Xero Must-Know Tips And Tricks For Small Businesses

We’ll start this article by asking you one simple question: have you used Xero for your accounting until now?  Take a read of this article for you to know Xero Must-Know Tips And Tricks For Small Businesses. 

If the answer is no, you’re most likely missing on a lot of great features that could make your life easier and let you focus on growing your business. 

Xero is an extremely user-friendly cloud-based accounting software that allows small and medium-sized companies to work in real-time with all their partners, including their accountant/ bookkeeper.

Why are we telling you all this? We know how hard it can be to manage a small-business and keep everything running smoothly while also dealing with the accounting tasks. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

We’re here to share with you some tips and tricks that will help you use Xero to manage your accounts effortlessly, keep on track with all your payments, and maximize tax deductions.

 

How to use Xero like a PRO

Say goodbye to all those nights spent worrying over your books and trying to keep track of payments, invoices, and collections from customers. 

Xero is here to save the day! 

You can keep your records accurate and also monitor the financial health of your business all in one useful and secure tool. Even more than that, you’ll be able to access all this information from anywhere at any time – isn’t that the future?

Let’s go over the most important tips that you should know in order to make the most out of Xero: 

1. Control the level of access with Customized Roles

Xero gives you the ability to create highly customized roles for each user – you can control who sees what. This allows you to efficiently collaborate with your accountant, bookkeeper, and staff and, at the same time, to restrict access to sensitive data. 

When you assign roles in Xero based on a person’s role in your company, that individual will only have access to the information and features associated with that role. For example, your accountant will have the Advisor role, so that they can fully overview your transactions and advise you when needed. 

2. Automate bank reconciliations with Bank Rules

Bank rules can help you define conditions – based on exact phrases or keywords present in transactions – for the rules that suit only specific bank transactions. You can create bank rules by going to Accounts > Bank Accounts > Create Rule or directly from the reconciliation page.

These rules are truly a time-saving feature as they allow you to match your bank transactions automatically to invoices, bill payments and purchases that are already recorded in Xero. Bank reconciliation has never been more fun and simple!

3. Set Invoice Reminders and stay on top of your cash flow

No one likes having to chase their debtors. But how can you make sure that your customers pay you on time?

Xero made this whole process a lot simpler: you can now set reminders that allow you to automatically follow up on your invoices. Your customers will thus receive reminders that their payment is due or overdue by a number of days.

Moreover, the template for the email reminder can be easily edited for each client and you can also add any other details about the invoice there if needed.

4. Make informed business decisions with Custom Reports

Financial reports are like an x-ray image of the financial health of your business – you can clearly see where your business is performing well and where improvement is required.

With Xero, you can easily customize reports and measure specific KPIs for your business. Also, you can keep track of progress in your company by preparing a detailed budget/ importing an existing one and comparing the overall financial performance against actual or selected periods.

5. Keep a clear overview of everything with Tracking Categories

If your business has activity in different locations around the country or around the world, you can use tracking categories to see how each is performing. This feature allows you to report income and expenses across each location, rather than setting up different accounts for each place in part.

You can use Xero to create two active tracking categories and you can add up to 100 tracking options for each tracking category. For example, you could set up a Location tracking category for each office location.

How this Xero Must-Know Tips And Tricks For Small Businesses help you

Use these tips to optimize your accounting and bookkeeping tasks and you’ll always be ready for a CRA audit.

But don’t stop here. There’s always more to discover when it comes to learning the smart way to do business – think of using Xero as the first step towards success.

We are certified in Xero, we are here to help you. We won’t only set you up, but we can also offer you training on how to perform the day to day tasks.

Get in touch with our Accounting and Bookkeeping experts in Ottawa today!