Xero on its own is fine.

Xero with the right integrations is powerful.

Here’s what actually works after testing dozens.

Payments

Stripe The default for online payments. Connect to Xero and invoices update automatically when paid.

No more manual matching. Save 2-3 hours per week on reconciliation.

GoCardless For direct debit. Customers pay automatically on invoice due date.

We cut late payments by 80%. Worth the 1% fee.

PayPal If you accept it (I don’t recommend for B2B), the integration prevents double entry.

Expenses

Dext (formerly Receipt Bank) $30/month.

Photograph receipts. They appear in Xero categorised and ready. Magic.

My accountant’s favorite tool. Saves hours at tax time.

Weel Company cards with built-in expense management.

Every purchase auto-categorises in Xero. Spending limits per employee. Real-time visibility.

We replaced reimbursements entirely.

Expensify $5/user/month.

Better for travel-heavy teams. Receipt scanning, mileage tracking, per diems.

Overkill for most startups. But excellent if you need it.

Time Tracking

Harvest $12/user/month.

Track time, create invoices from hours, sync to Xero.

For agencies and consultants billing hourly. Essential.

Clockify Free tier is generous.

Basic time tracking that syncs to Xero. Not as polished as Harvest but gets the job done at $0.

Inventory

DEAR Inventory $349/month.

If you have physical products, proper inventory management that talks to Xero.

Not cheap. But the alternative is spreadsheets and mistakes.

Cin7 $349/month.

Similar to DEAR. Better if you’re multichannel (Amazon, Shopify, etc.)

Payroll

Employment Hero $8/employee/month.

Australian payroll that handles super, leave, and awards correctly.

The Xero integration keeps payroll journals updated automatically.

KeyPay $4/employee/month.

Cheaper option. Less HR features but payroll is solid.

CRM

HubSpot Free tier available.

Sync contacts, track deals, create invoices from won deals.

We use HubSpot for CRM and Xero for accounting. Integration bridges them cleanly.

Salesforce Enterprise-grade with enterprise complexity.

Only if you’re already on Salesforce. Don’t adopt it just for Xero integration.

Proposals and Quotes

Ignition $79/month.

Send proposals, get signed, auto-create invoice in Xero.

Converted our close rate by 20%. Professional proposals matter.

Practice Ignition For accountants and professional services specifically.

E-commerce

Shopify Direct integration.

Orders sync to Xero as invoices. Products sync as inventory items.

If you’re on Shopify, enable this immediately.

WooCommerce Via third-party apps like MyWorks.

Less seamless than Shopify but functional.

Automation

Zapier $29/month starter.

Connects Xero to everything else. Create invoices from forms. Update spreadsheets from payments. Endless possibilities.

Make (formerly Integromat) $10/month.

Cheaper than Zapier. Steeper learning curve. More powerful once you learn it.

What I Actually Use

Essential:

• Stripe (payments)
• Dext (expenses)
• Employment Hero (payroll)
• Zapier (automation)

Nice to have:

• GoCardless (direct debit)
• HubSpot (CRM sync)
• Ignition (proposals)

Total integration cost: ~$150/month

Time saved: 15-20 hours/month

ROI: Obvious.

What I Skip

Reporting add-ons: Xero’s reports are fine. Third-party dashboards are usually overkill.

Multiple payment processors: Pick one. Don’t complicate reconciliation.

Everything-in-one solutions: Tools that claim to do it all usually do nothing well.

Integration Strategy

1. Start minimal. Just Xero.
2. Add when pain is clear. Don’t integrate preemptively.
3. One tool per job. Overlap creates confusion.
4. Review annually. Kill integrations you don’t use.

The app marketplace is tempting. Resist the urge to over-complicate.

The best accounting system is one you actually use. Keep it simple enough to maintain.