A simpler Xero alternative for product sellers
Xero is full cloud accounting software. If you reconcile bank accounts, file sales tax, run payroll, or hand a general ledger to an accountant, you need it. If you sell products on your own and the only thing you cannot answer is what survived COGS, fees, ad spend, and shipping, you are running a full ledger to solve a reporting problem.
Two different jobs
Xero starts from the ledger. You connect bank accounts, reconcile transactions, code them to the right accounts, and the reports follow from a clean, double-entry set of books. For a business that needs accounting, that is exactly right, and Xero does it well.
Selling products is a narrower problem. The money arrives through a store or marketplace, and what you do not know is how much of it is yours: cost of goods, platform fees, payment processing, ad spend, shipping, packaging, subscriptions, and returns all come out of the same pile.
That is the only question TrueProfit answers. It explains why there is no chart of accounts to design, why setup is short, and why the Free plan at $0 is enough to see your own number before you pay anything.
What it would take to get this out of Xero
You can get close. Set up accounts for cost of goods, ad spend, shipping, platform fees, and payment processing. Reconcile the bank feed and code every transaction as it lands. Run a profit and loss report for the month. The bottom line will be roughly right if the coding never slips.
What it will not give you is the figure without the work. The report is one you maintain inside full accounting software, and ad spend posts to an account rather than reading against the revenue it drove. TrueProfit starts from that subtraction instead: take-home profit by month and by cost category, with no books to keep.
What TrueProfit gives you
One take-home figure
Gross sales minus COGS, platform fees, payment processing, ad spend, shipping, and returns. Not a general ledger, and not revenue.
Cost categories you name yourself
Put every cost line under a category, nest subcategories under it, and tag any row. No chart of accounts to design, and no accountant needed to set it up.
Ad spend counted against the revenue it drove
Enter each channel's monthly ad spend and it is subtracted in the same math as COGS, not posted to an account and left for you to interpret later.
Expenses without the ledger
Log an expense, attach the receipt, done. There is no double-entry posting, no bank reconciliation, and no accounting file to open first.
Profit by month and by category
See which months carried the year, and which cost categories quietly took the margin once fees and ad spend were counted.
CSV in, or type it in
Import a sales or fee CSV from your store, marketplace, or processor, or enter monthly totals by hand. No bank login required.
An honest note on Xero
Xero is strong, established accounting software: bank reconciliation, double-entry books, invoicing, payroll in many regions, and accountant-ready reports. TrueProfit does none of that, and it is not bookkeeping software. If you need formal books or your accountant works in Xero, keep it.
One more limit worth saying plainly: TrueProfit has no automatic bank sync yet. Shopify order revenue imports on its own once the store is connected, but every cost line comes in by CSV import or manual entry, with bank feeds on the roadmap.
What TrueProfit costs
- Free
- $0
- Add your sales and your costs, and read the real number with no card.
- Pro
- $19/mo
- For an owner who wants the full profit picture every month.
- Business
- $49/mo
- For a larger catalogue and more cost sources to keep straight.
Business pricing, billed monthly. Compare against Xero's current list pricing, which changes over time.
Pick by the job in front of you
Both tools are narrow on purpose. The useful question is not which is better, it is which one matches what you actually need from it.
Xero
Where it is strong
- Double-entry books with bank reconciliation
- Invoicing, and payroll in many regions
- A general ledger and accountant-ready reports
- Built for businesses that need formal accounting
Where it is more than a product seller needs
- Built ledger-first, so there is setup before the first useful report
- No take-home profit figure without you building and keeping the report
- Ad spend posts to an account, not against the revenue it drove
- You carry accounting machinery a solo seller may never use
TrueProfit
Where it is strong
- One take-home figure after COGS, fees, ad spend, shipping, and returns
- Your own cost categories, subcategories and tags on every row
- No chart of accounts, so setup takes minutes
- Profit and margin by month and by cost category in one view
Where it falls short
- No double-entry books or bank reconciliation
- No invoicing, payroll, or tax filing
- Not bookkeeping software: no general ledger
- No automatic bank sync yet: CSV import and manual entry today
Frequently asked questions
Is TrueProfit a full Xero replacement?
No. Xero is cloud accounting software: double-entry books, bank reconciliation, invoicing, a general ledger, and the reports an accountant files from. TrueProfit does none of that. It answers one question for product sellers: after COGS, fees, ad spend, shipping, and returns, what did you keep?
When should I stay on Xero?
Stay if you need proper books. If you reconcile bank accounts, file sales tax or VAT, run payroll, send invoices, or hand a general ledger to an accountant, Xero is built for exactly that. It is also the right call if your accountant or bookkeeper already works inside your Xero organisation.
Who is better off with a profit tracker?
A solo seller or small e-commerce owner whose return is straightforward, who has no payroll, and whose real problem is not knowing which months make money, or where the margin went, once ad spend and fees are counted. That is a reporting problem, not a bookkeeping one.
Could I just build this in Xero?
Partly. You can set up accounts for COGS, ad spend, shipping, and fees, reconcile and code every transaction, and read a profit and loss report. What you will not get is a take-home profit figure handed to you, with ad spend measured against the revenue it drove. You are building and maintaining that view yourself inside full accounting software.
How does my data get into TrueProfit?
Connect a Shopify store and its order revenue imports on its own. Everything else comes in by CSV import or manual entry: export fees from your payment processor, import them, and type in monthly totals for ad spend and shipping. There is no automatic bank sync today, and bank feeds are on the roadmap.
How much does TrueProfit cost compared to Xero?
TrueProfit is Free at $0, Pro at $19/mo, and Business at $49/mo, billed monthly. Xero sells several tiers and changes them over time, so compare against its current list pricing rather than a number quoted on a comparison page.
Can I use both?
Yes, and many sellers do. Keep Xero for the books your accountant files from, and use TrueProfit for the weekly question of whether the current product mix and ad budget are actually profitable.
Know what you actually keep
Profit after COGS, fees, ad spend, shipping, and returns, by month and by cost category. Free to start, no card.
No chart of accounts and no books to configure.