Xero Projects: When is it right

Xero Projects: When is it right to make it part of an app stack?

At Xerocon London, a raft of new features were announced by Xero to much fanfare. Paula Byers takes an early look at one of them, Xero Projects, to see how it stacks up against the existing project management Apps in the Marketplace...

Ok, so in the interests of

full disclosure, we’ve been excited about the potential for Xero Projects for some time and pleased to say that we now get to share it with you.

What is it?

Projects is a project management module released to Xero Partners this autumn and, if requested, can be enabled for Xero Users by their advisor. It allows businesses to track time and expenses on jobs, or projects . . . hence the name!

It works across a variety of industries, initially aimed at small services industries such as consultants, creatives or tradespeople. As more functionality is developed, this broadens to include professional services like accountants, bookkeepers, solicitors, architects and more.

How does it work?

This isn’t an in-depth product ‘how style reports in Xero, which means cloud tech, it is ever evolving.

to’ article, more an overview of the functions available at the time of writing.

First create a project; entering details such as contact, project name, deadline and estimate. Once created tasks can be added, along with expenses, time entries are added to tasks on the project, or create a task specifically for work outside of the original estimate – useful to keep track of additional hours which is so often where profits are lost on a project.

Expenses added direct in Projects can be chargeable or nonchargeable for sales invoicing, although these don’t link back to purchases currently. Expenses can also be assigned to a project from the new bill screen whilst entering purchases, which will ensure they appear in the accounts too.

Invoicing remains simple. From taking deposits at the start of the project, to billing as you go, Projects keeps track of invoicing progress in relation to the estimate. Figure 1 shows invoicing on completion of a task, adding outstanding expenses and allocating the deposit previously invoicing in relation to the overall project value although it does not link to Quotes created in Xero at the moment.

@LimeCloudLtd / @LimePaula

Paula Byers, Founder & Director,

LimeCloud

Having started and run several businesses for more than 26 years, increasingly in tech & business systems for the last 15 years. Moving into the cloud 5 years ago precipitated the re-brand to LimeCloud in 2016. A SFEDI accredited Business Mentor, local Chamber of Commerce Director & Enterprise Nation Advisor Member; she is passionate about supporting business and not-for-profits to develop using creative and innovative cloud tech.

Reporting right now is limited to two reports; Project Details and Project Summary. Both are new information can be shown, hidden or filtered under the report settings and saved as a custom report preference.

So, it does have limitations?

Well, yes. (Show us someone who says their software is perfect and we would pity them as a poor deluded fool!). Its early days, so there are still quite a few things missing, such as part allocating deposits, better integration with the rest of the Xero software, more detailed reporting and . . . we could go on. By Xero’s own admission, they are still building functionality for the module, but it is this potential that makes it an exciting opportunity. That’s the beauty of recorded. This enables tracking of

Some of the functionality reported to be coming includes: • Project user permissions • Improved reporting • Project templates • Integration with Xero Quotes,

Expenses & Payroll • Mobile apps

Xero have made Projects available free of charge for the rest of this year, but will start charging from 2018 per active user (although it will remain free for advisors). It is

clear the module is aimed at sole and small users; perhaps those currently using spreadsheets. Larger businesses are still more suited to more specialist project management apps, of which there are several which all have slightly different functionality.

Xero Projects is not and never will be all things to all men or women. There are already apps for that and, quite frankly, it would be overkill for the small business owner who just wants a simple management tool. As a step up for spreadsheets users, avoiding duplicated data entry & tracking simple costs and time on a project basis, it could the start of something beautiful that will only get better as the module develops.

Choosing the app stack (a group of integrated cloud tools used to manage the business) and setting it up correctly is absolutely the key to a successful user experience. Ensuring the right app(s) for the right business has never been more important with the ever more crowded Marketplace. Project management is no exception, as it is the engine that drives day to day function for businesses that use it. But it seems even Xero themselves are keen to avoid confusion with their own blog post on Projects.

For a small business with fairly simple requirements Xero Projects may be appropriate, but for large multi-user organisations, needing more detailed and specialist functionality, then there are several other contenders out there, not least Workflow Max, Xero’s own project management app. Others with workflow management (to a greater or lesser extent) include Insightly, Deputy and TSheets. Understanding the Client requirements is key to deciding which app is needed.

Projects as part of the App Stack

We ensure we have understood

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Manage Donations, receipts, rosters Store Names, address, notes Connect People, groups, communicate Track Assets, donor profile, attendance Client requirements thoroughly before recommending cloud tools. Understanding workflows through the business; the key information used for day to day management and reporting; along with the ‘wish list’ for a system, can assist with identifying the correct app(s). Planning is instrumental in the implementation of any new software, especially when it is fundamental to the running of the organisation.

If confidence, knowledge or resources are lacking for implementation in-house, then talk to the specialists. Experienced cloud integrators are there to help and support businesses, so frustrating and costly mistakes can

Fig. 1

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