Xero

T.C.

Anyone have any experience of using Xero? Any good? I have a possible new client who wants me to set them up using this because it can be used online with several users...apparently. Opinions appreciated.

jamesm96

T.C. wrote: »

Anyone have any experience of using Xero? Any good? I have a possible new client who wants me to set them up using this because it can be used online with several users...apparently. Opinions appreciated.

Yep we have a number of clients using it and we're actively encouraging more to do so.

It is much pricier than some of the other Cloud solutions but the auto bank feeds are worth it in our opinion. And the reports that are available to us as agents are fantastic. When we do our client's VAT returns, for example, rather than just sending them a summary of the boxes on the return like we used to we now send them a fancy looking report which looks far more professional but takes no time at all to prepare!

T.C.

Thanks. And how difficult is it to get to grips with?

Tiger

Easy to get to grips with but in my experience as with most programs its only as good as the person using it.

I'd compare it to quick books but with the added bank feed. Looks impressive & the cloud base is a winner with the clients with Iphones etc.

Have been using it for 18months+ and the year ends are okay if all the data has been imported correctly from the bank (its incredibly easy for clients to get in a muddle) and if they have reconciled and coded all the transactions themselves. A few UK bank feeds don't import that well.

The one word I'd use to describe it is 'awkward' but then I'm a VT person and compared to that its functionality from the advisor point of view is not good.

It is however the way things appear to be going so I'm just sticking with it!

Depends what you want, also worth mentioning is that it runs infuriatingly slow on internet explorer but much better on google chrome.

T.C.

Thanks. That is great information. I am a Quickbooks user, so hopefully should be easier for me to 'learn'. My only problem is that I can input information, but so can my clients from another office - that could be awkward! Thanks for all the advice anyway. Much appreciated.

pirate

Hi

I think Xero is excellent, as others have said its a bit pricey, but the live bank feeds and the matching transactions for bank rec are lovely features. Its also excellent for multicurrency.
Its quite easily to "undo" any misposted transactions, and the drilling down from summary levels like TB, P&L and so on is very useful.
Reporting is really comprehensive although I would like to see some customised reporting features.
Expenses and payrun are a little tricky.
You can lock users from inputing information whilst you are updating things.

Kashflow is another popular tool and having used both extensively I think Xero is much nicer. It has a nicer interface, is easier to navigate, but Kashflow does allow you to submit a VAT return directly from kashflow.

AccountsPortal offers a really nice price point - It doesn't have live bank feeds but is a good product for the price.

jamesm96

pirate wrote: »

Its quite easily to "undo" any misposted transactions, and the drilling down from summary levels like TB, P&L and so on is very useful.

Yeah I've found that too. We have one particular client who's not so hot at posting transactions with the correct VAT rates (he has a lot of inputs which are zero / standard rated) and it's so easy to just change the tax rate on a posted transaction. It'd be hellish to have to make that sort of change in, say, Sage!