Xero

Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform used by 4.6 million subscribers worldwide. At $25/month for the Growing plan (currently $11/month for the first three months with the 80% intro discount), it competes directly with QuickBooks Online and handles the financial back-office work that every contractor needs: invoicing, bank reconciliation, expense capture via Hubdoc, cash flow forecasting, and W-9/1099 management. The new JAX AI assistant can auto-create and send invoices via WhatsApp, SMS, or email, which is a legitimately useful feature for a technician wrapping up a job in the driveway.

But Xero is accounting software, not field service software. There is no dispatch board, no job scheduling, no customer history tied to equipment, no flat-rate pricing catalog. Contractors who run on ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, or Jobber will find those platforms already handle invoicing and will push data into Xero or QuickBooks via integration. That is actually Xero's most common role in a trades shop: it sits in the background as the accounting layer while the field service platform does the heavy lifting. Used that way, it works well. Used as a standalone operations tool for an HVAC or plumbing company, it will leave you patching gaps with spreadsheets.

The Established plan at $90/month adds project tracking, multi-currency, and advanced analytics, but most single-trade shops will live comfortably on the Growing plan. The Xero App Store does include some field service connectors, so the integration path exists. Solo operators and small shops that don't yet have a dedicated field service platform and just need clean books, solid reporting, and an accountant-friendly setup will get real value here.