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Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

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Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#11

Post by rrhyne »

ilamont wrote: post #2

Xero’s unique selling point is its slick and simple user interface This worked for Mint. I am less confident it will work for Xero, even though many startups/small businesses (myself included) want an alternative to Quickbooks. The article didn't mention this, but one of the most important selling points is not how it looks to SMBs, but whether or not banks and accountants will work with it. I remember reading somewh…

We work with businesses in QuickBooks very often. We can't even get them to switch out of the crazy processes they've created because they didn't understand the program when they set it up, much less to another platform.

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#12

Post by mbell »

I was looking at Xero last year and ran into a firm brick wall, from [0]:

"There is a daily limit of 1000 API calls that a provider can make against a particular Xero organisation in a rolling 24 hour period."

That is an absurdly low limit for anything but the simplest of businesses or businesses that aren't actually looking for tight integration, but rather just something to push accounting data to at the end of a day.

[0] http://developer.xero.com/documentation/getting-started/xero...

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#13

Post by ihsw »

rrhyne wrote: post #11
ilamont wrote: post #2

Xero’s unique selling point is its slick and simple user interface This worked for Mint. I am less confident it will work for Xero, even though many startups/small businesses (myself included) want an alternative to Quickbooks. The article didn't mention this, but one of the most important selling points is not how it looks to SMBs, but whether or not banks and accountants will work with it. I remember reading somewh…

We work with businesses in QuickBooks very often. We can't even get them to switch out of the crazy processes they've created because they didn't understand the program when they set it up, much less to another platform.

As someone looking to get into developing around Quickbooks (Desktop & Online), this terrifies the hell out of me.

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#14

Post by rrhyne »

ihsw wrote: post #13
rrhyne wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We work with businesses in QuickBooks very often. We can't even get them to switch out of the crazy processes they've created because they didn't understand the program when they set it up, much less to another platform.

As someone looking to get into developing around Quickbooks (Desktop & Online), this terrifies the hell out of me.

You should be afraid. Everyone uses it differently, there are lots of opaque quirks to development and Intuit does wild things like kill their support forums without leaving the old content up for posterity's sake.

There are 2 or 3 different APIs, with verifying levels of support for various features. At times QB will push a release that breaks everything for all your clients and you're left to deal with it.

Not a fun time. edit(spelling)

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#15

Post by ipmb »

jacques_chester wrote: post #3
ilamont wrote: post #2

Xero’s unique selling point is its slick and simple user interface This worked for Mint. I am less confident it will work for Xero, even though many startups/small businesses (myself included) want an alternative to Quickbooks. The article didn't mention this, but one of the most important selling points is not how it looks to SMBs, but whether or not banks and accountants will work with it. I remember reading somewh…

I use Xero. I showed it to my accountant and we now regularly use it to cooperate on my accounting. I don't have to bring a MYOB file in to her, I just send her an email with a question and she can log in to look at my books. She's now recommending it to her other clients. (n=1)

I had a similar experience. My accountant had never heard of Xero. I sent her a login and she was quickly using the system without a problem. For me, they've nailed making a system that is easy to use without being an accountant, but powerful enough for an accountant to do their job.

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#16

Post by jacques_chester »

mbell wrote: post #12

I was looking at Xero last year and ran into a firm brick wall, from [0]: "There is a daily limit of 1000 API calls that a provider can make against a particular Xero organisation in a rolling 24 hour period." That is an absurdly low limit for anything but the simplest of businesses or businesses that aren't actually looking for tight integration, but rather just something to push accounting data to at the end of a d…

Their market is SMBs. The worst case is that you group your updates into (say) 5 minute batch jobs, using only 288 of the available 1000 API calls.

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#17

Post by voltagex_ »

chiaro wrote: post #5

As a public investor, I was wondering why my ticker wasn't ticking last Friday. I'd encourage anyone in AU/NZ to take a look at Xero - we don't have many public tech stocks here, so it'll be interesting to see what happens to this one and its effect on the scene here. https://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=ASX:XRO

As always, I wish I'd bought when it first floated (same with Pipe Networks). Any hints? I'm currently looking at CBA's MyWealth platform to start investing.

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#18

Post by [deleted] »

jacques_chester wrote: post #16
mbell wrote: post #12

I was looking at Xero last year and ran into a firm brick wall, from [0]: "There is a daily limit of 1000 API calls that a provider can make against a particular Xero organisation in a rolling 24 hour period." That is an absurdly low limit for anything but the simplest of businesses or businesses that aren't actually looking for tight integration, but rather just something to push accounting data to at the end of a d…

Their market is SMBs. The worst case is that you group your updates into (say) 5 minute batch jobs, using only 288 of the available 1000 API calls.

[deleted]

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#19

Post by badclient »

mbell wrote: post #12

I was looking at Xero last year and ran into a firm brick wall, from [0]: "There is a daily limit of 1000 API calls that a provider can make against a particular Xero organisation in a rolling 24 hour period." That is an absurdly low limit for anything but the simplest of businesses or businesses that aren't actually looking for tight integration, but rather just something to push accounting data to at the end of a d…

Did you reach out to them about increasing it?

Re: Xero Raises Another $150M to Do Battle With Intuit in Online Accounting Software

#20

Post by r0h1n »

ilamont wrote: post #2

Xero’s unique selling point is its slick and simple user interface This worked for Mint. I am less confident it will work for Xero, even though many startups/small businesses (myself included) want an alternative to Quickbooks. The article didn't mention this, but one of the most important selling points is not how it looks to SMBs, but whether or not banks and accountants will work with it. I remember reading somewh…

In India, where penetration of tech among SMBs is abysmally low (and is also a massive opportunity), cloud based accounting software is distrusted because it is transparent, rules-based and off-premise

To avoid taxes, most businesses fudge their accounts. Many maintain two sets of accounts - one for the tax officials and another one for the owners. Thus there is a premium on keeping data within premises and in silos.

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