XU Biweekly - Issue 9 - 12 July 2021 by XU Magazine

Monday 12 July 2021 | No. 9

XU Biweekly The independent news source for Xero users, by Xero users

Need to make payroll profitable? WHITE LABELLED PAYROLL

www.payrollbee.co.uk • hello@payrollbee.co.uk

We’ve just raised $150m in Series C Funding to revolutionise business spending

By Jeppe Rindom

LAUNCHING XERO DAY By Steve Vamos

ODAY, 6 JULY 2021, MARKS A SPECIAL DAY IN XERO’S JOURNEY. ON THIS DAY 15 YEARS AGO, OUR FOUNDER, ROD DRURY, REGISTERED XERO AS A COMPANY IN WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND. Fifteen years ago, Rod and the Xero foundation team took the first steps to bring the vision of accounting software in the cloud to life and scaling a purposeful, global Software as a Service (SaaS) business from New Zealand. From our beginnings at a kitchen table in a Wellington apartment, to offices in more than 20 cities around the world, it’s been quite a journey. A journey built on the support and belief of our bookkeepers, accountants, the broader Xero partner community, and our people. I’m proud to share that several of the Xero team from those early days are still with us – Craig Walker, Fletch Brown, Larissa Paris, and Catherine Walker (OG) are all celebrating their 15 year anniversaries this year. They have been joined by many more and today, we have over 3,500 people working to bring Xero to millions more small businesses and their advisors around the world.

Introducing Xero Day In recognition of it being 15 years since Xero was registered as a company, we’re launching Xero Day. Xero Day will be an annual calendar event when we celebrate and acknowledge the people, customers, partners and communities who have played an important role in our success. I sat down with Rod to talk about our plans for Xero Day

and key moments in Xero’s journey so far.

Supporting our communities Our purpose is to help improve the lives of people in small businesses, their advisors and communities all around the world. For us, this includes contributing to impactful community causes, so we are kicking off our inaugural Xero Day with a NZ $15,000 donation to each of the eight charities we supported through the 2020-21 Xero Community Appeal. These charities are; Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) globally; Beyond Blue in Australia; Women’s Refuge in New Zealand; Save the Children in Asia; Advancement Project in the United States; Black Business Professional Association in Canada; Samaritans in the UK...

First and foremost, we’ll be taking this investment as an opportunity to scale our company. Over the last six years, we’ve grown Pleo from an acorn of an idea to a workforce of over 300 people based all around the world — without the team, there’s no Pleo. We’re on a mission to transform business spending and make everyone feel valued at work. If that floats your boat, check out our Careers page and apply for any of the 30+ roles we have open today.

WHITE LABELLED PAYROLL

www.payrollbee.co.uk hello@payrollbee.co.uk

Monday 12 July 2021

9 772054 723006

With this new investment and our company valuation of $1.7 billion (we're one of those unicorns you keep hearing about), we’ve never been more excited to see what the future holds for Pleo and what we’ll be creating with this investment, but more on that later… First, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Since launching in 2015, we’ve come a long way. From opening up offices across five other markets in Europe to winning local, national and global awards to growing the Pleo team to 330+

What will we be doing with this investment?

Find out more

Time is valuable, let’s give you some of it back! ISSN 2054-7234

ES, YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY: $150 MILLION — THE LARGEST SERIES C RAISED FOR ANY DANISH-FOUNDED COMPANY EVER.

people to launching features such as Reimbursements and Bills — it’s tiring just writing it out.

P2 Page 10

New Apps & Updates

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Monday 12 July 2021

FYI x myprosperity: Taking automation to a whole new level

NEW XERO CONNECTED APPS!

MATTERO By Harriet Boshier

AM SUPER EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE OUR LATEST ADDITION TO THE MYPROSPERITY INTEGRATION SUITE. FROM JULY 2021, ACCOUNTANTS USING DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT AND PROCESS AUTOMATION SPECIALIST FYI CAN ACCESS MYPROSPERITY’S POWERFUL CLIENT PORTAL.

ITH OUR LATEST UPDATE TO THE APPOGEE HR AND XERO INTEGRATION YOU NO LONGER NEED TO DOWNLOAD YOUR PAYSLIPS TO YOUR DEVICE.

You can offer your clients a holistic and seamless digital experience for managing all their financial affairs in one place. Increase your efficiencies and use that valuable time to unlock deeper client insights that surface new revenue opportunities for your practice. Feedback from our beta clients has been incredibly positive with accountants excited by the blend of back office automation and creating an awesome client experience.

There’s no denying that we all work in order to earn money; after all, money makes the world go around. For a lot of us, how much we earn each pay period is vitally important, with a lot of people checking and their payslips every single time they get paid. If your company uses Xero payroll, you can log into Xero to download your payslips each time, but what if you could view them from a system you’re already using more frequently? Our newest update to Appogee HR allows you to do just that.

Find out more

XU BIWEEKLY - No. 9 Newsdesk: If you have any news or updates that you would like us to consider for inclusion in the next edition of the XU Biweekly, please email us at: newsdesk@xumagazine.com CEO: David Hassall Managing Editor: Wesley Cornell Director of Strategic Partnerships: Alex Newson Communications Manager: Bethany Fulks Editorial Assistant: Kacey Wright Advertising: advertising@xumagazine.com www.xumagazine.com ‘Xero’ is a trademark of Xero Limited (New Zealand). XU Biweekly and XU Magazine is collaboratively produced by an independent group of Xero users and is not affiliated in any way with Xero. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © XU Magazine Ltd 2014-2021. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. XU Biweekly is published by XU Magazine Ltd (08811842), registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 12 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 0BP, United Kingdom. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. XU Magazine Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant XU Magazine Ltd a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all/any editions, including in any physical or digital format, throughout the world. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither XU Magazine Ltd nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of XU Magazine Ltd, its editors or its contributors.

Chaser software now available to all businesses regardless of their accounting platform, with Chase Import launch

By James Burgess

UR MISSION AT AROFLO IS TO CREATE A JOB MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE THAT’S CONSTANTLY ADAPTING TO MEET THE NEEDS OF TRADE AND SERVICE PROFESSIONALS. OVER THE YEARS, WE’VE MADE NUMEROUS CHANGES TO OUR SOFTWARE TO ENSURE THAT IT CONTINUES

We’ve focused a lot of this effort on AroFlo’s Field functionality, as we believe the test of any great trade or service business is how successfully it operates on the...

Tools to help you build an awesome business Novo and Gusto to Partner for Seamless Payroll Processing By Amelia Wright

OVO AND GUSTO ARE PARTNERING TO CREATE A DEEPLY EMBEDDED PAYROLL OFFERING THAT IS UNIQUE AND SPECIFIC TO THE NEEDS OF SMALL BUSINESSES THAT ARE USING NOVO. It’s no secret that small businesses struggle to manage their finances. Cashflow problems are often cited as the #1 reason why small businesses fail. No small business owner starts their business excited at the prospect of managing their books, analyzing their monthly statements, or gathering the data to submit a loan application. Novo and Gusto aim to work together to help. Payroll remains a difficult and complicated process for...

Find out more

By Amaya Woods HASER HAS LAUNCHED A NEW .CSV IMPORT TOOL, CHASE IMPORT, TO ALLOW ANY BUSINESS GLOBALLY TO BENEFIT FROM ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES AUTOMATION NO MATTER THE ACCOUNTING PLATFORM THEY ARE USING.

TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT WORKFLOWS AND BETTER OPERATIONAL OVERSIGHT TO ALL OF OUR CLIENTS.

Accounts Payable rising star, Lightyear, announces the world’s first automated line item 3-Way PO Matching

From today, businesses using any accounting system can connect to Chaser's accounts receivable automation software and automate the entire credit management process, speeding up invoice processing and improving cash flow.

Find out more

O By Anna Curzon

HIS MONTH, WE’VE RELEASED A NUMBER OF UPDATES ACROSS THE XERO PLATFORM TO HELP YOU MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE ACROSS PAYROLL, TAX, EMPLOYEE TIME TRACKING AND MORE. I’M PARTICULARLY EXCITED TO SHARE THAT WE’RE NOW THE FIRST ACCOUNTING PROVIDER IN SOUTH AFRICA TO PROVIDE AN END-TO-END TAX SOLUTION THAT CONNECTS TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICE (SARS) IN REAL-TIME.

By Lucy Pink

ODAY, DEBTOR DADDY ARE VERY EXCITED TO LAUNCH OUR NEW SELECTION OF FILTERS THAT ALLOW YOU TO SLICE AND DICE YOUR ACCOUNTS IN A WAY THAT SUITS YOUR BUSINESS.

1. Filter by idle account

We’ve given Xero Me a new look, making it easier...

When an account reaches the end of a workflow, an account is set to ‘idle’. You can quickly find idle accounts using our filter function so you can decide what to do next. This could be assigning them to another workflow or having a meeting with your team to...

Simplify your pay run with Xero Me — Global

VER THE LAST NUMBER OF YEARS, LIGHTYEAR, THE FASTEST GROWING UKBASED ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SOFTWARE PROVIDER, HAS BEEN LEADING THE AP MARKET DUE TO ITS PIONEERING DATA EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER INNOVATIVE FEATURES LIKE AUTOMATED SUPPLIER STATEMENT RECONCILIATION. BUT IT IS THEIR LATEST FEATURE, FULLY AUTOMATED LINE-

BY-LINE 3-WAY PO MATCHING, THAT HAS INDUSTRY INSIDERS TALKING. Chris Gregg, CEO, explains: ‘’Our customer insights team engaged with hundreds of mid-market finance teams to understand what their most costly and time-consuming procurement tasks were. Top of the list was the process of manually matching PO line...

AU & NZ - Legal software for sole-practitioners, start-ups, in-house legal teams and barristers. Manage your documents, briefs, emails, trust, costs, invoices and more. Simplify matters with intuitive software for lawyers so you can get on with practising law. Access everything anywhere, at any time, from any device.

BILLDOZER ZA - Billdozer is a Cash Flow enhancement tool for small businesses that allows seamless integration between Xero and Debit order providers. Faster and more efficient payment collections for subscription and recurring invoicing, online billing, and arrears management.

ANNA UK - ANNA is a mobile-only business current account designed specifically for freelancers and small businesses, packed full of handy features. It’s a bank feed and a bookkeeping tool in one, making it easier to integrate with Xero. As an accountant, ANNA allows you to access your client’s up-todate financial data.

SAASANT GLOBAL SaasAnt Transactions Online application is an efficient, time-saving, and must-have tool for Accountants, Pro-advisors & Small Business owners using Xero. Bulk Import, Export, Delete Excel/ CSV File Transactions/Lists (Invoices, Bills, Expenses etc.) into Xero without manual work.

SYNCTOOLS UK & IE - No more manual entries, import/exports, and duplicates. SyncTools will sync sales and purchase orders from Linnworks to Xero automatically real-time. Keep on top of your VAT management with accurate numbers and flexible TAX rate settings.

BACKDATING ISSUE DATE ON AD-HOC INVOICES IN CHARGIFY

E UNDERSTAND THAT CHARGES CAN OCCUR OUTSIDE OF A NORMAL BILLING CYCLE AND THEREFORE PROVIDE THE FUNCTIONALITY FOR YOU TO SEND AD-HOC OR ONE-TIME INVOICES. MANY CUSTOMERS UTILIZE AD-HOC INVOICES TO SELL SERVICES OR ITEMS ON A NON-RECURRING BASIS TO THEIR CUSTOMER BASE. WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT OUR PRODUCT TEAM HAS MADE SOME EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS TO THESE TYPES OF INVOICES! YOU CAN NOW BACKDATE AD-

HOC INVOICES USING BOTH THE UI AND API. If performing this in the UI, you go under Subscriptions > Invoices > Create an Invoice. There is a new input field for Issue Date in the top right of the ad-hoc invoice within the UI. The issue date will be set by default to the current date. In order to back date the issue date, you will use the date selector functionality by clicking into the Issue Date...

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News

XU Biweekly | No. 9

Monday 12 July 2021 3

Airwallex CEO recognised for engineering excellence by the University of Melbourne; plans to boost Australia’s tech talent pool with new engineering hub in Sydney

OVATTI GROUP, PARENT COMPANY OF EMERSION, HAS RECENTLY LAUNCHED A CUTTING-EDGE PAYMENT GATEWAY – NOVATTI PAYMENTS. OUR INTEGRATION WITH NOVATTI PAYMENTS HAS GONE LIVE TODAY. THIS MEANS EMERSION CUSTOMERS CAN NOW USE NOVATTI PAYMENTS TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS. Novatti Payments is an all-in-one payment acceptance solution designed for growing small businesses. It’s easy to use, secure and affordable - which means it can...

Find out more

Xero and Ownr are working together to support entrepreneurs

By Andrew Webb

T XERO, WE KNOW THAT STARTING AND MANAGING A BUSINESS CAN BE CHALLENGING AND MAKING THE JUMP TO SELF-MADE IS NEVER STRAIGHTFORWARD.

ACK ZHANG, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF AIRWALLEX, HAS BEEN AWARDED THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S KERNOT MEMORIAL MEDAL FOR ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE. In addition, Airwallex

By Sophie Duggan

F YOU RUN YOUR OWN BUSINESS, OR ARE A PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR IN NEW ZEALAND, THEN YOU’LL PROBABLY KNOW ALL ABOUT SICK LEAVE. Sick leave can be used when an employee is unwell or injured, or when someone who depends on them for care is unwell or...

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By Andrew Webb

E’RE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT FATHOM IS NOW A SUPPLIER MEMBER OF THE BRITISH FRANCHISE ASSOCIATION. The BFA has been responsible for setting high-quality standards for UK franchising since 1977 and offers a huge range of support, education, and advice for the franchise industry. We’re thrilled to work with such a great body that’s passionate about offering fantastic opportunities to UK businesses and people eager to invest with

franchise brands. James Sedgwick from the BFA told us “the BFA community represents not only franchisors but professional advisers and suppliers that partner with the BFA to help shape our standards. These relationships are critical in ensuring that franchisors can access the right advice and structure their business models ethically. We enthusiastically welcome our new members on board, and look forward to building a relationship and collaborating closely over the years to come." From Fathom, Country...

Find out more

Along with Xero and PaySauce, we showcased the benefits of integrated software built for farmers Figured stands out at Fieldays By John Gibson

LONG WITH XERO AND PAYSAUCE, WE SHOWCASED THE BENEFITS OF INTEGRATED SOFTWARE BUILT FOR FARMERS. The Southern Hemisphere’s largest agricultur-

Increased minimum sick leave entitlements for New Zealand employees

By Rebecca Gravestock

Fathom is now a member of the British Franchise Association

We want to change how small businesses are supported, and a big part of that is to help entrepreneurs get started. This includes setting them up to succeed so they can focus more on doing what they love.

Increased minimum sick leave entitlements for New Zealand employees

also announced today the opening of its second engineering hub in Australia, based in Sydney. This comes as Airwallex continues to accelerate its hypergrowth momentum, with the company’s valuation increasing to US$2.6 billion after a recent capital raising of...

al event, and the ultimate launch platform for cutting edge technology and innovation - Fieldays - has come and gone, and was the best yet.

Deputy Locks-In GTM Leadership Team, Appoints Eventbrite, ServiceTitan and Sitetracker Alums

HE NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM WILL HEAD GLOBAL EXPANSION EFFORTS TO EMPOWER SMALL AND MIDDLE-MARKET BUSINESS OWNERS TO MANAGE AND SCHEDULE WORKERS EFFECTIVELY. Today, Deputy, the scheduling software company helping over 260,000 businesses worldwide manage their workforce, announces the addition of three new senior leadership hires. Nicole Brambila, Vach Hovsepyan and Brett Chester will help spearhead

Celebrating Indigenous-owned businesses during NAIDOC week, and all year round

the company’s aggressive global expansion efforts to empower small and middle-market business owners to master the art of employee scheduling. The company has introduced safer scheduling solutions for today’s modern workforce in the last year, partnering with customers like Ace Hardware, Dutch Bros and Peloton, to usher in efficiency and facilitate a healthier work environment. “The Pandemic has reminded us that agility is key. We’ve taken this lesson to our...

Find out more

HIS YEAR, 4 TO 11 JULY MARKS NAIDOC (NATIONAL ABORIGINAL AND ISLANDERS DAY OBSERVANCE COMMITTEE) WEEK, AN ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF THE HISTORY, CULTURE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES. While it’s a calendar event that...

By Hollie Smith

HIS MONTH’S GLOBAL GOAL OF THE MONTH IS QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL. A GOAL FOCUSED ON ENSURING INCLUSIVE AND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL AND PROMOTING LIFELONG LEARNING. Education is the key to a brighter future, yet 39% of people living in poverty worldwide have no formal education at all. By providing access to quality education, we’re not only empowering each individual; we’re empowering communities and countries to break out of the poverty cycle.

Find out more

SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK...

Features

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Monday 12 July 2021

3 Reasons to Try Fetch by Dext Prepare By Jake Souch

ETCH AUTOMATICALLY RETRIEVES INVOICES FROM OVER 1600 BUSINESSES, FROM AMAZON TO UBER

Accountants and bookkeepers can spend hours chasing clients for purchase invoices - time that Invoice Fetch by Dext Prepare can save. With a Dext account, Fetch is easy to set up and use. You’ll just need your login credentials for a supplier - like Amazon, eBay, and your energy providers. You can choose the range of dates Dext will Fetch items for - it could be a week, or even the entire available history. But saving time is just the beginning here are three more reasons to try Fetch:

1) Adds value to your practice Missing paperwork for accountants and bookkeepers means that the purchase ledger in the accounting system is not up to date or accurate, worse yet, reconciliations can-

not be completed on time. This results in a delay with completing tasks and additional time being incurred but not recoverable.

2) Fetch will save bookkeepers and accountants hours due to not having to chase clients for missing paperwork. You can send a request to clients to connect to a supplier -- once the connection is set up, you will have these documents automatically pulled in from the supplier for your client. The purchases cycle can be streamlined further by using other Dext features like purchase order matching, auto categorisation, supplier rules and auto publishing ensuring maximum efficiency and a “no-hands” approach to accountancy with Dext doing all the hard work for you. The time saved can be used supporting more of your clients and providing additional services, or a day off.

3) Tried and loved The popularity of Fetch is growing at an exponential rate. In 2020, we Fetched over two million items for our users, saving valuable time for accountants and bookkeepers who could then provide more valuable advice and services to clients. There are currently 35 thousand businesses using Fetch, and 125 thousand unique connections to suppliers.

Always evolving We regularly review customer requests for new Fetch suppliers. Since the start of 2020, we’ve added an additional 200 supplier portals that our customers have asked for. We actively review the usage and performance of the Fetch engine and make refinements to ensure it’s working as best it can for our customers.

Find out more

Q&A with Searle Goott X

CEO & Founder, Flagship Reporting

U: WE WERE VERY EXCITED TO SEE FLAGSHIP’S RECENT LAUNCH & INTEGRATION WITH XERO! WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR FLAGSHIP COME FROM & WHAT LED YOU TO CREATING IT?

SG: It was born from the idea and frustration of having to spend lots of time using Excel spreadsheets to produce management accounts, which is time consuming and prone to error. XU: What were you doing pre-Flagship? SG: I was acting as a portfolio FD for various clients. XU: What problems or challenges does Flagship solve? SG: Flagship totally automates the reporting process for our clients. As it is integrated with Xero, figures are always in sync with no room for manual errors. XU: Who are your target

users and who will it help benefit?

SG: Our target users are both Accountancy firms and FD’s / FC’s working for a business. XU: What are the advantages of integrated reporting solutions over spreadsheets such as Excel Reporting? SG: Automation, accuracy and eliminating errors. XU: What sets Flagship apart from the other Reporting apps out there? SG: Ease of use. A simple and intuitive user interface and flexibility - this means that our users can create fully customisable reports, in any format, for any period. Our “blank canvas” approach enables the user to create management reports in the required format as opposed to using a template that may not suit our users’ needs.

XU: How has the product been received so far since the launch in April? SG: We have had an unbelievable response so far. Clients genuinely love the product and have said that Flagship has saved them days with their reporting. XU: Which of Flagship’s features do you personally think is the most useful? SG: Customising rows and columns to suit the users requirements and the ability to run a single company or a consolidated group from the same dashboard. XU: Launching a new business & app during Covid-19 must have been an interesting process. Did you encounter any unexpected issues or surprises during the creation & setup? SG: Thankfully we have been so lucky to have continued to connect with our customers on Zoom, as well as working with the most in-

credible team of developers XU: Flagship’s interface appears very user-friendly and intuitive. What functions did you implement to increase its accessibility and ease of use? SG: A simple and intuitive drag and drop interface together with the functionality of switching running a report for any period or any company. XU: Why did you choose to integrate with Xero? SG: Xero is the market leader in this space and is the software of choice for most Accountants. XU: Tell us a bit more about yourself & what you get up to outside of Flagship! SG: I love the outdoors and sport - mainly tennis, swimming and cycling. Recently, I have been...

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6 XU Biweekly | No. 9

Features

Introducing a new cash flow service to your clients - a conversation guide

Monday 12 July 2021

SPOTTED ON LINKEDIN...

By Sam Fairbairn

T CAN BE CHALLENGING TO DEMONSTRATE THE TRUE VALUE OF YOUR SERVICES TO CLIENTS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’RE INTRODUCING A NEW SERVICE FOR THE FIRST TIME. BUT HAVING CLIENTS DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION OF HOW IMPORTANT AN ACCOUNTANT OR BOOKKEEPER’S ROLE IS, IS KEY TO EMBEDDING YOUR NEW SERVICE IN LONGER-TERM WITH FULL CLIENT BUY-IN. We asked business owners what more they wanted from their accountants. Almost a third of people said they wanted their accountant to provide a cash flow forecast. So that means people are crying out for cash flow advisory services, right? Well, not quite. Here’s a question: do your clients actually connect their business problems with cash flow as the solution? This is where Float’s

Cash Flow Proposal Guide comes in. We’ve created this conversation guide as a hub of practical advice on how to go from identifying an opportunity for a new cash flow service, right through to having a client paying a recurring fee for it. The step-by-step worksheet is designed to help you engage clients in meaningful conversations around cash flow. And by meaningful, we mean effective. Here are 5 key, actionable steps from the work-

sheet: • Discovery & groundwork - what are your client’s immediate goals and challenges? • Requirements to meet goals & address client challenges - what needs to be done to get the outcome both parties want? • Responsibility - which party is responsible for each task to be done? • Embedding your cash flow service longer-term - show evidence that cash flow isn't just for a crisis

5 ELEMENTS OF A STRONG CREDIT POLICY By Aj Singh

VERY BUSINESS SEEKS TO FULFIL ITS GROWTH OBJECTIVE BY MAINTAINING A HEALTHY CASH FLOW AND BUILDING A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH ITS CUSTOMERS. WHILE EXTENDING CREDIT TO CUSTOMERS CAN HELP BUSINESSES ACHIEVE THESE GOALS, IT CAN PROVE DETRIMENTAL TO BUSINESS LONGEVITY IN THE ABSENCE OF A STRONG CREDIT MANAGEMENT POLICY. Businesses need an integrated understanding of customer risk profiles and their risk tolerance levels to ensure their credit management is effective. Without developing a thorough credit policy, businesses can face the risk of a cash flow crisis, not to mention reputational risk. The key to mitigating credit risk is to draw up a carefully crafted credit policy that includes the five key elements:

1) Evaluate your risk tolerance

ISSUE 27 OUT NOW!

XU magazine

Evaluating whether your customers are trustworthy is a crucial part of the process. However, a credit check is just one aspect of the equation. When considering offering credit, you will also have to consider your risk appetite or tolerance – that is, how much risk you can take on overall and how much the credit offering contributes to the overall risk. In all cases, it is important to ensure your business balance sheet withstands losses of offering credit without the risk of insolvency. An effective way to monitor your risk levels is by calculating the DSO or daily sales outstanding regularly to assess the health status of your accounts receivables. DSO is calculated by dividing accounts receivable by total credit sales and multiplying this by the number of days. A low DSO indicates that you collect outstanding payments quickly after issuing your invoices. On the other hand, a high DSO can

be a red flag and indicates there is a delay in the collection of outstanding dues. For businesses offering credit timeframes of 30 days, a DSO level of less than 45 needs to be the goal. Another metric you can use to evaluate your risk tolerance relates to receivables turnover ratio. This measures how effectively your business collects outstanding receivables. To calculate this ratio, divide net credit sales by accounts receivable average. A high receivables turnover signals your business is effectively collecting receivables. It can also indicate a stringent lending policy that may be deterring quality customers. This ratio can also help you fine-tune your lending policy.

Find out more

Want to increase your client satisfaction? Board our spacecraft and work with AdvanceTrack by booking your call with our team

01 ENGAGE 02 ONBOARD 03 DATA 04 AUTOMATE 05 CHECKS 06 LEARN 07 COMMUNICATE

Book a Zoom meeting with our team advancetrack.com/start-here/ www.advancetrack.com Where Quality and Security comes as standard

Features

8 XU Biweekly | No. 9

Monday 12 July 2021

EXTEND THE POWER OF XERO WITH ORDERING & PAYABLES AUTOMATION Unlock the full potential of Xero and your firm with Lightyear

Does one size fit all?

By Chris Gregg

ERO EXPENSES AND HUBDOC ARE GREAT TOOLS FOR BASIC EXPENSE AND AP AUTOMATION, HOWEVER COMPLEX BUSINESSES NEED A MUCH MORE ROBUST AND FLEXIBLE SOLUTION. Unlock the full potential of Xero and your firm with Lightyear Remote working has increased the demand for business process automation (especially regarding collaboration and approvals) within the Accounts Payable (AP) and Procurement sphere. Xero Expenses and HubDoc are great tools for basic expense and AP automation, however complex businesses need a much more robust and flexible solution. Features such as line item extraction, customisable approvals workflows, multi-currency capability, auto-statement reconciliation, bill to PO matching and group analysis are all key components of larger business’ AP requirements.

What can Lightyear

do for you?

supplier again

Lightyear is a 5-star rated Purchasing and AP Platform that extends the functionality of Xero and offers a market leading all-in-one solution for large SMEs and accounting firms. Whether you need Purchasing, AP, or both, we’ve got one of the most comprehensive and feature-packed purchasing to payment platforms in the world; unbeaten when it comes to value for money, ease of use and customer satisfaction.

Lightyear’s automated price checking system is a great way to make sure that you aren’t being overcharged. When bills are received, Lightyear will automatically check them against the supplier’s price lists and, with its handy traffic light system, tell you if the price is correct on every single item!

Free your data entry from the chains of repetitive tasks Lightyear’s proprietary data extraction technology delivers line-by-line data by default, including product codes, quantities and unit costs in real-time. One transparent cost per document: unlimited pages, unlimited line items. Not only do we provide immediate and detailed extraction, we give you the tools to run detailed spend analysis reports with richer data to help you make informed decisions.

Never overpay a

Get your team on the same page Route all of your documents through a multi-tiered approvals workflow, including departments, to get oneclick approval at each stage. You can have up to 5 levels of approval triggered by various routing rules, and with the Lightyear mobile app, your team can approve and collaborate from anywhere, anytime! You’ll also be able to approve in-browser or via email if that’s more convenient for your team.

Automated Statement Reconciliation Reconciling bills against supplier statements is a...

By Joanna Cruickshank

ENERALLY, IF A PRODUCT IS DESCRIBED AS “ONE SIZE FITS ALL” THIS MEANS IT CAN BE SUITABLE FOR, OR USED IN, ALL CIRCUMSTANCES I.E. IT IS INTENDED TO BE SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE OR EVERY PURPOSE. However, to determine if one size does really fit all you need to consider the product we are referring to. When purchasing clothing labelled as one size fits all it could be appropriate for some items but not others. For example, it may work as a description for a poncho raincoat or an adjustable size hat, however for other items including shoes and jeans a specific size needs to be stated to ensure fit therefore one size does not fit all. If we apply the term one size fits all to a cloud-based application or solution the assumption based on the above analogy would be the product is suitable or fit for every business purpose. However, as your clients trusted business advisor, when taking into consideration a client’s unique business processes and requirements you know there is no one solution to fit all their needs. You may be able to suggest or select a one size fits all solution that might meet one or a few of their needs, however a better option is to create a bespoke ecosystem of proven cloud-based solutions. These applications will work together to ensure all their business needs are meet, now and into the future. For example, if your client is a start-up, their current business requirements will be a lot different to their future requirements

when they could be employing 100+ employees. Xero understands that they cannot be the one size fits all solution to meet every business requirement, hence why they have partnered with hundreds of add-on apps including CloudPayroll in Australia and iPayroll in New Zealand. Most accounting solutions available are a strong fit to business match for accounting requirements however they may not meet requirements in job costing, inventory tracking, payroll and/or reporting etc. Through Xero’s App Marketplace you can research integrations partners they connect with as a starting point to building a clients application ecosystem. Both CloudPayroll and iPayroll are proven cloud-based payroll solutions. They are easy-to-use and feature-rich, and suitable for all industries and business sizes from one employee to 100+ employees. They seamlessly integrate with Xero working together to cut processing times and improve business efficiencies.

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XU Biweekly | No. 9

Monday 12 July 2021 9

Accountant Tools

Speed up your ATO document processing time by 90%

It’s a match made in heaven.

www.compleatsoftware.com

ARE YOU TIRED OF CHASING OVERDUE INVOICES? Automate your AR with ezyCollect

Find out how with #TheFutureIsNow

Financial Services

atomate.com.au

Start your FREE trial: workflowmax.com/xero

Outsourcing

Connect Xero and Sapaad Cloud POS for a total business solution.

BUSINESS FINANCE MADE EASY

Try Sapaad for FREE www.sapaad.com

marketfinance.com

Inventory

The Future of Purchasing ccounts Payables

Payments

Made for recurring payments

Visit : www.lightyear.cloud

Xero’s Financial Services App of the Year

Sharing 1 founder's card for your entire team expenses? Switch to Spenmo

Sublime practice management software for accountants and bookkeepers. Sign up for a 30-day free trial www.senta.co

CRM

Point of Sale

spotlightreporting.com

Time Tracking

Reporting

All-in-one reporting, forecasting and business insights. 200+ REVIEWS

Real-time cash flow confidence

STOCK MANAGEMENT

#1 Reporting & Forecasting app in the Xero Ecosystem

Year End

Tools to digitalise your practice wolterskluwer.co.uk

tidystock com

Invoices & Jobs

Dedicated to making work life easier for bookkeepers. AI-POWERED PROCESS AUTOMATION AND RISK ALERTS

www.xbert.io

Automated billing for MSPs & Telcos

Bills & Expenses

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Payroll & HR

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JOB MANAGEMENT

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AutoEntry.com

Debtor Tracking

FOR BUILDERS www.nextminute.com

Australia

cloudpayroll.com.au

XU magazine

Asking to get paid for your work shouldn’t have to feel awkward See how Chaser can help

Save my space

ipayroll.co.nz

ERP Solution for Engineering, Construction & Site Installers

www.qicworks.com

ISSUE 27 OUT NOW!

FinTech News

10 XU Biweekly | No. 9

Monday 12 July 2021

COUPONS

Monzo's international transfers just got smoother. Powered by Wise.

Start a

FREE trial & get

3 months for only $300!

A JAM-PACKED JUNE FOR REVOLUT By George Blew

50% off for the first 6 months & start a free trial

30 day FREE trial Best-in-class approval automation for Xero

E HOPE YOU’VE HAD A GREAT FIRST HALF OF 2021. WE’VE CERTAINLY LOVED BRINGING YOU EXCITING NEW PRODUCTS EACH MONTH – AND JUNE IS NO DIFFERENT. IN FACT, FROM REVOLUT SHOPPER (THAT’S OUR COOL NEW CHROME EXTENSION, FYI) TO THE NEW BANK TRANSFER TRACKER, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN, WE THINK THIS MONTH IS PRETTY SPECIAL. SO, GET COMFY AND JUMP INTO JUNE.

Track the status of your bank transfers Try FREE for 30 days & get

50% off your first 3 months

Nowadays you can track everything from parcels to pizza, so we thought it was high time you started being able to track money you

send, too. You can now follow your money every step of the way, so you know when it arrives in the recipient’s account

you can add to your home screen, so you can stay in the know

Transform the way you buy online

Track the performance of your crypto and commodity investments in real-time, right from your home screen. So you can stay on top of your game and make informed decisions even faster

Introducing: Revolut Shopper. Our brand new Chrome extension will automatically find you great deals from across the internet. Plus, you can shop safely online by creating single-use virtual cards in just a few clicks. Add it to your browser to get started

Discover and track your net worth Ever wondered what number you’d be left with if you tallied up everything from all of your bank accounts and investments? Well now you can find out in just a few taps. There’s even a widget

Analyse your performance

Get detailed crypto stats We’ve started gathering more data on each crypto, so you don’t have to. For each token you’ll be able to see the current circulating supply of coins, trading volume over the last 24 hours, popularity on Revolut and more

Find out more

9 Daily The latest news from all your favourite Xero connected apps 9 Every fortnight XU Biweekly 9 Quarterly XU Magazine

New design, new clarity First things first. We have a sparkling new design for you to enjoy. You’ll see a new button on the Monzo app that lets you start an international payment. Once you tap, you’ll be able to see the real exchange rate, fees and estimated delivery time for any transfer you’d like to set up.

By George Blew

Monzo’s mission is to make money work for everyone, so it was only natural that we team up with them to help folks pay their mortgage in a different country, do business abroad, travel, or just live a more borderless life. Three years later, we’ve seen how much customers like the convenience of managing their international transactions from one platform. We’ve also heard your feedback on what doesn’t work. So we went back into the lab with Monzo to create an even better experience for our customers. International transfers in Monzo just got smoother. And they're powered by Wise.

Become a winner with Revolut Points

Offer ends 30/06/21

Subscribe to our mailing list and never miss an issue!

F YOU’VE BEEN WITH US SINCE 2018, YOU MIGHT BE AN OG CUSTOMER WHO REMEMBERS WHEN WE FIRST PARTNERED WITH MONZO, TO POWER INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS.

GoCardless announces partnership with Pennylane to enable small businesses and start-ups to automate invoices, accounting and payments

Save up to $2000!

Hub

By Sonia Ciocirlie

By Linda Yang

IRST CUSTOMERS HAVE ALREADY REDUCED OUTSTANDING PAYMENTS BY 25X

GoCardless (GoCardless.com), a leading fintech in account-to-account payments, has joined forces with Pennylane, the first financial management and accounting platform designed for companies and their accountants, to offer SMEs and start-ups a seamless way to manage and collect recurring payments. The partnership will combine Pennylane’s new subscription management functionality, enabling businesses to automate the creation of recurring invoices and accounting, with GoCardless’ global bank debit network, allowing them to automatically debit their customers when each payment is due. This means SMEs and start-ups no longer have to use manual processes, such as keeping a log, to remind them when to send their next invoice. This ensures invoices are always sent on time, eliminating barriers

which slow down the payment cycle, and removes the need to duplicate and update invoices. When it comes to collecting payments, the partnership helps to accelerate the process; on average, business get paid 47% faster with GoCardless. Users also benefit from lower failure rates and improved visibility of their cash flow, gaining greater certainty around the exact date when they’ll get paid. In addition, this integration gives joint customers easy access to the latest payment technology as GoCardless launches a series of open banking-enabled features this year. Customers are already experiencing the power of Pennylane and GoCardless. Benjamin Donteville, founder of Scalability, a growth agency that allows companies to accelerate their sales through the implementation of an outbound strategy, acquired new clients rapidly after establishing his business at the start of this year.

OU, OUR AMAZING CUSTOMERS, ARE THE REASON THAT WE DO WHAT WE DO. SO WE THOUGHT IT WAS HIGH TIME WE SHOWED YOU SOME LOVE. AND WHAT SAYS ‘LOVE’ BETTER THAN A BOAT-LOAD OF CASH? £250,000 TO BE PRECISE. AND YOU CAN WIN IT OVER THE NEXT 4 WEEKS. So, how do you get your hands on the cash? That’s where Points come in. Each point you earn will get you one entry into the weekly prize draw. Earning Points is easy, too. Take on our inapp challenges and spend with your card and they’ll add up fast. Please note: for

now Points is only available in the UK.

Turn everyday actions into Points We want to make getting more from your money even more exciting, so we’ve added loads of easy ways to pile up the Points. Just spending with your card will bag you Points for each transaction, or complete our in-app challenges to get loads in one go.

Win cash prizes weekly Get excited! The whopping £250,000 prize pool will be dished out in our...

Find out more

WEBINAR 15 July 2pm AEDT