A Xero alternative for owners who only need clean books

Why look for a Xero alternative

Xero is a well-designed accounting platform with invoicing, bills, multi-currency, projects and a large app ecosystem. Setting it up properly usually means configuring a chart of accounts, tax rates and bank rules before the product starts saving time. For a small service business that mainly needs categorized bank and card transactions, that is more platform than the job requires.

ConsulBooks starts at the bank connection and ends at the export. Saved vendor rules run first. Optional AI suggestions cover the rest, each with a confidence score and a plain reason. Only genuinely uncertain transactions reach your review list.

How the weekly routine works

Connect accounts through Plaid or import CSV, OFX or QFX files. New transactions arrive and are categorized automatically where a rule or a confident suggestion exists. You open the review list, answer the few questions it has, and approve. Approving a vendor can apply that decision to its other waiting transactions.

At year end, you download a package with profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, general ledger and transaction CSVs, or give your accountant revocable read-only access.

When Xero is still the better choice

If you invoice and chase receivables daily, pay suppliers from your accounting tool, work in multiple currencies, track inventory, or need many users with detailed permissions, Xero does things ConsulBooks does not. In that case, staying put is reasonable.

If your Xero setup stalled, or you are paying for features you never open, try the demo workspace with sample data first. Starting free with your own data needs no credit card.