Agencyflo vs Xero

Not really a versus: how AgencyFlo and Xero work together.

Intro

This is not really a versus. The question is not whether to pick Xero or AgencyFlo, it is how you set the two up to work together. They sit at different layers. Xero is your general ledger: the canonical financial record of the whole company, with double-entry bookkeeping, every transaction categorised, the bank reconciled and tax-ready statements your accountant signs off. AgencyFlo is an operational profitability layer: it tells you whether the work you are doing right now is making money, with contract value, expected revenue, what is overdue and live margin on open projects. One answers "what is the full financial state of my company and what do I owe in tax." The other answers "is this project bleeding margin and who has not paid me." Keep Xero for the books. Use AgencyFlo to see project margin in real time - the spreadsheet you built because Xero could not show it.

What Xero does well

A true general ledger

Double-entry bookkeeping, a full chart of accounts, accounts payable, bank feeds and reconciliation. This is the canonical record of your company's money, the part AgencyFlo deliberately does not touch.

Tax-ready statements

A statutory profit-and-loss, balance sheet, cash flow and trial balance, plus sales tax and VAT handling your accountant relies on at year end. When the question is "what do I owe in tax," Xero answers it. AgencyFlo does not.

Built for your accountant

Accountant access, a clean audit trail over the books, payroll and contractor handling. Xero is loved by bookkeepers, and the whole compliance surface lives here, where it should stay.

The structural gap

Xero shows project profit too late

Xero Projects can log time against a job and settle basic profitability, but it is a light add-on on a bookkeeping tool. It shows the number only once costs and time are entered and reconciled, which for most agencies means month-end, after the accountant has been in. AgencyFlo shows margin live, off tracked time and contract value, while the project is still open and you can still act.

What AgencyFlo means by profit

Worth being precise: AgencyFlo's profit is contract revenue minus tracked project costs, an operational margin view. A statutory P&L includes overhead, rent, payroll, software and tax, which AgencyFlo does not see and does not pretend to. It is project-level financial intelligence, not your company's complete financial position. That is the job Xero keeps.

When Xero wins

You need the books and the tax return

Every agency needs a general ledger. For double-entry bookkeeping, accounts payable, bank reconciliation and the statutory accounts your accountant files, Xero is the right tool and you will keep it. AgencyFlo does not try to be that.

You need the company's full financial position

If your question is the whole-company picture - total profit after every cost, what you owe in tax, the balance sheet - that is a ledger question Xero answers. AgencyFlo answers a narrower, more operational question about the work itself.

When Agencyflo wins

You want to catch a project before it loses money

AgencyFlo shows margin on live projects from tracked time and contract value, so you see a project bleeding margin while you can still act. Xero settles it after the costs are reconciled, which is usually too late to change the outcome.

You are running agency margin out of a spreadsheet

Most agency owners keep a spreadsheet for project budgets and margin because Xero cannot show it cleanly. AgencyFlo replaces that spreadsheet with a live view fed by the proposal, the contract, the time and the invoice. The ledger stays in Xero.

Verdict

Keep using Xero if: Your accountant or bookkeeper depends on it, or you need statutory accounts, bank reconciliation and tax filing. That is the ledger's job. AgencyFlo does not replace it, so Xero stays where it is and your accountant keeps working the way they always have.
Use Agencyflo with Xero if: You want project margin in real time, want to catch a job losing money while it is still live. AgencyFlo sits alongside Xero and feeds invoice totals back into it, so the books stay complete.
The difference: Xero is a tool for accountants. If yours needs it, keep it and add AgencyFlo for the live project margin the ledger was never built to show. The two run together: Xero for the books, AgencyFlo for the work.

How to keep both

If your accountant really needs Xero, here is how to keep both.

01Keep Xero exactly as it is. It stays your ledger for the books, accounts payable, bank reconciliation and tax.
02Move the project-margin spreadsheet you have been maintaining into AgencyFlo: clients, active projects, contract values and budgets.
03Track time and run proposals, contracts and invoices in AgencyFlo, so margin updates live as the work happens.
04Invoice from AgencyFlo if you want the invoice tied to the project, then record or export the totals into Xero so the books stay complete.
05Drop the spreadsheet. Xero keeps the ledger, AgencyFlo keeps you on top of project margin in real time.

How to migrate to Agencyflo

If your accountant isn't dependent on Xero, you're free to move all of your data to one place.

01Confirm with your accountant that you do not rely on Xero for statutory accounts or tax filing. If a basic ledger or their own tools cover compliance, you are clear to consolidate.
02Export everything from Xero: clients, open and historical invoices and a copy of your reports for your records.
03Import your clients and active work into AgencyFlo, then rebuild live projects with their contract values and budgets.
04Raise every new invoice from AgencyFlo, off logged time, so billing and project margin finally live in one place.
05Pick a clean cut-over date - the start of a financial year or quarter - and run both side by side until it arrives.
06Cancel Xero before its next billing date so you are never paying for two systems at once.

Additional features on Agencyflo

Agencyflo ships the features below natively. With Xero you'd typically bolt on a separate tool for each, or do without.

FAQ

Does AgencyFlo replace Xero?+

No, and it is not trying to. Xero is your general ledger for the books, accounts payable, bank reconciliation and tax. AgencyFlo is the operational layer that shows real-time project margin. Keep Xero. Add AgencyFlo for the part Xero was never built to do.

Is AgencyFlo's profit figure a P&L?+

No. AgencyFlo shows contract revenue minus tracked project costs, an operational margin on the work. A statutory P&L adds overhead, rent, payroll, software and tax, which lives in Xero. Use AgencyFlo to steer projects. Use Xero for the company's full financial position.

Can I invoice from AgencyFlo instead of Xero?+

Yes. Invoicing is the one real overlap. AgencyFlo invoices are tied to the project and the contract, so they draft from logged time. You still record those invoices in Xero (or export them) so the ledger, the bank reconciliation and the tax position stay complete.

Is Xero Projects enough for agency margin?+

Not really. Xero Projects is light job costing that settles after costs and time are reconciled, usually month-end. By then the project is closed and the margin is fixed. AgencyFlo shows it live, off tracked time and contract value, while you can still act.

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