With Xero it can be easy to stick to what you know, but there’s a plethora of additional features out there that can be really beneficial if you know where to find them.
In this month’s Fintech Friday, Ryan Alderson, Head of Digital Advisory, shares some of the hidden layers of Xero to help take your finances from ‘good’ to ‘great’.
Effortless supplier payments with Batch Payments
Having previously worked in Purchase Ledger, I’m all too familiar with typing up bank payments on a banking platform, using keyfob after keyfob to create singular payments. With Xero’s Batch Payment function, you can enable multiple payments of invoices awaiting payment in one seamless process – with many banks now integrating directly to Xero for batch file draft creation within their portal. This not only saves precious time, but also reduces the chance of error within your financial operations.
Revolutionising your options to receive cash
In the age of digital convenience, consider how your customers can pay your invoices. Is the current process that they must log in to their bank, then copy and paste your account details for payment? Increased convenience comes from adding more options like payment links – where the customers can click the link to take them direct to a card payment portal for the exact amount. Taking it a step further, you can introduce the option to pay via Apple Pay or Google Pay. You’ll be surprised how much of an impact this small invoicing change will have on your Debtors.
Insights into cash flow with Total Cash In and Out
By now we can all run a Profit and Loss in Xero, but cash is still king. Understanding your cash flow is crucial and Xero’s Total Cash In and Out report makes it straightforward. Get a clear picture of your historic cash movements, empowering you to make well-informed business decisions.
Navigating Foreign Exchange with precision
Dealing with multiple currencies in your Xero account? Xero has a detailed report to show your transactional level Realised Foreign Exchange impact. There is also an additional report available which itemises and assesses your exposure to Foreign Exchange, both realised and unrealised, across all your bank accounts, accounts payable and accounts receivable.
Fine-tune your finances with Tracking Categories
Finances can become extremely confusing if everything is bundled together in your accounts. Imagine having a clear view of your financial position, by being able to split cost centres or revenue streams – the Tracking Categories feature does just that. By allocating expenses, you gain invaluable insights into every pound spent, guiding your strategic financial decisions.
Mastering budgets with Xero tools
Budgets are the backbone of savvy financial management, however it’s a common misconception that they’re expensive to create and maintain. Xero has a simplistic Budget Manager which enables you to create your financial targets. You are then able to use a second report, the Budget Variance report, to follow these targets throughout your journey. Ditch the Excel budget and give yourself a holistic view to financial management.
Custom Management Packs for tailored reporting
Do you find yourself running and exporting the same reports every month from Xero? Introducing the Management Report function within Xero which allows you to merge these into one pack for download every period. You can customise this pack completely, allowing you to create the data your business needs to see.
Personalise the Account Transactions report
In recent releases, Xero has really stepped up the customisation of the General Ledger – the Account Transactions report. From here you can now use all of the filters and groupings you can think of, without the need to export to Excel each time. This allows you to Group across areas like VAT rates, or filter by the source of transactions such as Manual Journals – the possibilities are truly endless. And, if you come across a configuration that gives you true value, make sure you save it as a custom report so that you can return to it in a matter of clicks.
Account Watchlists: your financial radar
People can get lost in numbers but by having an Account Watchlist of your key nominal codes on your Xero, you immediately highlight the most important figures to you. Whether it’s monitoring a sudden change in expense levels or keeping an eye on receivable or intercompany balances, these watchlists help you stay on top of your financial health and enable you to make proactive and informed decisions. It’s a straightforward yet powerful way to maintain control over your accounts.
How can we help?
With these features Xero becomes much more than accounting data entry – it becomes a hub for business efficiency. At Harold Sharp, we’re passionate about helping you leverage Xero to its fullest, empowering your financial knowledge and business decisions.
If you don’t think you’re getting the most out of your software, contact our digital advisory team by emailing fintech@haroldsharp.co.uk, call 0161 905 1616 or contact Ryan below.
Ryan Alderson, Lead cloud specialist
T: 0161 905 1616
DD: 0161 926 0512
E: ra@haroldsharp.co.uk