Pegasus Opera 3 versus Xero

How do the new breed of online sign-up Accountancy Software applications, such as Xero compare with the established solutions such as Pegasus Opera 3?

For many reasons, the answer is that they don’t compare - which is something that is presently not clearly identified by any of the software vendors. The products are designed to be different as each is primarily aimed at businesses which are at different stages of evolution.

A car analogy, one which would be commonly used in the IT industry to explain such issues, would be “that of a two seated sports car compared to a people carrier”.

Essentially they perform the same function, in that each will get you from A to B however they are aimed at individuals which may be at a different time of life, with completely different requirements.

The benefit of highlighting the difference is that it can save immeasurable time as it diminishes the possibility of businesses selecting the wrong solution.

Both products could be said that they complement each other as they both are web enabled with the obvious benefit that they can then be accessed anywhere.

XERO

Xero is very much a WYSWYG type application, designed for simplicity and aimed at start-up or small businesses, which may not have internal accounting resource but require immediacy, ease of use and be of minimal expense. As the accounting requirements of such organisations for which Xero satisfies, is straightforward, configuring the software online is also simple.

This allows businesses to implement Xero themselves without third party assistance which means the whole process is both quick and therefore inexpensive.

With a 30 day trial period and no minimal term, it also means that start-ups and small businesses can afford to subscribe to Xero, use it and then subsequently decide whether it satisfies requirements without a long evaluation process or worrying about losing any investment made in both time and money.