailed every transaction and converted to accounts but I only have 300 transactions year across everything.
The online accounts are expensive and once you decide you don't need them anymore you cannot access them. I would first buy a book keeping book so that you can understand it before you start shelling out on software or accountants

Pennywise

lavandergirl wrote: »

Yes, he recommended I use Xero but friend says Quick books due to no bookeping experience.

Quickbooks isn't for a beginner. I've been an accountant for over 30 years and if there's one software that clients beggar up badly it's quickbooks. If you know what you're doing and your business is complicated, it's probably the best, but there's just so many ways of fouling it up, it really isn't for the amateur.

If your accountant uses and recommends Xevo, and will set it up for you and give you the necessary training, then go with what they recommend.