Last week, our cloud accounting superfans, Gillian Telford and Graham Pearson, visited the annual Xero showcase event, Xerocon London along with more than 3,000 fellow accountants, bookkeepers and app partners. Here are the key takeouts from the show and new developments that Xero users can look forward to soon.
According to Xero’s own research, small business owners say they are looking for an accounting advisor who can “work collaboratively with them and provide insights behind the numbers”. In response to this, Xero has been focused on improvements that will provide accountants “with the information and tools to provide timely and accurate insights to … customers to help them be more successful”.
The team that made Xerocon London happen.
We couldn’t agree more with these findings.
“Having accurate, real-time data will allow us to see the full-picture and better understand what is going on in our clients’ businesses,” explains Gillian Telford, Partner at RfM Preston.
“Better insights make it possible for us provide the right level of support and advice – at the right time.”
RfM’s Cloud Solutions Manager, Graham Pearson, was excited to get a preview of the brand new Xero plug-ins and apps that will make life even easier for clients. Here are his top picks:
Pay with Transferwise – helping small businesses pay and get paid faster
Xero is making a number of enhancements to its payments functionality to make it easier to set up card and debit payments for customer invoices, pay multiple bills quickly, and reconcile everything against their accounting ledger.
Key to these updates is Pay with Transferwise which will allow small businesses to pay bills directly from Xero, no matter who they bank with. This feature will save time spent paying suppliers and reconciling those payments.
Xero Expenses – fuel and mileage tracker
The new mileage tracker in Xero Expenses will automatically calculate fuel and mileage expense, simplifying the process of reimbursing staff.
Xero Projects – enhanced quotes functionality
A new quotes functionality within Xero Projects will help you to accurately cost projects and track profitability.
Xero Payroll – direct connection to HMRC
A direct connection to HMRC will automate the previously tedious and time-consuming task of providing car or van benefit in kind to staff during the tax year.
We are looking forward to introducing our Xero clients to all these new features over the coming months.
Make the move to the cloud
RfM Accountants can provide full-set up, training and support for a number of cloud-based accounting packages. To arrange a free consultation to assess your business’ digital accounting needs, please contact Gillian Telford on 01772 431233.
