Do I need to stop using QuickBooks or Xero?

No. Clearing works alongside your accounting system, not instead of it. Today that's by file import (CSV or Excel export); live two-way sync with QuickBooks Online and Xero is in progress.

Why not just use the built-in matching?

It's included with the subscription you already pay for, and it clears the easy 80%: same amount, same date, same payee. The other 20% — the splits, the timing gaps, the high-volume accounts — is still you, by hand, every month. That's the gap Clearing closes.

Clearing vs. QuickBooks/Xero

Built-in matching gets the easy 80%. Here's the rest.

QuickBooks and Xero's own bank matching handles same-amount, same-date, same-payee lines well — it's included, and it works. The gap is everything that isn't a clean one-to-one match: splits, high-volume accounts, and a record of why a match was right.

Clearing, Built-in matching compared by task
The job	Clearing	Built-in matching
Split and partial matches	One deposit against five invoices, a part-payment, or a check that cleared a month late.	One line to one line.
High-volume accounts	Built for the busy operating account. Thousands of lines in a single pass.	Bogs down past tens of thousands of lines a year; search itself starts failing.
Where the data comes from	A CSV or Excel export from any bank, including international accounts with no feed at all.	Leans on a live bank feed. When it breaks, goes stale, or your bank isn't supported, you're stuck.
Why it matched	The confidence score and the signals behind it, so a match is one you can defend.	Shows that it matched something. Never why.
Getting better over time	Learns each client's patterns from your corrections and proposes more every month.	Runs the fixed rules you set up by hand, forever.
Closing the period	A named sign-off that seals the period. Any change after it shows.	A lock an admin can click past. A quiet edit to a closed month breaks the next one.

Split and partial matches
Clearing
One deposit against five invoices, a part-payment, or a check that cleared a month late.
Built-in matching
One line to one line.
High-volume accounts
Clearing
Built for the busy operating account. Thousands of lines in a single pass.
Built-in matching
Bogs down past tens of thousands of lines a year; search itself starts failing.
Where the data comes from
Clearing
A CSV or Excel export from any bank, including international accounts with no feed at all.
Built-in matching
Leans on a live bank feed. When it breaks, goes stale, or your bank isn't supported, you're stuck.
Why it matched
Clearing
The confidence score and the signals behind it, so a match is one you can defend.
Built-in matching
Shows that it matched something. Never why.
Getting better over time
Clearing
Learns each client's patterns from your corrections and proposes more every month.
Built-in matching
Runs the fixed rules you set up by hand, forever.
Closing the period
Clearing
A named sign-off that seals the period. Any change after it shows.
Built-in matching
A lock an admin can click past. A quiet edit to a closed month breaks the next one.

Questions, answered

Do I need to stop using QuickBooks or Xero?: No. Clearing works alongside your accounting system, not instead of it. Today that's by file import (CSV or Excel export); live two-way sync with QuickBooks Online and Xero is in progress.
Why not just use the built-in matching?: It's included with the subscription you already pay for, and it clears the easy 80%: same amount, same date, same payee. The other 20% — the splits, the timing gaps, the high-volume accounts — is still you, by hand, every month. That's the gap Clearing closes.

Get Clearing Solo — $199/year See the full comparison