Moving from Xero to QuickBooks is often driven by a new accountant's preference or the need for US-specific payroll features — not cost savings. QuickBooks actually costs more in most plans. Understand the full investment before committing to the switch.
The most common drivers: hiring a US-based accountant who is QuickBooks-certified, needing QuickBooks Payroll's deep integration with US tax filing, or scaling into enterprise territory where QuickBooks Enterprise has broader functionality. Businesses acquired by US parent companies are also often required to standardise on QuickBooks.
The migration is technically similar in both directions — but Xero-to-QuickBooks conversions often involve more manual work because Xero's export formats require more processing for QuickBooks import. The cost of the switch should be clearly justified before proceeding.
For a small business on Xero Growing moving to QuickBooks Online Plus. Note: this migration typically increases monthly cost slightly.
| Input | Suggested Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Current monthly cost (Xero) | $42 | Growing plan |
| New monthly cost (QuickBooks) | $90 | Online Plus — note: more expensive |
| Contract months remaining | 0 | Xero is month-to-month |
| Migration hours | 20 | COA remap + data import + reconciliation |
| Staff hourly rate | $80 | Bookkeeper or accountant rate |
| Retraining hours / person | 8 | QuickBooks workflow onboarding |
| Staff needing training | 2 | Finance team members |
| Downtime hours (total) | 12 | Reduced financial ops during cutover |
| Downtime cost / hour | $80 | Finance ops impact per hour |
| Risk buffer | 15% | Reconciliation discrepancy risk |
Pre-filled with values above. Note the monthly cost increases with this migration — the calculator will show when (if ever) it pays back.
Open Calculator with These ValuesAll values are editable. Results are estimates only.
Xero allows export of transactions, contacts, and chart of accounts as CSV. Third-party conversion services (like Reach Reporting) can process these into QuickBooks-compatible import files. For most small businesses, an experienced bookkeeper can handle the conversion manually for a period of 1–3 years of transactions. Anything older is typically brought in as opening balances.
Yes. Most businesses keep a read-only Xero subscription (or export all reports before cancelling) for historical reference. This is especially important if you've filed tax returns from Xero and need to reference historical figures during audits. Xero retains your data for a period after subscription cancellation, but don't rely on this — export everything first.
Yes — politely. Ask them to estimate the hours they'll spend on your account in each platform and whether the difference justifies the migration cost. Many accountants are proficient in both and will adapt if asked. The migration cost falls on you, not the accountant. If they insist, factor their time saving as a credit against the migration cost in this calculator.