Making every mile count We are seeing more and more businesses waking up to the benefits of Xero, not least the significant benefit that a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution can offer in terms of the variety of add-on services provided....
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t Blue Sky Books, we work with a wide portfolio of clients ranging in size and sector, and each has their own set of accounting and business requirements. As a result, we have made great use of the broad range of add-on applications that come with Xero, finding an integrated solution specific to certain business areas. A good example of a beneficial addon App we frequently recommend which saves time and money is one which calculates mileage costs and can automatically add these to expense claims. For any freelancer, contractor or company director looking to claim the HMRC approved mileage rates on business mileage, having such a tool helps to accurately capture business mileage quickly and simply. Apps such as Tripcatcher can measure the distance travelled using Google Maps and calculate the correct expense claim using HMRC-approved mileage rates. Many business owners currently find it too onerous to claim for every mile they travel given the need to calculate each trip and enter their expenses correctly within HMRC guidelines, but this solution takes all administrative burden away and integrates directly with Xero to ensure that all business mileage is correctly documented and can be claimed. There is even an option to duplicate common trips. This means users can use recurring calculations for 74 / Issue 12
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Harriet Sergeant, Partner, Blue Sky Books Harriet Sergeant is a Partner at Blue Sky Books, a dedicated online bookkeeping and accounting service based in Chichester, West Sussex. The organisation is part of Sheen Stickland Chartered Accountants, a firm with over 70 years’ experience, which means Blue Sky Books can offer the latest cloud-based accounting applications backed with by the support of a wider team of highly qualified professionals.
regular scheduled visits to clients or suppliers. For contract work lasting for a specified period, users can enter the date range for the route to be travelled and the expenses will be automatically calculated for all relevant days. The app, available on iOS and Android, has integrated GPS to accurately track the exact distance travelled, so if you get caught by a traffic diversion, there’s no need to write off those extra miles as too complicated to calculate. For businesses managing remote sales teams, this functionality also provides an additional level of transparency to the process as there is no way to “cheat” the GPS and inflate an expense claim. For business owners, Tripcatcher can also be used to accurately reclaim VAT on the fuel consumed during business trips. Many business owners ignore this possible VAT claim because of the complexity involved in the calculation. However, this tool can use the same data used to calculate mileage and, when provided additional information on the engine type of the car used,
can automatically calculate the rate and amount of VAT to be claimed and include this information when an expense claim is submitted to Xero. This simple addition could save hundreds of pounds a year and is now available without all the complicated administrative work of calculation and addition to the accounts. Our clients are often small businesses, freelancers or startups and because of that, they’re looking for a solution and support which gets the administration out of the way as soon as possible and allows them to focus on their day job. Our aim at Blue Sky Books is to use Xero as a means of taking the hassle out of finances and maintaining accurate and up to date accounts for our clients. Our team are on-hand to take the stress out of our clients’ finances so they can focus on running their business. As a result, we always keep on top of the latest add-on solutions and applications which integrate with Xero and provide additional convenience and simpler accounting processes.
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