Comparison guide
Handl + Xero: Why Agencies Use Both
If you're comparing Handl and Xero, here's the short answer: don't choose. They do different things. Xero is your accounting backbone — bank feeds, reconciliation, tax, your accountant's best friend. Handl is the layer between you and your clients — quotes, milestone invoices, change orders, automated payment reminders, and a client portal that makes you look like you've got your act together. Handl syncs invoices and payments directly into Xero. So your books stay clean without you doing anything extra. Most agencies running Xero find they still end up chasing payments manually. That's the gap Handl fills.
Last updated 11 March 2026
Quick verdict
Xero handles your accounting. Handl handles your client billing relationship. Use both — they're designed to work together.
Side by side
How they stack up
Handl
Best for: Agencies and freelancers who need milestone billing, change order management, and automated payment collection — and want it all syncing into Xero automatically.
Xero
$29–$78
per month (AUD)
Best for: Businesses that need full double-entry accounting, payroll, bank reconciliation, and a setup their accountant can access and trust.
- Starter: 20 invoices/month
- Standard: unlimited invoices
- Premium: multi-currency
- Bank reconciliation
- Payroll (AU/UK/NZ)
- 1000+ app integrations
Feature by feature
Handl vs Xero: feature comparison
Feature | Handl | Xero |
|---|---|---|
Milestone-based billing | ✅ | ❌ |
Automated payment reminders (AI) | ✅ | ❌ Manual only |
AI-native (not bolt-on) | ✅ | ❌ |
Client portal | ✅ | ❌ |
Quote / proposal builder | ✅ | ✅ Basic quotes |
Digital signatures | ✅ | ❌ |
Change order management | ✅ | ❌ |
Revenue forecasting | ✅ | ✅ (Established plan) |
PM tool integrations (Jira, Asana, Monday) | ✅ | ❌ |
Xero integration | ✅ Native sync | ✅ Is Xero |
Time tracking integrations | ✅ Harvest, Hubstaff, Toggl | ✅ Via integrations |
Multi-currency | ✅ | ✅ (Established plan) |
Project health scoring (AI) | ✅ | ❌ |
Full double-entry accounting | ❌ By design | ✅ |
Bank reconciliation | ❌ By design | ✅ |
Payroll | ❌ By design | ✅ |
Accountant access | ❌ | ✅ |
Free trial | ✅ 14 days, no credit card | ✅ 30 days |
Starting price | $29/mo flat | $25/mo (limited) |
Per-seat pricing | ❌ Flat rate | ❌ Unlimited users |
A closer look at Xero
Xero is one of the most trusted accounting platforms in the world, particularly strong in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and increasingly the US. It was built from the ground up as cloud-based accounting — no legacy desktop baggage — and it shows. Bank feeds, reconciliation, payroll, tax reporting, 800+ integrations... Xero does the accounting job properly.
For small agencies and freelancers, the Early plan is tempting at $25/month, but it caps you at 20 invoices and 5 bills per month, which most active agencies will blow through fast. Growing ($55/month) is where most small agencies land.
What Xero doesn't do is manage the client-facing side of billing. There's no milestone billing, no client portal for approvals, no change order workflow, no "the client still hasn't paid — nudge them automatically" functionality. Xero records what happened. It doesn't help you make it happen.
That's not a criticism — it's by design. Xero is accounting software. The gap is on the agency operations side, and that's exactly what Handl was built to fill. The two products have an official integration and are designed to sit alongside each other.
Strengths
What are our strengths?
- Milestone billing built for how agencies actually work — bill by phase, not just by time
- Automated AI-driven payment reminders that chase clients so you don't have to
- Client portal for approvals, invoice views, and payment — reduces back-and-forth email
- Change order workflow with digital signatures — scope creep managed properly
- Project health scoring flags at-risk projects before they go sideways
- PM tool integrations (Jira, Asana, Monday.com) connect billing to delivery
- $29/month flat — no surprises as the team grows
- 14-day free trial, no credit card required
- Syncs directly into Xero so your accountant stays happy
- Full double-entry accounting — the real deal, not a workaround
- Bank feeds and reconciliation that actually work
- Payroll capability
- Your accountant almost certainly knows Xero already
- 800+ integrations across the full business stack
- Globally trusted — strong compliance in AU, NZ, UK, US
- Unlimited users on every plan
- Established presence with deep ecosystem
Which one is for you?
When to choose each tool
You're already running Xero — or planning to — and you're hitting a wall on the client billing side. Chasing invoices manually. Losing track of what phase a project is supposed to be billed at. Getting blindsided by scope creep with no clean process for raising a change order. Sending "just checking in" emails because Xero's payment reminders don't quite cut it.
Handl sits in front of Xero and handles all of that. Quotes go out, clients sign off digitally, milestones trigger invoices automatically, reminders go out on your behalf, and when a client pays, it syncs back into Xero without you touching it.
If your team is growing past 3-4 people and financial ops are getting messy, Handl adds structure without adding overhead. The $29/month flat rate means it doesn't scale up in cost as you bring people on.
You need accounting software. That is Xero's job and it does it well. If you are looking to replace your accounting platform or set up your books properly for the first time, Xero is a strong choice — especially if your accountant is already in their ecosystem or you are based in Australia, NZ, or the UK where Xero's compliance features are particularly strong.
If you need payroll, bank reconciliation, expense categorisation, or BAS/GST reporting, Xero handles all of that natively. These are things Handl deliberately does not do — because Handl is a billing layer, not an accounting platform.
It is also worth noting that Xero has unlimited users on every plan, which matters if you have a bookkeeper, accountant, and business partner who all need access. And the 800+ integrations mean Xero connects to almost everything in your stack.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Handl and Xero together?
Yes — they are designed to work together. Handl syncs invoices and payments directly into Xero so your books stay accurate without manual data entry.
Does Handl replace Xero?
No. Handl handles client-facing billing — quotes, milestone invoicing, payment reminders, client portal. Xero handles accounting — bank reconciliation, payroll, tax reporting. Use both for the full picture.
Is Handl more expensive than Xero?
Handl is $29/month flat. Xero starts at $25/month but the plan most agencies need (Growing) is $55/month. Many agencies use both — $29 + $55 = $84/month for complete billing and accounting.
Does Xero have milestone billing?
No. Xero has basic invoicing tied to line items, not project phases. If you need to bill when a deliverable is complete rather than on a date, you need a tool like Handl in front of Xero.
What if my accountant only uses Xero?
That is fine — Handl pushes data into Xero. Your accountant sees clean, accurate financial data in the tool they already know. They do not need a Handl login.
The verdict
Most agencies using Xero reach a point where accounting is sorted but client-facing billing is still a mess. Xero records the truth — Handl shapes the experience that gets you to that truth faster. Milestone billing, automated chasers, change order approvals, a portal your clients can actually use.
They don't overlap in any meaningful way. Handl handles the agency-to-client relationship. Xero handles what happens after money moves. The integration between them means your bookkeeper or accountant sees clean, accurate data without you manually entering anything.
If you run an agency or freelance operation and you're already on Xero — or planning to be — adding Handl at $29/month is genuinely low-risk. Try the 14-day free trial, connect your Xero account, and see if it changes how you feel about Monday morning invoice chasing. It probably will.
Reclaim your time
Stop being your own debt collector.
Get paid faster with automated invoicing and reminders.
