It’s been one full month of running my own books in both QuickBooks Online and Xero.

I started this six-month side-by-side test to see, firsthand, how each system really supports the way solopreneurs work — where the process feels easy, where it gets clunky, and what actually matters in daily use.

I’ve used QuickBooks for a long time — since the desktop days, and QBO since 2011. I know its quirks. I know where to click. I also know exactly how long I’ll sit staring at those three little green dots.

I wanted to begin this test with a clean slate — no assumptions. And a few things surprised me right away.

Setup Surprises

In Xero, bank feeds connected shockingly fast. I entered my Relay account details, authorized the connection, and suddenly—there they were. Done. No long syncing delay. No vague error message. That one moment alone told me this might be a different experience.

Bluevine was a mixed bag. The checking account connected fine in both systems, but Xero doesn’t currently pull in the Bluevine credit card feed, so I’m manually importing those each month. (Still trying to figure out if that’s a Xero limitation or just Bluevine being… Bluevine.)

Once setup was complete, a few everyday workflow details stood out.

One Contact, Multiple Roles

Another early win: in Xero, a contact can be both a vendor and a customer.

That shouldn’t be revolutionary, but in QBO, I’ve always had to create two separate entries for one real-life person who sends me invoices and hires me. It’s small, but it’s more aligned with how real businesses work.

The Feel of It

The biggest difference so far? How each system feels.

QuickBooks is familiar, but it’s gotten slower—especially in the mornings.
Xero is sleeker. It moves quickly. There’s less visual noise. It feels like it was designed with intention.

There are trade-offs, of course. Xero’s default chart of accounts includes some categories I wouldn’t use, and I can’t fully hide them. But that’s minor. So far, nothing’s broken my flow. And nothing has spun for five minutes pretending to load, either.

What’s Next

I’m only one month in, but I’m already collecting a lot of notes—small features, workflows, and moments that either made me smile or made me sigh. Some may seem insignificant on their own. But taken together, they shape how you work—and how you feel about your work.

Sometimes it’s the smallest details that shift your perspective.
That’s what this project is all about.

More soon.

Looking for more tips and insights? Browse all my posts here: mindfultally.com/blog