How to move from QuickBooks Online to Xero

Xero's own conversion covers the current and prior fiscal year: chart of accounts, contacts, items, and historical transactions such as invoices and bills. Xero states that migrating more than two years may cost extra, and the work is done by Jet Convert, its conversion partner in the US.

There are two other routes Xero supports. A fresh start brings over balances only, which suits a business that wants a clean file from a date, and the Conversion Toolbox imports data manually from CSV files. Both are free, and a fresh start is often the better choice when the QuickBooks file is a mess: converting bad data gives you the same problem in new software.

This is the part that surprises people, so plan for it before you switch anything off. Xero states plainly that payroll information does not migrate as part of these conversions. Jet Convert's own list of exclusions for US conversions also covers QuickBooks Self-Employed files, multi-currency files, advanced or tracked inventory, Locations, Projects, PDF attachments and linked transactions.

Practically, that means you keep read-only access to QuickBooks Online for a period. Employee records and pay history stay where they are, attachments stay where they are, and anything relying on tracked inventory needs to be rebuilt deliberately rather than assumed.

The standard conversion is free, because Xero subsidises it. Jet Convert publishes paid tiers for more history and extra work, and its two US pages show different figures for those tiers, so get the price confirmed in writing before you start rather than relying on either page.

Then there is the subscription itself. Xero's US plans are Early $25, Growing $55 and Established $90 a month, with payroll as a paid add-on. QuickBooks Online's US plans are Simple Start $38, Essentials $85, Plus $140 and Advanced $340 a month. Both run promotions, so compare the price after the promotional period, not during it.

Convert at a clean break, ideally the first day of a fiscal year or at least a closed month, and reconcile everything in QuickBooks first. Converting unreconciled books moves the problem rather than solving it.

• Reconcile every bank, card and loan account in QuickBooks, and close the period.
• Export and keep the trial balance, profit and loss statement and balance sheet as at the conversion date.
• After the conversion, compare those three reports in Xero to the exported ones, line by line.
• Rebuild the bank feeds, and check the opening balances rather than assuming them.
• Set up payroll in Xero separately, with year-to-date figures for each employee.
• Keep QuickBooks Online accessible, read-only, for the records that did not travel.

Switch when the software is genuinely the problem: you need multi-currency on a cheaper plan, you want unlimited users, or your accountant works better in Xero. Do not switch because the books are a mess. New software does not fix old bookkeeping, and you will pay for the conversion and the cleanup.

Best for a business that wants the switch run for it, and the books kept afterwards: SF Business Solutions works in both QuickBooks Online and Xero, from $250 a month, and our team holds the Xero Advisor, Xero Payroll, QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor and QuickBooks Online Advanced certifications. If the file needs cleaning first, cleanup starts at $250, and the final price depends on how far behind the books are.