Xero, Quickbooks, Sage Online, Freeagent, Kashflow, Zoho are all accounts software to name but a few. Looking for software appropriate to your business can be a minefield, not knowing how they work, not knowing the benefits and also not knowing the costs involved. With more MTD coming our way, for VAT and personal tax services accounts software is more than ever an important consideration for all businesses. Most software's all offer the same core features and HMRC provide a list of all MTD compliant software's, which really are a good starting point. I have included a link for ease of reference - Find software that's compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The bigger names such as Xero and Quickbooks are the ones people are more likely to have heard about but it doesn't necessarily mean they are right for your business, so it is important to do your research or speak with a bookkeeper/accountant who may be able to discuss the different ones available.
In this blog I am going to focus on Xero to highlight the pros and features which can really save time and effort in the bookkeeping process.
Main Features;
- Connect your bank account to provide a live feed into the accounts software. This means no transactions are missing and you have a point of reference for what sales and purchases have been made. You can also connect your Paypal feed too if you regularly use this within your business. If you are a retailer and have many small sales, connect Xero to Shopify or other retail software, for example etsy and ebay through Xero's bridging apps.
- Create purchase orders, convert to bills and reconcile to your bank when paid or produce a list to show what supplier payments you need to make, as often as you need. If you are VAT registered entering the correct VAT rates make submitting your return a straight forward process.
- Create Quotes for customers to accept, convert them to Invoices and email them straight from Xero. You can set auto reminders to remind your customers pay at certain intervals meaning you reduce your time on credit control too. Use the reporting tool to know as often as you need to which customers have yet to pay.
- Xero has an invoice processing app which is currently free called Hubdoc, which allows you to scan in your purchases and once you have coded to a particular supplier, the details are remembered making repeat purchases easy to add into the system. You can have your own unique set up including a personalised email which you can forward any bills straight to if they have been received into your mailbox.
- There are many reports within Xero, so you can easily do things like track sales within particular areas such as in the north or south, or maybe you want to track sales per advisor or per product. Perhaps you want to track which product or service you sell the most of, by using the inventory system, this can be all possible within Xero.
- Xero operates a payroll package for an extra monthly cost, which automatically produces the journals into the accounts software for ease of reconciliation.
Costs
Xero has a few different packages and by using a Xero partner to provide the subscription you may even save a little bit on the monthly cost. For example, as a bronze partner, we can provide you up to 15% off depending on the package you select.
Please visit the link below for the standard prices excluding VAT, showing you the add ons available too;
I have also included the links to pricing for a few other softwares too for info;
Sage Online - Sage UK - Software & Solutions for Every Business
Zoho - Pricing | Zoho Subscriptions
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