Shopify Xero App: A Comprehensive Review

In the busy world of ecommerce, efficient financial management is crucial for success. The Shopify Xero app is a notable tool in this regard, offering robust solutions. This review explores its features, benefits, and drawbacks, focusing on critical aspects for Shopify merchants.

Key Takeaways 

• Versatile Integration: Shopify Xero App streamlines financial tasks for small to medium-sized businesses with automated daily sales syncing and detailed reporting.
• Pros and Cons: Seamless Shopify integration and real-time reporting are highlights, but users should note potential PayPal transaction delays, lack of automatic reminders, and limited customer support.
• Alternatives Reviewed: QuickBooks Online, Sage 50 Accounting, Freshbook, and Wave are explored as alternatives, each offering unique features for diverse business needs.

The Shopify Xero App Overview

The Shopify Xero App stands as a pivotal integration tool for Shopify merchants, bridging the gap between ecommerce sales and financial management. This integration, designed to enhance the efficiency of accounting processes, primarily focuses on automating the synchronization of financial data from Shopify to Xero, a leading accounting software.

Key features include automated syncing, daily summary invoice generation, sales tax management (beneficial for Australia, the UK, and New Zealand), and detailed reporting on sales, discounts, shipping, refunds, gift cards, and fees. This integration enhances efficiency, streamlines reconciliation, and empowers informed decision-making for Shopify merchants.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Unlimited Users for All Plans: This feature is particularly beneficial for large teams where multiple individuals need access to the financial data. It facilitates collaboration and ensures all team members are on the same page.
• Hubdoc Feature: Hubdoc’s integration with every plan tier of the Xero App is a significant plus. It automatically captures receipts and bills, streamlining financial document management and organization. This feature is a boon for businesses aiming to maintain a high level of organization and accuracy in their financial records.
• Capability to Manage Fixed Assets: The app provides the ability to manage fixed assets, a crucial aspect for businesses that require detailed tracking of their long-term assets for accounting and compliance purposes.

Cons

• Payment Processing Lag for PayPal Transactions: Users might experience delays in the processing of PayPal transactions, which can be a concern for businesses relying heavily on PayPal for payments.
• No Automatic Reminders for Unpaid Invoices: The lack of automatic reminders for unpaid invoices could be a drawback for businesses with a high volume of invoices. This means additional effort is required to track and follow up on unpaid invoices.
• No Phone Support: No phone support can be a significant disadvantage, especially for users who prefer immediate, real-time assistance for their queries or issues.

Who Is The Xero Shopify App Best For?

The Xero Shopify App is particularly suited for large teams and small- to medium-sized businesses that require robust and high-level accounting systems. 

It’s ideal for businesses keen on automating their financial administration, reducing manual data entry, and tracking cash flow efficiently and accurately in one centralized place. This makes it an excellent tool for businesses to streamline their financial operations and focus more on growth and development.

Xero Shopify App: Detailed Review

The Xero Shopify App simplifies ecommerce financial management for Shopify merchants, offering a user-friendly solution with various features and pricing plans.

Pricing

The app offers two distinct pricing plans, catering to different geographical locations and business needs:

Standard Plan: $13/month

• Designed for customers in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.
• Allows connection to a single Shopify store.
• Enables syncing of unlimited orders, which is crucial for businesses with a high volume of transactions.
• Handles sales tax efficiently, an essential feature for areas with intricate tax regulations
• Provides access to 24/7 support via Xero Central, ensuring help is available whenever needed.

Basic Plan: Free

• Tailored for US and Canadian customers.
• Similar to the Standard plan, it allows connecting a single Shopify store and syncing unlimited orders.
• Offers access to 24/7 support through Xero Central.

Features

The Xero Shopify App comes packed with features designed to streamline the financial management process for ecommerce businesses:

• Daily Sales Sync to Xero: The app syncs Shopify sales to Xero daily, facilitating timely payout reconciliation. This feature is particularly beneficial for businesses seeking an up-to-date reflection of their financial position.
• Daily Summary Invoice Creation: It automatically creates a daily summary invoice for preferred payment gateways. This feature simplifies the accounting process by consolidating transactions into manageable summaries, which is ideal for businesses that need to track daily sales and payments efficiently.
• Grouping Sales by Tax Rate (AU/UK/NZ only): For merchants in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand, the app groups Shopify sales by tax rate. This is especially useful for businesses in these regions as it aids in managing the complexities of sales tax. 
• Detailed Reporting: The app provides detailed reporting on sales, discounts, shipping, refunds, gift cards, and fees across invoices. This feature is invaluable for businesses that require a granular breakdown of their financial transactions for analysis and strategic planning.

Ratings and Customer Reviews

• Rating: 1.3/5 
• Total reviews: 23 reviews

The overall impression from users of the Shopify Xero App is mixed, with notable points of dissatisfaction. Billing and subscription cancellation issues, limited functionality leading to integration challenges, concerns about customer service effectiveness, extra work and inefficiencies introduced by the app, and doubts about its compatibility with ecommerce needs are common themes in customer feedback. Xero’s acknowledgment of some issues reflects a step toward transparency. 

Still, users emphasize the need for more proactive and effective solutions, particularly in addressing customer service concerns and enhancing the app’s ecommerce compatibility.

How To Integrate The Xero App To Your Shopify Store

Integrating the Xero App with your Shopify store can significantly streamline your financial administration, enhance data accuracy, and offer a consolidated view of your cash flow. Here’s a step-by-step guide on connecting your Shopify store to the Shopify Integration by Xero and the benefits you can expect from this integration.

Steps to Connect Your Shopify Store to Xero:

Before you start, sign up to Shopify if you haven’t already.

1. Log in to your Xero organization.
2. Click the organization name, then select “App Store.”

3. Find and select the “Shopify app”.

4. Click the “Connect app.”

5. Enter your Shopify store address. This is the same as the URL at the top of your screen when you log in to your Shopify account. 

6. Click “Connect”. This will take you to the Shopify website.
7. Click “Install app” to get redirected to Xero again. 

8. Select the organization you want to integrate with. 
9. Click Next, then click Start set up. 
10. Select the following:

• Payment Type – Payment method your customers use to pay you
• Create invoice – Whether you want the invoices to be generated
• Clearing account and Bank account – The accounts you wish to your Shopify transactions to be allocated to.

11. Click “Continue.”
12. Select the accounts you want for your sales, discounts, and refunds, then click “Continue.”
13. If you want to import your previous data, select the date you want the import to start. The integration will create one sales invoice per payment type.
14. Click “Finish & connect.”

Why should you connect the Xero App to Shopify?

• Automate Finance Administration: The integration automates summarizing daily Shopify sales orders for each payment gateway and sends them to Xero. This feature reduces the time and effort involved in manual reconciliation.
• More Accurate Data: By reducing the need for manual data entry, the integration helps maintain more accurate financial transaction records. It provides visibility over Shopify payments and PayPal transaction fees, which are crucial for bookkeeping.
• Track Cash Flow in One Place: With Xero’s cash flow and insights tools, you get a comprehensive picture of your business performance. This integration ensures that all your financial information is in one place, making monitoring and analyzing your cash flow easier.

Xero Shopify App Alternatives

In ecommerce financial management, several alternatives to the Xero Shopify App offer robust features.

QuickBooks Online 

QuickBooks Online, a prominent name in accounting software, offers an integration with Shopify designed to streamline financial management for ecommerce businesses. Here’s a detailed look at why it’s a valuable tool, its key features, pricing, and customer reviews.

Why we like it

• Simplified Accounting Integration: QuickBooks Online automates the accounting process by connecting your Shopify store directly to QuickBooks. This integration simplifies tracking of payouts, breaking them down into sales receipts, refund receipts, and expenses, which helps record fees and manage financial data more efficiently.
• Automated Data Categorization: The app automatically categorizes payouts by sales, refunds, and fees, minimizing manual data entry and saving valuable time for businesses. This feature ensures that financial data is accurately reflected in your Profit & Loss statement or Balance Sheet.
• Historical Data Import: QuickBooks Online allows you to pull in up to 12 months of recorded data based on Shopify Payouts, providing a comprehensive view of your financial history.

Key features

• Easy Connection: Connect your Shopify account to QuickBooks Online in just a few steps and seamlessly import Payouts.
• Automated Categorization: Payouts are automatically categorized by sales, refunds, and fees for easy tracking and management.
• Summarized Transactions: The app creates summarized sales receipts, refund receipts, and expense transactions, offering a clearer picture of your financial activities.
• Cash Flow Management: Stay on top of your cash flow and better understand your revenue by channel, which is crucial for making informed business decisions.

Pricing

• 30-day Free Trial: A trial period to test the app without cost.
• Free to Connect: Connecting your Shopify account is free if you already have a QuickBooks Online subscription.
• Plans Starting at $30/month: For new QuickBooks Online customers, plans include features like income & expense tracking, invoicing & payments, tax deductions, cash flow analysis, and reports.

Rating & Reviews

The overall customer feedback for the QuickBooks Online app is mixed. Some users appreciate its efficiency in reducing manual entry time and improving tracking and analytics. However, there are concerns raised by other users regarding incomplete transaction transfers, issues with sales tax mapping, SKU import problems, and frustration over the app’s limitations in point-of-sale (POS) integration for businesses beyond e-commerce.

The diverse experiences indicate that while the app has positive aspects, there are also functional and integration issues that users have encountered.

Sage 50 Accounting

Sage 50 Accounting, through its integration app by Jitterbit offered on the Shopify App Store, provides a robust solution for streamlining accounting and data processing for Shopify merchants. Here’s a breakdown of why this app is favored, its key features, pricing, and customer feedback.

Why we like it

• Centralization of Data: The app effectively centralizes data, eliminating manual processes, a significant plus for businesses looking to streamline operations.
• Seamless Integration: It connects Shopify to Sage 50, allowing for smooth item, order, and customer data processing.
• Automated Data Exchange: Automating the data exchange between Shopify and Sage 50 is a key feature that saves time and reduces errors in order entry, inventory, and product updates.
• Intuitive Dashboard: The dashboard provided by the app gives users an easy way to monitor their integration, enhancing usability and oversight.

Key features

• Automated Order Entry, Inventory, and Product Updates: This feature ensures that data between Sage 50 and Shopify is always synchronized, reducing the manual workload.
• Elimination of Manual Tasks: By automating data processing, the app minimizes the need for manual input, thereby increasing efficiency.
• Easy Monitoring: The intuitive dashboard lets users keep tabs on the integration process, ensuring they are always aware of their data status.

Pricing

• 14-Day Free Trial: A trial period is offered to test the app’s functionality.
• EICloud Sage 50 Plan: Priced at $99.99/month, with a one-time set-up fee of $599.

Rating & Reviews

Users have expressed overall satisfaction with the integration capabilities of the eBridge app with Sage 50, specifically in linking multiple Shopify stores. They highlight the app’s ease of installation and affordability, leading several users to highly recommend it for Shopify merchants utilizing Sage 50 for accounting and fulfillment. 

The app’s customer service has garnered praise for its professionalism and friendliness, particularly in handling specific data connections for unique products. Customers have found the app efficient in aiding major financial reconciliations, appreciating the support staff’s assistance in this critical process. 

Additionally, users emphasize the straightforward setup process, noting substantial time savings in their business operations, allowing them to redirect their focus toward growth initiatives.

Freshbook 

Freshbook, known for its cloud accounting solutions, offers an integration with Shopify that simplifies the accounting process for ecommerce businesses. 

Why we like it

• Comprehensive Tax Support: The integration provides comprehensive tax support for various regions, including US and Canada Sales Tax, Australian & New Zealand GST, UK & European VAT. This feature is particularly valuable for businesses operating in regions with complex tax requirements.
• Seamless Import of Data: The ability to import orders, POS sales, refunds, and more into FreshBooks seamlessly makes it an attractive choice for businesses looking to streamline their accounting processes.
• Support for Multiple Stores: The app connects multiple stores to a single FreshBooks organization, a crucial feature for businesses managing multiple online storefronts.

Key features

• Import Orders and Sales: It imports orders and POS sales from Shopify and other channels as FreshBooks invoices, simplifying invoicing.
• Payment and Fee Integration: This includes importing payments and payment fees ensuring comprehensive financial tracking.
• Handling Refunds and Returns: Refunds and returns are imported as FreshBooks Credit Notes, providing an accurate financial picture.

Pricing

• 30-day Free Trial: A trial period to test the app’s capabilities.
• Standard Plan: Priced at $36.99/month, with additional integrations available at a discounted rate.

Rating & Reviews

The feedback on the Fresh app is varied, with both positive and negative sentiments. Users commend the app for effectively transferring necessary information and sales data. 

However, some users have raised concerns regarding the app’s user interface and navigation, with one user specifically mentioning difficulties in importing past purchases, leading to the decision to cancel their subscription. The reviews collectively suggest a mix of experiences, with some users finding value in the app’s features while others encounter challenges in its implementation and use.

Wave 

Wave, renowned for its free and user-friendly accounting software, offers an integration app with Shopify called Wave Sync. This app is designed to automatically synchronize shop data to Wave Accounting, saving valuable time on manual data entry. 

Why we like it

• Real-Time Synchronization: Wave Sync allows for automatic real-time syncing of Shopify orders and payouts to Wave, which is crucial for keeping financial records up to date.
• Ease of Use: Wave Accounting’s reputation for being easy to use extends to the Wave Sync app, making it accessible for users without extensive accounting knowledge.
• Highly Configurable: The app offers the flexibility to sync various data types, including line items, shipping charges, taxes, and customer information, tailored to the business’s needs.

Key features

• Real-Time Sales and Payouts Import: It imports sales data and Shopify payouts to Wave in real-time, ensuring immediate updates to accounting records.
• Historical Sync: The app offers historical sync upon request, allowing businesses to maintain a complete financial history.
• Detailed Data Sync: All relevant details, such as shipping charges, taxes, and customer data, can be synchronized, providing a comprehensive view of transactions.

Pricing

• 7-Day Free Trial: A trial period to test the app’s functionality.
• Starter Plan ($9.95/month): Includes syncing for 50 monthly transactions, with a $0.20 fee for each additional order over 50, capped at $100.
• Standard Plan ($29.95/month): Syncs up to 800 monthly transactions, with additional orders charged at $0.20 each, capped at $80.
• Premium Plan ($49.95/month): Offers unlimited transactions with no additional fees and priority support.

Rating & Reviews

Feedback on the Wave app is diverse, with users expressing satisfaction over cost savings compared to other accounting software and praising its effective syncing capabilities. Several users highlight the app as a notable time-saver, acknowledging prompt customer support. However, there are mixed experiences with support, as some users report positive interactions while others face challenges in receiving timely responses. 

Additionally, concerns about the app’s functionality have been raised, including limitations such as the inability to import past transactions and recording transactions. Overall, user impressions of the Wave app range from positive aspects like cost savings and efficiency to specific challenges related to functionality and support.

Bottom Line

The Shopify Xero app is a robust tool for automating and streamlining ecommerce financial management. While not universally perfect for every business, its notable benefits in terms of efficiency and accuracy make it a worthwhile consideration. Additionally, exploring alternative solutions such as QuickBooks Online, Sage 50 Accounting, Freshbook, and Wave could provide businesses with various options tailored to their needs.

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