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Owwel and Xero
Xero keeps the books for small businesses and their advisers. Owwel keeps the books too, built from the day's trading, with the till, stock valued first in, first out, the daily close and the team in the same system. Here is how the two compare for a business that runs a counter, stock and a team.
Owwel and Xero, point by point
| Feature | Owwel | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Point of sale | OwwelBuilt in, on every plan, and keeps selling offline | XeroThrough third party apps in the Xero App Store[4] |
| Stock valuation | OwwelFirst in, first out by dated batch, on every plan | XeroAverage cost; first in, first out needs Inventory Plus, an add-on sold only in the United States[2][3] |
| Stock in several places | OwwelEach branch keeps its own stock, with transfers recorded on both sides | XeroCore Xero does not track inventory in more than one location[2] |
| Number of products | OwwelNo limit | XeroUp to 4,000 tracked items[2] |
| Multiple currencies | OwwelEvery plan, each branch in its own currency | XeroEstablished plan only[1] |
| Several businesses | OwwelUp to 5 businesses on Enterprise, at one yearly price | XeroA pricing plan for each organisation[5] |
| Price | OwwelKsh 20,599 to Ksh 50,599 a year | XeroUS$27 to US$97 a month on its US plans[1] |
Where Xero falls short for a shop
Xero has no till of its own: the point of sale comes from a third party app, and Xero describes its inventory as suited to businesses that invoice rather than take payment at the counter.
The till is part of Owwel on every plan, keeps selling offline, and updates stock, the day's balance and the books as each sale happens.
Tracked stock is valued at average cost. First in, first out needs Inventory Plus, an add-on sold only in the United States.
Every delivery is a dated batch with its own cost and expiry, sold oldest first, and the cost of goods sold uses the batches actually sold.
Core Xero tracks up to 4,000 items and does not track stock in more than one location.
Any number of products, and every branch keeps its own stock, with transfers recorded out of one and into the other.
Multiple currencies are on the top plan only, and each organisation needs a plan of its own.
Every branch keeps its own currency on every plan, and Enterprise covers up to 5 businesses at one yearly price.
Built into Owwel, not added on
Twelve things that come with Owwel at one yearly price.
Offline sales, each recorded once
The till keeps selling when the internet drops, and each sale is sent by itself when the connection returns, recorded exactly once even if it is sent twice.
Team stock counts by QR code
Teammates join a stock count by scanning a QR code and count from their own phones, with no account and no user licence.
Excel round trip with every change shown
Download stock, edit it in Excel, upload it back and review every change product by product before it is applied, with nothing created twice.
Profit, margin and cost hidden from staff
Two restrictions hide profit, margin and cost of goods, and what you paid for stock, inside pages a person can otherwise open, so a cashier runs the till without seeing your margins.
A minimum price, with discounts flagged
Each product has a minimum price the till will not go under, and a discount that takes a sale below it flags the invoice and alerts the owner.
Backbar costed into each service
Salon product opened for use on clients is spread across the services that used it, so service margins are real.
Attendance, staff portal, consultations and ratings
Professional planA badge kiosk with shifts per weekday, each person's own portal, consultations with priced plans and customer ratings of their work, in the same system as the till.
An owner portal across every branch
Professional planOwners sign in with a phone number and a five digit PIN to see every branch's sales, money, reports and alerts from their phone.
Ayuuto across branches
A group savings pot where each branch pays a set amount daily, with any shortfall covered by another branch and tracked as a debt.
Livestock mode and fabric by the metre
Animals with their own IDs, weights, purchases and sales, each animal's cost in every profit figure, and fabric counted roll by roll and cut against an order.
Files vault, SMS marketing and an API
A PIN protected vault for licences and contracts, SMS campaigns with delivery tracked per recipient, and a developer API for your own software, on every plan.
One yearly price, and never deleted
Plans from Ksh 20,599 a year with team members included rather than charged per user. If a subscription lapses the account goes read-only, and nothing is deleted.
See every accounting feature, or how to bring your products across.
Sources
Checked 19 October 2026. Products change, so check Xero's own site for the latest.
- [1] Xero: pricing plans (United States)
- [2] Xero: stock and inventory software
- [3] Xero: Inventory Plus
- [4] Xero App Store: point of sale apps
- [5] Xero: frequently asked questions
Xero is a trademark of its owner, used here only to compare.
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