Cloud technology has become more mainstream in recent years, giving small businesses the opportunity to adapt the way in which they work. Here at XO Accounting, we utilise Xero software, which can improve every step of your digital process, including collating, managing and submitting your financial data.

The following are 10 ways to reduce the costs and time associated with managing your finances:

Automatically pull your bills and expenses into Xero

1. Automatically pull information from supplier bills:
A feature available to all premium Xero users, reduces the need for manual data entry by extracting key information from emails or pdf bills from suppliers, auto-populating bills in Xero. Early tests revealed those using this feature saved an average of 25% of time entering bill information into Xero. Time wise this equates to 2.5 hours saved per month.

2. Reduce hidden costs with new Xero expenses:
Xero allows employees to make more timely submissions regarding expenses as all they need to do is take a picture of their receipt and Xero will scan for important details and fill out a claim. Errors are reduced and the need for rework is limited. Along with many other features, such as mobile notifications, rich analytics and multi-currency, the updated Xero expenses reduces time and costs spent managing expenses.

3. Hubdoc:
A new addition to Xero, Hubdoc helps to automate many administrative tasks, including data entry, collection of financial documents. In utilising this function, small businesses can save time and free up accounting practice, as rather than chasing clients or inputing the data manually, they can spend more time analysing said data.

Reduce coding & invoicing errors thanks to smart automation

4. Automated bank rules:
A recent survey revealed that out of all features Xero could provide, 7 out of 10 of our customers told us that bank rec automation was the most important. So now we deliver on this. Now Xero learns and approves transactions based on the bank rules the user has applied, and gets rid of the hassle of manually approving transactions.

5. New invoicing:
A new version of Xero invoicing will be launching early 2019. With this update, along with a multitude of new functionality, simpler workflows and, machine learning and automation, small businesses will have the ability to manage and create invoices faster than ever before.

Manage finances faster thanks to Xero’s connected Apps

6. Save time for every payroll employee:
Over the last year, major improvements have been made to Xero Payroll, with the aim to reduce the necessary time to pay and manage staff. New functions allow allows users to drag and drop a spreadsheet of ALL employees at once, cutting time, up to 10 minutes per employee, and errors.

7. Pay project based workers the right amount:
Many improvements have been made to Xero Projects, including integration with popular task management platform Trello. Now, Xero Projects time entries can be pulled for hourly paid workers into Xero Payroll rather than having to enter data twice. This reduces risk of error and saves time, as employees can be paid from a single data set.

Simple compliance

8. File CIS returns directly from within Xero:
By far the biggest industry in the country is construction, with over one million businesses. Therefore, on top of the existing CIS functionality we offer, we have now launched an open beta version where businesses can file their monthly CIS returns directly from Xero.

Get your tasks done in less time with improved navigation in Xero

9. More intuitive navigation:
Navigation of the Xero dashboard is now more instinctive, ensuring business owners can find what they are after quickly. Additionally, bookkeepers and accountants can help clients when issues arise. The design of this new dashboard is intended to make it easier for bookkeepers and accountants to maintain customers and increase growing practices.