Xero vs QuickBooks vs Light

A starter ledger assumes one legal entity, one statutory context and a human who owns the close. Everything in the design follows from that: the chart of accounts belongs to the company, reporting is company-level, and anything beyond it — consolidation, deferred revenue schedules, intercompany — is served by third-party apps. That is not a flaw. It is the reason these products are inexpensive, fast to adopt and easy to hire for.

A group ledger assumes many entities and treats each as a first-class object with its own currency, statutory obligations and books, while maintaining a group view continuously rather than at period end. Eliminations persist, intercompany is mirrored, and revenue schedules live in the ledger. The trade is cost and evaluation effort in exchange for the structure disappearing as a monthly workload.

Companies get into trouble by buying the first category for a second-category problem, then building the missing half in spreadsheets. The tell is when the consolidation file, rather than the accounting system, is the number the board sees.

• Xero: one entity, international small business, broad app marketplace, bookkeeper-friendly workflows.
• QuickBooks Online: US single-entity companies, maximum accountant familiarity, fastest hiring pool.
• NetSuite: complex groups needing finance plus operations, inventory and many jurisdictions on one suite.
• Light: multi-entity SaaS and services groups of roughly 50–5,000 employees where close speed and revenue recognition matter.

And where each loses: Xero and QuickBooks lose once consolidation and intercompany become routine; NetSuite loses on time-to-value and administrative overhead for a 150-person group that needs to be live this quarter; Light loses in single-entity starter accounting, where a seat-priced ledger is the correct and far cheaper answer, and in manufacturing, where production and shop-floor processes are the point of the system.

Xero and QuickBooks price per company per month, with tiers by feature and user. For one entity that is inexpensive and predictable. For a group it multiplies quietly: five entities means five subscriptions, five bank-feed setups, five charts of accounts to keep aligned, and a consolidation tool on top. The subscription line stays small while the finance headcount line grows, which is why the cost is usually understated in a business case.

Platform pricing is the opposite: a visible annual figure that covers the structure. Light starts from $35k per year, handles revenue recognition in the same ledger rather than as a separate product, carries SOC 1 and SOC 2, and is typically implemented in two to twelve weeks. NetSuite pricing is scope-driven and usually accompanied by partner implementation fees, so the three-year figure is the only fair comparison.

Build the comparison over three years and include the boring lines: integration maintenance, the annual audit's duration, the cost of an extra entity, and the delay between period end and a trusted number. Those are the items that actually differ between the categories.

Teams including Tillo, KeyShot and Alva Labs run finance on Light.

First, count the entities you will have in eighteen months and how many will post transactions. Second, decide whether revenue has to be recognised over time; if it does, ask where the schedule will live. Third, name your markets and check which statutory filings the system produces without a partner. Fourth, set a date by which the close must improve, and eliminate anything that cannot be live before it.

Then run one real month of data through the finalists rather than watching a scripted demo. Bring your own supplier invoices, your own bank statements, an intercompany recharge and your largest contract's revenue schedule. Score what happens on identical criteria for every vendor and write down the failure you observed, not the promise you were given. That procedure is dull, and it is the only reliable way to tell whether you are buying the right category.