XU Magazine - Issue 02 - Digital Edition - Preview by XU Magazine

The independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users

ISSUE

Dec - Feb 2015 Issue 02

Pg 42

DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T PLAY WHACK-A-MOLE Pg 54

THE RETAIL AND HOSPITALITY RINGMASTER Pg 45

INTEGRATION & THE ICE CREAM BUSINESS

Pg 36

XEROCON SYDNEY 2014 EXPERIENCES

FOR ALL

COVER STORY:

XERO USERS ISSN 2054-7226 ISSN 2054-7226

9 772054 722009

Kilts in the Cloud XU Magazine speaks to Steven Renwick, Colin Hewitt and Michael Wood Page

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 1

2 / Issue 02

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 3

Job management software to streamline your business USED BY: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

INDUSTRIAL 

Civil Construction



Architects



Commercial Construction



Designers & Digital Agencies



Engineers



Consulting Engineers



Field Operators & Installers



Chartered Surveyors



Manufacturers & Fabricators



IT Professionals



Workshops



Research Professionals

Grant Durney | Bay Sandblasting, NZ

“

Ann Wilkins | Align Ltd, NZ

Having a much more powerful project management system that linked with Xero was, in the end, the major reason for going with Xero. Gillian Walker, Business Manager, Crouch Waterfall | Godalming & Bristol, U.K.

Integrates with...

4 / Issue 02

”

tidywork.com

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

WELCOME TO ISSUE 02 magazine The independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users Issue 02, Dec - Feb 2015 Co-Founders: David Hassall, Wesley Cornell Editor: Wesley Cornell Global Communications Manager: Heather Smith Contributing Writers: Matt McFedries, David Tuck, Garry Dukes, Michelle Polglase, Adrian Pearson, Sharon Pocock, Ursula Hogben, Zowie Hondow, Duncan Folkes, Steff Green, Heather Smith, Doug Morris, Shanu Mehta, Paul Miller, Marvin Galang, Jonathan Ford, Tarryn Guttenberg, Greg Sheehan, Lior Zehtser, Ryan Lazanis, Namita Sethi, Shannon Smit, Simon Young, Ryan Baker, Danetha Doe, Victoria Kerr, Peter Vessenes, Ron Holman, Blake Oliver. Front Cover: Pictured (L-R): Steven Renwick (Satago), Colin Hewitt (Float), Michael Wood (Receipt Bank). Photographer: Nick Rawle Ambassadors: Heather Smith (AU / USA), Gayle Buchanan (NZ), Jonathan Gaunt (UK), Carol-Ann Brouwer (CA) Design: creativehopestudio.com Editorial/News Submissions: In the first instance, please send editorial, news stories, requests and enquiries via your country’s ambassador (email addresses overleaf). For general submissions, please email: editorial@xumagazine.com

In the last Issue I was talking about packing for Xerocon Sydney. That all seems so long ago now, but what a time we had! See the experiences of others on page 36. The XU Magazine stand on the Xero help desk was very popular, and a staggering 1,800 magazines were picked up. There was huge interest shown in XU Magazine, and the event itself was fantastic. After hearing some truly inspirational speakers, the event ended with a fabulous Gala Awards dinner, at which two of our front cover stars, Michael Wood from Receipt Bank and Colin Hewitt from Float both picked up awards. Now we are back to the everyday life of producing the magazine, but the great boost from Sydney has just continued. We have had so many kind and encouraging comments from all corners of the world, we just know the magazine is a winner. When we went to press with Issue 01 there were 334,000 paying Xero users worldwide. In the short time since then, and as I write, the number has grown to 400,000! That is a lot of potential new readers, and contributors to the magazine. We have had so many excellent

contributions, this can only get better with the Xero community continuing to grow. We love the fact that so many people have wanted to be involved, and have helped and supported in so many ways. It has been hard work, but the results have been so worth it. That holiday I talked about last time, well, it is still a long way off. There are deadlines that must be met first! I will soon be packing my bags though – this time for Xerocon London. This should be another great event, with opportunities for people to see what we are doing with XU Magazine. Sydney was the starting point for us, now London is our next big milestone. The holiday will just have to wait a bit longer! That’s enough from me for now, I will leave you to enjoy Issue 02!

Wesley Cornell - Editor

Advertising: advertising@xumagazine.com T: +44 (0)116 298 60 80 E: hello@xumagazine.com W: www.xumagazine.com ‘Xero’ is a trademark of Xero Limited (New Zealand). 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. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. XU Magazine is published by XU Magazine Ltd (08811842), registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 198 Welford Road, Leicester, LE2 6BD. All information contained in this magazine is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. XU Magazine cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant XU Magazine a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all/any editions of the magazine, 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 nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage. The views expressed in XU Magazine are not necessarily the views of XU Magazine Ltd, its editors or its contributors.

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Used with permission: diyaccounts.com

Issue 02 / 5

To cope with the immense number of submissions that are sent in from fellow Xero users (and to get around the time zone differences!), we have four country Ambassadors. Please send in any editorial, news stories, enquiries and requests via your country’s Ambassador.

Heather Smith (covering Australia and US) is the author of the Xero for Dummies series, host of the CloudStories.com Podcast, a Xero Advisor and Chartered Certified Accountant. She provides remote Xero Set-Up, Support and Training, and loves any opportunity she has to write. You can get in touch with Heather by email at au@xumagazine.com or us@xumagazine.com

Gayle Buchanan is well-known amongst Xero users through her activity in the Xero Community Forums. She is the founder of Number Nurses, cloud integrators who specialise in helping business owners and accountants to master applications like Xero, Xero Add-ons and the Google-Suite. For those of you in New Zealand, get in touch with Gayle at nz@xumagazine.com

Jonathan Gaunt is the XU Magazine Ambassador for the UK. After working in ‘big’ businesses, Jonathan made a move over to working with small businesses, primarily in the creative and technology sector. He is the founder of FD Works, based in Bristol, UK, and an enthusiastic fan of Xero and its Add-ons. Contact Jonathan at uk@xumagazine.com

Carol-Ann Brouwer is our Canadian Ambassador. CarolAnn is a global certified Xero trainer, professional speaker and successful entrepreneur. Inspired by Xero, she founded Accounting AnyWhere, committed to moving businesses over to the Cloud. You can message Carol-Ann by emailing ca@xumagazine.com

Founding Supporters: XU Magazine’s Patrons

Funded on:

In this issue... 08

Interview:

Front Cover Story:

Gregor McKelvie from Tracks

Kilts in the Cloud

talks to Colin Hewitt from Float

10 Add-on Implementation – Gravy Train or Train Wreck – It’s Up To You!

14 100 Days of Chaser

34 Sharesight + Xero: Perfect Portfolio Management

36 Xerocon Sydney 2014

Experiences

Why We Love Value Based Pricing (And You Should Too!)

Tips for an Awesome Website

Review: CustomerSure

Xero Heroes

Answering the Second Question

Don’t Play Whack-A-

Book Review: Zero to One

19 Setting up an Online Business - the Legal Essentials To Comply

22 Completing Business Activity Statements in Xero

Mole

Getting Payment Faster

45 Cream Business

48 Uncovering the Demons in the Sale

52 Smart Appointments

The Retail and

28 Changing Lives Through Business Intelligence

Front Cover Story: Kilts in the Cloud

Integration and the Ice

Getting the Most Out of Bank Rules on Xero Disaster Recovery for the Zombie Apocalypse

100 Days of Chaser

Hospitality Ringmaster

56 Cloud Integrator

The Retail and Hospitality Ringmaster

58 Closing Words...

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 7

Interview Gregor McKelvie from Tracks talks to Colin Hewitt of Float

Gregor McKelvie, the founder of buildtracks.com Can you introduce Float and what your role is? Hey Gregor. So, Float started life as a spreadsheet that I’d built to run our agency ‘IfLooksCouldKill’ in Edinburgh. When we started exploring moving to cloud accounting software like Xero and Colin Hewitt, the CEO and Co-Founder of Float FreeAgent, we realised that a lot of what we were doing in Excel and question! I’m not on too much cash because you just Word could be sure if I even want to keep a healthy buffer, you dropped, and thought of Float still really never know exactly how replaced with as a cashflow much you can afford to spend, and But really, the only these awesome model in the what the impact of certain decisions magic formula is your platforms. The early days. It will be... only part that cash in minus your was just a “do we weren’t able cash out each week... we have enough When it comes to running an agency to find was the - Colin Hewitt cash to pay our and managing cash, what should the bit that looked salaries model”. top priorities be for its founders? forward - at what We didn’t have a jobs were on the clue about accounting, Ultimately the golden rule, as with horizon and plotted and felt bad each year for personal finance, is to make more our cashflow, so we could the sorry mess of paper bills and than you spend… see if we had enough cash over the receipts we handed to our accountant But sometimes thats just not next few months to meet the payroll at the end of the year. possible, e.g. you need to invest for a and any other outgoings that were season and burn down on some spare coming up. I imagine most agencies experience cash, or take out a loan to invest in the same crazily busy times, and then the business. After being over at Startup School in occasional lulls when a pitch falls San Francisco back in 2009, I decided through, or someone is taking longer I’d say the main priority is to have an to at least explore building a simple to pay than expected. awareness of cash in the bank, and forecasting tool, that would save cash coming in and out. me the hassle of manually updating Having a model where you can my spreadsheet each month. I met quickly know exactly the impact that The tricky bit for a team is to Phil Roberts my Co-Founder at a it makes on your bank balance really understand all the other spending conference and thought he’d be the helps you sleep at night, or in the commitments that haven’t been perfect person to found a company worst case, anticipate any difficulties, converted to bills yet - or formalised with. and make sure you’ve got enough of in whatever system they are using. an overdraft, or even sort out a loan What is a cash flow model? And why should an agency care? to cover a shortfall. For example; a print campaign for a client, that needs to be paid in What is a cash flow model? Good In the other extreme - if you’re sitting advance. 8 / Issue 02

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Are there any ‘magic’ formulas that agencies should work to - like always having 3 months worth of cash in the bank? I think three months of cash in a savings account is a great place to start. It’s nice to be in that position, there were many times that we were month to month. Always have enough cash to cover your upcoming tax bills (VAT, corporation tax and PAYE). But really, the only magic formula is your cash in minus your cash out each week... In an article on your blog, you talk about saving automatically? What is this? Why do it? I think a simple way to get a better handle on cash is to have 3 bank accounts: one current account, one tax account and one savings account. Pay into the savings account and tax account by standing order each month, so it becomes automatic rather than when you feel you can afford it. It’s a great discipline. You can start small and build it up gradually. There will be times you can draw down on your savings, but in the lean times having the discipline to keep saving can be vital in building a pot where you know exactly how much you have in reserve, and your current account is really just cash in and out, as long as its in credit, you don’t have to worry about it.

What happens when others (nonfounders) are responsible for purchases? How does a founder prevent wasting cash / making unapproved purchases? This is really about communication and having a system where you can generate purchase orders and add in expenses and projections, so there are no nasty surprises! Generally I don’t think small companies are ever going to ‘set budgets’ for spending like large companies do but it’s a great idea to try and anticipate future costs, and

basic going through the motions kind of chat, and I wasn’t that impressed, but this last time, he was much more engaged and energetic. I guess it’s like most of us - depends on the day!

unlike a large company it doesn’t mean you try and spend the whole budget (so it is approved again next year!). It’s just a helpful placeholder amount to guesstimate and see how close you were each month. We actually designed Float so that with any figures you see, you can click on them and see a list of all the transactions they represent. So anything that looks strange, you can identify it quickly and flag it up.

About Colin Hewitt is the CEO and Co-Founder of Float, cashflow forecasting software for small businesses on the cloud. It connects with Xero and FreeAgent and recently received the award of Emerging Add-On of the Year at Xerocon Australia. Gregor McKelvie is the founder of Tracks, a monthly sales and revenue tracking system for small businesses. You can reach them respectively at @floatapp (floatapp.com) and @buildtracks (buildtracks.com).

I think as a company grows the perception of what a ‘waste’ of cash is changes. For example: in the early days spending £600 on a chair might seem ridiculous, but when you can afford it, it changes to become a smart investment for the long run. What techniques would you recommend for managing invoicing / chasing payment? I think having a cash flow model, that you check at least once a week, gives you an idea on how urgent chasing invoices is. It’s a sensitive issue. However, having a system that shows you all your overdue invoices, and then automatically chases invoices that are late really helps. There are a few new ones like Satago and Chaser that are focusing on just this. I’ve seen a few examples of funny and well written overdue emails for 30, 60 and 90 days that are worth composing and thinking about doing. Although after 30 days its always worth following up with a phone call or email just to ask “can you let us know when we can expect payment?”. I’ve only in my life experienced one really badly late debt, when the company wasn’t going bust, but just stalling for time. I spent an hour crafting a personal letter which the owner replied and said it was “the best letter asking for payment he’s ever seen”!

LSA Partners are pure accountants and specialists in our field. We aim to provide not only the best service, but to give our clients a thorough understanding of their financial position.

LSA Partners Pty Ltd

Accountants & Advisors

AVAILABLE SERVICES

121 Burwood Highway, Burwood VIC, 3125 Mail: Locked Bag 2000, Burwood, VIC, 3125

Accounting and assurance

P: 03 9830 6466 F: 03 9830 6477

Taxation

E: LSA@lsapartners.com

Lastly, you recently met Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party - what was he like?

The first time I met him - it was a very

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Superannuation

Cloud Accounting

Expert service

Issue 02 / 9

Add-on Implementation – Gravy Train or Train Wreck – It’s Up To You! Words by Matt McFedries, Co-Founder of debtordaddy.com

I’ve been involved in software in one way or another since 1998. I built my first cloud app in 1999 after teaching myself to code in ASP from library books and online tutorials. The app itself was a flop (I built something no one wanted), however on the upside I had a great time learning to write code and discovering what it really took to bring an app from idea to market.

(knowing what you know now). What can you do to prevent this scenario from happening?

16 years down the track I’ve been involved in all aspects of taking software to market, from development, to product management, selling, implementation and support. I’ve worked in startups and multi-million dollar organisations, and founded two software companies (Debtor Daddy and PracticePlus).

Most software implementation projects (large or small) can be broken down into the following phases:

What I’d like to share in this article are some of the tips, tricks and strategies I’ve learned over the years that will help you plan your path to more successful Add-on selection, implementation and support for your clients.

If you can factor these five phases into your project then you’ll be more likely to achieve an outcome that both satisfies your client and makes you money.

To kick off, let’s begin with the train wreck.

This is where you seek to understand the problem and outcomes your client expects after engaging you. The scoping phase is your single best opportunity in the entire process to set yourself up to succeed.

You know the story. The budget is overrun, project outcomes are far from met, the implementation team is disillusioned, the client wants to walk, and YOU are lying awake at night wishing you could start over 10 / Issue 02

Well the answer is not that sexy (or new); it comes down to having a well defined process. A process that helps you plan for and mitigate risk at each step, so you don’t get to the end wishing you had done things differently.

Scope Design Build Testing Support

Phase 1: Scope

Your scope document (yes, a written document) helps you literally get on

the same page as your client. You can both agree on the problem, the objectives and outcomes, budget and the approach to solving the problem. In this document it is essential that you also outline any assumptions you’re making and any risks you’ve identified that might affect the agreed outcomes. Here’s some examples of written assumptions that have helped save my bacon in years gone by: ■■ The client will provide all product data in CSV files using a template we provide. ■■ The client will upload all product photos to a Dropbox folder. The photos will be formatted as JPG and be no greater than 250KB in size. ■■ 4 hours training is included. Additional training will be charged at $150 per hour. ■■ The client will assign one of their team to test the software for no less than 3 days per week for the duration of the project. Each of these assumptions is designed to mitigate either a time or budget blow out, because it will most likely be you that will have to spend the extra time or

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Phase 3: Build The build phase is where you and your team get stuck in to building the solution you detailed in the design phase. If you can, try and deliver something of value for the client to see and test as early as possible – this will help ensure you’re on the right track and surface any unexpected issues early on. Outside of the technical challenges you’ll encounter, often the main challenge with the build phase is managing ‘scope creep’. This is where you or the client come up with new ideas or requirements that were not previously thought of, and the temptation is to include these in the build right away with little thought to the impact on timeline, budget, documentation or quality of the end solution.

money to pick up any slack. As the service provider the burden is on you to ensure your client is fully aware of their responsibilities in the project. You need to educate them on what they need to do to help you succeed in meeting the agreed outcomes, and a clearly written scope document will help a lot with this. One other great way to mitigate risk early on is to find people that have already solved the problem or implemented the software you’re considering – call them and ask them what pitfalls they encountered, or read about them in XU Magazine. There’s no sense in repeating their mistakes!

essential later on down the track for the build, testing and support phases so everyone knows what the system is supposed to do. Alternatively, if there are a lot of unknowns in a project then it can be very helpful to create a ‘proof of concept’ that will help you test the solution and even try different approaches before you get too far down the track. This approach can save you a lot of time in writing a whole bunch of documentation that is useless because your design never worked in reality! Further to this point I recommend you read a book called ‘SCRUM’ by Dr Jeff Sutherland – it describes an incremental approach to delivering projects that reduces risk whilst increasing speed, quality and client satisfaction.

Now scope creep can actually be a good thing if you’re running a project using the Scrum methodology mentioned above because it actually helps improve the end solution. However if you’re working to a fixed price or timeline then you’re best to keep a record of all these good ideas and implement them in a subsequent iteration with a new timeline and budget. The build is often the phase where good projects go bad, and why the software industry has a poor reputation for delivering projects on time or in budget. Don’t be too eager to pick up the tools and build a solution, do the groundwork first, set yourself up to succeed by doing a great job of the previous two phases.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Phase 2: Design

The design phase is where you detail how you will solve the problem and meet the agreed outcomes.

The design for a software implementation project usually takes the form of several documents and diagrams that describe the key components, processes, data flows, reports, etc. These documents prove

Once you have agreement on the design it’s a good idea to get sign-off from your client before you commit time and resources to building it. Remember it’s a LOT cheaper to change things now than in subsequent phases.

Phase 4: Testing

The testing phase is where you and your team test the solution to ensure it adheres to the design and meets the agreed outcomes. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) should also be completed by your client to confirm that you’ve delivered according to their expectations.

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 11

Where possible include testing as part of the build phase, this will give you feedback ‘as you go’ providing regular assurance that you’re building the right solution. For example, if one of your deliverables is a report that shows weekly sales by store, then send that report to the client as soon as it’s done to ensure that it’s what they had in mind.

maintenance or improvements will be managed. For small projects a support contract might take the form of a monthly fixed fee which provides for phone and email support 5 days a week, then anything requiring additional configuration or development is charged out on a per job basis.

You might also recall that in the design phase I mentioned the need to document the proposed solution. This will prove essential for your team to provide quality ongoing Remember there support, is REAL VALUE in especially while you’re off you applying your overseas sipping mind and years of Mojitos bought experience to solving with the profits their problem from your recently - Matt McFedries successful implementation!

Additionally the documentation you created in the design phase will help you test against what was actually expected.

One common misstep is that people forget to include adequate time for testing. Testing should be included in the build phase and also as one of the key tasks you assign to your client. If your client knows about this in advance then they can plan to have the time and resources available so the testing phase can be completed in a timely fashion.

How much time should you allocate for testing? In software development a common ratio is 1:1, that is for every hour of development you should allocate an hour for testing. The ratio will vary according to complexity and whether you’ve done the same implementation before. The point is don’t underestimate the time it takes and certainly don’t forget about it!

Phase 5: Support This phase occurs after the solution is delivered and signed off by the client. And it’s another area that is often overlooked or underquoted especially for seemingly simple implementation projects. The chances of you delivering the perfect solution to your client that requires no ongoing maintenance or support is extremely low. So you need to agree with your client at the outset how ongoing support, 12 / Issue 02

client that it’s not possible to quote for the entire project, but that you’ll spend two days researching the best options, creating a proof of concept and basic documentation. That will cost $2,000 but they’ll get a detailed solution design and a much better estimate of the time and cost for the remainder of the project. My second tip is that if your client simply must have a price then give them a wide budget range instead. The conversation usually starts something like “based on my experience a project like this can cost anywhere between $3,000 and $10,000, depending on factors X, Y, Z. My recommendation is that we complete a scoping exercise first to get greater clarity on the problem and explore some possible solutions”. Now go forth and implement with confidence!

So there we have it, the five phases that if attended to will help you stay on the Add-on implementation gravy train and away from those dreaded train wrecks!

A final word on pricing Pricing a software implementation project is hard. This is especially so when there is a lot of unknowns e.g. What software is the best fit? Is the data in the current system in good shape? Will the conversion software work as I expect? How much time will it actually take? I have two tips on pricing that have helped me greatly: The first is to charge for the scope and design phases, not just the build. Remember there is REAL VALUE in you applying your mind and years of experience to solving their problem – so you should charge for it. This also sends the message that you’re a professional and have a structured process for delivering a quality result. Additionally it will scare away the time wasters that are wanting something for nothing. As an example, you might say to your

About the author Matt McFedries is Co-Founder of Debtor Daddy, the first Xero Add-on for automated Debtor Tracking. He lives in Christchurch, New Zealand with his wife and two children. Matt gets up in the morning to create software that gives humans more time to do what they love.

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

CHANGED THE GAME

14-days free, visit crunchboards.com

Simple or Limitless Limitless users complex 3-way organisations for collaboration P&L, Balance viewed side by with no sheet & cashﬂow side - that's restrictions forecasting - see multiple clients or your team want to hear from you! Get in touch - email:across hello@xumagazine.com actualsWe v. forecast businesses

User permissions Completely get granular and ﬂexible dataexpose Xero. Ie/ design - it's your Managers or business, your Investors can way Follow us on Twitter: @xumagazine have restricted access

Real, custom operational KPIs with our powerful, ﬂexible Formula Issue 02 / 13 Builder

100 Days of Chaser Words by David Tuck, Co-Founder & CEO of Chaser

Chaser in the way that we hoped they would. To see real life invoices getting paid because of the chase emails we’ve sent has been surreal, or to elaborate and paraphrase Hugh Grant in Notting Hill: “surreal but nice”.

Many of you will remember Chaser, which featured in and launched with the first edition of XU Magazine back in August. We caught up with David Tuck, Co-Founder and CEO to find out how things have gone since the launch. Here’s what he told us... Every New Year’s Eve, a friend of mine likes to challenge his fellow revellers to recall their highlights, lowlights and key learnings from the year just passed (don’t worry, he’s learnt to do this early in the evening to ensure that everyone’s contributions are somewhere resembling coherent!). The second issue of XU Magazine felt like a great juncture for us to do the same for our first 100 days since launching as a Xero add-on. So here are our highlights, lowlights and key learnings from 100 days of Chaser.

Highlights We spent a year developing Chaser and testing its robustness prior to launching and we also did lots of research. That coupled with our own Accountant and Finance Director experience gave us great confidence that we were building something great; something that could deliver great value to our users. It may sound silly, but until we launched there was still a nagging uncertainty: “Will it really work?”, “Will people really want to use it?”. First and foremost, it has simply been an absolute thrill to see Xero users using and enjoying 14 / Issue 02

We’ve been absolutely blown away with the feedback and level of engagement we’ve received from our users. At the end of the day, we are a product that helps get your invoices paid on time. By any conventional maxim, this just shouldn’t be delightgenerating. Yet that’s just one of in us extremely seriously. the many ways in which Xero users A huge highlight for us has been are incredible; they don’t adhere the invaluable relationships we’ve to convention! One particular been able to build with our partners. experience that stands out is our From having a great chance to chat online demo call with Stephen Paul with Emma and Jonathan from at Valued. By the end of the call, not Fresh Financials at the Xero UK only had he invited in his business housewarming event in October; to partner David Oliver, but he’d also set being invited down to Brighton up his own Chaser account by Gail and Carol from and was sending out Bainbridge Lewis for effective chasers! their Launchpad Another highlight event with Receipt Sometimes you see a piece has been the Bank, Float, confidence of software and think its Crunchboards our fantastic AMAZING and, of course partner firms @chaser_io really is, I sent Xero to are showing in introduce the out chasers, 20 mins later us. We’ve found cloud accounting a great way to 3 invoices have been paid transformation get started as - @stephenpathome to clients; a partner is to we’re loving the use Chaser on your opportunity we have own invoices to get to continue to build these comfortable that we do relationships. what we say on the tin. Then off the back of that introducing us to Frankly, it has been an incredible first clients. It has been brilliant to see 100 days. And we could probably more and more partners coming on write multiple articles just about the board and referring clients under our highlights! The final key one we will partner program. We’re extremely limit ourselves to is impact. We have mindful of the reputational risk been able to carry out an objective that comes with recommending a analysis of the impact of Chaser on new add-on to clients. Whilst we’re debtor days compared to the prior delighted to see these referrals grow status quo. It has been fantastic to in number, at the same time we be able to quantify that 20 days after take our responsibility to repay the invoice due date, on average 20% confidence our partners have placed

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

CHASER is a Xero add-on that helps you get your invoices paid on time. It enables you to automatically send the polite persistent chasing emails to your customers that are key to getting paid on time. All with you completely in the driver’s seat. You can try CHASER for free for up to 90 days at www.chaser.io and start getting your invoices paid on time, automatically.

L-R Patrick Tuck, Mark Woodbridge, Claire Rebello, Filip Wieland, David Tuck more of a user’s invoices will have been paid with Chaser. And that the 26 days it would have taken you to get to the same level of collection prior to Chaser equate to a cashflow boost of $71k for a $1m annual turnover business. It’s been great to see how much we can help Xero users.

Lowlights We hate disappointing our users. We’re really pleased with the way Chaser has performed at scale of use. That said, there have been a couple of issues with remote use cases that we hadn’t previously conceived of that have been a lowlight for us. One was within our automatic thanks for paying messages, which you can set to send out immediately once we receive information from Xero that an invoice is fully paid.

our thanks for paying messages so that now they are only sent where the invoice was fully paid within the last two weeks. But this was only after the mistake, which we were disappointed about. A related lowlight is that we’re realistic that there are likely other such remote edge cases that we’re not aware of. And that all we can do is ensure that we hear about them and continue to act on them in double quick time to make Chaser better and better once we do.

Learnings

the good sense to ask good questions and listen to the answers! We take great inspiration from how good a job Xero do on this front.

In summary, we’ve had an amazing first 100 days. We’re extremely grateful to Xero and particularly James Coleman within the Developer Relations team for all their support.

We’ve learnt how many great ideas there are within the Xero community. And how engaged and generous with suggestions the community is. We’ve been incredibly fortunate with the input we have received from our users. There have been far too many to name individually! But fantastic ideas from Penny Rowden at Rowdens and Scott Bradshaw at Coleman Bradshaw immediately spring to mind as ones that have materially informed the direction of some changes we are making to the way our scheduling system operates.

We have so much more we’re really excited about doing to enhance the

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

One user was in the process of migrating his accounts over to Xero. He was rebuilding the accounting records for his previous years’ accounts. In doing so he was reconciling off all old sales invoices. This meant we sent thanks for paying messages for invoices that were in some cases multiple years old. Once this was brought to our attention, we immediately changed the logic in

product and the value we’re able to deliver. Yet already, we’re absolutely delighted to be live as a product and helping Xero users!

xumagazine.com/subscribe Really we could summarise our learnings into one word: listen. Cultivate relationships and then have

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 15

Why We Love Value Based Pricing (And You Should Too!) Words by Garry Dukes, Ocius Digital

set rate, or a cost-plus percentage markup strategy. Unfortunately, these common pricing strategies and methodologies forget about the customer, that is, the people in charge of pricing arrive at price points based on internal reasons or existing market prices. Customers are not always driven by how much something costs to produce, neither in content or time. Most people place greater importance on how much value they are receiving at a particular price point. In addition, increases in technology and the subsequent ability to increase productivity have called into question the relevance of cost-based pricing structures today.

Pricing is the most important aspect of your business. In fact, no other variable has a higher impact on driving profit. Businesses have two common methods by which to price their products and services – these methods are cost-based pricing and value-based pricing. When a company uses cost-based pricing, it sets a price at a percentage above the cost it incurs to provide the service. Alternatively, value-based pricing can be defined as setting a pricing strategy based on the perceived or estimated value, as opposed to basing the decision on the historical price or the amount of money it takes to produce the product or service. It’s about setting a price that the majority of your customers are willing to pay. Value-based pricing is recommended by many academics.

So what’s wrong with these traditional pricing methods? ■■ These days clients are more savvy and will shop around to find the best perceived ‘value’, not just the best price. ■■ If you charge by the hour, raising your hourly rates can become an awkward conversation. ■■ If you charge by the hour, it’s impossible to be rewarded for improving your skills and becoming more efficient. Increasing your revenue can be difficult - there are only 24 hours in a day, approximately 16 maximum at which you can charge. When maxed out, the only way to add to revenue is to hire more staff, at a significant cost. On the other hand, value-based pricing is established prior to the service being completed, and is based on the value of the service to the client.

time taken to perform the task. As a result, value-based pricing enables a greater amount of scalability within a business, and a number of other benefits can be realised: ■■ Profits and revenues are no longer tied to the hours in a day. ■■ It provides a healthy incentive for people to improve their skills and become more efficient, promoting collaboration so the business can grow sustainably as a whole. ■■ It removes the pricing uncertainty to the client - they know they are not being billed for you thinking about them on your drive home. As a service provider, value-based pricing gives you the ability to properly service your clients. This increases the opportunity to raise revenues through technological and knowledge-based improvement in efficiencies, whilst adding value to your service offering and to your clients. Your time is finite, but your value can be infinite. Value-based pricing allows you to charge out your services accordingly.

About the author Garry Dukes is a project manager at Ocius Digital, a cloud integrator for Xero and associated add ons, based in Australia but working worldwide.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Traditionally, accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, financial planners and professional service providers have used cost-based methods founded on an hourly 16 / Issue 02

It works on the principle that the work is worth what it is worth to the business and the customer, not the

They help both accounting firms and bookkeepers as well as their respective clients migrate onto Xero based solutions.

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

xumagazine.com/subscribe

Tips for an Awesome Website Words by Michelle Polglase

With five years experience in the Xero ecosystem we’re continually inspired by the innovative culture and creative problem solving we see. As a provider of websites and digital strategy for Xero advisors globally we’ve seen some interesting trends. All businesses need a great website to showcase their brand. Some of our recommendations for an awesome website include the following: ■■ Tell your story. High quality, well structured content is important so you can tell your business story effectively. Your unique point of difference needs be clearly stated. ■■ Look at your Google Analytics and use that information to optimise your website. For example, your “About Us” page generally ranks highly so make sure this page establishes your credibility.

■■ Design! Spend some time on your website design and make sure you end up with a conversion-focused website. ■■ Include CTA’s or a ‘call to action’, such as an eBook download. ■■ Mobile optimisation is essential. Business decisions, including “which accountant shall I use?”, are increasingly made while browsing on mobile devices. ■■ Integrate your website with Xero Practice Manager for the ultimate business tool. ■■ Define your business strategy and marketing messages, and execute them across multiple digital channels. Education is the new marketing, and you need to update your website regularly. ■■ Running regular events can be a great way to generate leads for your business - and of course, promote these on your website.

After working with a number of the fastest growing Xero Partners around the world we’ve noticed they all have one thing in common. They hire great people to help them. Whether rebranding, copywriting, or running events or campaigns, the best results are always achieved by hiring the best person for the job; be they an internal marketing person, or an external consultant or agency. Your website is an investment in your business, and sends a message to the market. So make sure you get it right to take your business to its full potential.

About the author As Business Manager for PracticePlus, Michelle Polglase is inspired by innovation and on a mission to deliver excellence.

Know your money Track your fundamental business metrics Make better business decisions

Emerging Business CFO

WWW.EBCFO.COM We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 17

Answering the Second Question Words by Adrian Pearson

Adrian Pearson, Movemybooks

If the most important question is “should I move to Xero?”, then the second most important question is “when can I move?”. If you use Movemybooks then the answer is “as soon as you like”. One of the pain points for small business owners moving to Xero, and for Xero advisors looking to migrate

their clients to Xero, is the timing of the conversion. Once sold on the benefits of Xero, business owners want to make the change as soon as possible. Although Xero has a simple way to enter conversion balances, it’s most suitable for use at the end of an accounting year - and most business owners and their clients do not want to wait that long. Because the Movemybooks service converts all of the transactions for the current accounting period, conversion can be done at any time; with the business owner able to start using Xero immediately where they left off using their old desktop data. All of the year to date information is available in the new Xero organisation, as is previous year data for reporting purposes.

Movemybooks has been converting data from Sage and QuickBooks desktop to Xero for a number of years and to date more than 4,000 conversions have been completed. Average turnaround times are less than two working days and average customer satisfaction scores average at over 9 out of 10. As the recognised leader in the UK data conversion market, Movemybooks is retained by Xero to power their free conversions service. So, if you use Movemybooks, you can now answer that client question with “let’s do it today”.

ZERO TO ONE by Peter Thiel “Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future” Reviewed by Sharon Pocock FCCA of kinderpocock.co.uk his business journey. I actually felt privileged that he was sharing his thoughts and logic with me. Peter Thiel started PayPal in 1998, and invested in Facebook in 2004, where he is still a director, and was an early investor in Xero - so he certainly has some tales to tell.

I normally attack business books by reading a few chapters and then dipping in and out when I have time. This book is different. Peter Thiel is so knowledgeable that I needed to keep reading to see what wisdom he was going to impart next, or what decision he next made on 18 / Issue 02

This book isn’t just going to give you advice on starting up, it makes sense of many chapters in our global economic history, from the reality of the 1990’s dot com boom, to the failure of clean technology as the next big thing. Peter also shares with you the seven questions every business must answer well before they start up, but I’m not going to tell you what they are or where to find them in the book! Zero to One covers everything you

won’t have thought of as you plan your start up, including what a monopoly is all about. I bet you didn’t think the characteristics of a monopoly would apply to your startup, but Peter makes perfect sense of why you need to “start small and monopolise”. You will definitely be left with a clearer understanding of what you need to consider whether you are planning your start-up, or have already been trading for some time. As Peter says “Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius”. Enjoy!

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Setting up an Online Business - the Legal Essentials to Comply Words by Ursula Hogben

Are you considering establishing an online business? Congratulations! This can be your path to pursuing your passion and building a successful, profitable business.

Your website will have your branding, other intellectual property and will showcase your products and/or services. It is important that your online business (i) complies with the relevant law and (ii) has the required legal documents to protect your business.

If you use third-party material then you need permission of the owner. If you pay for your websiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s content and/ or images to be created, then these should be assigned to you in writing, to show that you own these. Another option is to have a licence to use content. For example, when you purchase images through stock image databases, the terms generally include a licence for you to use those images for purposes including on your website.

Without the right legal advice and If you use materials without documents, you may breach the permission (i.e. without a law. You need to get this right as, licence or assignment) then depending on your business, you are potentially you may need to comply breaching with intellectual copyright. You property laws, may be required the Australian to remove the Consumer infringing Law (ACL), content, pay a the recently usage fee, and amended potentially pay Privacy Act legal fees and and other law. damages if the The risks of matter goes to breaking the law - Ursula Hogben court. include paying fines, damages, and having to remove intellectual property.

A well drafted Website Terms of Use expressly excludes competitors.

Whose content can I use on my website? You need to own or have a licence to use all content that you have on your website.

What legal documents do I need for my online business?

The three key legal documents are:

Ursula Hogben, LegalVision ILP

republishing your materials, and includes a legal disclaimer limiting your liability for your website. A well drafted Website Terms of Use expressly excludes competitors.

2. Sales Terms and Conditions: These apply to customers. These should cover the practical details of a purchase, such as payment, purchase, orders and delivery. If you are selling products or services to consumers then the mandatory consumer guarantees under the ACL apply and it is wise to include these in your Terms. You also need a returns, refund and repairs policy. You can protect your business by disclaimers setting out what the products and services do not do and what you are not liable for. For example, you may not be liable for damage caused by a product that was used incorrectly (i.e. not in accordance with instructions). You can seek to limit your liability to a maximum liability, to the extent

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

When you create unique work such as an image, blog post or video, you own the copyright over this work. You have the right to use it, and no other party can use it without your permission.

1. Website Terms of Use:

This applies to every visitor to your website. It protects your intellectual property and sets out how users may use your website and what constitutes prohibited conduct. It also sets out your rules regarding

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

xumagazine.com/subscribe

Issue 02 / 19

How can I avoid breaching the ACL? If you are selling goods or services to consumers then you need to comply with the ACL. The goods must be of an acceptable quality, they must reflect their description on your website, they must be fit for the purpose they are sold, and they must match any sample prototypes used in advertising the goods. You need to provide the minimum consumer guarantees in the ACL. Customers are entitled to have the product replaced or refunded, or a service refunded, for a major failure, and to be compensated for loss or damage that was reasonably foreseeable. Minor failures give the customer a right to have the goods repaired or exchanged, or the service provided again. about breaching privacy law and the process to unsubscribe from direct marketing.

allowed by law. For example to the maximum amount paid for the product or service.

How can I protect my intellectual property?

Your website is likely to be brimming with valuable intellectual property. This includes the copy and 3. Privacy images in your product Policy: descriptions and the content in This explains your blogs. Your what you do Website Terms with personal of Use should information. include a clause This covers that protects what personal your intellectual information you - Ursula Hogben property collect, store, and and sets out use or disclose, permissible use. including for direct For example you may marketing purposes. It allow people to repost needs to set out the rights your blogs, provided that you of the owner of the personal as the creator are acknowledged. information, such as the procedure On the other hand, you may prohibit anyone reusing your images. for making a complaint

Building your online business requires patience, passion and perseverance.

20 / Issue 02

You can choose to offer a refund for a change of mind, although this is not required by the ACL.

Conclusion Building your online business requires patience, passion and perseverance. Taking care of the legal side will protect your valuable investment and give your business a platform to grow and flourish.

About the author Ursula Hogben is the CoFounder and Managing Director of LegalVision ILP, an online business legal services provider, with free legal information and fixed-fee prices. Ursula writes on business law issues and speaks regularly at business events. Follow Ursula on Twitter: @Ursula.Hogben

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Software Implementation

Project Management

Independent Xero, GeoOp, Vend, Inventory & WorkﬂowMax Experts

Unlock the full potential of your business with the best of today’s cloud technologies. For a free consultation and discussion about your accounting software and systems, contact Ocius Digital today.

Great follow up and support. Friendly and accessible Thank you!

Address: Level 10, 50 Market Street, Melbourne, VIC

Professional – on time; interested in our understanding; helpful; with a personalised service.

Phone: +61 (0)3 9008 5950 Email: info@ociusdigital.com Web: www.ociusdigital.com Servicing Australia, NZ, USA, UK and many more!

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Kate Sutton

Humanitarian Advisory Group

Andrew Whyte

Andrew Whyte Landscape Design

Issue 02 / 21

Completing Business Activity Statements in Xero Words by Zowie Hondow, Xero Trainer & Consultant, Jet Convert

BAS Period Add gross wages the PAYG withheld on salaries Add your PAYG instalment amount

Your payment or refund

One of the advantages of using Xero is multiple users working in the organisation at the same time. However, this might lead to inconsistencies due to users with different skill levels coding transactions.

Firstly reconcile all of the accounts in Xero and made sure that all the bank accounts, credit cards and PayPal are up to date for the accounting period. Check in the account transaction area that there are no items for the period unreconciled.

Whoever submits the Business Activity Statement (BAS) takes responsibility for the accuracy of the data. Here is our checklist for checking BAS data for the Australian Tax Office (ATO) in the most effective way.

When you have reconciled all the transactions run a Bank Reconciliation Summary report. Select the relevant bank account, date and update the report. Here you will see any outstanding payments and unreconciled bank statement lines.

A. Are the Accounts on the Dashboard Reconciled? 22 / Issue 02

Once you have the balance in Xero matching the Statement Balance it is advisable to compare this with

Zowie Hondow, Jet Convert the source documentation. If there are variations between the bank statement and the balance in Xero you will need to investigate further. Once reconciled, publish this report and save your source documentation in the Xero files.

B. Review ‘The Detailed Account Transaction’ Report Under ‘Detail Reports’ Use this to review what account your transactions have been coded to and to make sure that you have chosen the correct GST tax code. If you are reporting on a cash basis to the ATO make sure you tick the ‘Cash Basis’ button so that you view the correct transactions. As a default the reports in Xero display on an accrual basis. If you find that there are a few transactions that have been coded to either the wrong account or with wrong GST tax code then process these changes accordingly.

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

C. Check Your Accounts Payables Check your accounts payables using the report ‘Aged Payables’ as at the last month in the period and review. For detailed checking go to the Accounts > Purchases, select ‘See All’ and press ‘Search’. Put in the date range for the period you are reporting. Sort the bills by clicking on ‘From’. Here you can check for duplicates and look for unpaid amounts that might have already been paid.

D. Check Your Accounts Receivables Review the report ‘Aged Receivables’ as at the last month in the period and review. For more detailed checking go to the Accounts > Purchases select ‘See All’ and press ‘search’. Put in the date range for the period you are reporting. Sort the bills by pressing ‘To’. Check for duplicates and look for unpaid amounts that might have already been paid.

E. Balance Your Payroll

check that you have allocated the correct GST tax codes against the transactions. If you find an error in this area remember to make changes as you did in Section B above. Update the figures on the ‘Business Activity Statement’ such as payroll lines W1 and W2 etc. All these areas that are not yet linked through the Xero reports need to be added manually. Always press the ‘Publish’ button when this is done so that you have a copy in the system and the ‘GST Reconciliation Report’ gets updated. View your Profit & Loss and your Balance Sheet report to compare against the previous accounting period. This will bring any inconsistencies or anomalies to your attention.

you are reporting and add the due date of when the payment needs to be made.

Lock Your Financials to avoid anyone making changes to this business activity statement.

Put in the last date of the reporting period in both the ‘Period Lock Date’ and ‘End of Year Lock Date’. Make sure you press ‘Save’.

Email the necessary parties your client, company directors or board - to keep them informed.

Pay the ATO or expect a refund.

Publish The Reports. When you have completed all the above steps and everything is up-to-date you can publish the following reports: Detailed Account Transactions, Business Activity Statement and the Bank Reconciliation Summary.

All done! Feel welcome to use this as a base

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Make sure that the payroll report matches the profit and loss report. Create adjustments if necessary. If you have to make any changes in the payroll always create a new ‘Unscheduled Payrun’ to avoid introducing errors in payruns posted in prior periods.

F. Review Your Business Activity Statement Audit Report

Lodge your BAS with the ATO. If you need to make a payment to the ATO we recommend creating a purchase bill for the amounts payable.

Similarly, if you expect a refund from the ATO we recommend you create a credit purchase note for the amounts credited back.

and tailor it to fit with your way of completing BAS’s.

If you would like a copy of our

internal checklist or more detailed information on completing a BAS go

xumagazine.com/subscribe

Review the GST audit report to

to jetconvert.com.au/BAS.

Date the purchase bill and the credit note as per the last day on the period

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 23

Getting the Most Out of Bank Rules on Xero Words by Duncan Folkes

Duncan Folkes, Xero specialist at Carpenter Box, talks to XU Magazine about bank rules, and how they can be set up to speed up your day to day bookkeeping with the minimum of hassle. Bank rules are a fantastic tool to use in Xero that can significantly speed up the bank reconciliation process. However, they are also something I regularly see being set up incorrectly. With this step by step guide I am hoping to make the set up process easier for you, while covering the common pitfalls I come across. Rules are ideal in cases where the transactions are relatively consistent in Xero, like a standing order or direct debit, but they cannot be used where you need to match up an invoice, or on bank transfers between the business’ bank accounts.

24 / Issue 02

To get started, from the home dashboard, click through on the button labelled ‘Reconcile X Items’ to access the reconciliation dashboard. Then click the ‘Create Rule’ hyperlink above your transaction of choice on the bank reconciliation.

appear on the transaction. A good example of this is bank charges, which often mention the month they are in respect of, such as ‘CHARGES OCT14’, where unless you remove the ‘OCT14’ part, the rule will only work once a year.

1. Define the conditions

It is also important that your text is in one consecutive string, so in the above example, if you removed ‘OCT’, but kept ‘CHARGES 14’, the rule will not work, as details were removed from the middle.

Within step 1 is the option to select ‘All’ or ‘Any Conditions’, it defaults to ‘All’, leave it like this. When the bank rule is first set up, Xero will suggest a condition to which this particular bank line will adhere to. The first drop down menu will, by default, be set as either ‘Payee’, ‘Reference’ or ‘Description’, depending on what the bank statement text has been imported as. This will differ depending on the bank feed you use, or the option you select when importing statements manually via CSV. I would suggest changing this to any text field”, which is more flexible and will future-proof the rule against any changes to the bank feed down the line (this happened with one of the partner feeds at the start of this year, and it broke a lot of rules, so they changed it back). The second drop down menu will default to ‘Equals’, but I prefer to change this to ‘Contains’, as it lets you cut out any references and other information which won’t consistently

Click the green button labelled ‘Save’, on the bottom right, and this will take you to the list of bank rules. Xero processes the bank rules in the order they appear on the list - so you can re-order or delete redundant bank rules here on the bank list.

2. Contact: ‘an existing or new contact’, then fill out the name This will default to either ‘Payee’, if the bank statement text has been imported under this heading, or ‘Entered During Reconciliation’ if not. ‘Payee’ is not ideal, as it will set up and save a contact for you with the exact wording on the bank statement, which isn’t often neat or clear. ‘Entered During Reconciliation’ is also worth avoiding, as you’ll need to manually enter a name each time the rule activates, slowing down data entry.

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

‘An existing or new contact’ is therefore the best option, as it lets you pick a name from your contact list, or write a new one in, as required.

3. Fixed value line items: Most often left blank These are usually left blank, but can be very useful in certain cases, such as where a fixed bank charge arises on certain transactions. As an advanced tip, it is worth noting that minus amounts work in this section. So if, for example, you create a receive money rule on income of £985 which you have received net of a £15 bank charge, you can enter the £15 as a minus in section 3, and 100% of the remainder in section 4 as a sale and it will increase the sales up for you to £1,000.

4. Allocate remainder in following ratios: Fill this section out in the same way you would do a ’Create’ on the bank reconciliation. Make sure the description in this section is applicable to all transactions which may trigger this rule. Again, in this section the percentages can be entered as a minus, and Xero will be happy with the treatment as long as the total adds up to 100%.

been imported under the reference heading.

7. Give the rule a title: Supplier name (Account it is allocated to)

It is worth selecting ‘from the Reference’ in either case, as even if the bank statement line has no imported Reference, it will just leave this section blank, which is fine as it is rarely important (and if there are references you need to take note of, you should probably be using Xero’s invoicing function and not bank rules).

It is often worth noting which account the rule is going to post to within the title, so you don’t need to go back and check it later on.

6. Target a bank account: As required I often see this being changed to ‘all Bank Accounts’, which is usually fine. One case where you may like to define a specific bank account is if you make a catch-all rule, such as any income above £0.01 being put to sales. This is very useful on a PayPal account where only sales appear on the income side, but is not usually so handy on a current account where other income transactions may also arise.

About the author Duncan Folkes is a Xero specialist at Carpenter Box, a firm of accountants and platinum Xero partner.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

5. Set the reference: ‘from the Reference’ This will default to either ‘by me during Bank Rec’, which again requires manual input on the reconciliation and is therefore not ideal, or ‘from the Reference’ if any bank transaction text has

He provides training and support for new and existing users of Xero. He is a self confessed geek who has found his computing knowledge invaluable with the world of business moving into the cloud.

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

In his spare time he enjoys archery and rock climbing.

Issue 02 / 25

Disaster Recovery for the Zombie Apocalypse Words by Steff Green

What’s Your Business Plan for the Zombie Apocalypse? The undead have risen from the earth. And they are after your brains, your business, and anything else they can get their hands on. Are you prepared? You’ve barricaded the doors and windows, divvied up the emergency rations, and the secretary has even found a chainsaw in the supply cupboard. If only you’d thought to create a disaster recovery plan, you wouldn’t be in this situation right now. A disaster recovery plan is vital for any business. While the above scenario is pretty unlikely to happen, what if it did? Would you be prepared? What would happen if an earthquake destroyed your office? Or an arsonist set fire to your servers? When a devastating earthquake hit Christchurch, NZ, in 2011, it flattened the central business district, caused millions of dollars of damage to property and infrastructure, and left 185 people dead. Many business owners were locked out of their buildings for weeks or months while rubble was cleared and damage stabilised. Without the ability to reach clients and continue business, many companies were forced to close their doors. Take some time today to prepare a zombie apocalypse plan for your business. Here’s what you need to think about: 26 / Issue 02

Communication In any disaster situation, being able to communicate with employees, key agencies and clients is vital. After escaping any immediate danger and ensuring your family and possessions are secure, the first thing you should do is contact your team. You’ll need to keep everyone informed of what’s going on and what plan of action you’re going to take. After assessing the damage to your business assets, you can start looking ahead; how will you keep

your business running? How has the disaster impacted your clients and suppliers? Can you still keep your clients informed if the zombies have wiped out the phone lines in your city?

Location Independence The first and most important part of any zombie apocalypse plan is to keep up-to-date records, and to ensure those records can be accessed outside of your office building. It’s no good having all your files stored in your office if your office is buried

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Workspace

Handing over the Reins

You might not be able to return to the zombie infestation zone for some time. In most situations, workers will be able to telecommute from their homes or another remote office if adequate equipment and tools are available to them.

Perhaps you were unfortunate to be eaten alive, but your second in command is the plucky hero type who will undoubtedly go on to survive and repopulate the species. How will they be able to manage the business after your gruesome and untimely death?

Location independence is one of the reasons cloudbased software is such an excellent choice for business owners. - Steff Green

You could also pool resources with other business owners in the area to set up temporary backup offices, perhaps in a warehouse or someone’s garage.

Companies can work together to establish and share communications and equipment. In a disaster, it’s good if everyone can work together. Create a plan with other local businesses in case disaster strikes. Set up communication channels and figure out a plan for sharing resources to set up a business “hot spot” in another location, with computers and other equipment to enable you all to keep things running.

Data Recovery

under 5 feet of rubble.

When setting up an office from a remote location, cloud-based software can offer huge advantages. With Xero and WorkflowMax working together, accounting, quotes, workflow, timesheeting, invoices, reporting, and file storage are run – or at least backed up – via the cloud. Your company can quickly and easily get back to work again from an alternative location.

It’s especially important for small businesses that you are not the only person who knows what’s going on. A disaster isn’t just a flood or a tsunami – it could be a medical emergency that places you out of commission for several months. Don’t leave it too late to train up someone to manage your business; start grooming your successor.

Make Sure You’re Covered There probably isn’t an insurance policy on earth that covers you for the zombie apocalypse, but you should definitely make sure your business is adequately insured against disaster. Fire, theft, earthquakes, tsunamis and hordes of bloodthirsty undead can and do happen, and always to people who think it will never happen to them. If you can’t afford to lose your business, then you can’t afford not to insure it. I suggest getting some advice from a mortgage broker or independent financial advisor, as they’ll help you figure out what you need and find the best price for your budget. Is your business prepared for the unexpected and the undead?

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Location independence is one of the reasons cloud-based software is such an excellent choice for business owners.

If you store your job data and contacts on the cloud, you’re able to access them anywhere, from any device, at any time (provided you can get internet service). Since data and Wifi are some of the first services to be restored following a disaster, you should quickly be able to get a full picture of the situation.

Cloud software can also facilitate collaboration. For example, your clients can check off drafts of a project online from the safety of their bunker. In fact, with cloud-based job management, invoicing and collaboration being a standard part of your operations, it’s possible your clients won’t even notice anything is amiss!

About the author

Steff Green is a content writer at WorkflowMax, the Xeroowned project management app enabling you to run your entire service-based business from the cloud. WorkflowMax takes care of quotes, timesheets, job management, invoicing, leads, and everything in between. Sign up for a FREE trial today: www.workflowmax.com

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 27

Changing Lives Through Business Intelligence Words by Heather Smith

Richard Francis, CEO and founder of Spotlight Reporting, spoke to us from his New Zealand home town of Wellington. “Here the weather’s not that good, so you’ll stay inside and make movies or build software”. Fortunately Richard has not been making movies; instead he’s been focused on helping the smartest end of the market understand their own business intelligence. His efforts mean business managers are able to really focus on the things that businesses should be focusing on.

across their client base. This enables them to target the information they need and scale up the services they offer. Richard refers to his favourite report as the KPI Planet. It’s a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) score card, a nice big round segmented stand-alone one-pager. You can set up your core KPI’s for your business on it and see at a glance how you’re progressing against those core KPI’s, both financial and non-financial.

To complement its existing global offices in Australia, UK and New Zealand, Spotlight Reporting has recently opened an office in the US. The process they go through when Over 10,000 global users, including deciding to open a new office is partly accounting firms, franchises and market driven and partly comes not-for profits are benefiting from down to where the good people are. Richard’s twenty years’ experience Hiring their Australian Director of as a virtual CFO. Via the Sales, Jason Forbes, resulted innovative reporting in their first Australian solution he developed office being based in they can access Brisbane. Likewise the surface trend when Newcastle data, benchmark upon Tyne-based data, 3-way Darren Glanville forecasting, joined as the advanced board UK Director reporting with of Sales, the consolidation next Spotlight - Richard Francis and multiReporting office currency, and base was Darren’s visualised data. home town in the Spotlight Reporting north east of England. brings in multiple relevant There was the traditional business data streams: 140 pull to set up offices in London different Xero reports, Google and, to round it out, the team are Analytics, WorkflowMax, and anything excited they’re embracing the US in Excel format. The team are also market with latest office in Orange currently exploring integrations with County, home of their US Director of a number of Xero’s other leading addSales, Leslie Riggs. ons. Richard’s quick to point out that even though many of the Spotlight By using Spotlight, businesses are Reporting staff worked at Xero, none able to develop and replicate different of them were poached. “I’ve got an templates for different industries

Compliance doesn’t change lives, value-added work does.

28 / Issue 02

open offer that good people can have me on speed dial the day they leave.” Spotlight Reporting has found setting up an office these days is quite cheap and easy, with the main expense being staff. They only need a small office, and have minimised overheads by sharing with other addon solutions (Receipt Bank, Released, Vend, GeoOp) or accounting partners (Change GPS). They also utilise serviced offices or co-sharing spaces. Richard explains co-sharing works well because they’re talking to the same accountants and the same bookkeepers. They are not sharing databases, but as they are all small companies taking on the world, they’re able to hold joint events, share resources and collaborate. Many in the industry have cited New Zealand and Australia are several years ahead of the US both in thinking and technology. So can this Kiwi show the US how it’s done? Richard acknowledges the US will be a hard market to penetrate. “The US is really kind of 10 to 12 markets. You know, there are areas where the cloud is the devil’s work through to Silicon Valley and everything in between.” Spotlight’s North American strategy is to simultaneously dip their toes in the

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

US and Canada, and develop material around education and transforming accounting practices. “One of the competitive advantages we feel we have, potentially over some of our competitors is that we’re not just software people. We come from an industry background of having been the first Xero firm, being a virtual CFO firm, being one of the first cloud firms, and also guys like Darren and Jason have 20 years of working with some of the best software companies.” “We’ve got accountants on staff who have grown up just with using Xero and other cloud software, so intrinsic to our DNA is that we’re trying to transform accounting practices. We want them to do value-added work, we want them to be useful. Compliance doesn’t change lives, value-added work does, mentoring does, and strategy does. That’s why we get out of bed and luckily my staff have that same passion, so that bodes well for [our plans in] the US.”

him afterwards and saying, “Hey, wonderful product, I loved that Richard, what do we use it for?” His response was, “Well, hang on, you’re accountants, you have to do Workpapers for year end and to verify and…”, to which they responded “Oh, we just do the tax returns”. He realised they had bookkeepers doing the work and they were just solely focused on pumping out a tax return. “We’re trying alongside Xero to educate and transform. That does dovetail really nicely with the work that Xero University are doing. So, we’re hoping Xero will grow faster there [the US] and we can be part of that.” Until recently, Spotlight Reporting was reliant on the end user, having historical business data, so part of the process has literally been selling Xero into businesses, in order to get them to start using Spotlights’ solutions.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Richard has found the US accounting industry is very focused on compliance and tax. He recollects launching Workpapers for Xero on stage at Xerocon San Fran and accountants coming up to

“We sell Xero all around the world, we’re a 100% Xero accounting firm, that’s where all this started. Often what Xero calls an add-on is actually the key piece of software.”

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 29

Kilts in the Cloud When Float’s CEO Colin Hewitt took to the Sydney Xerocon Gala awards stage to collect the 2014 Emerging Add-On Partner of the Year award, he declared to the audience, “I can’t believe I’ve won. Everyone told me if I wanted to win an award I needed to wear my kilt”. Let’s be very clear – you’ve not really won a Xero award until you’ve won it while wearing your national costume. Just ask Michael Wood, Director and Co-Founder of Receipt Bank, who arrived on stage – fully kitted out in a kilt – to win his company’s fourth Xero award. Kilt wearing is certainly his good luck charm. Seriously, is there anything more fascinating than a man in a kilt? The tradition, the tartan, the sporran, the legs, and the mystery of what’s going on under the kilt. It’s mind boggling. We knew at XU Magazine we needed something big to top Amy Harris and Hannah McIntyre from Crunchboard’s double denim debut front cover… and men in tartan kilts was the ticket.

The tartan trio Our cover story interview was held at Receipt Bank’s new London offices. They’ve two separate offices in London, one houses a sales team and one houses the product tech team. They wanted the product tech team responsive to the Xero community’s global issues, so keeping the teams separate ensures they don’t rank UK product requests higher. We spoke with: ■■ Michael Wood, Director and CoFounder of Receipt Bank est. Aug 2010 ■■ Colin Hewitt, CEO and Founder of Float est. Oct 2009 ■■ Steven Renwick, CEO and Founder of Satago Ltd est. Sept 2012

We started by asking the three gents about their kilts... Michael’s kilt, a Scott Tartan, was a birthday gift. Scott is Michael’s paternal grandmother’s maiden name. “It is probably quite surprising to people, how expensive a kilt and all the paraphernalia is. It’s probably about £1,000 to get a kilt with all the bits and pieces, and then of course you’ve actually got what we call daywear and dresswear. Daywear is most obviously like a tweed jacket and a tweed tie, and then dresswear of an evening is much more white shirt, black tie, bow tie, and all that kind of thing. You’ve got all these sort of factors laid down by what you’re going to use for it for.” Part of the accessories for a kilt are the traditional shoes, ghillie brogues. We were amused to discover Michael turned to YouTube to learn how to tie his “preposterously long ghillie brogue laces”. Colin received his kilt from a client, a North Scottish designer textile company called ANTA. The tartan pattern is one of their own unique designs. Cheekily, Colin is quick to remind us he’s an Irishman and doesn’t have to adhere to the Scottish tradition when it comes to kilt undergarments. Rounding out the kilt wearing trio is Satago’s Founder and CEO Steven Renwick, who received his kilt for his 21st birthday. The kilt is made from a McLeod Ancient Hunting Tartan. McLeod is the maiden name of Steven’s mother. Being a canny Scotsman, Steven’s keen to share his kilt buying tips: You need to get a good quality heavy material that’s been woven in Scotland, unless you’re going to the football or rugby and then you can opt for a lighter weight cheaper material. Colin reminds us a kilt should be

30 / Issue 02

something that lasts a lifetime – so we’re hoping to see a lot more kilts at future Xerocons!

Always a winner There are currently three Add-on specific awards given out at each Xerocon: Add-On Partner of the Year Cross Industry (Horizontal), Add-On Partner of the Year Specific (Vertical) and Emerging Add-On Partner of the Year. With a sporran full of these awards, we asked Michael to share with us his winning secrets. “It’s always a matter of honour to win an AddOn of the Year award but it’s not something that can be gained or tricked. It comes down to the number of clients, the number of accountants and bookkeepers in the year before who have decided to take up the solution. It really is just about being

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

L-R Michael Wood (Receipt Bank), Colin Hewitt (Float), Steven Renwick (Satago) focused on being the best company

having conversations with the Xero

they want to adopt, then promote

you can be and of course that means

community and asking them, “How

it, because you’re solving a problem

the solution itself. It means customer

do we get better?’’ He adds: “We’ve

for them.” What he observed was,

service, it means getting the

found the community incredibly open,

when the champions mentioned their

marketing, getting

incredibly welcoming, and people are

product as a suitable solution on a

the message out there. It means all

happy to have those conversations.”

LinkedIn discussion, Receipt Bank

these different things. I don’t think there is a shortcut. I think it is just an awful lot of planning and then

identified that people involved in the exchange were then signing up to try

We are the champions

their product.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

execution and hard work.”

Colin recollects Michael advising him

Michael’s advice to Add-on solutions

to contribute to LinkedIn

With 300+ Add-ons in the Xero

growing their business in the early

discussions. “I hadn’t even realised. I

eco-system, Colin laments that

days is to reach out, find your

hadn’t signed up to those [LinkedIn]

it’s sad there’s only one winner.

champions and really work with

groups. There are lots of different

For those that want to be that one

them. “There are a small number of

Xero groups that are having

winner, he gives this insight into

people that basically know the Xero

conversations, people are actually

their approach: We went out to

community really, really well. They

searching for solutions and you have

Xero users and partners and said

know the Add-ons. They know Xero

to be there, you have to be listening.”

“We need to know what you need

and most importantly they know the

(At the time of writing there are 26

from us.” Michael agrees it’s about

client. If you’ve got a solution that

open groups on Linkedin that

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 31

reference Xero, as well as Xero’s own community, community.xero. com). While in Sydney, Colin had the opportunity to spend some time in the Vend and Receipt Bank offices. This first-hand experience, along with seeing both Xero, Vend and Receipt Bank do sales really well, helped him realise they’ve been product-focused at Float over the last three years. Part of the reason for this approach is that they’ve built a complicated product with a lot of technical integration challenges. After realising everyone in the team was about product, Colin says their “We’ll build it and they will come” philosophy has evolved to “Build it, make it easy to use, and then actually go out and show people.” When it comes to sales, Steven says they wanted a dedicated person doing full-time sales from the early days of Satago. He was a firm believer that online Google adverts and promotions will only get you so far. To sell B2B (Business to Business) products, he says you need to get on the phone and build relationships.

Don’t stand so close to me… Michael believes each Add-on has its own subtleties, which are difficult to identify until you know them well. Colin recalls some advice given by Michael on that topic during a discussion: “Look at the other competitors in their space. They’re actually not directly competing, so you’re subtly different in different ways.” Colin agrees, adding: “There’s generally not that many people doing exactly the same thing. Nobody is going to have the same focus exactly. You have to be unique and you have to be the best, otherwise people aren’t going to choose you.“

L-R Michael Wood (Receipt Bank), Colin Hewitt (Float), Steven Renwick (Satago) months to a year ago, and if you try to copy what they’re doing today, you’re never going to be catching up. We are always trying to look ahead. I’m thinking about what we want to have built in three years’ time, what we could build in a years’ time, rather than looking around. Yes, you can glance over your shoulder a few times… but don’t obsess about it. We’re in a pretty big market.” That big market means that while competitors may not be comfortable standing close, they are sometimes happy to share pleasantries. As a debt tracking solution, Satago is listed among a number of other debtor tracking Add-ons, including the New Zealand-based Debtor Daddy. Steven chatted with Debtor Daddy’s founder Matt McFedries at Sydney Xerocon. “He’s a perfectly nice guy. If nothing else, he kind of proves that the market exists for that sort of product. I mean obviously

we’re competitors so...” At a broader level, things even move beyond pleasantries. Michael praises the interconnectedness of the Xero community: “I think the broader community is very impressive in its willingness to share best practice, to share numbers, to share ideas. Community is a good word. It would be very easy for a company like Xero to talk about it, diaspora of users and partners as a community, and just give it that label or that badge. But personally I find it is a community, there are a lot of conversations. There are a lot of personal relationships being built around the world on the back of what Xero are doing.”

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Steven cautions against focusing on the competitors though: “You’ve got to look ahead because if you look at your competitors, you’re looking at what they were thinking about six

While Colin thinks it’s brilliant if an Add-on is not a competitor, he recognises the challenge is to get people to use Add-ons in the first place. “I think the statistics are still like only 20% of Xero companies are

xumagazine.com/subscribe 32 / Issue 02

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

actually it’s about how each of us executes our own businesses, how well we improve the product, how quickly we answer customer service queries, those really are the defining things. I know it’s easy to focus on competition but I’ve yet to see the add-on who has succeeded or not because of competition. It’s always been, ‘They’ve done well because they’ve executed well or they’ve done badly because they’ve executed badly.’ There is no sign of competition limiting the growth of an Add-on yet.”

Money can’t buy me love Michael confirms he’s at Receipt Bank for the long haul. “The business is approached frequently about selling the company. Not only are they excited about what we do as a company, but also about the high growth potential… The technology wave that we, the three of us here and Xero as well, are part of is truly transformational. The ability to eliminate cost for small businesses, the ability to help small businesses gain at the expense of their competitors, it’s just absolutely tremendous and we’re incredibly excited about that mission.”

It’s never one that you just solve. Well, maybe some people they just start a business to sell it quickly but I think for us, because we love the product so much, it’s a constant battle between, “Is there a price we would sell for now?” or “How much would we miss this journey and what we’re doing?” It’s a tough one. At the heart of what we’re doing, everybody in our team wants to build a great product. We just love the culture that our company is building. We’ve got so many ideas about where we could go with this in the future. “I think in reality you need capital to grow a business to that kind of scale and there are some costs involved in taking that as an option if you do go for that amount of capital.” With four Xerocons scheduled in 2015 we look forward to appreciating many more award winners proudly wearing their traditional garb – but remember you never need an excuse to don a kilt!

using Add-ons. Yes, I’ve had some really good conversations with direct competitors and then I’ve had some Satago is at the super-early stages of more awkward ones as well where the business journey, and the team it’s just kind of like, ‘We’re competing have already been approached to and only one of us is probably going sell several times. Steven says of to make this in the long run. It might Satago: “It’s something I’ve been be that we merge together for a dreaming about for years. while and then we diverge I’m just happy to be again and we find actually getting to do different focuses.’ I it but it does feel think that’s always like my baby, I’m going to be the It’s something I’ve not going to let challenge.” been dreaming about go of it easily.” Michael for years. I’m just however has happy to be actually While Michael a different and Steven view on this. getting to do it. have shied away He highlights - Steven Renwick from outside that in the investment, it’s English speaking something Colin is world Xero has been receptive to. Englishan incredible success based Rob Dobson is an story. Globally there are existing investor in, and director about 400,000 small businesses at, his company Float, and they are using Xero, but there are about 40 looking at doing another round of million small businesses. He does investment shortly. Colin says, “I not see the zero-sum game theory think as a founder, you’re always applying here as it is early days and asking yourself that question: ‘Are there is so much opportunity. “The you building your company to sell’. opportunities are there for all and We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 33

Sharesight + Xero: Perfect Portfolio Management Words by Heather Smith

What is Sharesight? Sharesight is an innovative cloudbased investment portfolio tracking and reporting system that lets you organise trading histories and dividends so you can understand exactly where you (or your clients) stand in terms of performance, income, and tax. It provides a central, online repository for portfolio data, keeping it backedup and secure. Beyond its powerful performance and tax reports, what makes Sharesight really stand out is how ‘automagic’ it is: ■■ It automatically records corporate actions - so if you record a buy transaction from 10 years ago, Sharesight automatically backfills any dividends, share splits and capital returns. And Sharesight continues to track corporate actions going forward. ■■ It instantly records trades from over 60 brokers. Each time a buy or sell is made, Sharesight instantly records the transaction and saves a copy of the contract note PDF sent from the broker. The solution currently offers taxspecific versions for Australia and New Zealand, but whether you own shares listed on the ASX, NZX, NYSE, 34 / Issue 02

NASDAQ, LSE, or even managed funds, you can track them all with Sharesight. In addition to the individual investor version, there is a Sharesight Pro for accountants and financial advisers, which adds advanced features such as client management and the ability to customise exported reports. All versions offer unlimited users.

Pushing Investment Data to Xero All of your investment data can be pushed to Xero Cashbook or Partner Edition Xero automatically. To connect the two go to ‘Xero Settings’ within Sharesight and enter your Xero username and password.

Once the accounts are synced, just indicate within Xero whether you’d like to use bank transactions or invoices. Then you’re ready to map your Sharesight investment When you link Sharesight to Xero, transactions and income with your details of share purchases, sales, and personalised chart of accounts in dividends are automatically sent to Xero. This means you can track Xero, so they can be easily reconciled your realised gains, losses; against your bank statement dividends reinvested and included in financial (DRPs), interest accounts. income, franking credits, and much Furthermore, more. You can Sharesight Beyond its powerful take this one can pull in performance and tax step further bank account reports, what makes by using Xero balances, term Sharesight really stand Report Packs, deposits and special purpose out is how “automagic” cash investments and reusable from Xero, so it is. templates that you can view a - Heather Smith are especially complete financial handy for selfposition directly within managed super funds Sharesight – automatically, (SMSFs) trustees, professional and in real-time. traders, and even buy-and-hold longterm investors.

Why Connect Sharesight to Xero?

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

The crew at Sharesight winning ‘Add-on of the year award’ at Xerocon Sydney From this point on when trades are made or when dividends are paid, the data quickly syncs from the broker to Sharesight to Xero. Since the sync works even when you’re not logged into Sharesight, you can still see investment activities as they flow through. Sharesight pushes through all of the execution details. And there’s a handy Sharesight link within each Xero transaction record if you want to investigate further.

account; from within Sharesight, click the drop down menu beside ‘Add Holding’ and select ‘Add Cash Account’. Then from within Sharesight, login to Xero, and select which organisation you want to link with. Next select the bank account to connect with, and give it an easily identifiable name, for when you are accessing it within Sharesight. Once the account is created, Sharesight pulls in the historical bank transactions and the current balance, which is then updated daily.

The age of siloed financial data and client ownership is over Since Sharesight records trades, corporate actions, and dividends as they happen over the course of a tax year, generating a performance report, capital gains tax report, cash summary, or profit & loss statement is just a couple of clicks away.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Pulling Xero Cash Balances into Sharesight

Sharesight enables you to automatically track cash balances and display reconciled buys, sells, dividends, and interest payments within investment portfolios. To connect Sharesight to a Xero cash

The cash balance displays within the Portfolio Overview screen, and clicking into this holding, displays the latest transactions. With investment and cash balances viewed in this way, you get a clear picture of the financial position.

Clients of Sharesight and Xero have a full, 360 degree investment portfolio and accounting solution. Trade and dividend data collected by Sharesight is pushed, in real time, to Xero for accounting purposes, while cash data is pushed from Xero back into Sharesight for complete portfolio visibility.

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 35

Xerocon Sydney 2014 Experiences Compiled by Heather Smith

Australia’s largest accounting conference Sydney Xerocon 2014 welcomed delegates from all corners of the globe. Attending a conference in your own country is a significant investment in time and money, even more so when you are travelling from overseas. So what attracted them to Sydney Xerocon (other than Sydney’s fantastic weather, scenery, food and people!) how did they benefit from attending, with hindsight, how could they have prepared better, and would they do it again? XUMagazine spoke with: Marvin Galang Chief Process Officer of Double Rule, an accounting firm based in Los Angeles, US Shanu Mehta Owner & Founder of MMC Convert, a conversion company with offices in India, Australia, USA & the UK Paul Miller Managing Director of Cornish Accounting Solutions Ltd, an accounting firm based in Cornwall, UK Colin Hewitt CEO and Founder of Float based in Edinburgh

Michael Wood Director and Co-Founder of Receipt Bank with offices globally Why did you want to go to Sydney Xerocon? I filed for divorce with QuickBooks in September 2013. That’s the last month when we completed migration into Xero of our last QuickBooks bookkeeping client. I also invested in Xero stocks. Now, imagine finding out in 2014 that we will not have a Xerocon and sometime Q2, feeling a 36 / Issue 02

bit abandoned not hearing a lot about Xero’s progress in the US and such. I have to find out for myself. I want to make sure I made the right decision. I want to meet with Rod. I want to see Xero in action close to where it was born. I want to know WHY I should stay with Xero. - Marvin Galang

Sydney Xerocon is, supposedly, the biggest Xerocon for Australasia. As MMC Convert feels proud being an Add-on Partner, professionally & functionally in sync with the Xero philosophy, work ethic and innovation strategies, visiting a Xerocon came quite evident a decision. - Shanu Mehta

3 reasons: 1. To celebrate achieving Gold Partner Status in December 2013. 2. To celebrate 21 years in business as Cornish Accounting Solutions. 3. To acknowledge and recognise the team input in that journey going from 2 team members 21 years ago to 10 now. - Paul Miller

How far in advance did you make the decision to go to Sydney Xerocon? Made the decision to go in July, a month before the event. - Marvin Galang

We booked our tickets to Sydney Xerocon for MMC Convert’s team as soon as the event dates were officially announced. Planning early further helped us in preparing well for the Xerocon Mega Event. - Shanu Mehta

10 months before, in November 2013. - Paul Miller

What were the benefits of attending Sydney Xerocon? Overall, getting to know the people behind the company and what drives the eco-system - management, developers, leaders, partners, vendors, advisors, users. We still can’t replace the value of a handshake. No matter how much we want to drive everything towards the cloud, you can only get the warmth feeling of a person’s hands and get a sense of their sincerity in person enough to make you decide, “I want to do business with her/him.” - Marvin Galang

MMC Convert has been attending almost all the Xerocons across the world. As great ideas translate into action when one meets great people, our intent is solidified by the fact that we will get to network with varied professionals with varied skills at Xerocon. We are particularly excited to meet the Xero Team, which makes us feel as an integral and important part of the Xero family. Being a Xero Conversion Add-on for a very long period of time, now it’s almost like we eat, drink and sleep Xero! - Shanu Mehta

■■ Team buy into the vision of what we where we are going. ■■ Team bonding. ■■ Learning of what is to come in the UK next with Xero as we are told we follow the Australian Xero experience. ■■ Reaffirmation that Xero is critical to our vision. ■■ Understanding from the team’s perspective that we are on the right track i.e. they thought that the firms doing great things were extraordinary people but actually its ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Therefore we can do it as well. - Paul Miller

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

that Fiona, Michelle and the team, they put huge amounts of thought and effort into Xerocon Australia and I know that Nina does equally so in London and elsewhere the teams around the world, and they’re always looking at how can they

Paul Miller (centre front) of Cornish Accounting Solutions, with team members, L-R (back) Rachael Prideaux, Sam Gibbons, (front) Gareth Bailey, Ant Miller.

What did you wish you knew ahead of time, attending Sydney Xerocon? That I can bring my entire company! But seriously, I should have written down names and positions of key Xero people, Xero partners and personalities, and be able to connect more.

Absolutely. And the key idea behind our recommendation is ‘exchange’! One gets to exchange & comprehend the latest trends, creative ideation, scope of operation, respective work culture, issues faced (if any), commercial opportunities etc in other countries. And of course, one makes new friends!

- Marvin Galang

- Shanu Mehta

We wish we could know the list of attendees who have registered already for the Xerocon. This gives the participants an opportunity to get in touch prior to the event, exchange thoughts and prepare in a way that meeting each other in person becomes more fruitful.

Most definitely and we would consider attending another overseas XeroCon.

- Shanu Mehta

The market is growing so quickly there. It’s an exceptional event. It’s very well organized. It’s very well run and we’ve always found it very good.

More thought into planning which seminars/Add-on partners we should focus our time on.

- Paul Miller

That’s an easy one for me to answer because… For any Xero Add-on in the world, the Sydney Xerocon is particularly worth it. It’s the biggest.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

- Paul Miller

Would you recommend partners attend overseas Xerocons?

OF COURSE. It’s a must. NZ and AU, I have come to conclude, is way ahead of US in terms of cloud accounting and bank integration. It drove me crazy hearing what you guys are doing in AU and NZ and we’re stuck with what we have in the US.

I think the thing that any Add-on needs to understand though is that you can’t just attend the Xerocon and then walk away from that local market and think ‘job done’. There’s work to be done in advance. There’s work to be done clearly on the days of the event but there’s a huge amount to be done in follow-up. We’ve certainly found it’s very important to have people on the ground.

xumagazine.com/subscribe

- Marvin Galang

The foot fall was incredible. I know

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 37

improve that, how can they make it better. What Xero are trying to do is to redefine what an accounting conference is, what kind of knowledge is imparted, the kind of discussions that happen. - Michael Wood

Yes, it’s certainly meant a lot more early mornings and late night Skype calls in terms of follow-up but that’s been good. I think for us the most important thing was just to really get the exposure to Australia. You probably got that without having to take a stand. I think we were just struck by the culture in Australia, the attitude of the bookkeepers and the accountants, and just how much more progressive it was in terms of it feels like a step further than the UK right now. So just being there was really worth it from our point of view and just to experience that but taking a stand obviously gives you a meeting point to get the contacts and be able to do the follow-up. I’m glad

38 / Issue 02

we did that now as well. - Colin Hewitt

What did it cost you to attend Sydney Xerocon [ball park figure]? $10K. Food in AU is expensive, maybe almost everything is more expensive than in the US. - Marvin Galang

It cost us approximately 4,000 USD per person including all travel, accommodation and miscellaneous expenses. But we believe in spending on our skill and network enhancement and hence are treating this as a decision capitalised on as an INVESTMENT! - Shanu Mehta

For 5 team members to attend; £20,000 and closed the office for the week! - Paul Miller

Did you financially benefit as a direct result of attending Sydney Xerocon?

relationships with other partners that are interested with the US market. At the same time, was able to generate leads in sharing business and resources using our off-shore facility in the Philippines. Most important is that we went home with a more knowledgeable, motivated, and inspired staff. We’re excited to see more financial results in the next months to come. - Marvin Galang

Absolutely, as always. As a result of attending so many Xerocons, MMC Convert added a lot of CPA Firms as Partners and Resellers for its Conversion Service across the world. Understanding the markets of so many countries, now MMC Convert is proud to Convert Quickbooks, Sage, Sage Pastel and MYOB to Xero! - Shanu Mehta

No tangible payback yet in monetary terms but definite intangible benefits. - Paul Miller

Absolutely. We were able to build

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

A total cloud solution for small law firms. Increase your efficiency

Grow your clientele

Maximise your profits

LEAP easily transfers invoice, receipt, and bank journals so you no longer need to re-key your legal clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s data! Convert your legal clients to LEAPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s practice management software and power up your business. Australia

United Kingdom

leap.com.au/xl-partners

leap.co.uk/xl-partners

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 39

Review: CustomerSure Words by Jonathan Ford

we send an invoice on Xero. A new feature means we can now limit the number of surveys to no more than one every three months which stops clients from being bombarded with requests. Clients are able to opt out if they want to and we have excluded a few clients from getting the survey - mainly as some would have phoned immediately in a panic about what they had to do!

Liverpool based Chartered Accountants, Jonathan Ford & Co, looked to CustomerSure when they needed an easy solution to get customer satisfaction feedback. Managing Director, Jonathan Ford, explains his firm’s decision. We’ve always been fans of trying to get feedback from our clients as to how well, or otherwise, we’re doing. The problem in the past has been how to get feedback in a way that’s quick and easy for clients to do, systematised for us and, most importantly, means we respond quickly to any negative feedback. We’ve been users of Xero for almost three years so it was a natural choice for us to look for an Add-on that could help us do the job. We trialled CustomerSure eighteen months ago and have been a subscriber ever since. Asking clients to tell you what they think of your firm can be quite a scary thought if you’ve not done it before. Going a step further and publishing the results, unedited, in public did feel like an heroic decision.

We seem to have an excellent response rate. We’re only a small firm yet we have now had over 200 responses. I think the high response rate is down to how easy it is to complete the survey (just a couple of mouse clicks from within an email) and the small number of questions we ask. I believe we’ve seen a number of important benefits: If we’re not getting something right then we do really want to know about it. It might make uncomfortable reading but if we’re falling short in some way then that’s a significant piece of information for us. It can help prevent losing a client. We’ve had two reviews that I’d describe as ‘bad reviews’. In both cases the issue was really down to the client’s expectations being different to ours. In both cases we were able to explain things to the client’s satisfaction and retain the business. I’m convinced that, without CustomerSure, the first we would have heard about any dissatisfaction would have been a letter from their new accountants. As soon as a review is posted all the managers in the practice receive an email with the details which means we can react very quickly if a negative review arrives. We did have one case where we received “one out of ten” from one of our best clients. He was extremely impressed that we called him within seconds of leaving the review and also a little embarrassed

as he’d completed the review on his phone whilst wearing gloves and had pressed the wrong button. It’s nice to get good feedback. We all like to get a pat on the back now and again. Even more importantly though the feedback has highlighted something particularly good a member of staff has done that we wouldn’t know about otherwise. It’s also an effective tool in keeping staff on their toes as they know a client can easily complain about bad service. We can use our reviews to help attract new clients and we take every opportunity to encourage prospects to read what others have written. The fact they’re not cherry picked testimonials is particularly powerful. I even think that the odd bad review helps as readers can appreciate that it is real and unedited! We can use our reviews to identify clients who think so highly of us that they may be happy to refer us to others – creating the potential for new work. Like much of the software we use in our practice, I’m sure we only utilise a small part of the capability of Customersure. What we do use though is very powerful and we don’t have to spend any time at all in sending out surveys and chasing them up. The people at CustomerSure have always been extremely supportive when we’ve needed them and they’re extremely knowledgeable about the best ways of dealing with negative feedback as well as the software itself. The company will also be supportive if any reviews are illegal, offensive or simply not genuine.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Connecting to Xero was extremely easy. We have our account set up in a very simply way - we have one survey with just three questions and we have chosen to only publish the result of one question “How satisfied are you with our service?”. We have CustomerSure set up to send out the survey automatically each time 40 / Issue 02

I’d recommend CustomerSure to any Xero user who has a passion for providing great customer service. Just be prepared to act quickly and respond to the feedback you get.

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

xumagazine.com/subscribe

Xero Heroes Words by Tarryn Guttenberg

At LSA Partners we are passionately and proudly pure accountants. And as specialists in our field we aim to provide our clients with the best accounting and business advice possible with the finest accountants AND the ultimate accounting software – Xero! We have been proudly flying the Xero banner since 2011 and have found the innovative product a pleasure to use with its current and modern technology that allow us to close the information gap between ourselves and our client in our day-to-day activities.

how to guides and handy links and downloads. The marketing and sales materials was our first point of call as we integrated the Xero logo into our social media platforms, including but not limited to our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn identities by using the Xero logo easily downloaded from the Kit. Additionally we added the Xero logo to our physical promotional material and our brand new seminar banner!

From this same area of the toolkit we also utilised other great free tools including Xero stickers, banners, the posters, coasters and ‘Why people We favour ourselves as Xero heroes love Xero brochures’ and more. We and love the way we can assist our wanted synergistic branding and clients in keeping up to date with realised that in order to bring more their finances on the run. people to the cloud we In addition the ease needed to show our of being able to own confidence in view Xero at the the brand and the same time as our product. If you We favour clients makes build it, they will ourselves as Xero our job easier come – as they heroes and love the and provides say. greater peace way we can assist of mind for the The next step our clients client. in Xero user - Tarryn Guttenberg expansion – We are in the Grow it! So once process of growing again we turned to our Xero user numbers the Partner Toolkit for and in doing so we were inspiration and we were not thrilled to find that Xero offers a disappointed. Partner ToolKit that assists in doing just that! Under ‘Event Materials and Presentations’ the clever clogs at The Xero Partner ToolKit will be Xero have just about everything located on your practice dashboard you might require to run your very under the drop down box ‘Education own Xero seminar and with modern marketing requiring not only and tools’ and then ’Partner ToolKit’. promotion in the traditional sense, we know that society is also looking To begin with our strategy was for education - therefore making a Embrace it! We wanted to increase seminar the perfect marketing fit for the exposure of our relationship with our business. Xero in our own office and on social Xero provides a ‘How to’ guide, which media. clearly and concisely provides a walk through process in event planning, The Xero Partner ToolKit provides which begins with audience selection, marketing and sales materials, event event particulars (e.g. time, location) materials and presentations, videos,

through to invite creation, RSVP monitoring and finally a feedback form, which will be essential in gauging interest in the product. Once your event planning is in place the boffins at Xero have even put together an ‘Introducing Xero to Your Clients’ presentation! The presentation walks a customer through the logical steps of what, how, who and when. It’s visually appealing and even includes video content that shows the practical application of Xero in small business. But most excitingly is its professional appearance, well planned format and its ready to use! Cheeky editor’s note: Stock up on copies of XU Magazine and ‘Xero for Dummies’ and hand them out to attendees. Finally we need – Promote it! Xero provides a series of handy links and downloads, which provide just that – a series of great articles that you could utilise for staff, for client newsletters and even for website or blog content, which allows you to incorporate your Xero modus operandi message across all platforms. The Xero Toolkit is another splendid tool provided as part of an integrated service by this fantastic product. If you haven’t had a chance yet to check out and utilise these tools - take the opportunity now! Consistency is key! Providing a consistent message across all platforms will breed confidence in yourself and the Xero software! Our leadership team (Martyn Anderson, Daniel Neys and Le Ta) as well as our team of carefully chosen staff, think the Xero Partners Toolkit is easy to use and simply beautiful!

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

xumagazine.com/subscribe

Issue 02 / 41

Don’t Play Whack-A-Mole Compiled by Heather Smith

Here are 24 strategies to improve a small businesses bottom line, shared with us from esteemed Xero accounting partners around the world:

Understand your revenue streams, major expenses and the variables that compose them.

Greg Sheehan of Rightway Limited, based all over New Zealand

Configure your accounting system with various Add-on apps that give you as much granular data as needed in order to draw conclusions about your current figures.

Focus on creating desirable products or solving people’s core problems. Ask what the customer really wants and work backwards. Hire slow. Fire fast. The secret to better profitability is people, people and people. Adapt and change. The world demands it. If you don’t, you’re slowly dying. That’s never good for profitability.

Lior Zehtser of Connect CPA, based in Ontario, Canada Review your variable costs monthly and remove or re-negotiate some costs - telephone, subscription and merchant fees are common examples. Diversify your business by researching and then experimenting with other sales channels. Since your company already has a good reputation, leverage your credibility and provide different products/ services in a similar field. Use technology to improve efficiencies and drive admin, office and payroll costs down, while simultaneously creating a seamless workflow to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

42 / Issue 02

Ryan Lazanis of Xen Accounting, based in Quebec, Canada

Assess objectives and develop a plan of action to optimize the business model in order to achieve those objectives.

Namita Sethi of Futurebooks, based in Singapore Make a push for efficiency via technology. This will have a direct impact in terms of greater output, and fewer personnel required, i.e. reduced costs. An example is using simple collaborative cloud-based organizing tools like Trello or Xero Practice Manager, which can convert what could be a three meeting project into a single meeting project. Make a push for cost reduction via technology. This strategy speaks for itself. An example is switching to a VoIP based provider for which prices are more competitive than telcos. Another example is using tools like HelloSign for e-signatures, which dispense the need for printing documents. Reinvest it into marketing. This will have a direct impact in improving sales. Create a well-defined marketing strategy based on facts and trends. Concentrate on acquiring high value customers. Run conversion

driven campaigns and not traffic driven ones.

Shannon Smit of Smart Business Solutions, based in Victoria, Australia Prepare a business plan. A business plan is a living document, however the process of preparing a business plan gives your business structure. If you don’t have a plan it is difficult to drive your business to the goal! Manage your cash flow. Proactively collect your accounts receivable, otherwise you’re paying GST/income tax while someone else is enjoying your money. Invoice regularly. Many small businesses find they get too busy to invoice regularly for services. This is important so block out time in your diary to ensure you are invoicing. Prepare budgets & cash flow projections. Prepare a budget for the coming 12 months including a cash flow projection indicating when you expect to be paid, and when you expect to make payments. Budgets, profit & loss statements can be very different from cash flow management. Cash is king, without it businesses can’t operate. And once you have prepared this, don’t forget to monitor your actual against what you budgeted. Identify why things didn’t go according to plan and what

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Don’t play whack-a-mole. Life as a business owner is fast paced and problems seem to pop up at the most inopportune times. It’s quicker and easier to react and Band-Aid problems as they arise so we sometimes fall into that trap of whacking them down as they pop up. It feels good to problem solve, but it’s better to process solve. Take the extra time to find the root cause of the problem and develop a process to keep it from happening again. This is slower at first, but pays big dividends later on. Danetha Doe, Business Strategist at Danetha Doe Consulting, a full service business development agency based in San Francisco Bay Area, US you need to do about it. Don’t wait until year end!

Simon Young of Aysgarth Chartered Accountants, based in Leeds, UK Invest in your staff, your people. It is a cliché but they really are your most important asset. Train them, take interest in them and keep them happy. It will make them more productive and they will be positive in front of customers, which will positively impact the bottom line. Invest in your customers and potential customers. Always be seeking new customers and more orders from existing clients. It is well known that it costs less to acquire further business from existing customers than from new customers – so look after them. I hate it when a business loses a sale due to its own failings and inefficiencies. There is a risk, however, that existing customers will be lost (for a variety of reasons) so keep trying to bring in their replacements now. But do not grab turnover and throw away margin: be prepared to walk away from a deal if the price is too little, in the long run this is the correct approach.

half. Utilise the internet and the cloud, do not be a luddite who says he doesn’t understand it all but his 6 year old son can (as someone told me yesterday), find out about it all and make your business more efficient and effective.

Ryan Baker of Upsourced Accounting, based in Ohio, US Understand your unit economics and how they affect your profitability. Business owners should start by understanding the core metrics that are important to their business and making sure to track those closely. Once you understand how much it costs you to acquire a new customer and what the long term value of each customer is expected to be, you can make better decisions about how to market your business and what types of customers you should be targeting. Make sure to spend your most limited and valuable resource, your time, wisely. It’s tempting for business owners to try and wear a lot of different hats and do a little bit of everything. I think the best approach is to spend the majority of your time on what you are best at, and look to find help with the rest. If you’re good at selling, there is a huge opportunity cost for every hour you spend on other things. As your business continues to grow, follow this approach for your staff as well.

Danetha Doe, Business Strategist at Danetha Doe Consulting, based in San Francisco Bay, US Know your current financial health. You can’t get where you want to be, without knowing where you stand currently. What are your revenues and profit margins? Which services/products are selling well? Think outside the box. Whether it’s offering a new product or switching up your branding, find a way to stand out from the crowd and be authentic to yourself. Get publicity and have a party! Whether it’s a TV feature or celebrating your business anniversary, make everything a big deal and promote it! Small businesses globally face similar problems and the common thread from our community is people, clients, technology, marketing, and monitoring expenses all impact the bottom line. And of course only play whack-a-mole in the games room!

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

So if we’d asked you “If a small business owner asked you for 3 strategies to improve their bottom line”, what would your response be? We look forward to hearing your comments.

xumagazine.com/subscribe

Investment in the business: in technology and in processes. Do not be the first to adopt a new technology but certainly do not be in the last

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Email your strategies / comments to Heather Smith: au@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 43

Getting Payment Faster Words: Staff Writer

I clicked the button and instantly (honestly I thought I’d have time to go and make a cuppa!) 9 invoices were scanned and 4 overdue invoices were found. The OCCC Xero Invoices Dashboard lists Invoice Number, Status, Due Date, Amount Due, Contact Name, Action and Invoice Processed details and includes a sort option on most columns. Within the Dashboard for unpaid invoices you have the option to select ‘Customer Pays’ or ‘You Pay’, as explained above. Alternatively these options would be available on the text message’s notification.

Recently launched, UK based One Click Cash Collection (OCCC) describes itself as a one-stop debt management solution for Xero. OCCC offers the free service of sending SMS text messages to alert you (not your client) of all due invoices. You then have the option of resetting the reminder or proceeding with their paid service, which activates cash collection procedures. From there, there are two options; ‘Customer Pays’ or ‘You Pay’. The ‘Customer Pays’ option involves collecting the debt plus industry standard charges from the customer – so the service is free of charge to you. The hitch is it’s only available to collect from limited companies based in the UK. The ‘You Pay’ option results in a bill for 12.5% of the debt to be collected. The signup process for OCCC requires your mobile number. As I’m reviewing the solution from Australia I was not able to add my own mobile phone number. Instead I added David’s, who is based in the UK (XU Magazine’s founder).

Next I connected the Xero demo file. Then I defined the Xero settings for invoice scanning. The question posed was ‘Scan for invoices every X days’ – with the option of between one and thirty days. I selected a daily scan. The second question posed was ‘An invoice is overdue when the due date of the invoice is Y days ago?’ On the initial review, I was not clear whether they were referring to overdue from invoice date or due date as ‘due date’ was not originally there. We contacted the team at OCCC and overnight they updated their solution, to include due date, demonstrating they are proactively listening to customer feedback and acting quickly to resolve issues. I chose 30 days. Once the Xero preferences were saved the solution advised me when the first scan of the invoices would run. I wanted the scan to run instantly so I navigated across to the left menu bar and selected Invoices. It opened to an empty dashboard, with a button on the top right labelled ‘Scan Invoices’.

David in the UK confirmed he had received text messages relating to the unpaid invoices from the demo file. This is what the message looked like: City Limousines now owes you £19.95 Now 42 days overdue Remind me [hyperlink] PROCEED - CUSTOMER PAYS [hyperlink] PROCEED - YOU PAY [hyperlink] Meanwhile I had received a welcome email from OCCC advising me the first step was to set up the SMS service and sync the solution, which I’d done. The second step OCCC suggests is that you contact your clients and let them know you’ve partnered with CCI Legal Services to operate as an extension of your finance team, and the firm may contact them directly regarding accounts receivables. OCCC is an easy to set up debt management solution. If you’re a Xero UK business who needs help collecting debt, try One Click Cash Collection.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

44 / Issue 02

oneclickcashcollection.co.uk

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

xumagazine.com/subscribe

Integration and the Ice Cream Business Words by Victoria Kerr

Established in 2002, Gelato Messina is something of a hot spot for the most delicious and tempting ice creams in town. This gelato bar has built its stellar reputation on its forty signature flavours which include traditional Italian favourites such as Tiramisu, Pistachio, and Gianduia; popular classics like salted caramel and white chocolate; as well as the eclectic and innovative array of weekly specials such as the unforgettable treat of ‘Elvis the Fat Years’ (a one-of-a-kind concoction of peanut butter gelato with fried brioche and banana jam). Along with such a delectable array of flavours to choose from, a common feature of Messina is a queue of loyal customers, spilling out of their stores and snaking around the block, summer or winter. With ice cream this good, it’s worth the wait. In fact, the wait only adds to the fun experience and vibe of the obsession that is Gelato Messina. While Messina opened its first store in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, the company now operates six gelato bars in Sydney, one in Melbourne, and has expanded overseas with a newly opened store in Hangzhou, China. To create its prized frozen treats and deliver exemplary customer service, Messina employs a team of 120 individuals who perform a variety of roles. This includes a team of pastry chefs and chefs, store managers, assistant store managers and supervisors as well as bar staff/servers and delivery drivers. Overseeing the stores, Messina employs two people to take care of the back office operations and training to make sure everything runs like clockwork.

Challenges By the time Director & Co Founder Declan Lee joined the business in 2009 Messina was growing fast. What started as a cult following in Darlinghurst was growing into something of a Sydneywide sensation. While the talented chefs and crew developed ever more inspired confections and crowd-pleasing treats to satisfy their growing number of customers, Messina’s largely manual back end processes and paper-based systems began to groan under the strain. “At this time our rostering and work scheduling system was entirely manual,” reflects Lee. “With a growing number of stores to manage, it took a considerable amount of time to plan shifts and roster appropriately trained and available staff members. Everything was incredibly time consuming and it was hard to be 100% accurate and to make sure you were running things efficiently.” As Messina’s manual systems became increasingly inefficient, Lee brought in business consulting firm, SMB Consultants, to help the gelato company streamline its business processes by transitioning the company to best in class cloudbased applications. This included moving the finance and accounting side of Messina’s business to the Xero platform and bringing a number of separate systems that integrate with one another together into one cloud-based system. This included replacing Messina’s outdated manual processes for managing rostering with the contemporary cloud-based time and attendance management system, Deputy.”

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Declan Lee, Gelato Messina

Benefits of Xero “Online accounting has revolutionised the way businesses mange their financial accounts and business financial reporting,” explains Peter Klein, Joint Managing Director at SMB. “Xero is the best of class in online accounting. Their open integration model has allowed brilliant products like Deputy and Kounta to seamlessly interface to the accounting backend. “With automatic and live bank and credit card feeds, reconciling your accounts now is completely streamlined,” continues Klein. “Deputy has taken full advantage of this open infrastructure. A two way interface between Deputy and Xero enables staff sign-ups and allows approved timesheets to be automatically imported. Staff leave requests in Deputy flow directly into Xero payroll and if approved in Deputy will also be approved in Xero.”

Xero ecosystem The Xero/Deputy integration delivers savings in payroll management through the considerable reduction in payroll processing requirements and has also significantly improved the accuracy of pays processed. Gelato Messina has virtually eliminated all of employee pay queries.

Issue 02 / 45

so we can see if we’re over-staffed and adjust the roster accordingly. This is such a handy tool and a really effective way for us to run our business more efficiently. We compare with previous rostered budgets and rostered hours to see if we have gone over our wage budget.” L-R Chris Ridd (MD, Xero Australia), Jake Shelley (Deputy), Victoria Crone (MD, Xero New Zealand) “Once Peter at SMB showed me the Deputy platform and how it could automate our manual staff time and attendance processes, I knew it was perfect for us”, comments Lee. “Xero integration out of the box gave us another big win.”

Benefits of Deputy

From a store manager’s perspective, managing time and attendance is so much easier. “In store, every staff member uploads a picture of themselves when they clock in so the managers can swiftly gauge who’s on,” explains Lee. “The name to face recognition allows us to see at a glance who is on each shift at each store as well as identify who was rostered on at a particular time should an incident occur.”

Smart communication

Having moved the business onto the Deputy platform, time and attendance management at Messina is now a piece of cake. You could say it’s as smooth as the ice cream confections for which Messina if famed. “Our staff members simply key in their availability a week in advance so their managers can see who is available to be scheduled for each shift,” comments Lee. “When we schedule the weekly roster Deputy gives us a total wage cost and allows us to compare it to previous weeks so we can closely monitor costs and profitability. “Through the Deputy interface, we can also easily keep an eye on who is working on which shift at which store, who’s running late, or turned up early, and if anyone has worked overtime.”

Messina also makes full use of Deputy’s messaging tool. “The messaging tool is proving to be a great way for us to communicate and publish all staff messages and announcements. As every staff member has their own Deputy login and can access the platform from their mobile devices, they are able to view company-wide and storespecific announcements anywhere, any place. On a practical level, this means that our staff members are alerted to anything that’s happening that day before they even turn up for work. “Deputy also allows us to assign tasks to specific team members at any time,” adds Lee. “Individuals get a message or email with the task before their shift has commenced. This enables us to delegate work each week in advance and to function more efficiently.”

Lee. “All we have to do is update the correct pay formula for each employee. “In fact,” continues Lee, “Deputy ensures greater accuracy in determining pays and has helped establish a great platform of trust and efficiency with our staff. We can also export the employee’s personal details from Deputy directly into Xero, which saves us time and unnecessary paperwork.” Reflecting on the integration, Klein adds, “At SMB, we believe there are three key ways in which businesses profit from successful Cloud integration of key business processes. First is the basic time efficiencies and cost savings that flow directly from seamless integration, removal of double entry and a significant increase in accuracy. Second is the improvement in staff morale that is a direct result of systems that just ‘work’ and empower staff to focus on contributing to the business success. And thirdly, the value to the business entrepreneur of not only having access to critical business metrics but in a time frame that allows for effective and timely business critical decisions to further improve business activity. At Gelato Messina, Deputy, Xero, Kounta and many other Cloud services provide just that environment.”

Deputy has enabled Gelato Messina to move to a cloud based system for both rostering and wages. Its full integration with our accounting package ensures greater accuracy in determining pays and has helped establish a great platform of trust and efficiency with our staff.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Favourite features

For Lee, a considerable benefit of using the platform is the ability to effortlessly assign the right person to the right role.

Integration with Xero

Xero integration is a real boon for Messina. “With Xero integration, timesheets from Deputy are directly imported into our Xero payroll system so we won’t have to worry about staff getting paid incorrectly,” explains

Deputy has a user-friendly interface, is simple and efficient roll out across multiple sites and provides us a worry free payroll system for our employees. The customer service and support from Deputy is fantastic and extremely reliable.

xumagazine.com/subscribe

“The really neat thing for Messina is when we forecast the roster, Deputy tells us the wage cost for each store 46 / Issue 02

Declan Lee, Director & CoFounder, Gelato Messina

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Starting and stopping shifts has never been easier. Simply install the Deputy Kiosk on an iPad located at your workplace and have your employees starting their shifts seconds later.

Schedule Staff Manage Time Off Create & Assign Tasks Make Announcements Even Add New Employees

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sFollow FREE to try for 30 days! Visit deputy.com us on Twitter: @xumagazine Issue 02 / 47

Uncovering the Demons in the Sale Words by Peter M. Vessenes, CEO, ProfitSee

The real challenges accountants face in expanding services to their SME clients

Accountants never like to think of themselves as salespeople. After all, we are above the fray of peddling used cars. We provide professional services.

their own success. The great results we find are laced with many hidden seductions, some of them bordering on diabolical! If we don’t recognise them, trouble waits at the door…

My own experience as a high level consultant might lead to the conclusion that what I do surely must be past selling.

In an interesting twist, a true salesperson doesn’t face these issues. They fully understand that their future hangs on the next sale; it is not tied to critical mass of the company, contractual retainers, or the fact that taxes are due every year. So, what are the demons?

In fact, selling is a component part of EVERYTHING we do professionally: ■■ Building tax strategies requires informing clients on what they should do; you are ‘selling’ them on your expertise. ■■ Working with others in many practices frequently requires positioning yourself for what you want to do; a sales process. ■■ Generating new clients is a sales activity. ■■ Getting referrals is a sales activity. ■■ Helping your SME clients understand their financial reports, a ‘sale’. ■■ Showing how advanced financial tools (like ProfitSee) help reduce risk in business strategies. ■■ Any act of persuasion around your professional expertise: a sales event. ■■ The list goes on and on… Admit it or not, accountants have some skills in selling. The dangers come when we are successful in the sale. Business and professional success is intoxicating. We feel good about ourselves. Eventually we feel a great level of comfort in how we do things. Isn’t making money the real measure of success? Most do not recognise the demons in 48 / Issue 02

■■ I Am The Expert. ■■ I Am Very Busy And Very Successful. ■■ Our Practice Is Very Stable. ■■ I’m Enjoying The Fruits Of My Labor.

I Am The Expert: ■■ Let’s be clear. We are the experts. Tax strategies, account management, building financial stability and valuation, helping in succession planning… These are not simple tasks, and take years to grow in excellence. What is so bad about being the expert? ■■ Relational psychology: Nobody wants to appear dumb. ■■ Being an expert is a responsibility, not a bragging right. Expertise in fiscal management is a fiduciary responsibility, not something that establishes status. ■■ Your clients need help because of fears. Your first responsibility is to help remove them. ■■ They trust you to look at their money. They need to trust you to graciously educate them. This

does not require great oratorical skills; it requires the right motive in your heart. Shift your focus from ‘informing’ to educating in simple language. Your clients will love you, trust you, and send you referrals. The demon is being the expert. Few accountants understand this. The teacher has the competitive advantage.

I Am Very Busy: There is nothing like being in high demand. It’s great for the ego, great for the checkbook, and usually is great for reducing worries about the practice. Perhaps you have found the right market niche. Maybe you avoided the first demon, and have found effective ways to educate and assist your clients. Let’s face it; the trust factor is so high that it has led to many referrals. You might be making a larger income than you ever imagined: your spouse and children are reaping the financial benefits. You worked so hard to build your practice; with things going so well, what could be the problem? The problem is addiction. Before you get too excited, this is not a chemical addiction. You are not using methamphetamines to stay up long hours, cocaine to sustain an artificial ‘mental high’, or Vicodin to eliminate pain and create an artificial intellectual ‘genius’. This addiction was a much more primal one: in making money you became addicted to making more.

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Why is this a bad thing?

I knew what the real consequence was: a destruction of my family, a lifetime best friend that was drifting apart from me, and deterioration of my health. It was not worth it.

Success addictions generate adrenalin: adrenalin is something the body likes when it is in a safe situation. This is We fixed it. The why people into fix was so good sports get such a we recently rush rom being a celebrated our fan. Knowing you - Peter M. Vessenes 40th anivesary in pulled off the Quick Hawaii. Step in your dance class gives you a high. How do you fix it, when Getting hooked on being addictions are so powerful? busy is no different. Four simple steps: Addicts are devious in explaining it away. We wind up ‘living to work’, Figure out what you are uniquely rather than ‘working to live’, and have good or great at. This is ‘Focused a long list of ‘reasons’ for doing it. Activity’. Make a list of the things only you Many of my SME clients were not can do, even though you might hate calling for help because of financial doing them. This is ‘Buffered Activity’. problems. Their lives were falling List the things you would like apart, and they were completely to do in your time off, even if it is oblivous to why. nothing. This is ‘Rest’. Schedule your time in a very Helping them was not a challenge for specific discipline, as there is only me. I WAS them back in 1985. one correct way to rank them: At that time, Katherine and our Rest: Rest comes FIRST. You must be three children had to live in a hell I energised to be at your best; being built. I was assisting several clients constantly tired and only driven by Fortune 100 concurrently. The only adrenaline is not efficient. Schedule time spent at home was buried in your rest at least one day a week. front of the computer, generating REST means no business activity at analytics and creating presentations. Traveling 125,000 air miles a year all. No emails, texting, cell phone was nothing—after all, this was our calls; anything related to work is future. gone.

Rest comes FIRST. You must be energised to be at your best.

Buffer Activity: Buffer comes second. Things we don’t like to do hang over our neck like a millstone. Start your day with a specific block of time for Buffer tasks. It could be as little as 15 minutes, or as long as two hours, but GET IT OUT OF THE WAY. Focus: This is what you do to create the value to your clients and the prosperity to yourself. Being rested with nothing hanging over your head is the fastest way to efficiency, profitability, and world-class performance. Follow this protocol and see your life take on experiences that are far better than being busy.

We Have A Stable Practice:

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

What is not to like about a stable practice? You’ve been in operation for a long time. Client retention rate is something other firms only dream about. The fiscal management of the practice is solid, and has more than sufficient capital reserves. A stable practice has a great sense of security and safety. You have been able to pattern your life in ways that others are envious of. Yes, there are periods of long hours and hard work, but that is why you became an accountant. Though the practice seems to function like a constant, in

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 49

reality factors that impact the company and your life never are. What are changes there will be no way to avoid over the next three years? The Impact of Cloud Technology Xero has become the fastest growing accounting software in the world. Intuit, the creators of QuickBooks, has noticed and taken measures to try to compete in the Cloud Accounting world. The number of applications for accountancy software grows every year. The features of these products range from reporting systems to efficiency driven applications for businesses. There is an ever-growing need for the types of tools available from ProfitSee that help your business clients build a future that is profitable, financially stable, and promising. If you’re not adopting the right combinations of these tools, your stable practice will be left behind. The Effect of the Global Economic Recession

Successful firms also have hidden demons. We knew of a practice regarded as one of the most elite firms for over 20 years, but were on the verge of having to shut their doors. Even though they were raking in millions, they were spending 105% of it a year. His thought process? “I am young, I’ll be in business long enough to make up for it, I should be able to spend my hard earned money when I want to.” Though the advisor knew how to help his clients accumulate wealth, he did not know how to do it for himself. His problem was not just an addiction to spending; the problem was an ego/ vanity that believed the real rules of life no longer applied to him. He fell into a syndrome that many powerful people fall into: The laws are good for you; they do not apply to me. This individual had never come to me for advice. What would I have said if they had? Start using tools like ProfitSee CFO to help manage his finances and assets.

We knew of a The feeble international practice regarded as Get on a salary. economy is one of the most elite changing the Establish firms for over 20 needs of your tax-efficient years, but were on clients. Most distribution plans the verge of having small and midfor retirement. sized businesses to shut their doors. are suffering. They - Peter M. Vessenes Make an need to be smarter, investment plan proactive, future tailored to his life. thinking, and have far more complex tools available to help them Automatically pay bills from his survive and grow when the global salaried income. economy turns around. It’s easy to make money in a strong economy, Limit family spending and reduce your clients need you most when credit cards. economic conditions are in trouble. Change is at the door; make sure your practice is planning for and adapting strategies and services that will help you keep your ‘Stable Practice’.

I’m Enjoying The Fruits Of My Labors 50 / Issue 02

Outside of his ego and spending, this demon was far more insidious. The purpose of his practice was to satisfy himself. Other than eventually it is a one way ticket to disaster, what is wrong with this? We have a fiduciary responsibility to our clients. The courts demand that our activities and recommendations towards are clients are born out of what we would do to protect

ourselves. Ours is one of the few industries in the world that demands that we are NOT to be self-focused. The reason is simple; if you are driven first towards yourself, and you find yourself in a problem (particularly one of your own making), you will sacrifice others, in this case, your clients. Don’t let yourself be trapped in the demon of the Fruits Of Your Labors.

In Summary: Issues you might face in selling do not always mean you do not know how to sell! Just make sure your great sales skills do not take you down a slippery slope. Be an Educator, not an Expert. Success can be addictive. Do not allow the rush of adrenalin to destroy the parts of your life that have far greater value than money. Situations and circumstances in technology, the economy, world events, and political governance can change. What worked so well yesterday may not work tomorrow. Do not be afraid to change to deal with life’s realities. A large income can quickly lead to becoming self consumed. Practice what you preach to your clients: determine the lifestyle you want to live in the future and build a life strategy for yourself that reflects what you are required to offer to your clients. And finally, take time to remember the basics of living. The quality of our lives is far more important that the seductions that ultimately lead us away from it.

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

#GetPaidOnTime

Better credit control for your business Simple yet powerful CRM for accounts receivable management

Get paid faster with less hassle. Spend your time doing the work that matters. Automated, escalating payment chasing, under your control. Virtual credit managers, in your corner.

Rated

in the Xero Add-on store

“A really impressive product. Debt reminders made easy.” Kevin Salter, Glover Stanbury & Co

“Stress free, hassle free and thanks to Satago we are debt free!” Syama Sasirajan, SRK Accounting

“Satago will help any business struggling to get paid on time.” Chris Gibbons, Query Management

“Simple, intuitive and eﬀective in getting cash into your bank account.” Paul Barnes, My Accountancy Place

Visit satago.co.uk and get started for free As seen in: We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 51

Smart Appointments Words by Ron Holman

L-R Ron Holman (article writer), Kim Deneys, Amanda Newton - Directors of Negotiis.

Background approached Tax Season each year. Negotiis is a suburban accounting practice in the Western Suburbs of Solution Melbourne with a client database of around 1,800 clients. As we have Then we found Timely! A cloud smart about 1,500 individual clients, some appointment booking application of whom have been with us for for business that makes it easy for over 20 years, you can imagine that you to manage your clients, save the July to October period can be time, and stay focused on very hectic in our office as your business. And as these clients need to an added bonus this arrange a 30 minute program syncs with appointment with Xero, our beautiful one of our staff You don’t need accounting to prepare and to buy any new package. lodge their individual tax hardware, it will returns.

run beautifully on your existing devices

How does it work?

Over the years even As Timely runs with 4 incoming - Ron Holman from the cloud, telephone lines which is just a fancy our clients became way of saying that you frustrated with getting don’t need to buy any new a time that suited their hardware, it will run beautifully on commitments and having to leave your existing devices – including a message on our voicemail after desktop PC or Mac, laptop, tablet and hours and then wait for a return smart phone, hence the comment phone call. My staff also experienced ‘Any Device, Any Time, Any Where’. the frustration of spending most of their day answering the phone and You are given a ‘mini website’ as part making appointments, making their of your subscription where you set other duties hard to complete during up your services, products, staff, normal business hours. While not a administration staff, locations, staff perfect system, it was the best that roster, any closed dates, content and we could do at the time, and my SMS templates. This ‘mini website’ Admin staff became anxious as we 52 / Issue 02

can then be linked to your own website by the way of a ‘booking widget’ and instructions are included to achieve this outcome.

Timely in Action When your client follows the link they are led through the following process; ■■ Select a service to book (in our case individual return, or with a rental property, or a sole trader, etc). ■■ Select a staff person or no preference. A calendar is shown with dates marked in green where there are appointments available. ■■ Select which time suits on the day selected. ■■ Enter their details, name, mobile phone, email and comments. ■■ Confirm the details that they have selected and a screen gives the details of the appointment they have just been allocated as ‘pending’. ■■ At our end we receive an email notification of the ‘pending appointment’ at our nominated email address, and notification on our Dashboard of Timely of a new appointment request, which can be ‘accepted’ or ‘rejected’. As our staff have the ability to ‘block time’ that they do not

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

appointments when necessary, as it is cloud based and will be automatically updated on our administration staff’s computer. This was not possible with our server based software. ■■ Can easily create an invoice at the conclusion of an appointment with very little input required. ■■ Can also use the system to SMS clients messages, other than regarding appointments, without giving away their own mobile phone number to clients. Extremely Happy Directors

wish to be booked, clients are only able to book times that are available, so most requests are confirmed, which then leads to a confirmation email being sent to the client confirming their appointment. A reminder SMS is sent prior to the appointment which is configurable (in our case 1 day prior). Our staff have a calendar in Timely which shows their appointments for the day which is constantly updated, should an appointment cancel or reschedule. The tax return is then prepared as normal using our Tax Software Program, with the Timely window kept open in the background. At the conclusion of the appointment the relevant appointment is selected and my staff are given the option of selecting ‘completed’ and then ‘raise invoice’.

Our receptionist simply logs into Xero > Sales and is then presented with the completed approved invoice which she then records payment against and prints/emails to our client for their records.

Effect on our practice Happy Clients ■■ Can now book on any device, anywhere, and at any time, allowing them to coordinate their own commitments and those of their family with the time slots available for an appointment. ■■ Receive an email confirmation which they can add to their calendar on their device. ■■ Receive an SMS reminder prior to the appointment.

■■ We pride ourselves in being ‘client focussed’ in our practice and go to great lengths to ensure that our clients have a wonderful experience, even when preparing an individual tax return, so we are truly delighted with the outcome of using the Timely application for our clients. ■■ With our administration staff we have noticed the increase in productivity which would normally not occur at this time due to the high number of telephone calls. ■■ With our accounting staff we find that they have accepted the change and are exploring the new options that we have presented to them in taking charge of their diary and time management. Would we recommend it – YES!! As a Silver Partner with Xero, our practice took the decision this year to move all of our corporate clients to Xero Practice Manager and Workpapers as we believe that the benefits of Cloud Accounting both for our clients and our ability to be responsive and proactive to their needs is paramount as we move forward, Timely has just added to this journey.

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

By selecting the “raise invoice” button a draft invoice is then automatically filled with the information from the appointment, listing the service and price with the ability to edit the amount and add an additional service if necessary. Once saved, this invoice can then be synced to Xero, which is our practice accounting program.

Very Happy Staff

■■ Our phone calls and answering machine messages have dropped significantly, allowing our administration staff to focus on their other tasks. ■■ Our Accountants are now able to monitor their appointments on any device, anywhere and at any time, allowing them to take charge of their calendar, rather than it controlling their day. They can make their own

To quote a line from a recent Childrens’ movie, “Everything is awesome when you’re part of a team” and working with Timely and Xero has certainly been awesome for our practice.

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 53

The Retail and Hospitality Ringmaster Words by Heather Smith

In the cloud integrator world Jeffrey Atizado, Joint Managing Director of SMB Consultants, is known as the Ringmaster. He recalls how he used to be the one hunting the Add-ons but is now the hunted, with Add-ons approaching him because the business is recognised as a specialist in retail and hospitality cloud implementations. He uses his newfound position as one of the hunted to have influential discussions with Add-on cloud solution providers, review their products and highlight what gaps the providers need to offer to fit neatly into the Retail or Hospitality cloud apps integration models he’s devised. From first-hand experience working on numerous client implementations, he realises it’s important when evaluating software, to look at the integration workflow, minimise the overlaps, and highlight the gaps that need filling. To keep ahead of the game, Jeffrey is working with six other app integrations to cover different areas of the industries he specialises in. In the not too distant future he’d like to see a one-step sign-on process so a user account login can be authenticated and consistent across all platforms. Simplifying this process would minimise time and confusion around juggling numerous logins, and encourage end-users to be receptive to using multiple solutions.

The rise of the cloud integrator Two years ago Jeffrey met with Xero’s Australian Managing Director Chris Ridd to share with him the integrations his business was doing. SMB Consultants implement what they refer to as their Swiss Army knife of cloud apps — both for the retail and hospitality industry (see 54 / Issue 02

L-R Peter Klein, Jeffrey Atizado (SMB)

the table at the end of the article for further details). Their business model is to provide set-up, transfer of data, training and support. Impressed with what they were doing, Chris declared “you guys are Cloud Integrators” and questioned how people found SMB Consultants without a listing on the Xero website. Fast forward to today and Xero has a ‘Cloud Integrator’ channel and a movement. Xero’s description of a Cloud Integrator is someone that “helps you decide the best apps to use with Xero for your business. They’ll then help you get up and running with setup, migration and training services.” Currently, forty-five Australian, two New Zealand and two United States cloud integrator businesses are listed on Xero’s website under the Cloud Integrator tab (www.xero.com/ advisors). For businesses interested in joining this movement, the road map Jeffrey suggests is:

Find a niche Determine service offering Build a team to provide and deliver services Once a business has a niche area to focus on, it’s then necessary to choose the best in class apps to recommend to clients. With 300+ to

choose from this can be daunting. He suggests identifying the areas you need to manage and reverse engineer the process. Then you are in a position to partner with and be listed on Xero’s website.

Partnerships drive business further Jeffrey views his business as a partner for, not a competitor of, accounting and bookkeeping providers. He wants to understand what the business wants to achieve and fill in the gaps. “I think it’s a unique opportunity in the way the community and the market is changing that we are willing to work together now.” It’s not necessary for accountants and bookkeepers to feel they also need to undertake the actual cloud integration process. They can help their clients by learning about the solutions, exploring opportunities with the client, and (officially or unofficially) partnering with a business offering cloud integration services. By partnering with a strong man who can do the heavy lifting, it means they’re in a better position to provide a complete business solution, bridging the operational functionality with the financial side of the business.

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

He explains new cloud integration projects need to be scaled around three things: the client’s expected timeframe for implementation, the client’s available resources and the client’s budget. Experience has taught Jeffrey it does not matter where you start or which way you go, as the cloud integration model is extraordinarily flexible. You can start with an accounting solution (Xero) and integrate it with a point of sale solution (Vend, Kounta). A proof of concept can start with an online store (Shopify) and then move to a real store and integrate with Vend. Integrating seamlessly with other solutions validates the product and opens the solutions up to a new customer base. If you want proof, Jeffrey suggests looking at how Vend (cloud point of sale solution) have piggy-backed off the growth of Xero.

integration benefits. Jeffrey explains: remotely, and being able to manage “They might be doing an end of devices that are out in the field day cash out (from Kounta) remotely. He also adds that and then still manually the technical part of putting a journal the implementation entry into Xero”. has shifted Xero’s description of The end-user more towards a Cloud Integrator knows the networking. is someone that solutions but treats them It’s common, ‘helps you decide as individual when people the best apps to applications. have a poor use with Xero for experience, to your business’. Training, think the software - Heather Smith empowering and does not work, mentoring people when in fact the to use the business problem is a networking software is an essential one. You can’t go into a part of their business model. hospitality business and set up a “If you were to go to a gym and sign wireless network the way you’d set up for one class and expect results, up a home network. Most people then, you know, your expectations recognise the speed of the internet are probably not correct. So our is important, but generally you only training and the workshops that have what’s available to you – so you we’ve developed are designed to be can’t change that. A cloud integrator done in very small, staged workshops needs the skills to create a robust so that we can progressively build on network that allows the software and the knowledge base and improve on databases to connect and work the their knowledge base. Now training way they need to. is only an introduction to showing them something to give them the Uptime is business critical in the confidence to do it. The … learning hospitality industry. The client needs only happens once they start asking a support network available to them questions.” Like Xero’s own training seven days a week, with the tools offering at Xero U (www.xero.com/ to provide the right support as and training), SMB Consultants offers when they need it. short role-based training sessions. To really understand the needs In his role as a modern day of their clients, SMB Consultants’ Ringmaster of the Cloud Integrator last hire comes directly from the world, Jeffrey Atizado is giving small hospitality industry. He has no hospitality and retail business formal technical skills, however has owner’s online visibility into the a love of technology and empathy operational and financial side of their for the hospitality industry and business. He’s empowering them can learn the rest on the job. While to be the Ringmaster of their own initially the business focused on business. building the team with highly skilled technical people, along the way, The Swiss Army knife of cloud app they’ve realised technical people solutions SMB Consultants uses for don’t always have the skill sets they a complete hospitality integrated require. Other hires have included implementation consists of the people with expertise in people point of sale solution Kounta as the management, project management central focus, integrated with Xero and training skills. (accounting), Deputy (staff rostering), Beat the Q (pre-ordering and payment Don’t use new technology the solution), Collect (loyalty), Swarm old way Mobile (traffic analytics) and PayPal (payment solution). A lot of business owners are A bookkeeper or accountant may hardwired to do things the traditional have their own set of apps, with Xero way. They may adopt new software, the central focus; they may but they’re not getting the full

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Specialised skills required for the hospitality industry Jeffrey recognises the specialised set of skills required for a cloud integrator working in the hospitality industry has changed from understanding how hardware is installed and that software is no longer installed, to understanding how iOS (Apple) devices can be configured, deployed and supported

xumagazine.com/subscribe

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 55

know and implement an expense management, reporting, inventory, and time tracking solutions. The common factor is Xero which hinges off a hospitality, retail or other industries suite of apps. A small café is looking at around $200 per month in subscriptions – that’s a lot of technology and automation for minimal outlay. None of the solutions have a lock in contract, so if they don’t suit the business processes they can be quickly dropped. Note: the prices listed are mainly listed in AU dollars and Beat the Q is currently only available in Australia >

Starts at Xero

Accounting

xero.com

$25 AUD/ month

Kounta

Point of Sale

kounta.com

Free lite version, then $50 AUD per store

Deputy

Staff Rostering

deputy.com

Free lite version then $1 per person per week

Beat the Q

Pre-ordering and payment solution

beattheq.com

Licence fee: $33inc GST / month Service fee: 3.9% of processed orders. (3.5% is available for multi-site customers)

Collect

Loyalty solution to reward regular customers

collectrewards.com

$9/month

Swarm

Real people traffic analytics (think of old fashion door tickers)

swarm-mobile.com

$79.99 US$ for portal device

PayPal

Integrated payment system; used for Beat the Q orders, and PayPal check-in payments

paypal.com

Per transaction – check website

Cloud Integrator Words by Blake Oliver

Blake Oliver, Co-Founder and CEO at Cloudsourced Accounting an online bookkeeping and cloud integrators firm, based in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston, US explains to us what inspired his business to partner with Xero as a ‘Cloud Integrator’. “Our firm provides cloud bookkeeping, but we’ve found over the last few years that what clients value most is our expertise with cloud accounting applications and particularly our knowledge of how to effectively integrate those applications given the client’s particular business set up and operations.

is why they end up hiring us versus any other bookkeeper. It’s also why CPAs refer us to their clients – there are many CPAs here who don’t have the technology background needed to help their clients with this sort of thing. Bookkeeping alone is a commodity service - most firms can do it ‘good enough’. Cloud integration is a high value added service that takes more experience and skill to provide. By combining the services, we create more value for the client and are able to charge higher rates as a result.”

Our expertise at cloud integration 56 / Issue 02

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Accountant / Bookkeeper Directory We make flying through the cloud easy.

XERO PARTNER LOGO COLOURS

5mc

Xero Blue Print: C:90 M:0 Y:15 K:0 Screen: R:0 G:183 B:227

taking business

PLACE LOGO ON WHITE

BLACK & WHITE

This is the preferred colour treatment of the Xero Partner logos.

Primarily for use in newspaper or similar, where black and white are the only options.

Dark Blue Print: C:100 M: 35 Y: 35 K:0 Screen: R:0 G:130 B:155 Bronze Print: C: 30M:62 Y:72 K:13 Screen: R:163 G:103 B:75

TO THE CLOUD

Silver Print: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:40 Screen: R:167 G:169 B:172 Gold Print: C:0 M:19 Y:100 K:0 Screen: R:255 G:204 B:0 Platinum Print: C:62 M:54 Y:54 K:27 Screen: R:92 G:91 B:90

Print White: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0 PLATI NUM P ARTNER

SILVER PART NER

PLATI NUM P ARTNER

PARTNER STATUS

Screen White: R:255 G:255 B:255

PARTNER STATUS

Never place the colour logo on a coloured background. Please use an alternative colour treatment.

GREY & WHITE

Print White: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0 Black: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:100 Screen White: 255 G:255 B:255 Black: 0 G:0 B:0

Reverse Colours as above

Similar to ‘Black & White’, this treatment should only be used when full black is too strong.

PARTNER STATUS

Print White: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0 Grey: Darker than K:50 Screen White: 255 G:255 B:255 Grey: Darker than 122 G:122 B:122

XERO PARTNER LOGO COLOURS

Reverse Colours as above

Xero Blue Print: C:90 M:0 Y:15 K:0 Screen: R:0 G:183 B:227

PLACE LOGO ON WHITE

BLACK & WHITE

This is the preferred colour treatment of the Xero Partner logos.

Primarily for use in newspaper or similar, where black and white are the only options.

Dark Blue Print: C:100 M: 35 Y: 35 K:0 Screen: R:0 G:130 B:155

Print White: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0

PARTNER STATUS

GREY & WHITE

Print White: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0 Black: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:100

Xero Bookkeeping 2013 NUMBERS THATPartner WORK FOR YOU.® Bronze Print: C: 30M:62 Y:72 K:13 Screen: R:163 G:103 B:75

Silver Print: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:40 Screen: R:167 G:169 B:172

PLATI NUM P ARTNER

SILVER PART NER

Screen White: R:255 G:255 B:255

PARTNER STATUS

Never place the colour logo on a coloured background. Please use an alternative colour treatment.

Screen White: R:255 G:255 B:255 Black: R:0 G:0 B:0

0800 463 488 gofi8ure.co.nz Gold Print: C:0 M:19 Y:100 K:0 Screen: R:255 G:204 B:0

PLATI NUM P ARTNER

Reverse Colours as above

Platinum Print: C:62 M:54 Y:54 K:27 Screen: R:92 G:91 B:90



Training Setups Conversions & Bookkeeping Here there and everywhere

Similar to ‘Black & White’, this treatment should only be used when full black is too strong.

PARTNER STATUS

Print White: C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0 Grey: Darker than K:50 Screen White: R:255 G:255 B:255 Grey: Darker than R:122 G:122 B:122

Experienced Xero Gold Partner Small and medium business experts T: 0113 231 0202 www.uwm.co.uk

Reverse Colours as above

SMALL BUSINESS SPECIALIST

     

P: +64 (0)9 948 2210 M: +64 (0)21 022 18961 E: julie@julierussellbookkeeping.co.nz www.julierussellbookkeeping.co.nz



INFO@TOTALACCOUNTS.COM.AU PERTH WA + 61 (0)8 9330 9313

TOTALACCOUNTS.COM.AU MEMBER > CPA AUSTRALIA & ASSOCIATION OF ACCOUNTING TECHNICIANS



0151 426 4512

CRUNCHER R E B M NU

Emerging Business CFO

WWW.EBCFO.COM

www.jonathanford.co.uk/xero

1300 856 181 www.icb.org.au

dan@ebcfo.com +1 (816) 392-8425

Interested in appearing here? To find out more please email advertising@ xumagazine.com

Add-on Directory To advertise, please email the team at: advertising@xumagazine.com

NO MORE PAPER. NO MORE DATA ENTRY. www.receipt-bank.com

Your invoices paid on time, automatically

www.chaser.io We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 57

Closing Words... Words by Heather Smith

Only three short months ago, the financial intelligence solution CrunchBoards was launched alongside XU Magazine, at Sydney Xerocon 2014. Since appearing on the front cover of the magazine, CrunchBoards Co-Founders Hannah McIntrye and Amy Harris have enjoyed a whirlwind of success. Their solution is now used by 2,000 businesses across 35 countries, and the Brighton based development crew are working around the clock bringing new feature releases to the market at a dizzying pace. Not since Demi Moore appeared naked and pregnant on the front cover of Vanity Fair, has a magazine’s front cover had such an impact on a community. To create the cover shoot for XU Magazine, the girls donned double denim and pretended to jump over sheep. Since then our social media stream has been filled with the Xero community recreating their own imaginary sheep jumping experiences. It’s a front cover you’d certainly not expect from a niche cloud accounting community – but Xero’s not your average accounting solution! The stunning founders of CrunchBoards are embracing every opportunity, and working bloody hard! A global solution translates into global time zones, and as well as early mornings and late nights, Amy Harris will be back in Australia for her third visit in less than seven months, on the Australia February 2015 Evolve Xero Roadshow. Both ladies claim to have not slept in about a year – sound familiar? And like many of us in the Xero community, what they like most about their job; is both meeting people from all over the world and knowing they are positively impacting how people operate their businesses.

L-R Hannah McIntyre, Amy Harris (Crunchboards)

CrunchBoards as a service he provides for his clients. “After one demo, I knew CrunchBoards Nick Hazel was going to have a considerable effect on not only our business, but on the entire hospitality industry. One of the challenges that hospitality business owners face is that they rarely have accurate, up-to-date numbers to work with. Reports come, but they often come far too late. One month of poor performance can take many months, even a year for a business to claw back. What CrunchBoards allows us to do is give the industry up-to date reports on a weekly basis. This has always been a possibility, but never with the efficiency, ease and aesthetically appealing design that CrunchBoards provides. Now our clients have weekly P&Ls & KPI’s at their fingertips. It is rewarding for us when we have the opportunity to engage with our clients and talk about business benchmarks rather than just completing the mundane compliance work.” Crunchboards is Amy and Hannah’s second venture, their first business was one of the early adopters of Xero and the catalyst for recognising the need for a collaborative business and financial intelligence solution focused on the business owner’s needs that plugs into Xero.

shares his thoughts; "We're a business with a game plan. CrunchBoards is Nathan Keeley left field. For us, it's the answer to our 'I wish/dream team' moments. We genuinely didn't think client management existed in this way and the intelligence and experience we deliver on the ground is the home run. Don't get CrunchBoards confused with other reporting tools or spreadsheets; the platform they've built is insanely flexible so it works for our diverse range of clients. We have small businesses using CrunchBoards right up to multi-million turnover global entities. Due to our assorted client mix we are working with people who have varying skills sets and understanding of their financials. CrunchBoards can communicate to them all and at the appropriate levels. Get on-board...!" A phrase frequently referred to during conversations with the Xero community is “Xero is about partnerships”. XU Magazine is no different. Our success dovetails on the success of the Xero community, and we are thrilled Amy and Hannah helped us and were a part of the inaugural edition of XU Magazine and we wish we had equity in their company… dang it!

Subscribe for free to read the full magazine

Take for example, Nick Hazel founder of Café Bookkeepers, Sydney, Australia who has embraced 58 / Issue 02

Nathan Keeley of Carpenter Box UK, another CrunchBoards convertee,

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

xumagazine.com/subscribe

Why people love Xero Simple. Smart. Secure. ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■

Automated daily bank feeds Fast, simple and customised invoicing Available anytime, anywhere you’re online Real-time collaboration with your advisors Safe and secure Smart reports with links to source transactions Dashboard gives a clear financial overview Awesome support at no additional cost No installation or IT maintenance required Pay as you go and no up-front costs

Need a helping hand? No business card attached? For a full list of Xero certified accountants, bookkeepers, integrators and advisors, please visit:

www.xero.com/advisors

We want to hear from you! Get in touch - email: hello@xumagazine.com

Issue 02 / 59

We inject time back into businesses G ST

Debtor Manage ment

t ip ent ce Re gem a an

Accounting Software

sting

a Forec

t lis a ci ing e Sp uild B

HR t emen g a n Ma

www.NumberNurses.com

Number NursesÂŽ specialise in helping the building industry master their Admin Numbers with Xero and Xero Add-Ons 60 / Issue 02

XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at xumagazine.com

Training + Help Desk + Support