Xero Launches Integrated Payroll for Small Businesses in Major US States


SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 14, 2015) -

  • Fully Featured, Affordable Payroll Within Xero Accounting Software With No Additional Fees
  • Saves Small Businesses Hundreds to Thousands of Dollars Per Year
  • File and Pay Taxes, and Employees Using One Platform

Xero (@Xero) today launched its integrated payroll offering to support small businesses in the three top employer states in the US: California, Florida, and Texas. Xero's award-winning accounting platform now provides integrated payroll for electronic filing and payment for state and federal payroll taxes in these states. Xero aims to roll out payroll support to small businesses in all 50 states by the end of the year.

This launch demonstrates Xero's momentum in realizing its vision as an integrated platform for small businesses worldwide. It builds on Xero's success in offering payroll in other countries where it processes billions of dollars each month for tens of thousands of businesses. Over 40 percent of Xero's customers already use payroll software in countries where it is available.

Unlike complex and costly add-ons or services, Xero offers accounting and payroll as one easy-to-use solution for just $30 a month. Small businesses in the three states, along with their accountants and bookkeepers, can now use Payroll in Xero to save the hundreds to thousands of dollars each year.

Comments on the launch

  • "Xero's global platform and approach allow us to develop and learn from other countries and we're excited to launch these innovations in the vast US market. We're building on our success in Australia where we process over AU$1.5 billion of payroll transactions monthly to over 375,000 employees. Plus we're building on the recent acquisition of Monchilla in the US and the scaling of our development teams globally. This is the start of a wave of product innovations launching early this year. These innovations will deliver on our vision of a fully integrated platform for small businesses to work and collaborate on," said Rod Drury, Xero CEO.
  • "Switching to Payroll in Xero from manual payroll processing has already saved me over 45 hours in time a month. The launch of electronic filing and payment will add even further savings as it means that I'll never need to worry about costly state or federal penalties again," said Xero customer, Steve Chaney, CPA, Managing Partner, Chaney & Associates.

Avoid costly fines and penalties
There are approximately 5.1 million small business employer firms in the US with fewer than 20 employees. More than a third of all small businesses are regularly fined for payroll-related mistakes. Last year, the IRS issued nearly 7 million penalties, totaling $4.5 billion, to U.S. businesses for making payroll errors. Xero's electronic filing and payment will allow the 1.3 million small business employers* in California, Florida and Texas to easily meet their tax obligations without fear of missing key deadlines and incurring costly fines.

Xero's all-in-one solution shows true real-time view of finances
With the integration of its online accounting platform with payroll, Xero is unique in the market for its ability to track employee's vacation balances on the balance sheet as a liability. This means that when small businesses run payroll, Xero's accounting dashboard automatically updates to show a true real-time view of their cashflow balance minus employee salaries and wages and allowing for vacation balances. Payroll in Xero includes other key features such as integrated timesheets, full Paid Time Off (PTO) management, a self-service portal and flexible payroll schedules, all at no extra cost.

Attractive, All-Inclusive Pricing
For $30 a month on a standard plan, small businesses get a fully featured accounting and payroll solution to support 5 employees. This includes direct deposit, timesheets, federal and state (CA, FL, TX) electronic tax services, and general ledger integration. Payroll in Xero is the most competitively priced all-in-one payroll and accounting solution on the market. The cost is $40 to $50 less than other "do-it-yourself" payroll options and $150 to $450 less than full service or "do-it-for-you" payroll providers.

Backed by No Wait Support
Xero's award-winning support is different from the call center model. Users simply log any issues or queries inside the application and a qualified Xero specialist makes contact to resolve any problems. This means small business owners don't waste time waiting on the phone to talk to an inexperienced call center person. Actual Xero staff provide support in their country of business ensuring relevance for the user. Over the past year, Xero has continued to scale its US-based customer support teams in San Francisco and Denver.

Additional Information:

About Xero
Xero is beautiful, easy-to-use online accounting and payroll software for small businesses and their advisors. The company has over 400,000 paying customers in more than 180 countries. Xero seamlessly integrates with over 350 add-on business applications, and was recently ranked No. 1 by Forbes as the World's Most Innovative Growth Company.

Contact Information:

Xero Contact:
Sharna Brockett
Director of PR and Social
Xero
(415) 837-3291
Sharna.Brockett@xero.com

Xero Media Contact:
Bill Bode
Highwire PR
O: (415) 963-4174, ext. 49
Xero@HighwirePR.com