Good Numbers is built for small charities, clubs and incorporated societies in Aotearoa.
Categorise transactions, keep receipts together, track grant spending, report clearly to your board and prepare your year-end reporting - without paying for a system you don't need.
“Xero was costing us something like $95 a month. Good Numbers is so much easier — and costs one third the price.”
Trustee, Te Whare Āniwaniwa Collective
Good Numbers is a purpose-built Xero alternative for small charities, clubs and incorporated societies in Aotearoa New Zealand. It includes bank feeds, AI categorisation, receipt storage, grant tracking, board-friendly reports and XRB Tier 4 compliant year-end reporting from $10 a month.
Xero is a powerful accounting platform for businesses, accountants and larger organisations. It can work well for larger charities and non-profits, especially where accounts payable, manual journals, multi-currency, complex reporting or accountant workflows are required. Xero also offers a 25% discount for eligible registered not-for-profit organisations. (Xero)
✅ = Best option for small charities and non-profits in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Feature
Good Numbers app
Xero
Built for
Small NZ charities, clubs and incorporated societies ✅
Businesses, accountants, bookkeepers and larger organisations
Default setup
Configured for small non-profits in Aotearoa ✅
Configured for general business accounting
Pricing model
Based on organisation expenditure, not feature access ✅
Based on features required
Starting price
From $10 per month ✅
See more: Pricing
From $35+GST per month. Non-profit discounts available after eligibility is confirmed (Xero)
Bank feeds
Included
Included
AI categorisation
Smart suggestions ✅
Included in more expensive plans.
Receipt storage
Included
Included
XRB Tier 4 reporting
Built to support Tier 4-style year-end reporting ✅
Requires configuration or external support
Grant tracking
Generic project tracking
Board reports
Mobile use
Designed mobile-first for small charity admin ✅
Best fit
Small volunteer-led organisations wanting simple, low-cost reporting ✅
It takes 2 minutes to find out. Check now:
Good Numbers is probably right for you if:
Stick with Xero if you need:
accounts payable, multi-currency, manual journals, complex accounting workflows, or spend more than $140,000 per year..
Good Numbers comes configured for small charities, clubs, societies and community organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand.
That means the app starts from the world of donations, grants, receipts, committee reports, annual reporting and volunteer treasurers. The language, categories and reports are designed around non-profit life.
Xero starts from a broader accounting platform. It can be adapted for non-profits, and Xero has specific material for charities and non-profits, including features for donations, grants, expenses, reporting, payroll and mobile access. (Xero)
That flexibility is useful. But it also means small charities often need to configure Xero before it feels like it fits.
Good Numbers is designed to fit from the start.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, small charities report under the XRB Tier 4 not-for-profit reporting standard. The XRB says the Tier 4 standard sets out the requirements Tier 4 not-for-profit entities must follow when preparing year-end financial statements. (XRB)
Good Numbers is built around this reporting need.
It helps turn bank transactions, receipts and organisation information into year-end reports that are aligned with the XRB Tier 4-style reporting requirements.
Xero can hold the financial data you need, but it does not automatically produce a small charity’s XRB Tier 4 performance report in the right format out of the box. You may need to customise reports, map accounts, export data, or work with an accountant or bookkeeper.
For a small charity, that difference matters.
Good Numbers is not just helping you keep records during the year. It is designed to help you get to the year-end reporting finish line.
Good Numbers starts from $10 per month, and the starting plan includes the core features small charities need:
There are higher tiers, but they are based on your organisation’s expenditure, not on choosing which features you want.
That is an important difference. Small charities should not have to upgrade just to access the feature that makes the system useful.
Xero’s pricing is plan-based. Xero currently offers a 25% discount for eligible registered not-for-profit organisations, applied after Xero confirms not-for-profit status. (Xero)
For some organisations, Xero is still good value. But for very small charities, the monthly cost can feel large, especially when the organisation is only using a small part of the system.
Grant tracking is one of the strongest reasons a small charity might choose Good Numbers.
Good Numbers includes funding views, which let you track income and spending against a specific grant or funding stream. You can tag expenditure to the grant, upload receipts, see the remaining grant balance, and produce a report showing what was spent.
That is designed around the real questions funders ask:
What did you spend the grant on?
How much is left?
Can you show the receipts?
Xero can be used to track grants, but it is not grant-specific by default. Some organisations use tracking categories, projects or other workarounds. That may work well for larger organisations with finance capability, but for a small charity, it can be more complicated than necessary.
Good Numbers starts with the funder report in mind.
Many small charity boards and committees are made up of volunteers, not accountants.
They do not necessarily need a traditional finance pack. They need a clear, plain-English view of what is happening with the organisation’s money.
Good Numbers provides a money overview report designed for trustees, committee members and volunteers. It helps answer simple but important questions:
Xero provides standard accounting reports, including financial reports that can be shared with boards, donors, volunteers and advisors. (Xero)
Those reports are useful, but they often assume the reader knows how to interpret accounting statements. Good Numbers is designed for the reality of small non-profit governance, where financial confidence matters as much as financial data.
One small organisation was using Xero mainly to code bank transactions and store receipts. They were not using Xero’s reporting functionality because it did not produce the kind of year-end reporting they needed. By switching to Good Numbers, they saved money and made their annual reporting process much simpler.
Another organisation believed it needed Xero’s project tracking functionality, which meant it was paying around $95 per month. Xero became the organisation’s largest cost for the year. By switching to Good Numbers, the organisation reduced its monthly software cost to $10 per month, while also getting annual accounts preparation support that Xero was not providing for them.
These examples are not unusual. Many small charities do not need more accounting software. They need software that is better matched to the job.
We will help you work out the simplest way to make the move.
For many small charities, this includes:
Good Numbers is likely to be a better fit if your organisation:
Good Numbers is for small non-profits that want to spend less time wrestling with accounting software and more time getting on with their kaupapa.
Good Numbers is not trying to replace Xero for every organisation.
Xero may be the better fit if your organisation needs:
If your charity is larger, more complex, or already well supported by an accountant or bookkeeper, Xero may still be the right tool.
Yes. For small charities, clubs and incorporated societies in Aotearoa New Zealand, Good Numbers is a purpose-built Xero alternative.
Xero is a powerful accounting platform that can be adapted for non-profits.
Good Numbers is different. It is built specifically for small non-profits, with the features they are most likely to need included from the start: bank feeds, AI coding, receipt storage, grant tracking, board reports and year-end reporting.
If your organisation has complex accounting needs, Xero may be the better choice.
But if your charity is small, volunteer-led and paying for software that feels bigger than the job, Good Numbers may be a simpler and more affordable fit.
It takes 2 minutes to check if your charity or incorporated society can use the Good Numbers app.
Good Numbers may be better for small NZ charities that need simple bookkeeping, grant tracking, receipt storage, board reports and XRB Tier 4-style year-end reporting. Xero may be better for larger or more complex organisations that need payroll, GST, invoicing, manual journals, multi-currency or advanced accounting features.
Yes. Good Numbers is a Xero alternative designed specifically for small charities, clubs and incorporated societies in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Xero can hold the financial information needed for Tier 4 reporting, but it does not automatically produce the XRB Tier 4 performance report format out of the box. Most organisations will need to configure reports, map accounts, export data or get support from an accountant or bookkeeper.
Good Numbers is currently best suited to small non-profits with straightforward reporting needs. GST support is planned for the future.
Good Numbers starts from $10 per month. The starting plan includes bank feeds, AI coding, receipt storage, grant tracking and year-end reporting. Higher tiers are based on your organisation’s expenditure, not on unlocking extra features. Full pricing is available on the Good Numbers App page: Meet the Good Numbers App
Good Numbers has some ability to import from Xero. How straightforward this is depends on how your organisation has used Xero previously.
Yes, Xero can be a good tool for charities, especially larger or more complex organisations. It offers non-profit features, reporting, payroll, mobile access and a 25% discount for eligible registered not-for-profits. (Xero)
The best option depends on your needs. For a small volunteer-led charity that needs simple bookkeeping, grant tracking and Tier 4-style year-end reporting, Good Numbers may be a better fit. For larger or more complex organisations, Xero may be more appropriate.
