Xero alternative · For service businesses
Keep Xero for the books. Run the work in Alori.
Quotes customers sign online, jobs on the schedule, and invoices with a Pay by card link, all in one app. Your books stay in Xero.
From a signed quote to a card payment.
Watch a quote get signed, the job land on Marc's week, the invoice come from the quote's lines, and the customer pay by card from the email.
- 1The customer signs the quote
- 2The job lands on Marc's week
- 3Finish and invoice in one click
- 4Paid by card from the email
What changes on Monday.
- 01
Before
With AloriA signed quote waits to be scheduled, then becomes the job
- 02
Before
With AloriFinish and invoice bills the job from the quote's lines
- 03
Before
With AloriOne shared inbox, with a thread per customer
What’s in your app.
Alori starts from ready-made modules, then shapes them to the way you work. Add or remove one any time by asking.
Quotes
Signed online with a finger or mouse
Jobs
On the schedule, billed in one click
Invoices
Pay by card, and reminders when late
Conversations
Texts, calls and email in one thread
Paid by card, chased when late.
Every invoice you email has a Pay by card link, and the invoice turns Paid by itself. If a customer is late, the unpaid invoice reminder writes to them by email, text or both, and stops once they pay.
- No Stripe account to make: Stripe's card fee plus 0.5% per payment.
- Pick the days between reminders, 3 at most.
- The Invoices page shows what's overdue, waiting and paid this month.
Your books stay in Xero.
Alori doesn't connect to Xero, so nothing syncs between them. Invoices and card payments stay in Alori, and whoever keeps your books records them in Xero.
- Card payments go to your bank every day, like any other deposit.
- The Payments page lists each payout to your bank, with its date and amount.
- Add your bookkeeper under Users: every plan includes unlimited users.
Change it by asking.
Your app isn’t frozen on day one. Write what you need, the way you’d text it. Alori makes the change and shows you before anything goes live.
- Which invoices are overdue?
- Bill the Gagnon job and email it
- Which expenses are waiting?
- Remind late invoices every 7 days
The full guide
Everything above, in detail: how it works, what it replaces and what it does not.
Xero alternatives: keep Xero for the books, run the work in Alori
Short answer: Most service businesses looking at Xero alternatives should keep Xero. Xero is online accounting software for small businesses: bank feeds and reconciliation, invoices and quotes, bills, expenses, reports, payroll in some countries and more than 1,000 connected apps, in a place where your accountant or bookkeeper works with you. Alori is the all-in-one app for service businesses: it runs the work before the books, from the quote to the job, the invoice and the card payment. Alori does not connect to Xero, so the two work side by side: Alori for the work, Xero for the books.
Who Xero fits well
Xero is a strong fit when:
- You need real bookkeeping: bank feeds, reconciliation, profit and loss, balance sheet.
- Your accountant or bookkeeper already works in Xero with you.
- You pay bills, track expenses, bill in other currencies or run payroll, in Xero or one of its apps.
For the books, Xero does the job, and Alori does not try to replace it.
Why service owners look for alternatives
The trouble is rarely the accounting. It is everything that happens before an invoice exists:
- The schedule lives somewhere else. Xero sends quotes and invoices, and its projects track time and costs, but the crew's day sits on a whiteboard or in another app.
- The office types what the field did. A technician finishes the job and someone rebuilds the invoice from a text message.
- Customers write in everywhere. Questions about a visit or an invoice come by text, email and phone, and nobody sees the whole story.
- The crew stays outside. You keep the books to yourself and your accountant, so technicians get their day, the address and the notes by text.
Side by side
| Xero | Alori | |
|---|---|---|
| Main idea | Online accounting software | An all-in-one app for a service business |
| Bank feeds, reconciliation, reports | Yes, a strength | No, keep your accounting software |
| Bills, payroll, other currencies | Yes, depending on the plan and country | No; approved hours export to CSV for payroll |
| Quotes accepted online | Yes, the customer clicks to accept | Yes, the customer signs with a finger or mouse |
| Jobs and schedule | Projects for time and costs, not a crew schedule | Yes, from signed quote to finished job |
| Invoices and card payments | Yes, with a pay now button | Yes, a Pay by card link on every invoice |
| Late invoice reminders | Yes | Yes, by email or text, up to 3 times |
| Texts, calls and email with customers | Invoices and quotes by email | One shared inbox, a thread per customer |
| Connected to the other | No | No; its accounting sync is for QuickBooks Online |
What Alori replaces, and what it does not
Alori replaces the tools around the books, not the books:
- Quotes from your prices, with a preview to print or save as PDF and a link where the customer signs and accepts. Turn on the quote follow-up, and a reminder goes out by itself when nobody answers.
- Jobs on the schedule. A signed quote waits under To schedule until you pick a day and who goes. When the job is done, Finish and invoice bills it from the quote's lines, with no typing.
- Invoices people pay by card. Every invoice you email has a Pay by card link. You don't need a Stripe account, and the invoice turns Paid by itself. Card payments go to your bank every day, for Stripe's card fee plus 0.5%.
- Late invoices chased for you. Turn on the unpaid invoice reminder, and it writes to the customer by email, text or both, every few days, 3 times at most. It stops once the invoice is paid.
- Billable time. Start a timer on a project or type your hours, set rates, then click Bill hours to turn them into the client's invoice.
- Technician expenses. On the job, a tech adds an expense and snaps the receipt. You approve it, and the job shows its cost and margin.
- One inbox for customers. Texts, emails, website chats and calls with each customer sit in one thread in Conversations, shared with your team.
What it does not replace: the books. Alori has no bookkeeping, bank feeds, reconciliation, financial reports, bills or payroll, and it does not connect to Xero. Nothing syncs between the two: an invoice made in Alori, and the card payment on it, don't show up in Xero by themselves, so whoever keeps your books records them there. The money itself lands in your bank every day, like any other deposit. Taxes stay simple too: a Canadian app adds GST and QST, a US app adds no tax, and you can't change the rate per customer. Card payments are in Canadian dollars, with no partial payments. Keep Xero for the books.
How to switch
- Describe your business. Alori builds the app with customers, quotes, jobs and invoices.
- Bring your customers. Copy your customer list from a spreadsheet and paste it into Ask Alori, even a messy one. It adds them right away, with an Undo.
- Set your prices. Add your services in Settings › Prices, or ask Alori to add them.
- Send your next quote from Alori. Let the invoices already sent from Xero get paid there. Tell your bookkeeper that new invoices come from Alori, so they record them in Xero.
Start on the free plan, no card needed. See pricing.
Questions
Another question? Ask it when you start.
For quotes, jobs, invoices and getting paid, yes. For accounting, no: Alori has no bookkeeping, bank feeds, reports or payroll. Most owners keep Xero for the books and run the work in Alori.
No. Alori has no Xero connection, so customers, invoices and payments don't move between the two by themselves. Its accounting sync is for QuickBooks Online: customers and invoices, both ways.
Someone enters them, often your bookkeeper. Every plan includes unlimited users, so you can add your bookkeeper under Users with the Office role: they open your invoices in Alori, see which ones are paid and record them in Xero. Card payments reach your bank every day, like any other deposit.
Service businesses such as plumbing, HVAC and cleaning companies.