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Xero Projects

Xero Projects is Xero's paid add-on for project-level estimates, time, expenses, and profitability reporting. Right for builders running 10+ concurrent jobs.

By Chalkline. Last updated 14 May 2026. Verified 14 May 2026.

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Xero Projects is Xero’s paid add-on for project-level financial tracking, layering job-costing capabilities onto the standard Xero accounting subscription. It lets a builder track estimates, actual time, expenses, and profitability per job, with the data flowing back to the main Xero ledger.

What Xero Projects provides:

  • Project estimates with cost categories that align with your chart of accounts.
  • Time tracking for staff time on a project (chargeable and non-chargeable hours).
  • Expense allocation for materials, subcontractor invoices, and other costs to a specific project.
  • Invoice generation for time and materials billed to the client.
  • Profitability reports comparing estimate to actual at any point through the job.
  • Project budgets at category level.

Pricing (typical 2026):

  • Per active user, per month: approximately $9-12 (in addition to the base Xero subscription).
  • Per active project is unlimited within the user count.
  • Costs scale with the number of staff using time tracking, not number of jobs.

Where Xero Projects is the right fit:

  • Mid-size builders running 10+ concurrent jobs, where simple job tracking via Xero’s tracking categories breaks down.
  • Time-and-materials work where staff time needs to be tracked and on-charged.
  • Project-level reporting for the principal builder who wants a “this job’s making money / losing money” view at any time.

Where Xero Projects is NOT the right fit:

  • Small builders running 1-3 jobs at a time: Xero’s standard tracking categories (free) often suffice.
  • Heavy estimating work: Xero Projects’ estimating is basic. Buildxact, BuildSoft, BEAMS, or other dedicated construction-estimating platforms are stronger.
  • Buildxact users: Buildxact’s Xero integration already pushes job-cost data into Xero; running Xero Projects in parallel duplicates work.

Xero Projects vs Buildxact. The two products overlap. Common decision logic:

  • Use Xero Projects alone if your estimating is simple and you mainly need time and expense tracking.
  • Use Buildxact alone (with Xero integration) if you do detailed take-offs and bid frequently. Buildxact pushes job-cost data into Xero without needing Projects.
  • Use both rarely. Where used, Buildxact handles estimating and quote-to-job conversion, Xero Projects handles time and per-project P&L.

Common Xero Projects setup defects:

  • No project categories aligned to COA: project costs lump-coded and don’t roll up neatly.
  • Time tracking not enforced: chargeable hours not captured; project margin understated.
  • Expense allocations done in Xero but not in Projects: the project view stays incomplete.

For builders.

  1. Trial Xero Projects on one job before committing across the business. The setup work is meaningful; you want to confirm it adds value.
  2. Train the team on time entry. The product’s value is in the data captured; sloppy time entry produces sloppy reports.
  3. Reconcile Project costs vs Xero ledger quarterly. Drift between the two surfaces issues with how the team is coding.

Also known as: Xero Projects add-on, Xero job tracking.

Category: Business / accounting / software.

See also

Last updated: 2026-05-14. Verified: 2026-05-14.

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