Xero vs Workday Financial Management

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Our analysts compared Xero vs Workday Financial Management based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Accounting Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Xero is a cloud-based accounting software designed for small businesses. It streamlines bookkeeping tasks like invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and payroll, all accessible from any device. Xero boasts user-friendly interfaces and automated features, saving time and simplifying financial management. Popular features include online invoicing with reminders, bank feeds for automatic transaction import, and customizable reports for insights into cash flow and profitability. While Xero caters well to various industries, its strengths lie in freelancer/contractor work, startups, and service-based businesses. Pricing scales with business size and complexity, starting at a monthly subscription for basic accounting needs and increasing with additional features and users. Compared to some competitors, Xero offers a robust mobile app, strong integrations with third-party tools, and a focus on user experience. However, it may lack advanced inventory management or complex accounting functions suited for larger enterprises. Ultimately, Xero's value proposition lies in its ease of use, automation, and scalability, making it a popular choice for small businesses seeking a streamlined and efficient accounting solution.

Pros:
  • Cloud-based access anywhere
  • Easy invoicing and expense tracking
  • Automated bank reconciliation
  • User-friendly interface
  • Mobile app for on-the-go use
Cons:
  • Learning curve for new users
  • Limited inventory management
  • No built-in payroll (separate fee)
  • Higher cost for advanced features
  • Limited phone support
read more...
Workday Financial Management is a cloud-based accounting software designed for mid-sized and large enterprises. It automates core financial processes like record-to-report, procurement, and expense management, aiming to streamline operations and improve data visibility. Its strengths lie in its user-friendly interface, real-time reporting capabilities, and global compliance support. However, its subscription-based pricing model can be costlier than traditional on-premise solutions. Users praise its intuitive design and powerful analytics, but some note occasional integration issues and a steeper learning curve compared to simpler systems. Overall, Workday Financial Management is a robust option for companies seeking a modern, scalable accounting platform with a focus on automation and global reach, but its premium pricing might not suit smaller businesses or those with less complex financial needs.

Pros
  • User-friendly interface
  • Real-time reporting
  • Global compliance support
  • Scalable for growth
  • Integrates with other Workday apps
Cons
  • Higher subscription costs
  • Steeper learning curve
  • Occasional integration issues
  • Limited customization options
  • Reporting can be complex
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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • Affordable Payroll: Take advantage of the free trial to see how much time automated data entry can save and assess if the solution is a good fit for the business. Save countless hours on tracking expenses, calculating payments, processing payroll and more.
  • Better Interoperability: Centralize company processes and handle a wide range of functionality with more than 700 add-ons available through the app marketplace. This includes programs for CRM, e-commerce, inventory, invoicing, job tracking, payroll, time and attendance and more.
  • Centralizes Data and Processes: Organize information and put the primary software that handles day-to-day issues all in one place. Manage files to a document library where users can see originals next to updated versions. Send files to stakeholders to ensure a clear flow of information.
  • Saves Time: Eliminate tedious data entry and ensure better data integrity by cutting down on human error. Provide a clear documentation trail to ensure that the business is running ethically and save time hunting for documents when it’s time to verify the information.
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  • Enhanced Efficiency and Streamlined Operations: Automates manual tasks, eliminates data silos, and provides real-time visibility across financial processes, leading to faster close cycles, reduced errors, and improved operational agility.
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Offers robust analytics and reporting tools that deliver actionable insights into financial performance, enabling informed strategic planning, cost optimization, and resource allocation.
  • Global Compliance and Scalability: Supports complex global operations with built-in compliance features and multi-currency capabilities, ensuring seamless expansion into new markets and adherence to local regulations.
  • Improved User Experience and Productivity: Provides a modern, intuitive interface that empowers finance teams with self-service capabilities, reduces training requirements, and boosts overall user satisfaction.
  • Enhanced Collaboration and Visibility: Fosters collaboration between finance and other business departments through integrated workflows and shared data, promoting transparency and alignment across the organization.
  • Reduced Risk and Improved Controls: Strengthens internal controls with advanced security features, audit trails, and automated compliance checks, mitigating financial risks and safeguarding sensitive data.
  • Increased Agility and Adaptability: Enables rapid configuration changes and customizations to adapt to evolving business needs and industry regulations, ensuring continuous optimization and competitive advantage.
  • Talent Optimization and Retention: Supports talent management initiatives by streamlining payroll and expense processes, providing employee self-service capabilities, and enhancing financial transparency, leading to increased employee satisfaction and retention.
  • Sustainable Growth and ROI: Delivers tangible cost savings through automation, improved efficiency, and reduced compliance risks, contributing to significant long-term return on investment.
  • Future-Proofed Platform: Continuously updated with new features and functionality, ensuring your accounting system stays ahead of the curve and adapts to evolving industry trends and technologies.
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  • Payroll Processing: Provide payroll across 50 states. See when payments are due, track them and ensure on time payment. Analyze accounts payable with a quick view, schedule advanced payments and make batch payments.
  • Banking: Connect to the right bank to track and facilitate transactions daily. Keep an eye on the flow of money through a secure connection that goes directly into the solution.
  • Expense Management: Seamlessly track and manage expense claims. Access real-time data and reports that provide insight into patterns and trends. Record costs, see and approve claims, view overall spending and dole out reimbursements. Capture receipts to monitor employee spending and verify costs.
  • Project Management: Integrate with other workflows to facilitate financial project management. Provide a quote for client work before you begin to track time, costs, profitability and other variables for an accurate invoice.
  • Customer History: Use smart lists and contacts to contact details, emails, past sales, emails, invoices, past payments and more when working with a partner or client.
  • Mobile App: Let users track bank transactions, send invoices, access supplier details and more, from any mobile device.
  • Inventory Management: Undertake basic inventory management, including taking inventory, seeing what was bought or sold, look at reports on how well items are doing and get invoices and orders.
  • Gusto Integration: Calculate and pay taxes, deductions and employees through an integration with the accounting software Gusto. Simplify compliance and keep on top of industry updates.
  • Other Capabilities: Processes payment in multiple currencies, calculates sales taxes, tracks purchase orders, manages files and does several other administrative tasks.
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  • Grant Management: Meet grantor and business requirements for budgeting, billing, reporting and compliance. Minimize the possibility of reporting errors, any loss due to absent funds or risk associated with non-compliance. Make sure that all grantor’s requirements get met in terms of timeframe, balance, terms and conditions. Control unnecessary spending by keeping a tab on the monetary status in real-time. Ensure that workers are paid for individual projects. 
  • Analytics and Reporting: Create internal reports and external regulatory statements ensuring no patchwork database. Use reconciliations and analytical tools. Ensure robust security while deriving insights for strategic decision-making. Let executives and leaders view monetary, operational and management visualizations. Gain a complete view of the business by combining transactional and operational parameters. Know and understand what is happening, where and why by analyzing details across dimensions. 
  • Financial Planning: Make informed, faster decisions with flexible tools and data-driven insights. Respond quickly to change by creating strategic plans for budgeting expenses to forecasting revenue. Gain a complete picture by populating models with data. Connect to cloud, on-premise and data warehouse. Ensure reliable data access with an automated data flow. Involve everyone in the planning process with role-based access to models. Create reports by automatically connecting to Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint. View numbers, charts and variance alongside each other, reflected instantly. 
  • Audits and Internal Control: Keep the business secure, identify risk and document every translation with audit and internal controls. Adjust controls and processes, set thresholds, evaluate workflows and prevent unauthorized transactions with a flexible framework. Limit permissions to people with single access and authorization control. 
  • Global Foundation: Operate and expand in different countries or around the world. Get built-in flexibility and support for global time zones, currencies and address formats. Leverage support for multiple charts of accounts, tax, banking and payment format. Deploy faster with built-in country-specific configurations. 
  • Expenses: Minimize expense processing time and reimburse faster. Record the transaction by scanning the receipt. Get better travel rates and discounts by uncovering the latest trends in real-time with a delivered expense dashboard. Control cost and keep all the travel policies in one place. Prevent the possibility of fraud by tracking out of policy spends.  
  • Accounting Centre: Gain detailed insights and reduce the time to close with comprehensive accounting information and data lineage back to source transactions. Minimize errors, boost efficiency and gain better control and visibility. Manage and modify rules with one accounting engine written in business language. Get detailed budgetary and operational reporting with a virtual subledger. Recognize revenue by modifying operational data. 
  • Revenue Management: Gain complete visibility with flexible features and view and analyze all the system’s aspects. Minimize risk by establishing, approving and tracking customers at every step of the contract cycle. Reduce revenue leakage and gain rich insights into write-offs and billing rules. Boost accessibility, accuracy, profitability with intercompany invoices. Get end-to-end revenue management and comprehensive revenue recognition while staying compliant with GAAP and IFRS standards and protocols. 
  • Budgetary Consolidation and Close: Keep track of the output by any factor such as spend by supplier, campaign, profitability and project activity. Reconcile accounts and embed them in the transaction system. Automate tasks, route approvals and reports with a close period checklist. Get real-time currency and earning calculations to analyze the financial results within a specific timeframe.  
  • Accounting and Finance: Keep a tab on the monetary impact of transactions by identifying and addressing issues promptly without running a batch process. Close faster with real-time consolidation. Automate finance and accounting operations, make modifications or corrections any time and get recommendations on payment matching. Manage accounts payable, contracts, billings and payments from one place. Gain complete transparency into records from procurement to disposal. Control and optimize the cash flow. 
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Product Ranking

#3

among all
Accounting Software

#357

among all
Accounting Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Banking and Cash Management
General Ledger and Chart of Accounts
Integration and Extensibility
Journal Entries
Mobile Support
Banking and Cash Management
Budget and Expense Management
Platform Security
Tax Management
Multi-company Accounting and Asset Management

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Xero
Workday Financial Management
+ Add Product + Add Product
Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Banking And Cash Management Budget And Expense Management Financial Statements And Revenue Management General Ledger And Chart Of Accounts Integration And Extensibility Inventory Management Journal Entries Mobile Support Multi-company Accounting And Asset Management Platform Capabilities Project Accounting Reporting And Analytics Tax Management 93 97 100 89 89 100 100 83 100 100 79 89 100 90 92 0 70 100 100 66 63 0 57 81 0 87 0 80 0 100 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 4652 reviews
Great User Sentiment 324 reviews
86%
of users recommend this product

Xero has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 86% when considering 4652 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

84%
of users recommend this product

Workday Financial Management has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 84% when considering 324 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

4.4 (17)
n/a
4.3 (339)
3.8 (77)
4.33 (2132)
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4.3 (1877)
4.4 (55)
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4.4 (153)
4.3 (287)
4.0 (39)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Xero and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Integration and Extensibility and Mobile Support.

Integration and Extensibility Award
Mobile Support Award

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Workday Financial Management and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Budget and Expense Management.

Budget and Expense Management Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Affordable: Of all the reviews that mentioned price, over 70% felt it was well within their price range and felt satisfied.
Good Customer Service: Over 70% of reviews that mentioned the customer support said they received excellent service, especially from their reps.
Excellent Functionality: In more than 50% of all reviews that mentioned features, users were happy with its capabilities. They especially like the integrations, reconciliation process, invoices and accounting functions.
Simple and intuitive interface: Xero's clean layout and straightforward navigation make it easy for users of all skill levels to manage their finances. In over 80% of reviews that mentioned the UI, users said it was easy to navigate.
Automated tasks: Xero automates repetitive tasks like invoicing, expense tracking, and bank reconciliation, saving users valuable time and reducing errors.
Mobile app for on-the-go access: Manage your finances and stay up-to-date on your business performance anytime, anywhere with Xero's mobile app.
Customizable reports and dashboards: Gain valuable insights into your cash flow, profitability, and other key financial metrics with Xero's customizable reports and dashboards.
Multi-user access and permissions: Collaborate with team members and advisors seamlessly with Xero's secure multi-user access and permission controls.
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Streamlined Processes and Efficiency: Automates manual tasks like journal entries, reconciliations, and financial reporting, saving time and reducing errors.
Real-Time Visibility and Insights: Provides instant access to financial data and customizable dashboards, enabling proactive decision-making and improved cash flow management.
Global Compliance and Scalability: Supports multi-GAAP compliance, multi-currency transactions, and international tax reporting, simplifying operations for global organizations.
User-Friendly Interface and Adoption: Offers an intuitive interface with guided workflows and role-based dashboards, making it easy to learn and use for finance professionals of varying skill levels.
Seamless Integration and Collaboration: Integrates smoothly with other Workday applications and external systems, fostering collaboration across departments and streamlining financial processes.
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Limited inventory management: Xero lacks advanced inventory tracking features, making it less suitable for businesses with complex inventory needs.
Learning curve for complex features: While basic tasks are easy, some advanced features like multi-currency accounting can be challenging for non-accountants to navigate. Though the system was widely popular after implementation, users said it was old-fashioned and had a steep learning curve in 20% of reviews that mentioned the UI.
Higher cost for advanced features: Access to advanced features like payroll processing and multi-currency comes at a higher price point, potentially exceeding budgets for smaller businesses.
Limited phone support: Xero primarily relies on email and live chat for support, which may not be ideal for users seeking immediate assistance with critical issues.
Integration limitations: While offering many integrations, some key business tools may not have seamless integration with Xero, requiring workarounds or data duplication.
Invoices: While around 60% of users felt that the invoicing system worked well, around 40% said they had trouble making changes to them once they were saved.
Downgrading Issues: Around 20% of reviews that mentioned price said they had issues while trying to go to a lower pricing tier and often ended up paying a month or more at a higher rate.
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Steep Learning Curve: Workday's interface and functionality can be complex for users unfamiliar with its specific terminology and workflows, requiring significant training and onboarding.
Limited Customization Options: While Workday offers some customization, it may not fully accommodate specific accounting needs or reporting requirements, potentially leading to workarounds or integration with additional tools.
High Implementation and Maintenance Costs: Workday's initial implementation and ongoing maintenance can be expensive, especially for smaller organizations, requiring careful budgeting and resource allocation.
Integration Challenges: Integrating Workday with existing legacy systems or third-party applications can be complex and time-consuming, potentially disrupting workflows and requiring specialized technical expertise.
Limited Offline Functionality: Workday's cloud-based nature can pose challenges in situations with limited internet connectivity, potentially impacting critical accounting tasks and data access.
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Xero’s users say it’s easy to use and has good accounting and bookkeeping capabilities. Most found the price to be acceptable, with some complaints about issues they ran into while trying to switch to a lower pricing tier. More than 70% loved the customer service and felt their representatives were extremely helpful. It has a range of features including band feeds, invoice creation, integrations and reconciliation processes. The reconciliation was particularly popular with over 80% of reviewers who mentioned it describing positive experiences. One issue with the system came in making updates to invoices after they’d been saved. Some users said they were sent prematurely to clients or claimed to have difficulties changing the data at a later date. Many also felt that the implementation process for the new platform was difficult, but that once they learned where things were they felt comfortable. This may be a good choice for small and medium businesses. Larger companies should consider a system that’s able to handle a higher volume.

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Workday Financial Management (WFM) user reviews paint a mixed picture. While users praise its streamlining capabilities, real-time insights, and global compliance features, they also face challenges with its initial complexity, limited customization, and high costs. Compared to competitors like Oracle NetSuite and SAP Business One, WFM shines in automating manual tasks and offering intuitive dashboards for data-driven decision-making. However, its steeper learning curve and potential integration hurdles can be daunting for smaller firms or those accustomed to simpler systems. Users particularly appreciate WFM's ability to automate journal entries, reconciliations, and financial reporting, freeing up valuable time for analysis and strategic planning. The real-time visibility into financial data with customizable dashboards also empowers users to make proactive decisions and manage cash flow effectively. For global organizations, WFM's support for multi-GAAP compliance, multi-currency transactions, and international tax reporting simplifies operations and streamlines reporting across diverse regions. However, users also highlight WFM's learning curve as a major hurdle, especially for those unfamiliar with its unique interface and terminology. The limited customization options can also be frustrating when specific accounting needs or reporting requirements don't perfectly align with the system's functionalities. Additionally, the high implementation and maintenance costs can be a barrier for smaller organizations, making WFM a better fit for larger enterprises with the resources to invest. Compared to competitors, WFM's strengths lie in its automation capabilities and data-driven insights. Users often find Oracle NetSuite more user-friendly and customizable, while SAP Business One offers better integration with existing systems for some businesses. Ultimately, the choice between WFM and its competitors boils down to individual priorities and needs. If automation, real-time data, and global compliance are top concerns, WFM stands out. However, if ease of use, customization, and cost-effectiveness are paramount, other options might be more suitable.

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