One of the reasons that cloud accounting company Xero was created is the fact that small to medium businesses should reconcile and work on their accounts daily. Xero recognised that this would help small business owners not only stay on top of their money but also stop the build-up of bookkeeping that often left them without a clue where they were with their cashflow, creditors, debtors, and tax.
If you can stay up-to-date (as much as possible) in your accounts, then you’ll be in a better position to make informed decisions in your business without having to stick your finger in the air and guess which way your windfall is blowing!
Xero also has many great features that help you save time in your business, including:
- Direct bank feeds – removing the need to reconcile your accounts with your bank statements.
- Links to systems like TripCatcher and ReceiptBank – saving you time on data entry.
- Invoice-chasing emails to help you stay on top of your cashflow.
Removing the need to enter data is one of the key benefits of Xero
If you really want to power it up then hook it up to ReceiptBank and link it with the rather excellent Dropbox sync. You’ll soon find that you remove the need to print and store paper invoices, whilst also saving data entry time entering them into Xero.
With more and more business now moving to the cloud following Making Tax Digital, business are recognising that cloud-based accounting is the future, and Xero is one of the more popular choices.
As a result, you’ll notice that you’re invoicing and paying more and more businesses who are also on Xero, and that means you can now save even more time…
Introducing the Xero Network Key…
It’s now possible to sync your invoicing between two Xero accounts. What’s that in English? Well, if you’re working with another business who’s also on Xero then you can share your network key and send each other invoices directly between the accounts. Nice!
Here’s how it works:
- Each Xero organisation (account) has a unique network key.
- By sharing this key with another Xero organisation, you create a unique link.
- This link doesn’t allow the other organisation to see your accounts, but it does allow them to send you invoices directly.
When an organisation linked to your Xero account via your key sends you a ‘Xero to Xero sales invoice’, you’ll receive it into your account as a draft bill.
You’ll then need to choose the account and tracking for the bill at your end.
(You can only receive bills from Xero to Xero that don’t have tax adjustments or credit notes.)
This could save you a small amount of time now. But think about it – as more and more people move over to Xero, you might find that sending lots of Xero to Xero invoices saves you a lot of time month on month.
Here’s how to set it up:
- Click on your organisation name, then select Settings.
- Under Features, click Xero To Xero.
- Click Send Xero Network Invite.
- Enter the email address of the organisation you want to receive Xero invoices or bills from.
- Click Send.
They’ll receive an email with the key, and instructions to add it to the contact details they have for you in Xero.
And there you have it. Xero to Xero invoicing is ready to go.
Another way to be more productive as a small business…
Xero have recently launched their Small Business Insights. A recent article suggested that although SMEs are the ‘backbone’ of the economy, with better productivity they could achieve so much more.
Using Xero to Xero and the other cloud-based and intelligent features in Xero is just one way to improve your cashflow as well as your productivity and, in turn, your business.
Xero’s commitment to this is obvious and you can find more about this on the Small Business Insights section of their website which includes informative data on cashflow, late payments, overseas trading, and cloud adoption per sector. It’s an interesting resource.
Need more help with Xero…?
We’re a Xero Platinum Partner and our team are incredibly knowledgeable about the platform. Like many online systems, most users will only use a small amount of the capability and we’d like to empower you to use more of it.
Need help? Contact us now and we’ll point you in the right direction.
