Over the last year I have been taking part in a series of training seminars for start-up small businesses, helping them get their ducks in row – tax, marketing, choosing the right accounts package….and that's the bit where everyone sitting in the room switches off, every time. No-one likes doing the books, partly because it's scary, but mainly because it's, well, boring. Until now.

 

Documentation


Ease of use


Value for money


Price
Regular Pricing for businesses - Per Month or 9 for 12 months

Special Pricing for registered clubs, societies & charities - Per Month or 9 for 12 months

Software/Hardware Requirements
Mozilla Firefox 1.5+ or Safari web browser

Adobe Flash Player 8+

Microsoft Excel or Google Docs

Minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768.

Available from
www.xero.com

 

Why? Because Xero is what everything else out there isn't – it's bright, cheerful, easy to see exactly what is happening on one screen, it's touchy-feely. It's USER FRIENDLY!!

OK, how? As a user, I can see two main differences. The first is the "visualness" of it – I have been using and teaching others to use MYOB's various Accounting packages for the last few years, but the screens are old fashioned, clunky, and need lots of clicks before you can see any numbers, and then it's still not that easy to read. Xero is in another league. The front page, or dashboard, immediately shows you bank balances, who owes you what, what you owe who, all there in bright, colourful easy-to-see graphs and charts as well as numbers. It's there, in your face, so you really have to work hard to ignore it. And when you do see something you need to know more about (a specific invoice, or why the bank balance is that much) you get straight to it from the dashboard by double clicking, instead of having to come out of one screen, or Command Centre, and going into another. And then back again. (And then back again – oh heck, where am I now??)

The other big change for me is it is on-line software. The file is not stored on your computer, it's sitting up in the ether somewhere, on Xero's server, and talking to you at broadband speed. Which means it is accessible from any Mac or PC (or both!) that you choose to use, which is HUGE. You can check your accounts on your computer in the office, at home, at your accountant's office, on your laptop, in your car, even on your PDA or iPhone – anywhere you have internet access. I know, there are some people who really don't want to be able to do their accounts while sitting on a beach in Fiji. But there are people who really like to know if Joe Bloggs has paid his last two invoices before they go into the meeting and take more orders; or are a bit confused and need to ask the accountant if he could take a look at the system on his pc in his office while they're talking to him on the phone.

Don't panic – obviously not just anyone can look at your accounts – Xero have really worked hard and set up the system so you have to 'invite' a visitor to your file – access is only available to those you have authorised, and have logged in. There are also different levels of authority you can set, so for example, your accountant can see everything, but the staff member who does the invoicing can't see the bank balance or send the invoices without approval. And of course Xero have made everything as hacker-safe as possible – they say they use the same security systems as internet banking, and we all use that nowadays.

Updating the bank balance is also available in real time, online, which is another great time saver. Set up your accounts with your bank to Automatic Feed your transactions every night, and in the morning everything is there, waiting for you. Who has paid you, who hasn't, and who you paid while you were asleep (and lets face it, those are the ones you forget about until the statement arrives in the post weeks later). Reconciling the account is really easy too – Xero recognises and matches entries you have made in the system with bank transactions, asks you if they are true matches (and warns you if there are other possibilities) and then with a click of the 'OK' button, they're reconciled. This is one of those 'touchy-feely' things I mentioned earlier that Xero does so well.

I was going to give you a list of all the technical bits the system is capable of, but I'm a bookkeeper, not a computer expert, and Xero can do it so much better than me on their website. Try the Demo Company free for two weeks, have a play, download a couple of bank statements, and use it. It wont suit everyone – it doesn't have the ability to track stock or inventory, and printing lots of invoices or statements is a bit slow as each one has to be downloaded from the server individually before it prints, but apparently both these are being developed and will be available soon.

As for using Xero on a Mac, it looks it was designed by a Mac user – the graphics and charts are used as a visual aid to get across the information, so of course it will look good on a Mac.  The big bonus is because it's server based, you don't need to buy different software – lots of Mac users are reluctant to buy the over-priced AccountEdge version of MYOB for Macs, knowing there is a good chance their bookkeeper or accountant wont be able to read the file on their PC.  With Xero, its all there, in the same format, however you access it.  Also because it's server based, you pay for the package monthly, like a hosting fee.  The price is slightly more over the year than buying the equivalent MYOB package, but it covers everything – Installation (which simply involves registering and logging into the website), back up and security, and a very efficient Technical Support Team (I tried it, and I had a reply within 30 minutes!).  And no nasty extra bills when there's an upgrade – it's all online.  So your bookkeeper will be pleased.

But best of all was the reaction I saw in that training room last week.  It highlighted something I have been telling my clients for a long time – the easier it is to keep on top of the accounts, the easier you'll understand your business, and the better control you'll have of the finances.  So many small businesses go under because the owners just don't know what's going on at the bank, because they don't crunch the numbers.  Xero can't work miracles, but if it makes it more enjoyable doing the books, then you'll do them, and not put it off till next week.   Xero will give you all the reports you and your accountant need and more – Sales, Receivables, Payables, P&L, Balance Sheet, all at the click of the mouse.  Other packages will do this too, of course, but only if you use them. If they are scary, or grey, or boring, you just wont use them as you should.  And that's just a waste of money.

 Xero will make you want to use it.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form