XU Magazine - Issue 22 by XU Magazine

The independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users

ISSUE

magazine 2020

2019

We’ll be leading change not following it

We’re ready. Are you?

2017

and beyond

Ongoing Development

2018 GDPR comes in

Ready for GDPR & the 2020s

Rebuilt Cloud Platform

2006

2003

AdvanceTrack Started

Built First Cloud Portal

COVER STORY

The AdvanceTrack

ISSN 2054-7226

Journey see page 8

9 772054 722009

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magazine The independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users

Issue 22 Main Contacts CEO: David Hassall (Co-Founder) Managing Editor: Wesley Cornell (Co-Founder) Director of Strategic Partnerships: Alex Newson Editorial/News Submissions: If you have any editorial content (news, comment, tutorials etc.) that you would like us to consider for inclusion in the next edition of XU Magazine, please email us at editorial@xumagazine.com Advertising: advertising@xumagazine.com

COVER STORY AdvanceTrack The AdvanceTrack Journey – putting accountancy learning into practice

INTERVIEW CreDec Alexander Meynell (Founder and CEO) on the journey of CreDec

TUTORIAL ApprovalMax How to: set up bill review and coding in ApprovalMax

STUDENT VIEWPOINT ACCA Highlights from Xerocon London 2019

T: +44 (0)116 340 0560 E: hello@xumagazine.com W: www.xumagazine.com

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Zahara Meet: Zahara

GoCardless You’ll struggle to get paid on time in 2020 without these 7 key considerations

ProfitSee From Survival to Growth: the changing landscape of startup advisory

AccountancyManager When beautiful accounting meets automated admin

simPRO Working with Trade Contractors? Become a Trusted Partner For Your Clients

CASE STUDY Tidy How do you grow an environmentally responsible business while working with low margins?

‘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 2014-2020. 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: 12 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 0BP, United Kingdom. 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.

32 34

INTERVIEW Connectably Help! My client wants a Xero CRM recommendation

XBert Streamline process management with AI-powered automation and risk alerts

Practice Ignition Automating your sales processes with PipeDrive, Practice Ignition & Zapier

CASE STUDY WorkflowMax A perfect fit for a fitout company

MarketFinance How to beat the late payment blues. Getting in control of your finance strategy.

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

Cover Story...

The AdvanceTrack Journey

AutoEntry Recruiting Tomorrow’s Accountants (The move to Wellbeing 2.0)

INDUSTRY FOCUS: PROPERTY Arthur Online How property management meets technological innovations. The future of real estate in the next five years.

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CASE STUDY ApprovalMax Spend control for a hospitality business

8 Interviews with... Alexander Meynell Founder & CEO CreDec

GoProposal The AppsMap™ Feature in GoProposal is turning app confusion into app confidence for accountancy firms

Zivora Aspirin for Small

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XPM - PART 1 OF 2 Xero Common KPIs for the Timesheeting Firm and how to Track them in Xero Practice Manager

TUTORIAL SuiteFiles How to: Using SuiteFiles & Xero

Chata Start a data-driven conversation about cutting costs with your clients

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Receipt Bank Pacioli and Penny - The end of accounting and bookkeeping as we know it?

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Compleat Software Online buying is the norm in personal life. Businesses are next!

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Spotlight Reporting Deploying advisory services with Spotlight Reporting

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eBillity Time and attendance tracking apps, which one is best for your business?

Wolters Kluwer Why moving your practice accounts to the cloud with an integrated solution will boost your bottom line

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APPS COMPARED Compared: Cashflow

Revolut Revolut for Business and Xero: Bringing expense management into the next decade

Tim Hoopmann Strengthen Your SelfWorth and Increase Your Confidence

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Expo Dawn of Relevance Follows a Decade of Discovery

...and finally Uber for Business joins Xero Connect in Australia and NZ

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Infoodle Are you ready for Year End Financial Reporting?

APP DIRECTORY Over 700 Xero connected Apps

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MARKETING FOR ACCOUNTANTS The Profitable Firm Part 4 - Sharing your content: Events, Campaigns, and Social Media

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Issue 22 / 7

Cover Story

The AdvanceTrack Journey – putting accountancy learning into practice We shared in the last edition of XU Magazine how important it is to use technology to drive efficiencies in any firm. You may therefore wonder what our business does to keep us at the front in ensuring that our service is superior to other offerings in the marketplace...

hile technology is integral to what we do, outsourcing on behalf of accounting practices requires so much more than that. It requires a commitment to collaborative working, absolute prudence and rigour in terms of IT security, and a focus on client service. These criteria are borne of a mindset that comes from our own experiences working as part of – and with – the accounting profession. @AdvanceTrack

Vipul Sheth ACA CTA, Founder and Managing Director, AdvanceTrack Outsourcing Vipul is a UK based ICAEW Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor. Vipul trained with a regional UK firm before moving to Ernst & Young and KPMG. AdvanceTrack is a UK Headquartered Accountancy Outsourcing Company with offshore operational centres, delivering services around the globe. AdvanceTrack demonstrates compliance with international security laws including GDPR through certification to ISO27001:2013 and BS10012 audited by BSI.

8 / Issue 21 22

AdvanceTrack MD Vipul Sheth: My professional background in accountancy Having trained with a great firm as an auditor and business adviser, you understand the challenges and rewards of being an accountant. It also illuminated the various challenges of growing a firm with multiple partner interests. My practice had four partners, which meant there were at least four ways to produce a working file! I’m sure this will resonate with many of you. I eventually ended up in what is now EY. I remember thinking that, with my smaller firm training, it would be difficult to cope in a ‘big

firm’ environment. However, I quickly discovered that my work to date prepared me better than I could imagine. I already knew how to deal with everything from a technical perspective, but now I focused on the value-added service of tax. That training I had gave me the opportunity to show I could read accounts, work through ledgers, but most importantly build great relationships with clients and colleagues. Understanding the ‘process deficiency’ in accounting practices The biggest lesson was realising that EY didn’t have 400 ways to produce a file (I’m guessing the numbers of partners in the firm then), but just one way. This was the lightbulb moment in understanding what differentiated the firm I trained with and the Big Four firm where I now sat. And when I left, I then realised that a client is transitioned very quickly from yourself to another very capable colleague with almost no difference in client service.

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

Cover Story

A few years later and I started my own enterprise, which is what we all now know as AdvanceTrack.

The AdvanceTrack journey – so far

2002 I left practice with the ambition to start up an outsourcing business. I spent several weeks in India meeting people and concluded that it could be done, and successfully. Having met people in the accounting industry, I knew the technical capability was there – but I wondered if the technology was as well.

2003 Formally set the company up and sought to build an online platform immediately. Being someone who used IT rather than creating it taught me many lessons. Most importantly, it taught me that staff need careful management. I was

adamant that I needed to build the technology to run the business. Many people questioned my determination to build a system to run the business. One thing is for sure, I can be stubborn, but I just call it passion.

2005 2006 I found some developers who demonstrated incredible focus and enthusiasm for the project. I told them what I wanted was to build something accessible on the internet (they hadn’t called it ‘cloud’ at that point). They built it with huge passion and in the meanwhile, I sought to put together a new team of accountants.

2013 Security and quality accreditations were achieved. This was without making any material change to

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any of our processes. The security accreditation just demonstrated how the whole process was designed to deliver higher quality in a secure way.

2016 2017 Despite many improvements over the years, we ripped up the platform we had spent over a decade building and refining. It’s hard to do, to take something that has helped deliver great service and growth for the business and consign it to history. We bit the bullet and put a team together to deliver a brand new platform for the business.

2018 There were good reasons to rebuild the platform, particularly the need to comply with new and exacting data protection legislation (GDPR) that was brought in across Europe. Our early planning helped ensure that with plenty of time to spare, Follow us on Twitter: @xumagazine

Issue 22 / 9

Cover Story the platform was ready for GDPR and the challenges that would be undoubtedly coming, particularly as technology in the industry was changing so quickly. We can be sure that we’ll need to continue making changes.

2020 While other outsourcers are beginning their cloud journey, we’re proud that we started our journey more than 15 years ago. We’ve reimagined it time and again but sticking to our core values. With the pace of change increasing in the sector, we know we have to constantly re-invent ourselves to keep relevant to the customers we work with.

Beyond

2020

We won’t be making big announcements until they have happened. We don’t make our commercial strategy a public manifesto. It’s fair to say though that we’ll drive technological advancements faster and more thoughtfully than ever. Our clients expect us to help them lead the change. We’re closer to the Martec’s law

FIND OUT MORE... Book your web discovery meeting with an AdvanceTrack professional by clicking here: > advancetrack.com/start-here

graph than our client firms, but we need to be. Efficiency is everything in outsourcing and that technology adoption curve needs to be steeper than even the above average firm. Wherever you are in the world, shouldn’t you be working with a business that values its people and clients, whilst delivering the best service possible? Book that meeting with us here: > advancetrack.com/start-here AdvanceTrack Conference We’ll be sharing much of this at our 4th Annual Conference in London this year. We love the client engagement that an event like that enables. Most importantly, we put on some great speakers who make a difference to our client firms attending. Paul Shrimpling returns to present on ‘re-inventing the customer experience’. Paul always energises the room and makes practice owners accountable to change. At a time where change has never been faster, an essential step to succeeding is delivering great service. Next on the list is Alexandra Bond Burnett from Bond Ambition. She is a well-respected speaking coach who also runs her own accounting practice. Alex helps partners and staff in accounting firms communicate better and train skills including speaking in public and on camera.

ApprovalMax helps ﬁreﬂy signal the future of education #Education 10 / Issue 22

#FinancialControls

#Bills

Another ‘rock star speaker’ is Practice Ignition’s Trent McLaren. Trent was Australia’s thought leader of the year at the Australian Accounting Awards in 2017. He is head of strategic partnerships at Practice Ignition globally and is passionate about accounting technology and best practice. Matt Flanagan from Appacus provides firms with value by helping them move onto the cloud and drive it through their client base. He is an established leader in the cloud technology field. We also have Andrew Van De Beek from Illumin8 joining us. Why are we excited about that? We’ll share Andrew’s words: “Founder and head of purpose Illumin8, 2018 Thought Leader of the Year, Xero Partner advisory council member, blah blah blah… “What if an accountant tomorrow doesn’t have to look/sound/act like an accountant of yesterday? That’s what I’m obsessed about!” Last, but certainly not least, we have XU Magazine’s very own David Hassall, who will be chairing the event with his background of running a practice and working with all the latest cloud technologies.

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#Expenses

#Trainings

#UK

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Issue 22 / 11

Interview

Alexander Meynell (Founder and CEO) on the journey of CreDec

@CreDec

About CreDec CreDec provides payroll, supplier and tax payment solutions for businesses and their accounting partners from Xero (in the UK) in a seamless, automated process using the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existing bank account, with collaborative, customisable workflows. They are Xeroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first non-bank, accounts payable payments app partner and a leading technical payments innovator.

12 / Issue 21 22

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

Interview

XU:

Can you start by telling us a little about yourself and how you became the CEO and founder of CreDec

AM:

Sure. I have a background in strategy consulting. It’s a dismal confession but I enjoy the challenge of understanding and simplifying complex markets. The challenge is always the same, to find your way you need insight and that comes from data. Our business has always been about providing independent market solutions built on rigorous analysis. I set up CreDec to drive that approach to payments. This is what we have now delivered in the CreDec Virtual Account.

XU:

Now can you tell us more about CreDec and how it came from concept to product?

AM:

Yes. We saw the requirement for a perfect payment solution for business: to manage all payments from Xero effortlessly and securely and do that collaboratively with accounting partners in any workflow for any bank account, without the need for any integration or to change the bank account provider. And, importantly, to avoid the need to maintain and fund a separate payment account and credit balance. Time and cash are precious to business - they have to be used as efficiently as possible.

XU:

How did the CreDec concept develop over this journey?

XU:

How important is your Xero integration and how does this integration work with CreDec to change the way accountants and businesses work together?

AM:

Xero and cloud accounting was the starting point for the CreDec Virtual Account. It’s where a business’s payments begin, not internet banking, so our integration with Xero delivers a seamless and secure solution to instruct and make payments using Xero’s own user interface. We’ve turned Xero into a bank front end. That’s powerful for Xero and its customers. There’s no technical integration: users just have to authorise the creation of their CreDec Virtual Account and off they go, enabling business owners and bank account signatories to work in any combination of Xero and CreDec roles as they choose. It’s pretty amazing stuff.

XU:

What makes CreDec stand out from the crowd and competitors?

AM:

Well, we’re the first to have conceived and implemented this new payments model, that delivers exactly what the market wants, without the need to change anything. It’s all instant and real time. There’s nothing to do apart from operate Xero and watch statement lines get written automatically. The key differences are there’s no separate balance in a second payment account

to manage: because CreDec doesn’t hold any customer funds. CreDec works with all payments applications and payroll software so accountants and bookkeepers can use CreDec to streamline payments activity for all their clients in any workflow, even clients not in Xero. We also have our own bank payments infrastructure end to end with 5 UK Sort Codes, so we’re not dependent on any other providers and can compete directly with the biggest UK clearing banks.

XU:

Today security is more important than ever especially when it comes to finances and payments. What has CreDec done to make sure its integration is secure?

AM:

We have 7 regulatory bodies in total. Our direct membership of the Faster Payments Scheme means we’re subject to the most rigorous assurance and audit activity and we’ve designed our entire ecosystem which is all in the cloud to be ‘always on’ using the full georedundancy, cyber and encryption capabilities of our global cloud partner. Nothing is taken more seriously at CreDec than the way we safeguard the security of client funds in transit: but remember, we don’t hold any customer funds. Customer funding is paid on or paid back to the customer’s own bank account. The CreDec Virtual Account minimises risk by design. >

AM:

We recognised the importance of not compromising - we were delighted by the response we’ve had from its launch, starting at Xerocon London 2019. We have eliminated all the friction points. The CreDec Virtual Account is created as a Xero Bank account in seconds in front of your eyes in Xero and linked to the business’s existing bank account. It writes statement lines for all account funding transfers and payment lines in real time.

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Issue 22 / 13

Interview

XU:

Why is having all your client bank payments in one place important for accountants?

AM:

The ‘in one place’ solution the CreDec Virtual Account delivers for accountants is the ability to support their client accounting and payments activity from their existing bank account no matter who they bank with, all from Xero. It allows accountants to work collaboratively with their clients exactly as needed, without compromise. We know this is very valuable to accountants because CreDec delivers the one thing they need to offer a truly joined up accounting and finance solution to their clients: seamless, secure real time payments that closes the gap between accounting, payments and bank reconciliation: CreDec does all of that in real time. We’ve made the problem of broken client

payment processes disappear for accountants.

XU:

How has open banking and advancements in digital banking over the last few years helped CreDec grow?

AM:

CreDec has been a direct beneficiary of regulators’ policy of widening access to the UK’s core payments infrastructure. We were the first Authorised Payments Institution to join the Faster Payments Scheme as a direct full settling member. CreDec’s payments model is highly innovative and does things in a fundamentally different way that makes us hard to compete with, never holding client funds for example. But to do this at scale at the volumes the expected demand will require, needs direct access to payment systems and enterprise grade scale operations. So yes, to do this you need to be just like a bank, but not a bank.

XU:

FIND OUT MORE...

I know CreDec exhibited at Xerocon London. How did you find CreDec was received by delegates and what did you learn from them?

Find out more at: > credec.com

Advisory services and bill automation #XeroPlatinumChampionPartner

14 / Issue 22

#Advisory

AM:

It was fantastic: a real validation of what we’ve done and the fundamental problem we’ve solved. The big message was accountants need to be able to work collaboratively with their clients in flexible approval, authorisation and funding workflows, client by client, and that’s exactly what CreDec does. The most pleasing thing was hearing time and again the “At last, finally!” message. One delegate said to me “We’ve been waiting for this for so long.”

XU:

What does 2020 hold for CreDec and where will our subscribers see you this year?

AM:

We’re looking to roll the CreDec Virtual Account out to all Xero partners in the UK this year. Accountants need to see it in action once and it’s a bit like, “wow!” They instantly get that it’s transformative. So we will be appearing at a number of shows this year but also engaging directly with Xero accounting partners one to one to support their adoption of the CreDec Virtual Account.

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Issue 22 / 15

Cover Tutorial Story

How to: set up bill review and coding in ApprovalMax The ApprovalMax “Review and coding” feature allows to check and edit accounts and tracking categories in a bill submitted for approval, without having to access Xero or a data entry tool. B

efore a bill gets approved by a business manager, it is often necessary to make some edits after it was processed by an OCR. This typically includes splitting line items, changing the account or adding tracking categories. We call this “Review and coding”. There are several options for performing such edits. Reviewers can do this, for example, in the OCR tool or in Xero. However, both have their disadvantages. Firstly, neither OCR tools nor Xero have notification capabilities, so there is no way to inform reviewers that there is a bill waiting for them.

Secondly, when reviewers have access to Xero or an OCR tool, it is not possible to control what alterations they make. So, there is always a risk of someone changing the bill amount – and that going unnoticed. Moreover, enabling reviewers to do review and coding in Xero entails letting them into Xero. This presents a potential security risk as reviewers then can get access to the organisation’s sensitive financial data, not just the bill they are expected to review. Control over data access and editing restrictions The “Review and coding” feature in

@ApprovalMax

Konstantin Bredyuk, Director, Product, ApprovalMax With roots in business process management and optimisation software development, Konstantin has undertaken hundreds of product implementations for ApprovalMax clients worldwide. Konstantin has been advising numerous organisations on implementing automation, financial controls and client collaboration capabilities using Xero-based trusted app stacks, with business profiles ranging from SMEs to large accounting and advisory practices.

ApprovalMax resolves such issues by allowing bill editing as part of the approval process, meaning it can be done without accessing Xero or the data entry tool. The process is set up in a way that approvers and reviewers only see the bills and bill-related information relevant for this task. In addition, the scope of reviewing and coding in ApprovalMax is limited. Unlike in Xero, reviewers can only make certain changes such as split line items or change the tracking category. They won’t be able to change the bill amount. It is also possible to restrict reviewers in terms of which GL codes and

Below: Adding reviewers to a workflow

16 / Issue 22

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

Tutorial

Above: Reviewers are able to change bill fields only according to the specified rules

tracking options they are allowed to set.

How to set up bill review and coding

The reviewer of a bill is always also the first approver – it is the business manager who has the context-related knowledge about the transaction. This way, the review and the approval step can be combined and performed in the same system in a fully secure manner, without the need to access the accounting or any other system.

In order to set up “Bill review and coding”, you’ll need to go to the “Bill approval” workflow, click on “Reviewers” and add those persons who will be able to change certain fields before the approval decision is made. Reviewers can only view and edit a bill if they have been named as an approver for this specific bill. In this step it is also possible to specify restrictions which ensure, for instance, that reviewers can only select certain categories.

ApprovalMax automatically emails timely notifications to reviewers to make sure they are aware of each bill pending their review and approval. Reviewing and coding by business managers is mainly required by accounting and advisory practices: they configure their workflow in a way that bills are first reviewed and approved by a manager on the client side, before the accounting practice checks the GL codes and tracking codes.

ensure compliance — bills cannot be changed after a particular approver has made a decision. It is possible to change the following bill fields in ApprovalMax: Tax, Account, Tracking category, Qty and Price. The total bill amount for line items cannot be changed whatever the circumstances (e.g. a line was split or changes in the fields Qty, Price or Tax were made). In case a reviewer still tries, he will see an alert message indicating that the original amount cannot be altered.

After you have set up and saved the workflow, approvers who were added to the “Review and coding matrix” become reviewers who can make changes to certain bill fields as long as they are in line with the defined rules.

FIND OUT MORE... For more information on the ApprovalMax approval workflow automation capabilities, please visit us at: > approvalmax.com

Bill editing is only available in the very first step of an approval process. It is designed this way to

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Issue 22 / 19

Student Viewpoint

Highlights from Xerocon London 2019

@ACCANews

ACCA is a global body for professional accountants.

ACCA has been proud to support Xerocon for a number of years now and in 2019 we thought it would be a great idea to widen the impact by inviting two accountancy students from our Accelerate programme universities, Juned Miah and and Aashi Tejwani. The Accelerate programme enables students to use their degree to count towards the ACCA Qualification to save time and money.

his year’s conference welcomed more than 3,000 accountants. Energy levels were high and there was so much to see and learn. From inspiring talks from the likes of Tim Peak and innovative app providers to the best accountancy party there is, Xerocon is definitely something not to miss and beats a day at the office (or lecturer room in this instance). It gives university students the opportunity to learn more about the industry and how exciting the profession is, ultimately to help change some perceptions. Here’s what Aashi and Juned had to say… Xerocon London 2019 went out on a high with Major Tim Peake CMG, the distinguished European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, taking to the stage.

Aashi Tejwani, Middlesex University student Turning up to the Xerocon conference in November as a guest of ACCA was an amazing experience. Over the two days the ACCA team took me round to introduce me to various businesses at their stands, and together we attended a number of really interesting presentations on the main stage. It was great to hear the Xero ‘ambassadors’ talk about the course that Xero runs for students, Xero Lifelong Learning Platform (XLLP) – it addresses accountingspecific issues across the global business landscape. The high point for me was the speech by astronaut Tim Peake. It left us all inspired and motivated, and reflected the energy across the conference as a whole. He really was out of this world! Visiting the various stands, we heard from Practice Ignition about their service of sending a smart proposal that clients can read, sign and pay in one place. Fluidly ambassadors showed me their intelligent cashflow forecasting tool and really drove home how important cashflows are to any business. At the Float stand, I saw how their app imports invoices

20 / Issue 22

and transactions and helps plan future cashflow controls. They can give insights into various aspects of the business, as well as helping companies compare actual versus budgeted cashflows. I’m already looking forward to attending Xerocon 2020 to see just how they can top all of that! Juned Miah, Queen Mary University of London student November in London and Xerorcon is in town! In my view, the best accountancy convention there is, and most certainly not your average event for accountants. So I was delighted when ACCA sponsored me to attend. It took place at the ExCel and was a bit of a maze to navigate because of how much was going on at once and the sheer number of attendees – over 3,000 across the two days. But the energy was full-on – the event kicked off with a countdown followed by a dance performance more like a hip-hop concert than an accountancy exhibition. It’s somehow fitting to be able to talk about seismic changes happening across the profession in such a dynamic setting. Of course, it is technology that is driving this change, and we need to understand the effect it is having so we can adapt to it.

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

Student Viewpoint

Students in my position - who are undertaking our degrees in accounting – need to be thinking about how the profession will look going forward to ensure we’re future-ready as we become qualified. Another big issue right now is late payment. I understand that 50,000 small businesses every year go bust from late payments, each owed on average £23,360. Learning from many niche businesses at the event about these changes has taught me about credit control and debt chasing with support from software providers such as Float, Fluidly, Chaser, Clarity and many more. But most importantly for student accountants is that events such as

Gary Turner, MD - UK & EMEA, Xero

Steve Vamos, CEO, Xero

this really help with our commercial awareness and remind us that knowledge is power. And they offer a great opportunity to network – so important today, as the professional world we are about to enter is becoming more and more competitive.

metal straw and straw cleaner from Clarity, and a Xero t-shirt from our hosts, to name just a few. An added bonus to take away along with newfound knowledge and memories of a great experience.

Finally, I should also drop in here that there is some serious – and eco-friendly – swag on offer: a smart backpack from Fluidly, a

FIND OUT MORE... To find out more about ACCA: > accaglobal.com

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Issue 22 / 21

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FERENCE FOR ACCOUNTANCY & FINANCE Are you ready for the next financial year? Get a fresh start by joining the Accounting Business Expo Your customers’ demands are changing – are you? Learn how to adapt and succeed at the Accounting Business Expo 2020. Find everything you need for your business and professional development at Australia’s largest, free-to-attend, independently run, business exhibition for 4000+ Accountants, Bookkeepers and Finance leaders. Meet the right people and secure more business, ABE is the only place that brings together the entire industry. For speaking, exhibitor or sponsorship opportunities contact our team on +61 2 8908 8555 or accounting@terrapinn.com

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Issue 22 / 23

Interview Gareth Everson Founder, Connectably

Help! My client wants a Xero CRM recommendation We sat down with Connectably founder, Gareth Everson, to lift the lid on what a CRM software implementer turned developer advises accountants to do when the dreaded ‘CRM recommendation’ question comes...

o... you’re in the boardroom, the best cups are out. You’ve used the fancy pod coffee that George Clooney drinks. The client’s past their ‘nervous sips of water’ part of the meeting. You’ve diligently walked them through their end of year results. They’ve nodded in all the right places. It’s a positive atmosphere. There’s even chatter of what they might do with the profit they’ve made. They’re on-board. They’re engaged. There’s a little fire in their belly about their business’ prospects next year. You’ve even mooted a few extra bookkeeping and payroll services that could lighten the admin load for them next year and increase your fees a bit. Then they drop the bomb: “So, we’ve got people in and out of the office and don’t want to miss 24 / Issue 22

anything. I think we should get a CRM. Got any recommendations?” And your flow screeches to a halt. It’s now you nervously reaching for the glass of water. “Well,” you buy yourself another few seconds, “it’s a bit different in our business. We’ve got an accounting CRM. It’s been brilliant, but it’s not for non-accounting businesses.” Damn. Why don’t Senta do nonaccounting software? You rattle your brain for that CRM recommendation you heard at BNI last month.

XU: GE:

Gareth, over to you…

“Haha, yes, I’ve heard similar stories to this before. In fact, prior to

the likes of Senta, Karbon and AccountancyManager really getting traction in the cloud accounting market, I had the same awkward conversations, but rather with accountants looking for my advice for their all-encompassing dream ticket of CRM, practice management and marketing automation. They wanted to fully systemise… leads, onboarding, reminders, payment processes, internal workflows, the lot!” “Accountants are really well-served nowadays, but your clients in the services and trades sectors have not been as well served.”

XU: GE:

So why now? And why the Xero CRM market?

“To solve ‘disconnect’. As a CRM implementer I’d become increasingly irritated that service and trades business

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

Interview owners - accountants’ own client bases - were facing this pain of disconnected sales, marketing and finance processes in their businesses.”

Integrations with GSuite, Office365, Docmail, and Zapier followed.)

in the UK has rapidly proven that incorrect.”

XU:

So what does your unique background

give you? “At the same time, you’d log in to Xero, and their integrations “Everything. Were it not make it easy to file receipts, for walking in the shoes handle mileage, do your bank of hundreds of prior customers I’d reconciliation. So then you tell your implemented other companies’ CRM own clients and friends that Xero’s software for, I’d never have got the the best thing since sliced bread, same clear perspectives on what and they ask, ‘so can we businesses’ real link it up with our CRM problems are: “Avoid the then?’” disconnected sales, marketing tangled, expensive “And that’s where and finance mess of software the answer was processes.” services stuck ‘no’. It became obvious that “‘It’s how you do together with most CRMs really CRM with Xero’ digital sticky just did basic stuff is our mantra at tape.” like contact sync, Connectably. We and occasionally some help you to move to a high level financials syncing. situation where everything Even the ones that did have deeper you do with contacts starts, integrations just seemed to be runs, or ends in just two places: overcomplicating things. And that’s Connectably or Xero.” where it started.” And are you getting (And so in the space of around traction? 18 months, Gareth went from implementer in one business to “Yes, solid growth and being a CRM software business great feedback from founder in another, launching users. A business friend once told Connectably and seeing it accepted me that ‘the world doesn’t need on the Xero, then GoCardless, Stripe another CRM’, and I’d definitely and Zoom partner marketplaces. wondered that at first, but our start

GE:

XU: GE:

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So how do accountants answer that awkward ‘which CRM’ question for their clients?

GE:

“Based on my past, that’s one we can answer with integrity. Here’s a checklist that your clients can use to assess any provider.” “Firstly, how’s your business going to be managing your contacts’ interactions with your business? Workflows to consider are how you find and nurture leads, manage sales processes, get paid, onboard clients, provide customer support and run financial processes. Xero’s got you covered on the last of those, but does the CRM help you do all the first ones?” “Having a workflow manager is great for visibility and planning, so you can systemise and manage those business’ workflows. It’s the differentiator between true ‘relationship CRM’ and something that’s just a ‘glorified address book’.” “As well as seeing the workflows they’re in, you should be able to manage your leads and contacts - their information, what you know

Issue 22 / 25

Interview about them, how you’ve done business with them in the past, or how they came to be a lead in your business. The CRM should also allow you to put forms on your website to capture contact enquiries there as well.” “You’ll also want to be able to create notes, send an email, book a meeting or manage tasks associated with a contact or sales opportunity. It’s even better if that links up to your own email or calendar.” “Then you’ll want to be confident that the data in your CRM is the same as your accounts

businesses look for?

GE:

“To make tangible improvements to your business’ systems, look at how you can avoid having to buy a tangled, expensive mess of other software services stuck together with digital sticky tape.” “There’s email marketing. Given the CRM has your list of contacts, if you’re able to segment them by interest or their status then being able to send targeted email marketing to them from within your CRM is a valuable benefit.” “Even better, if the software allows you to manage some basic email automation, sending a series of timed emails at different stages in the sales and onboarding process, this saves you fiddling around with separate lists on Mailchimp or similar.” “Then, you look at your time management. When it comes to meeting prospects, having an appointment scheduler is really handy, so that they can pick a time when you’re available that works for them without lots of email appointment tennis back and forth. It’s a real time-saver.”

system through a two-way Xero integration. Not just contacts, but invoices, payments, products, even things like tracking categories to measure lead sources.” “So these are the basics. Even here, most CRMs don’t manage workflows or sync with your email / calendar, let alone do much to integrate with Xero. Sometimes they even require separate plugins.”

XU:

OK, beyond the basics, what else should

FIND OUT MORE... If you have any questions about CRM for your clients, contact Gareth and his team directly. You can download Gareth’s one-page CRM checklist at: > connectably.com/checklist

“For businesses that want to raise their game and send quotes out quicker and more professionally than using Microsoft Word or Xero, a proposal sender within the CRM itself is a valuable function. It can really present you as a more premium offering to your prospects, perhaps even allowing you to lift your pricing a bit.” “Then there’s how you get paid. Does the CRM offer you a simple way to turn that prospect’s interest into getting money into your bank quickly? Can you take card payments or direct debits to improve cash flow? It’s surprising how few CRMs offer a capability to create tailored secure order forms and take payments quickly and easily. Chasing payments ends up being the business owner’s problem if not.”

to implement offered by a CRM company can be quite revealing. Do they have an implementation method? An effective one saves time and errors.”

XU:

Where should an accountant get started

looking?

GE:

“It’s a challenge to look at all sixty CRM apps on the Xero App Marketplace. To simplify, consider a few key functions that would serve large numbers of clients well. For example: workflows, plus Xero integration, plus email marketing, plus Stripe integration. Then draw up a shortlist of two or three CRMs who do those things and focus just on those. As their accountant, you’ll want to make sure it syncs well with Xero and they’ll be checking how their core workflows would be managed using the CRM and Xero.” “And, of course, we’d be honoured if Connectably formed part of that review list for the right type of business.”

XU: GE:

So do accountants use Connectably?

“Haha, no, not really. In our experience, accountants looking for CRM actually need more of a practice management software. So, practicing what we preach on simplicity, Senta, Karbon or AccountancyManager might be more comprehensive for you. But if you do need a CRM to better manage your sales and marketing workflows, then Connectably might be a good option.” “Realistically, we’re likely a far better fit for your clients who are services or trades-based businesses. We’re more the recommendation when you get that ‘What CRM would you recommend?’ question!” “What’s that? A CRM provider that actually says ‘we might not be a fit for everyone’? Now that’s a conversation starter.”

“Finally, the training or support 26 / Issue 22

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

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Issue 22 / 27

Streamline process management with AI-powered automation and risk alerts

@XBertapp

Troy Brown, Director and Cofounder, XBert After more than 25 years of experience owning and managing businesses, Troy had the idea for a better way that business owners, bookkeepers and accountants could work together. He and co-founder Aaron Wittman created XBert to help all businesses succeed – from solopreneurs and SMEs through to large advisory practices. Troy is passionate about design, product development, user experience, customer journey, and automated business practices. He oversees these areas for XBert.

Say goodbye to manual bookkeeping checks and wasteful tasks Have oversight of your clients, receive hourly risk alerts and take control of your process and practice workflow with AI that does the work you don’t want to...

he collaborative process for bookkeepers, accountants and business owners can sometimes be a pain in the you-know-what. I know, because I’m a business owner and guilty of creating many headaches, messes and moments of, “Uh oh. Hell no! Please help fix this”. You know the type. After years of success in business, the global financial crisis hit, and my books no longer looked so good. I also uncovered personal expense items charged to the business that shouldn’t have been. Then, I was told I’d been making decisions based on bloated cash reports due to duplicates and nonreconciled payments. Human error and a dishonest colleague meant the collapse of my business. I had needed simple, up-to-date, accurate reports and to know early 28 / Issue 22

about any risks, errors and unusual behaviour. Speaking with my friend and now co-founder Aaron Wittman, a business owner with a background in technology and software, we realised our similar experiences, learnings and skills could be used for a solution to keep businesses a step ahead. That solution is XBert, a proud finalist for Emerging App of the Year in 2019’s Xero Awards Australia.

We were told areas like collaboration, risk detection, data integrity, process and workflow management, and automation needed improvement. So, we stepped up! XBert uses AI, sophisticated algorithms, predictive analytics and machine learning to analyse your Xero accounting data hourly and detect anomalies, patterns and potential bookkeeping errors. XBert alerts you to risks before you know the risks exist!

Tax professionals step in During our research and development phase, we consulted with many bookkeepers and accountants from practices large and small. We wanted to ensure XBert would be the best possible solution for everyone and provide the accuracy, transparency and compliance benefits we envisaged.

We created our XBert CONNECT portal to manage multiple Xero organisations efficiently. AI can work for you; you shouldn’t have to overhaul how you work for the tool you use. With XBert, you can become the sustainable, streamlined practice of the future on your terms.

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

XBert aims to make everything faster and easier for bookkeepers, accountants and business owners, so they focus more on what they love.

by exception, i.e. knowing an issue exists and fixing it.

sales tax statuses and business registrations - so that you don’t have to.

You’ll save you hours! XBerts – Your risk alerts

Manage workload by exception, not by routine

We know that everyone’s ultimate goal is data integrity. The bookkeepers we spoke with You said you’re fed up with manual said they’d welcome a tool that bookkeeping checks and audits. helps ensure a high quality of The process is inefficient, and work. With hundreds sometimes you put in of transactions to all that effort only to reconcile, accounts discover everything XBert alerts you with similar codes and is okay. Or, discover to risks before names, questionable problems and spend you know the records from clients ages scrutinising risks exist! (sorry) and everything transactions and else that comes your reports to find the way, typos and small errors origin. can happen. Then there are the risks you can’t You’ll receive hourly, data-driven know without checks for every new alerts for many different types of bill or invoice, e.g. a supplier that’s risks in your clients’ data, and can cancelled their business and is be confident that your minimising still trading or changes to sales tax errors, improving compliance and status. saving your clients money. XBert does the work for you and With outsourced bookkeeping automates key manual checks on the increase, XBert provides and audits. XBert finds things transparency over the quality of the that would otherwise be timework being done, safeguarding your consuming or hard to find. practice and your clients. Forget wasteful jobs and reduce XBert’s data warehouse of the chance of human error. XBert’s business information checks for hourly risk alerts mean you and discrepancies and changes to active your team can manage workload Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

XBert is the name of our app and our alerts taken from EXPERT BUSINESS ALERT. Some of the types of XBerts you’ll see include: • Duplicate invoices, bills and contact records • Account coding errors • Accounts payable process hasn’t been followed • Payments or invoices to contacts with an inactive or changed sales tax status • Incorrect or cancelled business registrations • Overdue invoices or bills outside normal behaviour • Unusual monthly invoicing or billing • Missing supplier payments • Manual adjustment of Profit and Loss Plus, so many more - and we’re continually releasing new XBerts. Investigate the XBerts you receive. If there’s an error, fix it using a direct link to the associated Xero entry and business registry record if relevant. If it’s a new recurring invoice or new account code, then simply file that alert, and you won’t receive an alert in future. > Follow us on Twitter: @xumagazine

Issue 22 / 29

Simple, visual snapshots, charts and insights provide easily understood forecasts, patterns and trends. Use this information to discuss with clients their business story, encourage questions, and work together to change habits, set goals and create a sustainable business.

Collaborate and kick goals

client organisations or selectively.

We’ve all had enough of email back and forth, missed phone calls and frustrations caused when everyone uses different collaboration tools. We want bookkeepers, accountants and business owners working together better by closing communication gaps and removing inefficiencies.

Productivity and efficient processes designed by you

It can be a struggle to get business owners to adopt software. XBert is the simple solution business owners actually want to use with up-to-date cash flow monitoring and reports they can understand while on-the-go. Invite your internal team to XBert CONNECT and assign a team member to a client to manage. Invite your clients and their staff to the relevant linked organisation only. Create tasks and set them to recur if needed. Assign tasks and XBerts to a team member or client and set deadlines. Choose whether clients see all XBerts and tasks, or only those assigned to them. All client requests, team discussion and activity are tracked in one place. In XBert CONNECT, you can create Template Tasks with subtasks for your practice’s unique approach, e.g. a tax or compliance checklist, that can be assigned in bulk to all

FIND OUT MORE... Start your free trial, request a demo or ask about our onboarding program at: > xbert.io

30 / Issue 22

Your relationship with clients will be enhanced. They’ll feel empowered and have a clearer understanding of their cash flow and business, will trust the numbers, and make informed decisions. Your new workday

Bookkeepers told us they wanted easy monitoring of clients and workflow; automated checks and audits; transparency over the work done, or not done in Xero; to increase productivity; and to keep working the way they want. XBert CONNECT is there to help you achieve your business goals through efficient processes and task management. The AI-driven Process Status dashboard allows you to track the health of your clients’ businesses and your team’s workload easily. You see any outstanding XBerts and tasks, categorised with tags and customised to your practice needs. XBert comes to you You’re busy enough. It would be great if you were notified of any risks, issues or XBert tasks associated with entries while you’re in Xero. We agree, so we developed browser extensions that crosscheck XBert while you work. Create and manage tasks and resolve XBerts all from within Xero! Remember, XBert is browser-based so you can access it anywhere, anytime on any device. Actionable insights and better decisions XBert provides an up-to-date picture of your clients’ financial health. Smarter, more accurate data and reports mean better advice and, ultimately, better business decisions.

With XBert’s AI-powered automation, risk alerts and collaboration features, you’ll win back hours of your workday. Use that time to generate income, source new clients, nurture existing clients, for training and career development, or increasing advisory services. Grow your business while you help others do the same. Pricing XBert CONNECT has a tiered pricing structure, you pay per Xero file you add to your account. As you load files, the organisations appear on your dashboards. You can switch between, search or filter organisations as needed. There are no additional fees for features or the number of users – your monthly subscription covers it all. The next step Start your free trial of XBert CONNECT (our multi-business portal). It only takes a few minutes to sign up and load your first Xero file. XBert analyses your data, and soon you’ll have an up-to-date picture of your client’s business and know any risks found in their data. Continue to load files, invite your team and clients, then start collaborating to resolve risk and save money.

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

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Issue 22 / 31

Meet: Zahara Martin Peirce started his business Click2Scan in 2007 initially to provide scanning services. Having worked for Canon for a few years at the start of the noughties, he quickly took a keen interest in document management, scanning, and everything that encompassed going paper-less...

lick2Scan soon progressed into selling document management software to compliment the scanning services. Document Management is a catch all title that really means virtual filing or doing away with paper. When you are digitizing thousands of documents for clients, you have to provide them with a way of finding them again in the future, and our go-to solution was a great tool called FileDirector. The next step on from Document Management is intelligent capture and this was the start of the journey that lead to Zahara. Having become resellers of ABBYY FlexiCapture, and at one point being ABBYY’s biggest European reseller, it was their launch of the invoice recognition version that had a profound effect on the direction Click2Scan took, and the later design and launch of Zahara. Martin explained “We really liked the idea of creating something repeatable, so we set out to become very competent at invoice processing. We signed up as Sage developers and wrote integrations with Sage 50 and Sage 200 which isn’t easy. We focused all our energy on joining up solutions with FlexiCapture and FileDirector. But what was fascinating was that the larger the companies we demonstrated to, the less likely they were to have a purchase order system.” Martin recalls a turning 32 / Issue 22

@ZaharaSoftware

Martin Peirce, CEO, Zahara Systems Ltd Martin is the CEO of Zahara, the cloud-based software for controlling and managing spend in growing organizations. Martin’s love of computers and software started in the mid 80’s when he saved up his pocket money to buy a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. His fascination with making things better or faster influenced his career which includes document management, invoice processing and Zahara in more recent years.

point back in 2014 when an IT manager said, “I just want to have a budget and know whether I can buy something or not”.

base, with a top 10 global brand onboarding right now. We are a small UK team and are all incredibly proud of Zahara”

Having looked at the market and the systems that existed, Martin was confident there was space for something new. He designed Zahara and remembers fondly saying to colleagues “we should write this; how hard can it be?”. Several years on, he now knows the answer. Very hard and incredibly expensive!

Zahara integrated with Xero back in 2018 and is an alternative solution for those customers who want multi-step approvals or a better way to control spend. “It’s great when you get to hear from the customers why Zahara is different or better for them. One thing people often comment on is the departmental and project budgets but also the ability to send out a purchase order and then record multiple invoices against it so you can always see the balance”.

Zahara launched in 2016 with a chain of care homes being the first customer. We set out to create something simple to use that could make it easier to creat purchase orders. We had all of the tools for scanning or recognizing invoices and the integrations with Sage. We had approvals capability in FileDirector as well. Zahara soon became more though than they ever anticipated. Today it is a complete platform for controlling and managing corporate spend with everything built-in to the cloud-based platform. Zahara’s customers have a number of similarities. Many of them operate from multiple locations, and all of them can be classified larger small businesses or departments of larger enterprises. Martin explained “We are so grateful for the early adopters who trusted in us. We have some amazing logos in our customer

Martin thinks empathy is the most valuable skill that’s needed to write great software. “Being a small team in the lovely city of Bath, I enjoy the customer contact and as the business grows I’ll always find time to do demos. I hear the same problems over and over and what I enjoy most is then seeing that problem coming back as a feature. The one thing that I often hear, that I have experienced myself, is that finance teams don’t like surprises. There is nothing worse than receiving an invoice for an eye-watering amount that nobody in finance knew anything about, that not only turns out to be real but turns out that it’s now overdue. If there is one thing that Zahara does and does well, it’s taking those surprises out. If

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

every spend requests follows an agreed workflow with management approval, there are no surprises. In fact, month-end becomes much smoother because you can accrue for things easier and faster” The team at Zahara got off to a flying start in 2020. “We are really positive about the next few years. Our challenge now is to refine Zahara further so it’s

providing our customers and our new customer with the automation and functionality they need for the future with things like automated payments and of course fraud prevention. We are keen to build up a partner network around the world. Zahara integrates with a number of finance systems like Xero and although the team appreciate, they aren’t for every Xero user, for those customers that are expanding

rapidly, controlling overheads and expenses is a big part of maintaining the profit margins.

FIND OUT MORE... Find out how Zahara can help your business: > zaharasoftware.com

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Issue 22 / 33

You’ll struggle to get paid on time in 2020 without these 7 key considerations W

e could provide you with the usual advice. To send invoices in a timely manner. To send gentle invoice reminders a few days prior to the due date to increase your chances of being paid on time. But that’s only dealing with the symptom, not the cause. The most effective way to ensure on-time payment is to address how you get paid. Payments are the fuel of every business, and with the right payment methods in place, you eliminate the need for bandage solutions like “The key to get chasing up your paid is to lower clients.

the barriers for clients to pay you.”

However, there are multiple options for you Florian Reinhardt, Global to choose from, so Partnerships, GoCardless let’s explore together what you need to look out for when in the market for improving your payment collection process this year.

be a false economy. There are two parties involved in any payment – your business and your customer – and it’s vital to balance the needs of both. Opting for a payment solution that is cheaper for your business because it passes the cost onto your customer can seem appealing, but may be self-defeating. Whether this be a monetary cost in the form of additional fees, or a time cost where your customer has to deal

Set up

Florian Reinhardt is a global partnership manager at GoCardless looking after Xero. For over 6 years now, he’s been on a mission to help small businesses sort out their cash flow issues and is a huge believer in synergetic collaboration and enablement. To that end, he’s worked closely with accountants, bookkeepers, business advisors and government organisations to enable them equipping their customers with the right tools from automated credit control to invoice finance and lending to payments.

with a lengthier or more complex payment process (think about bank transfer versus bank debit, for instance), passing this on risks your customer seeking a competitor that offers a superior payment solution for them. In short, fight against that little feeling inside that latches onto cheap cost and nothing else. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and choose a solution that addresses their needs as well.

Card Payment

Bank Debit

Customers sign up using their

Customers complete a Bank Debit

credit or debit card number by

Mandate form online, by paper or

phone, online or in person.

over the phone using their bank

High. Typically around 3% + 20p

Low. Depends on your provider.

details. Cost per payment

per payment plus a monthly fee for a merchant account. Failure rates

High. c. 5% due to credit card

Very low. Less than 1% with

expiry and cancellation.

GoCardless. This is much better

Mid. You will need to chase

Low. Uses bank details which

customers to update their

rarely expire or are cancelled so

details when cards expire or

churn is much lower.

for customer retention. Admin required

are cancelled. Expect this to happen at least every 3 years per customer. Customer protection

34 / Issue 22

Florian Reinhardt, Global Partnerships, GoCardless

Card Payment vs Bank Debit

1) Balance your needs AND your customers’ It can be tempting to opt for whichever online payments solution appears the simplest and cheapest for your business. However, this can

@GoCardless

Medium. Chargebacks are

Bank debit schemes often strongly

possible with credit cards.

protect customers, with rapid refunds available from their financial institutions in the case of unauthorised charges.

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

2) Get actionable and timely payment info The reality of your business’ financial situation is often different to what you think it is. That is, if you don’t receive up-to-date information about the status of payments owed to you. For recurring payments in particular, knowing whether a payment has been cancelled, or the reasons why a payment failed, is critical. Some of the myriad reasons a payment can fail include: • Invalid or expired payment details (e.g. expired credit card) • Insufficient funds in the customer’s account

when following up. Not only helping you collect payment more quickly, but also helping you address and prevent future occurrences of payment failure. Being able to mitigate the risk of payment failure is key to optimising your business’ revenue stream and improving your payment collection process in 2020. The ideal payment methods to support this are those with low payment failure likelihood and that notify you automatically if a payment fails. 3) Decide on generalist or specialist payment providers You can find payment service providers that specialise in one particular payment method - such as GoCardless with bank debit - as well as those that have a more generalist offering spread across many methods. As such, businesses may choose to handle all their payments through one generalist provider, or engage the services of various specialist providers, to offer the same payment methods to their customers.

• System error within the payment network And when a customer misses a payment deadline, that can mean a long, painful debt chasing process for your business. But being armed with timely information about why the payment failed or was cancelled enables you to tailor your communications to your customer

Specialist providers tend to: • Offer the best-in-class solution for their area of speciality • Provide better service and support for their area of speciality • Charge lower fees for their particular service Generalist providers tend to: • Offer a broader spectrum solution for businesses • Simplify the onboarding and management experience for businesses (however this can make it harder to move away

when your needs change) You should consider the above benefits and shop around the market - looking at costs, terms and conditions, flexibility, option of interchangeability, and of course reviews and references for each provider. Your business’ payment needs are not necessarily simple or fixed there can be a lot (or a little) that goes into setting up and operating your payment process, and what your business needs today may not be what it needs in 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, or beyond. 4) Integrate with your billing software Increasingly, businesses are using cloud accounting software to manage their accounts and dayto-day financial admin but many payment providers don’t integrate with them. If your payment service provider can integrate their solution directly into your accountancy software, you can save a lot of time and hassle by avoiding needless financial admin. According to Xero, businesses get paid up to 15 days faster with GoCardless for Xero in the UK, 12 days in Australia and 10 days in New Zealand.* By integrating a payment provider with your existing accounting software:

Disclaimer: *Average improvement in days to pay on invoices collected by GoCardless for Xero users in the UK, AU and NZ between 01-10-2018 and 30-04-2019. This information is general in nature. Average invoice payment times may vary for each business using the service. Standard merchant fees apply.

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Issue 22 / 35

• Payments connect directly to your accounts – bringing your payment transactions into the secure, access-anywhere cloud and integrating your payment data with your accounting data. • Transactions are pulled through automatically – If your accounting software has a live bank feed, received payments appear automatically, taking away the frustration of unnecessary admin work. • Payment and bookkeeping is made seamless – giving you an end-to-end payment and accounting solution that streamlines your finance functions. According to the Office of National Statistics, cash flow is responsible for up to 90% of business failures – a sobering thought for any business owner. Keeping control of your cash flow is absolutely vital to long-term success. With a payment provider that integrates with your trusted accounting software, payments can be automatically received and reconciled. You get streamlined cash collection and a real-time view of income and cash flow. This means: • Your income pipeline is more predictable – with regular invoices paid via bank debit, for example, you get a more regular and predictable overview of your income. • A real-time view of your cash flow is possible – with all transactions matched and incorporated into your reporting, allowing you to observe your business’ financial health in as near to real-time as possible.

Conduct Authority (FCA). This information should be visible on the homepage of every payment provider, and is typically found in the footer. Is the payment service provider compliant with the relevant data protection regulation? Standing Order vs Bank Debit

Set up

Bank Debit Bank/provider needed. You

customer controls the set up.

control the set up and the amount

You are dependent on them.

and date of payments.

more than 25 customers. Failure rates and notifications

Flexibility of payments

Vary by industry. No

Very Low. Less than 1%

notifications. It can take more

with GoCardless. Automatic

than a month to find out about

notification. You are notified

failures then you’ll need to

automatically of failures and can

chase the customer to set up

re-submit the payment when you

another payment.

want to.

Fixed payments at regular

High. You can collect variable

intervals only. If you need to

amounts or change the amount

amend the amount or date of

or date of payments without

a payment, the standing order

asking customers for further

will need to be cancelled and

authorisation.

a new one set up. You will need to convince customers to change the standing orders themselves! Admin required

High.

Very low.

• Check bank statement daily

• Automatically submit 1000s of

to see what payments • No notification when a

When deciding on a payment service provider, you should audit how the company is dealing with client data. Don’t forget to explore these two areas:

36 / Issue 22

Standing Order No provider needed. Your

This is unfeasible if you have

5) Secure your clients’ data

Is the payment service provider authorised to provide the service in the first place? In the UK, for example, it’s required to be authorised by the Financial

Review the privacy statement of your payment service provider of choice and make sure they are compliant with data protection regulations. As most payment service providers deal with sensitive customer information, it’s worthwhile to look out for any ISO/

payment fails • Manually update your accounts

payments at once • Automatically update your accounts • Instant notifications when payments fail • Easily track payments without checking bank statements

Customer protection

Low. No customer protection

High. Immediate refunds from

once payments are made.

your bank in the event of an

This gives merchants greater

incorrect payment.

protection.

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

confirmed. Bank debit payments are pre-authorised due to a mandate that a customer needs to fill in before the first payment is collected. If a payment provider claims it takes, on “If a client has average, more 6) Optimise for monthly billing with than three days fast payment their customers, for a payment to processing times be settled, you we’d suggest using should consider The time it takes Bank Debit.” looking elsewhere, from charging Will Farnell, Founder, as you are likely your customer to Farnell Clarke able to receive more the point where the timely payment. money hits your bank account makes a fundamental 7) Opt for flexibility difference to your cash flow. IEC certifications they have. This can give you further confidence that they have all the recommended procedure and risk management processes in place to mitigate the risk of data being compromised.

As a rule of thumb, all BACS (UK), BECS (NZ), ACH Debit (US) and card payments are usually deposited in your bank account within an average of three business days after a customer has been charged. Whilst cards are usually authorised instantaneously, they typically take longer than a few days to disburse funds even if payments are

Sometimes you’ll need to collect a one-off payment, or want to vary the amounts in a payment plan. Many providers will charge you for these bespoke amounts and payments. To improve your payment collection process this year, choose a provider that makes it easy to create fixed

payment plans as well as set up one-off payments you need to collect from customers. With GoCardless, it’s easy to amend payments, says Trayde Mackenzie from Diligence Bookkeeping: “Once clients are signed up to GoCardless for Xero, the payment is made automatically. With another payment provider we could only do fixed amounts each time or we’d have to go into the tool and manually change the figure, which was incredibly time consuming.” Whatever your preference and circumstances, choosing at least one payment provider which can collect payments automatically for you is going to pay off in the long-run.

FIND OUT MORE... To find out more, please visit: > gocardless.com/xero

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Automated Data Entry for Accountants, Bookkeepers and Business Owners Why sign up to AutoEntry? • More features & integrations than any other data automation software • Extended functions for purchase invoices • Bank statement extraction • Expense management module • Supplier statement extraction and reconciliation • Clever pricing to flex with your usage • Live chat support • Free training and onboarding • 4.7

on Xero Market Place

What customers say about AutoEntry “I started using AutoEntry when I got a customer with A LOT of paper receipts and it has saved me hours of time getting them uploaded onto Xero. Before I was taking a photo then manually entering each receipt, now I snap the photos straight into the app then come back the next day and they are all ready to push through to Xero. The more you use it the more settings are automatic so it gets quicker too! "15 minutes and we have saved hours on inputting. Plus it is accurate and the invoice is right there for review. This product is a homerun" “Instead of long days spent number crunching, our employees can drive more business value for customers, by using the time saved to analyse data sets to uncover trends and insights.”

www.AutoEntry.com 38 / Issue 22

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Trying to find a way to Boost your Productivity?

Make life easier for your clients and more profitable for you!

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Issue 22 / 39

From Survival to Growth: the changing landscape of startup advisory All businesses are born from startups. So to help SMEs, we must also understand the challenges startups face to help them not only survive but thrive long-term.

mall and mid-sized businesses are the backbone to the global economy, and they are born out of startups. Startups face many unique challenges, and we are currently in a position to help them cultivate success from day one. To help startups be successful we have to understand what inspires someone to create a new business and what obstacles need to be overcome. Starting a business can be risky; there are many factors involved and nothing is guaranteed to work out in your favor. But those that have an entrepreneurial spirit also have passion, and what leads them to acting on their passion can come from seeing a solution, being dissatisfied with their existing employment circumstances, or seizing an emerging opportunity.

40 / Issue 22

Oftentimes a new business is created to fill a gap in the market. The entrepreneur may see a need that isn’t being met and know they can create an effective solution to solve it. The entrepreneur might be dissatisfied with corporate life or a bad work environment or may be wanting to “call the shots.” But a majority of entrepreneurs are inspired by a life changing event, like avoiding retirement or experiencing unemployment. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)1, “interest in business creation is highest for those who have been unemployed for short periods of time.” Startup success is very important to the economy and to the livelihood of the business owners. Unfortunately, the success rate of startups is not at 100%. This article

@myprofitsee

Brooke Roberts, Vice President of Global Marketing, ProfitSee Since her time in University, Brooke has been involved with startups, from marketing to finance, and all areas that impact a business. That experience combined with her over 7 years working in the global accounting industry, Brooke is passionate about understanding how technology impacts business and the overall economy.

is not going to focus on the number of startups that fail, that creates a sense of fear. Instead it’s better to focus on what the successful companies are doing and how we can bring the success rate closer to 100%. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics study on Business Employment Dynamics2 shows that, in the past decade, an average of 79.11% of new US businesses made it to their second year. And 50.61% of businesses made it to their fifth year! According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics3, from 2009-2015, an average of 76.14% of startups made it to their second year, and 51.7% made it to their third year! Global research done by the OECD4 shows that there are certain consistencies across the world when it comes to startups. This research group represents countries and partners that make up 80% of the world’s trade and investment, and they have found that globally the survival rate is just above 60% after three years in business, and about 50% after five years. But their research also shows that survival is only the first challenge. They found that of the surviving startups, most do not show growth.

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The landscape of the startup world is changing rapidly. Both the business world and the technology available have been changing faster than most of us can keep ahead of. But there are some things that have stayed the same. For example, there is still plenty of opportunity for new businesses to take off, and entrepreneurs still have courage, insight, discipline, and energy. The impact these startups have on the whole of the global economy is still immense. Startups are incredibly intertwined with the technology and business industries, but they have a larger impact on the global economy, too. When the economy is thriving, startups and small businesses will be booming. And the inverse is true, too. That is why it’s so important to leverage the changes in technology and business to help startups not only survive as a business but have long-term success and growth. If you are not leveraging the changes to create an advantage, they can become obstacles. Advances in technology make competitors easier to come by. The internet has opened up a whole new way of accessing information for other businesses to see if they can create a better solution, sometimes more quickly or inexpensively, therefore creating competitors. The internet also makes it easier for consumers to find other options, therefore creating competition. With so much change and improvement in the business world, we would hope to see an improved change in startups’ success rates, too. However, the OECD’s research4 shows that the probability of a startup closing down is highest in the company’s second year. We need to find better ways to help startups succeed and grow.

To understand how we can help startups, we must also understand exactly what the needs of a startup are. As you know, business owners are not usually very adept in fiscal management, and this is where ProfitSee has helped accountants and bookkeepers with their small and mid-sized business clients. This remains true for startups and entrepreneurs. New companies need someone to help them with risk management, budgeting, capital formation, cash flow projections, strategic planning, and growth strategies, all while remaining transparent to investors and shareholders. And inside of these needs you find the underlying challenges. Startups tend to have a lack of money and are searching for funding. But funding can be a tricky area to navigate; it often seems that startups sacrifice too much of their company to get funding they may not even need! There are many funding options available, which can be very appealing to startups, but many business founders end up retaining less than 20% of their business once they get investors involved. They need to better understand their true break even and have a guided conversation into deciding who they are willing to get into business with. Anytime an investor comes in there are key questions that should be asked to determine what the relationship is: • What is the startup contributing to the investor? • What is the investor contributing to the business? • What guarantees there’ll be for the investment capital? • And, most importantly, what is the exit strategy?

that is a good plan for the business owner and for the employees. All parties must be lock-step in this to make sure things go smoothly. So now that we see just a sample of how robust their needs and challenges are, we turn to an important question: who can help startups? Since most entrepreneurs are passionate about their business and not necessarily about finances, they need someone who can help them navigate through the fiscal management side of their business. Investment groups and portfolio companies can act as an advisor in this way, but only if their longterm strategies line up with that of the startup. Accountants and bookkeepers have been moving into this space for small and midsized businesses, so they are also in a position to help with better risk management, smarter budgeting, robust strategy building, cash flow forecasting, presenting to the stakeholders, and understanding the capital needs. Startups, now more than ever, need to move from focusing solely on survival, and start planning for growth! Are you prepared to help more companies thrive by advising startups?

If the investor’s idea of the exit strategy is to be acquired or go public, it’s necessary to determine if

FIND OUT MORE... 1) OECD/European Union (2019), The Missing Entrepreneurs 2019: Policies for Inclusive Entrepreneurship, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://bit.ly/oecdtme 2) “Table 7. Survival of Private Sector Establishments by Opening Year.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019, http://bit.ly/survivaltable 3) “Counts of Australian Businesses, Including Entries and Exits; Multiple Articles 2009-2015.” Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Government, 2015, http://bit.ly/absgovcounts 4) Calvino, F., C. Criscuolo and C. Menon (2015), “Cross-country evidence on start-up dynamics”, OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, No. 2015/06, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://bit.ly/oecdcountryevidence

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Learn how to help startups launch successfully, hit deadlines, and reach their goals at: > myprofitsee.com/startup

Issue 22 / 41

GREAT ACCOUNTING IS MORE THAN JUST NUMBER CRUNCHING That’s why we work with hundreds of accountants and bookkeepers to make business finance quick and easy for their clients. A client will never forget the accountant that helped them access funding to invest in growth, take on game-changing projects or develop innovative new products. FAST, FLEXIBLE FUNDING We provide ambitious business leaders with fast, flexible funding solutions that are transparent and easy to use. As the first fintech to seamlessly deliver invoice finance and business loans in a single facility, we’re here to help your clients grow and thrive.

APPROACHING BUSINESS FINANCE DIFFERENTLY

Hassle-free experience

Fast funding

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Quick decisions, easy set-up, fast access to funds

From application to ongoing account management, our team is here to help

No hidden fees

SEAMLESS INTEGRATIONS FIND OUT MORE marketfinance.com / @marketfinance 42 / Issue 22

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B .5

2 Â£

SEAMLESS INTEGRATIONS

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CE I O INV S F O ES H T R USIN DED O W D B FUN AN ANS LO

+ N

Issue 22 / 43

When beautiful accounting meets automated admin

@accountancymgr

Rachel Blacklock, Technical Support Team Lead, AccountancyManager Rachel heads up the support team at AM. Not content with providing an outstanding service to customers, Rachel works closely with the development team to continually improve AM in line with user needs. Along with half the office, Rachel recently completed a gruelling quality assurance course.

AccountancyManager has been easing the administrative workload of accountants since they launched in 2017...

ith every update, we aim to bring you one step closer to the stress-free practice of your dreams. That’s why we’re pleased to announce we’re integrating with Xero - the behemoth of cloud accounting. Having passed the - reassuringly meticulous scrutiny of Xero’s partner team, an AccountancyManager/Xero integration is now live. So, why’s this the best thing since your face on a coffee? Two words: Two-way sync.

44 / Issue 22

Speed up your software set up Say you’re already using Xero and want to introduce AccountancyManager to automate and track your practice’s admin. With the integration, you can pull all your client contact information through from Xero to AM. Thanks to the sync, this also works in reverse. If you already use AccountancyManager to run your practice, you can use your client database to populate Xero.

Double-entry is one thing. Entering the same data in two places is quite another. This is where the AM/Xero integration has the biggest impact on your day. Instead of creating invoices in Xero and AM, create them once in AccountancyManager and at the click of a button they’ll be in Xero. When you receive payment, mark your invoices as paid in AM - and you’ll see it reflected in Xero.

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

Same goes for client details. When your clients make changes to their personal or business details in Xero, the sync will update AccountancyManager. Likewise, if you change something in AM, Xero will change too. If you’d rather create your invoices in Xero that’s no problem. You can send them over to AccountancyManager just as easily. But (and it’s a big but) when you create them in AccountancyManager you fully unlock the power of the integration... Build invoices as you work and track client profitability

where there might be untapped opportunities across your business. Take ‘Chase unpaid invoices’ off your to-do list - forever AccountancyManager excels at getting you what you need from your client in good time - be it accounts, signatures, details - or a paid invoice. Until you get what you need, AM will continue to send gentle, occasional nudges. (Or notso-gentle, rather insistent requests - the content and frequency is entirely up to you.)

Automate you admin with Practice Management Software

Using the timer in AccountancyManager, you can track the time you spend on any chargeable tasks for each client. So as you work, AM builds invoices in the background - ready to go at a moment’s notice - or at a pre-set frequency. This also builds an invaluable picture of how profitable each client is and

Everything in one place Client info, your daily tasks & invoices

Sending your invoices from AM means they’ll be added to your clients’ timelines, along with every (deep breath): email, text and phone call between you and your client, documents sent and received and all tasks you complete for that client. This keeps all the documents you and your client share in one place - for quick reference on both

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sides - in your client’s portal on AM. Recurring invoices, invoices, invoices... Finally, In terms of the integration adding new features to AccountancyManager, the most hotly anticipated among our users is recurring invoices. Simply set them up as usual in Xero and they’ll be sent from AM. “As a single person practice, two days of my week were spent on practice management. AccountancyManager has reduced this to half a day, but more importantly it has freed up my brain to concentrate on accounting. Because there are so many areas of practice and client management that this software offers, it is a onestop shop.” Emma B

FIND OUT MORE... Sign up for a 30-day free trial at: > accountancymanager.co.uk

Issue 22 / 45

Working with Trade Contractors?

Mathew Wray, Partner Manager, simPRO (UK team)

Become a Trusted Partner For Your Clients

Mathew Wray, is the Partner Manager for simPRO’s UK team. Since Mat joined simPRO three years ago, he has established strong connections with a number of strategic accountants, business advisors & cloud software integrators.

@simprosoftware

If you currently work with trade contracting businesses or are interested in making an entry into this industry, it’s important to specialise your accounting practice so you can be a trusted partner. Explore where accounting and trade contracting intersect, as well as the challenges you can address to make life easier for you and for your clients.

here trade contracting and accounting collide.

Every business wants to accurately quote and be paid on time for their work. With trade contracting businesses, tasks such as organising billing processes, sending invoices, and managing financials often become unorganised or mismanaged which leads to several other issues in the growth of the business. That’s where you come in. As the accounting consultant for a trade contracting business, you have the opportunity to not only provide advisory services, but you can also be a trusted partner with industry insights to help your trade clients succeed. So, what are some of those key pain points you can solve for your trade contracting clients? 1. Lack of visibility: If your trade clients don’t have field service management software or reporting tools, it is highly likely that they don’t have much visibility into the financials or the operations of their business. Suggest reporting tools to help your clients gain that needed insight into what’s really going on. 2. Keeping cash flow positive: Again, without the proper tools in 46 / Issue 22

place, it is almost impossible to send out invoices on time, track those invoices, or even accurately bill clients. The better organised your clients’ finances, the easier your job becomes. Again, provide tools for proper invoicing and billing management, so that information is easily located and handled in a timely manner. 3. Financial accuracy: Your trade clients have access to financial information, but is that information accurate? Without the right information, businesses can’t make well-informed decisions. In addition to helping your clients gain visibility and better manage cash flow, provide consulting and tools that lead to accurate information. This, in turn, means better business decisions for your clients and better insights for you. Add value to your trade contracting relationships If you truly want to differentiate yourself as a consultant with the ability to work with trade businesses, it’s important to build that foundation so you can present yourself as an industry expert and create more trust with your trade contracting relationships. How can you add value to your relationships with trade clients?

Show that you understand the trade contractor workflow and their challenges. Do your clients work mainly on projects, service jobs, recurring maintenance work, or all of the above? Do you have an understanding of your trade clients, the work they do and how different projects or service jobs yield different financial results or may be measured in a different manner? When you have that deep understanding of how your trade contracting clients operate, you can provide better financial advice and even advise on software and other technology that can solve trade business challenges. You’ll also make your job easier by recommending software solutions that integrate seamlessly with Xero and other accounting tools you use. With field service management software, your trade clients will have better control over operations management and task automation to make processes more streamlined and efficient. This means better organised information for you to work with as well as better business performance for your clients. A strong field service management system will not only make business more streamlined, but it will also make basic accounting processes more simple for your clients, which in turn makes your job easier.

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

Why simPRO? “Any serious accountant will want to partner with simPRO. They provide great value for the cost, and are proven to help field service businesses run efficiently and scale in a controlled manner,” says Co-Founder of Appacus, Matt Flanagan. “From my experience, I have seen business owners go from being apprehensive to use the cloud to completely blown away by the visibility, control, and efficiency that simPRO will provide their business. Also, they will begin to see the accounting software, like Xero, as the supporting software for their business rather than just an extra tool.”

Software tools automate the processes for billing, allow clients to more easily share invoices, streamline payment processing efforts, and provide further insight into financial status.

You can also work with your clients to use field service management software that has detailed reporting tools for customer insights. In simPRO, our BI Reporting is a business intelligence tool with automated insights based on the data entered into the system. Armed with information from detailed reporting, you can position yourself as not only an expert for your clients’ books, but a trusted resource for business success. Like all business owners, your clients want to increase profits and improve cash flow. Are you simply managing the books, or are you providing the means for your clients to truly excel? Be a trusted partner for the trades. As previously mentioned, you are

there to help with the financials, but if you want to be a true partner and stand out from the crowd of accounting consultants, show that you understand and care about all areas of your clients’ trade business. The more niche you are within the trade contracting industry, the more credibility you create with your trade clients.

FIND OUT MORE... Are you working with a trade business who might benefit from a job management upgrade? > simprogroup.com

Protect your client‘s bottom line and earn commission Support your client‘s growth with Nimbla. They can check a customer‘s ability to pay and then protect their business against insolvent customers with invoice insurance. Refer your clients to Nimbla and earn a commission when they sign up.

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Issue 22 / 47

Build a future-fit practice with an end-to-end data flow There’s never been a better time to optimise your practice processes - digitalisation is here. CCH Central redefines software integration, delivering a complete picture of your practice and your clients. End-to-end data flow - effortlessly extract data as you need it. Give your clients a faster, better service based on real-time data.

“We have data we can trust and a technology platform that supports our team in maximising their proficiency. They can be at their most productive in adding value to our clients with the accelerated speed of delivery today’s clients expect. In short, in CCH Central, we have the best technology to complement the professional skills of our staff.” Ormerod Rutter Chartered Accountants

48 / Issue 22

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

When you have to be right.

Scan documents with Basecone

Journal adjustments flow back into your accounting software such as Xero/Twinfield

Documents are processed instantly into accounting software such as Xero/Twinfield

Open Integration imports that trial balance or nominal ledger into CCH Accounts Production

Generate a tax return document bundle and auto publish to CCH OneClick for client approval

You can view working papers within CCH Accounts Production without leaving CCH Central

Digital Data Request receives data securely from clients and feeds back into CCH Personal Tax

Data flows automatically to CCH Personal Tax

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get left behind - many practices have already discovered the power of integration. Visit wolterskluwer.co.uk, call 0344 561 8181, or email cchsoftware@wolterskluwer.co.uk Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

Issue 22 / 49

Case Study

How do you grow an environmentally responsible business while working with low margins?

@TidyInt

Michelle Nicol, writer, Wordstruck writing and training Michelle is a copywriter, trainer and brand storyteller who helps businesses tell their story through words that attract attention. A former BBC journalist, she loves nosing out a great story and sharing her writing expertise through training and workshops.

With individuals like Greta Thunberg, Stephen Emmott, and David Attenborough drawing attention to the damaging effects that we, as human beings, can have on our planet, businesses are also paying more attention to their environmental impact. We look at how Australian company Acacia Environmental Management continues to be an industry leader in this field by running a lean business and staying true to its environmental values.

cacia Environmental Management is a familyowned specialist land management and environmental consulting company that’s been providing services to clients in Melbourne, Greater Melbourne and Victoria for the past 15 years.

Right: Matt Kelly, Managing Director/ Founder and Sophie Jones-Kelly, CEO of Acacia Environmental Management

50 / Issue 22

management practices haven’t always been conservation-centric; with some industry organisations adopting cheaper, more destructive approaches to services such weed management. In contrast, Acacia’s values have always been firmly based on conservation. Projects such as tree planting and water

monitoring means they are engaged in a mixture of regular maintenance and large, one-off projects. As Sophie explains: “It’s about having our workforce in the right place at the right time with the right tools and equipment” Explains Sophie. “Because we are

As businesses and organisations better understand the necessity of managing their local environment in a sensitive and responsible way, Acacia’s workload has increased. However, a greater workload comes with its own challenges as CEO Sophie Jones-Kelly explains: “It’s not really a luxury industry. There’s not a lot of margin in our line of work, so we have to have very efficient systems otherwise we don’t stay viable. We’ve had to learn over the last 15 years to run things very lean in terms of management and TidyEnterprise has helped us to do that.” Keeping costs down In the past, environmental XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users. Find us online at: xumagazine.com

Case Study always working outside, we have not only the weather conditions to deal with, but we also have really big peaks and troughs of work determined by seasonal factors.” Over the last five years Acacia has grown its business by focusing on its environmental management credentials and keeping administration costs down. Sophie says: “Since we’ve implemented TidyEnterprise, we’ve doubled the number of staff in the company, but haven’t increased our project management overheads.” Managing a diverse, seasonal workforce in the field Acacia use TidyEnterprise to manage employees’ time. Sophie says that linking this with Xero office and recording things like payroll made it quick for their herbicides, materials and approving employees to adopt. “As an time, then that’s time that can never environmental company, we be charged on to a client; whereas always wanted to have a paperless having a mobile device with our business. Now, everyone has the project managers doing everything ability to enter their time using in the field, that doesn’t become a their own phones. Before we had lost cost.” TidyEnterprise, we found we were always chasing staff to put their Measuring environmental impact time entries in. Linking payroll to project management meant that we Herbicides can remain active in the knew for certain every single week environment for long periods of everyone’s time had been added. time, potentially causing soil and Linking those two systems was a water contamination, so Acacia real benefit to ensure we still have have a legal the accountability that we requirement need to manage tight “Since we’ve to track how project budgets.” implemented much they use. TidyEnterprise, we’ve TidyEnterprise Working with doubled the number of allows Sophie a passionate staff in the company, to report on group of but haven’t increased herbicide use for like-minded our project management audit purposes, environmental overheads.” but, as she also staff whose focus explains, they also is on trying to use this measure to improve habitat and demonstrate their strong biodiversity, Sophie is keen conservation values. to empower project managers in the field to make decisions on site. “One of our KPIs is that the use “One of the really important parts of herbicide per client does not of TidyEnterprise was for project increase. We use the materials managers to be able to get the full section in TidyEnterprise so we can picture all the time without having generate real data on the amount of to call back to the office to talk to herbicide that’s being used. We see the admin team.” that as an environmental measure for our company, so TidyEnterprise “In our industry we’re only paid for is helping us stay accountable.” direct hours, so if work is relying on someone else sitting in the Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

Environment is about the future By championing core values based on conservation and positive environmental impact, Acacia Environmental Management has continued to grow, despite being a low margin business. Sophie is passionate about continuing in the same manner. “We’re exploring other areas while still relying on environmentally minded and trained staff. We also do consultancy which is not such a seasonal business, so we’re looking to grow areas of the business that are not so much the rollercoaster ride of summer to winter.” As people and businesses appreciate that environmental management isn’t just a necessity, but something that adds real value to our planet, Sophie feels confident that Acacia is one family business that can continue to lead the way. “It feels like the rest of the world is catching up in that the work that we do is valued. We’re becoming leaders and experts in our field and people are gradually wanting to spend more money in their environment.”

FIND OUT MORE... To learn more about Tidy, visit: > tidyinternational.com

Issue 22 / 51

Automating your sales processes with PipeDrive, Practice Ignition & Zapier

@blueprintottawa

Brian Clare, Co-Founder, Blueprint Accounting As the Co-Founder of Blueprint Accounting in Ottawa, CA, Brian has used Zapier extensively to automate his practice.

As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. At Blueprint Accounting, we’ve saved hours in our sales process by integrating Practice Ignition with Pipedrive via Zapier. We’ve also got a consistent and powerful process that our clients love...

e use Zapier extensively in our firm. Zapier is a platform that enables apps to ‘talk to one another’ seamlessly. At the moment, we use Zapier to integrate different practice management apps including Practice Ignition, Pipedrive, Asana, Slack, Microsoft 365. A lot of the ‘zaps’ we use revolve around removing recurring operational tasks from our dayto-day so that we can focus on client delivery. Winning back time in each step of the client journey may appear insignificant at first, but becomes substantial when you multiply this by the number of clients you engage throughout the year.

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before we meet with them. This allows us to gather initial contact details and information about the individual we will be meeting with. It also helps guide the conversation during our free initial assessment so we can a) not waste either parties time, and b) understand better where the value might be in the engagement. If you’ve ever used Typeform, you know how easy it is to create a questionnaire or survey to gather information. For us at Blueprint, we have pretty standard questions that you’d expect to see: first name, last name, email, phone number, etc.

Connecting apps in your sales workflow

By using Zapier, we’re able to push this information directly into Pipedrive and create a new deal at the beginning of our sales pipeline.

Introduction to Typeform

Introduction to Pipedrive

Typeform is a way to gather prospective client information. Our current process is to send out a Typeform to each prospective client

If you aren’t using a CRM, you’re failing at tracking your deals. It’s ultra important to know what’s in your pipeline of deals so you know

where to focus your effort, who you’ve been in contact with, and what steps to take next to move a deal along your sales pipeline. At Blueprint Accounting, we recently made the switch to Pipedrive. If you haven’t heard of Pipedrive, it’s quite an efficient tool, especially if you prefer a visual for your sales pipeline. Pipedrive has some pretty amazing features that really stood out for us when evaluating CRMs. 1. You can create goals for specific periods 2. You can link your email into Pipedrive to create deals 3. It has a slick user interface to visualize your sales pipeline By using Zapier, we’re able to push information on deals back and forth between PipeDrive and Practice Ignition, and automatically create a new proposal when we win the client.

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

Introduction to Practice Ignition Practice Ignition is a platform that enables you to manage all your client engagements. We use Practice Ignition to create digital proposals that we email to our clients and they sign electronically. This means we can store all our contracts in one place for our entire client base. To make the engagement process efficient, we have a library of services in Practice Ignition that we use to build each proposal. We also include the payment schedule in the proposal so the client knows what they’re agreeing to from the very start! The real power of Practice Ignition is their payment collection engine. When the client first signs the proposal, they add in their billing details (ACH direct debit or credit card). At this point, we’ve already got their payment information on

experience for us – and our clients. It’s saved admin time by removing those recurring operational tasks as well as improved cash flow and minimized bad payers.

file and we get paid automatically. We don’t ever need to worry about following up late payments, or chasing debtors because they’ve already agreed to the payment schedule when they signed the proposal. It’s also so much easier for the client – they’re not spending time paying invoices. All round, it’s a much nicer

GETTING STARTED WITH THE AUTOMATION PROCESS At Blueprint Accounting, we’ve found joy (and more time) as we’ve introduced new ways to automate admin tasks. If you’d like to work through this process yourself and use Zapier to connect the apps in your sales workflow, I break down how to set up each zap in this guide > practiceignition.com/blog/ pipedrive-practice-ignition

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If you’re already a Practice Ignition customer, they currently offer free video calls to help you map out your current workflow and identify ways you can improve your systems and processes using Zapier.

Issue 22 / 53

Case Study

A perfect fit for a fitout company From the cool Melburnian take on New York City’s illustrious smoking lounges and new office chic in Northcote, to a world-first co-working space for more than 400 not-for-profit and social enterprise workers, Canopy Fitouts has taken the interior design market by storm...

fter working in construction for more than 15 years, founder Karl Simity realised there was an opportunity to offer a specialised office fitout service. The business launched in February 2016 and grew rapidly, turning over more than $4.4 million in just its first year of operation. And even today, they’re still counting. “Every day thousands of people go to work in offices across Australia, and we believe everyone has a right to a beautiful office to work in,” says Karl. “We create office environments that help our clients improve staff effectiveness, happiness and productivity. We truly believe your surroundings can inspire you.” And that’s what Canopy Fitouts do with every single client: Inspire through spaces. The team has grown from one to ten in just four years and they’re always looking

About Business Continuum Business Continuum are a certified WorkflowMax implementation partner and software solution specialists, they implement and connect cloud software to streamline business operations.

54 / Issue 22

for different patterns and textures to use in their design to help clients have a mental break and divide work spaces from play. After catching up with the team recently, it looks like their creativity is paying off! The growing pains are real There aren’t many businesses out that that can go from ‘flying blind’ with spreadsheets to 400% growth and counting, without experiencing some kind of pain. Karl knew he was losing visibility of his projects and control of his spend management. “I quickly realised that in order to maintain control, I needed to have a better understanding of how my costs were tracking in real time. As I began to hire employees after I found this added even more complexities.” It was at that point that spreadsheets were no longer cutting it for Karl, who felt like he was losing track of ongoing profitability, a common problem in a lot of industries, not just construction. “High end cloud-based software solutions designed for the construction industry were not the right fit for my business,” says Karl. “Those platforms aren’t designed for the quick pace of the design and

@WorkflowMax

Joe Salvati, Growth Manager, Xero Joe enjoys working with SaaS companies, loves growing and managing high-performing teams and progressing the careers of great people. Joe is passionate about how he can help small business in Australia have all the benefits of big business through the use of cloud technology like Xero.

fitout industry and it takes just as long to enter the data than it does to run the project. Software really should be an enabler for efficiency, and not slow you down.” “I used Xero for day-to-day financial management and bookkeeping, but it didn’t have the project management functionality I needed. I was thrilled with the growth in my business but I was running blind, not knowing what costs were ahead of me in the next four to eight weeks.” Karl was experiencing a common growing pain for small businesses today. Finding help when you need it Managing cash flow and accurate forecasting is critical, and Karl was ahead of many businesses by realising he had a problem early, and addressing it before the business grew too rapidly. Also benefiting Karl was his very solid mapping out of his own project processes. He was ready to make the move and was eager to embrace a new tech solution and create better systems to support his continued growth. “My accounting firm, Young & Grant, suggested Business Continuum, a WorkflowMax implementation partner who helps businesses to excel in the cloud. I

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

Case Study

reasons you should work with a Cloud tech expert

1) Huge gains from expertise Not everyone is technical. Cloud experts live and breathe tech every day. They are highly skilled at process mapping and recommending the right solution based on business needs and requirements. There’s real value in leaving it to the experts. 2) Tap into a depth of industry knowledge Often Cloud experts work with a range of industries and are very knowledgeable about nuances that exist so they can apply their depth of experience to every setup situation. 3) System and process driven Most Cloud experts are very methodical and systematised in their approach to ensure a smooth rollout and adoption of the software and eliminate any disruption to BAU. 4) Help you implement the full power of the software Cloud experts can help surface the right features for your business and make sure you are using 100% of the software’s capability. Most offer ongoing support / consulting and grow with you and your business over time. 5) Optimise and advise so you get better results They will work with you to continuously improve and optimise your software, so you can work smarter and faster, and get better results.

was impressed with their approach. They worked hard to understand my business and my specific needs and didn’t overpromise. They didn’t force their favourite software solution to fit, but rather came up with a considered approach, that made a big difference,” says Karl. An all-in-one solution was an easy decision GM of Business Continuum, Shelley Foster says, “Deciding WorkflowMax was the right fit for Canopy Fitouts was a no-brainer. After the initial scoping session to map out Karl’s exact business requirements, we quickly ditched those spreadsheets, and manual systems for a more streamlined solution.” “Because WorkflowMax is very flexible and customisable, we were able to spend time configuring it, to the unique project processes and needs of the business,” says Shelley. “We originally took care of the migration by importing data

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across from the old system. Then, we staged a training session,” says Shelley. “The team learned everything, from how to process invoices, manage quotes, enter and track leads, add costs to “We’ve exceeded our individual projects targets and quadrupled our and much more.” business. WorkflowMax has absolutely, and most Now three years definitely helped facilitate our growth. Without it, I would be on since first buried in paperwork.” implementing Karl Simity, WorkflowMax, Canopy Fitouts, AU Business Continuum and Canopy Fitouts are still working together, tweaking the setup to suit the changing nature of the business.

Taking the product to the next level “Since we first started with the solution our Project Management team grew, and our sales team quickly followed. Knowing we had a fairly good handle on the functionality in the project management area of the business gave us the confidence to test the software in sales,” says Karl. Follow us on Twitter: @xumagazine

Issue 22 / 55

Case Study

WorkflowMax Hacks “Just in the last few months we’ve deployed a number of different functions within Lead Manager. We’ve introduced close rate reports and future purchasing data fields so we know exactly when our clients will need our help again. Being there at the right time is so important in a service business like ours.”

many factors to their success, but Karl says “Business Continuum and WorkflowMax have played a big part in where we are today.”

“I have no idea how I lived without it,” says Karl. “Now, we can have up to 45 projects in the lead stage and 35 active projects at any one time. My project managers love it. They use it to delegate tasks and stay on “Another report we are no track with delivery. really excited about “I have And, we can quickly is a drill down on idea how I and easily process our closed jobs. lived without 80 invoices a Being able to look week.” at where we’re WorkflowMax.” closing jobs, not Karl Simity, Canopy Fitouts, AU “I can easily plan just geographically the design team’s time but via industry based on the phase of vertical is really helping each project, seeing at a glance us to understand where we where they are and what’s coming need to invest, in terms of lead up. I like to get a broad, birds-eye generation and developing our view of the entire business, to see pipeline,” says Karl. where everything is at, financially and operationally. But I can also Technology matched with good drill down into the details too. process really drive ROI I’m across everything: payments, leads, weekly numbers, schedule, The Canopy Fitouts business has discussions, work in progress. quadrupled. Of course, there’s The benefits for our customer relationship management have FIND OUT MORE... been tenfold - navigating our clients through the conversion process is To find out more, please visit: far more efficient since we’ve been > workflowmax.com using this software.

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Karl’s favourite features that have really made a difference... Reporting - The ability to financially run a job through reporting. Live financial summary reports help me keep supply chains lean and our project management team accountable. Xero integration – hands down, a core benefit of the solution. Speed of account syncing really gives me and the team control to make powerful decisions.

“Last year alone we sent out and reconciled 1476 purchase orders, created 320 invoices and kicked off 110 new projects. I really can’t imagine how we could have achieved this without an end-to-end project management solution like WorkflowMax. “We’ve exceeded our targets, because the software allows us to stay on top of costs, workloads and deliver amazing results for our clients on time and on budget,” says Karl. “It’s absolutely, and most definitely helped facilitate our growth. Without it, I would be buried in paperwork.”

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Issue 22 / 57

How to beat the late payment blues Getting in control of your finance strategy

@MarketFinance

Chris Findlow, Head of Partnerships, MarketFinance He’s passionate about helping SMEs get access to funding and working with entrepreneurs to free up more time to focus on growing their business.

Late payment is a perennial issue for many businesses. Slow payment of customer invoices, and the resulting increase in aged debt, have a hugely negative effect on a company’s cash flow position, financial liquidity and, ultimately, the overall value of the business as a whole. But if late payment is tackled head on, and is backed up by both a robust finance plan and trusted accounting advice, it’s possible to minimise the impact of slow cash collection and to keep cash flow on an even keel. Chris Findlow, Head of Partnerships at MarketFinance (formerly MarketInvoice), highlights the findings of their latest research into payment of late invoices and how a proactive approach to your finance is key to beating the late payment blues.

s our evolution to MarketFinance will tell you, we have a crystal-clear focus on helping business fund their growth plans in the most effective way. We know and understand the challenge that late payment, mounting debt and a drop in expected income can have for an ambitious business leader – and the results of our recent research show the sheer scale and impact of late payment practices in the UK. The latest MarketFinance Business Insights research charts late payment trends between 2013 and 2019, analysing over 100,000 invoices. The analysis suggests that businesses typically agree 45-day payment terms from completion of work or delivery of goods. Despite this, almost two-fifths (39%) of invoices issued in 2019 (worth over £34b) were paid late – and this extended wait for payment can start to significantly affect your cash flow position.

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will know, cash flow is the lifeblood of your operation. Good financial governance comes from managing your cash flow well, and having the best possible access to additional finance when cash flow gaps do appear.

against a customer’s account, there’s a prevailing mindset that this money is now ‘in the bank’. But your business will only truly benefit from this cash inflow once payment is received and there’s hard cash sitting in your bank account.

However, unexpected late payment of your customer invoices can begin to upset the smooth running of your finances, leaving a growing cash hole that slowly starts to eat your future funding, cash flow and profits.

So, a change in outlook is critical. Rather than assuming that customers will pay on time, factor in the potential for these outstanding invoice payments to be late, and work this into your assumptions, planning and ongoing finance plan for your business.

Unless you can balance the money coming in (cash inflows) and the money going out (cash outflows) you won’t have the liquid cash required to run your operations, pay your staff and suppliers and keep your company trading. As such, it’s vital that you minimise any elements that are slowing down those cash inflows – and late payment can be one of the chief obstacles to overcome when aiming for a positive cash flow position.

The negative impact of late payment on cash flow

Changing your payment mindset

As any experienced business leader

Once an invoice has been raised

With results from our research showing that the average business is owed £34,286 in late invoices, and that businesses are waiting on a total of £34b in late payments overall, it’s clear that a more focused approach to improving payment times is long overdue. Getting in control of your late payment debt Many businesses simply don’t keep their finger on the pulse when it comes to managing their financial position – working under

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

the misapprehension that it’s the accountant’s job to ‘look after the numbers’. According to our research, the majority of business owners (54%) are not checking their cash flow forecast on a regular basis, typically only reviewing them on a monthly or even quarterly basis. But if you’re not checking your aged debt, aged payables and cash flow position on a regular basis, you’re not truly in control of your business. Rather than taking a passive position in the fight against late payment, what’s needed is a more active and preventative approach to managing late-payment debts. To understand the scale of your late payment position: • Check your main financial numbers – the Xero dashboard makes it easy to monitor and track income, expenditure and the overall amount that you’re owed in outstanding invoices. So, there’s no excuse for not checking these indicators on a regular basis and keeping yourself informed about the financial health of your business. • Work closely with your accountant – frequent conversations with your accountant help to keep you aware of any late payment issues. Ask your accountant to provide regular, monthly management information, using your Xero data. These monthly reports can drill down into your finances,

revealing how much you’re owed (your aged debt), who the bad payers are and what the current impact is on your overall cash flow position and working capital (the money you have available to trade with). • Use your management information wisely – if you spot any aged debt or cash flow issues, work with your accountant to take action. And do this sooner rather than later. If several large invoices are unpaid, it’s likely that additional funding will be urgently required, or that legal action is needed to collect this missing cash. Speeding up payment times By taking a more proactive approach to your aged debt and cash flow, you put your business in a far better position to take pre-emptive action – and overcome the potential downsides of slow payment and mounting debt. By removing any prevailing obstacles to smooth payment, you can speed up overall payment times. Key ways to do this can include: • Using online invoicing in a productive way – by raising an invoice at the earliest possible opportunity, you bring forward the due date and reduce the time spent waiting for payment. Email your online invoice to your customer contact and to their accounts payable team – increasing the likelihood of the

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bill being settled on time. • Choosing the most effective payment methods – if customers are paying by recurring monthly invoice, it makes sense to automate the cash collection. A solution like GoCardless uses the Direct Debit system to automatically collect payment from the customer’s bank account, as soon as the due date is reached. Offering other payment gateways, like PayPal or Stripe, and including payment buttons on your Xero invoice also make it easier for customers to pay. • Automating your credit control – automated debtor tracking apps, like Chaser, can be integrated with Xero to constantly check for overdue payments. Emails are then automatically sent out to late-paying customers, chasing for payment and increasing the pressure on customers to settle this debt. • Agreeing your payment terms early on – payment terms set out your expectations of payment times, whether that’s 45 days or 60 days from the invoice date. By formalising your agreed payment terms, and including these terms in all contracts and on all invoices, you tighten up the timings and have a legal document to refer to if customers fail to pay on time, or begin to back-pedal about when the money should be due. • Charging for late payment – it’s common to charge any latepaying customers, adding an additional fee to the standard Follow us on Twitter: @xumagazine

Issue 22 / 59

invoice amount for each day, week or month that the payment is overdue. By increasing the cost of late payment you create an incentive to pay on time – pushing customers to be more prompt and organised with their payments. Access to finance when cash is needed It’s clear that more must be done to cut down on the lengthening of agreed payment terms at the same time as tackling the ongoing issue of late payments. Long payment terms of 60 or 90 days may be the norm in many industries, but waiting for several months to get paid can be a serious challenge for many businesses. The Government has introduced the Prompt Payment Code and Duty To

FIND OUT MORE... To learn more, visit: > marketfinance.com

Report legislation, with a view to bringing down payment times. But curing the issues of long payment terms and late payment of overdue invoices is not an issue that will be resolved overnight. It’s down to individual businesses to play their part and crack down on these payment issues. Having a robust finance plan means having defined payment terms, excellent credit control facilities and being confident that you can access additional funding, if it’s urgently needed. Whether that’s making use of invoice finance, taking out a short-term business loan or looking into alternative funding routes, knowing that you have a defined route to finance is crucial for taking the worry out of late payment. Certain, a creative agency, have used their MarketFinance invoice finance facility to overcome their own long payment issues. Typically, the agency was agreeing to 60-day payment terms with their clients, meaning it took two months for them to get paid. By making use of a facility like invoice finance,

the agency can get an advance against their outstanding invoices and quickly get the cash needed to cover their costs and payroll expenses. That means less time spent worrying about cash flow and more time focused on the future success of their agency. To beat the late payment blues, it’s important to: 1. Change your payment mindset and get proactive about late payment 2. Use management information to stay informed about your aged debt and cash position 3. Work closely with your accountant to create a strategic finance plan 4. Partner with finance providers to access funding when it’s required The UK’s culture of late payment is unlikely to change overnight, but if business owners tackle the problem head on, with support from the Government and the main accounting bodies, it is possible for prompt payment to become the norm, and not the exception.

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Issue 22 / 61

Recruiting Tomorrow’s

Brendan Woods is founder and CEO of AutoEntry

Accountants

Originally a software developer in the hedge fund space, he quit his job and started the company to automate data entry for accountants and bookkeepers.

(The move to Wellbeing 2.0) The brightest graduates are considering their career options. The Big 4 are lining up to offer sponsored masters programmes and training contracts. How do you measure up?

ou’ve just graduated with an honours business degree, maybe with a foreign language thrown in, and your considering your career options. And the Big 4 are lining up to offer sponsored masters programmes and training contracts. They offer safety, security and good longterm prospects. What’s not to like? Quite a lot probably, if you’re a member of Gen Z who is looking for more out of life than predictability and don’t believe the safe choice is

AutoEntry automates data entry of sales and purchase invoices, bank and credit card statements, expenses, receipts and more, providing significant time and cost savings to users. AutoEntry is a trusted supplier to over 2,500 accounting firms worldwide.

necessarily the right choice.

advancement.

Graduates have options, how do you measure up?

The other is from a major accountancy practice where it can take between 15 and 25 years to be made a partner with the first chunk of your career spent on audit confirmations or number crunching for client tax returns. Oh, and you get to wear a suit and tie into work every day as a bonus.

With the economy running at full tilt and the war for talent being fought with more intensity than at any time in living memory graduates and young professionals have more options than ever when it comes to choosing a job. One trend among the so-called millennial generation – those born after 1990 – is the desire to work for employers with a purpose they can support. Once attractive workplaces like banks, insurance companies, and professional services firms have lost at least some of their lustre. Here’s the deal. You’ve got two offers. One from an exciting, high growth, highly innovative US Fintech firm which offers a range of benefits and a has a well-established sustainability and diversity track record and a reputation for rapid career

62 / Issue 22

@AutoEntry_OCREX

But at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing many of your contemporaries in the tech firms are earning more than you… It’s not as simple as that of course. Not everybody is going to work for one of the new breed of start-ups in Fintech or some of the other new kids on the Silicon block. But competition is still white hot for their talents. And the competitive playing field has changed as well. The soft stuff is important The physical surroundings in which people work as well as the range

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

of softer benefits on offer now count almost as much as salary and more traditional benefits like health insurance and pensions. Today’s newly minted accounting professionals and business graduates are ranking Pilates alongside pensions when assessing potential employers. And we’re not talking about subsidised gym memberships or onsite weights rooms and regular health checks here. No, it’s far more than that. John Grant, author of “Better: From beanbags to mindfulness; how well being is making business more human friendly” was in Dublin recently to speak at a workplace wellness conference. He believes we are experiencing a well being revolution where people are increasingly turning to natural and functional foods, alternative therapies, meditation and more. And workplaces are far from immune to this revolution. The move from Wellbeing 1.0, to Wellbeing 2.0 According to Grant we are seeing the move from Wellbeing 1.0 to Wellbeing 2.0. The first incarnation was the gyms, the health checks, the spaces for classes and so on but its focus was very traditional. It was firmly rooted in the health and safety culture and the main aim was to have healthier employees who could spend more days and longer hours at work. The new wave of wellbeing is 80% social, Grant contends. Humans are a social species and need much more than good food and exercise to thrive. They need fellowship and belonging, a stimulating environment, contact with nature, happy communities, a sense of purpose. He explains that business used to labour under the mistaken idea that companies are like mechanisms, and all about financial results. But an alternative view has taken hold which sees business as a living human system with a purpose to produce wellbeing. That includes

financial results but also covers community, health, and human progress. That sounds quite high flown but Grant points to some simple examples of Wellbeing 2.0 in action. One concerns the companies which spend vast sums on office design in order to create what is believed to be a productive environment for employees. Funny how that productive environment always results in open plan offices which squeeze the maximum number of desks into the available space and have a corner office for the boss. All that money spent but the companies never ask why their employees are beat by 4:30 pm every day. Maybe they should ask them. According to Grant they might find that 90% of people hate open plan offices and find them noisy, disruptive and distracting places to work. The companies that are best at this, he says, are creating spaces where people can have their privacy yet facilitate interaction and collaboration with colleagues. Hot-desking is the enemy of productivity It may reduce costs and facilitate flexible working, in theory at least, but it’s not conducive to a good working environment. Here’s a startling statistic produced by Grant who describes such lean office concepts as akin to “putting an ant in a jam jar”: productivity improves by 13% on average when plants are introduced to the workplace. And the effect is amplified when people are allowed to have their own plants, pictures and personal items on their desks. So much for the hot desk. And people at window seats in offices looking out and appearing to daydream get 12% more done on average than their colleagues. Grant says the data is there to support this claim. He believes this counter intuitive result is because people need to be able

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to concentrate and think properly about what they are doing if they are going to be productive. Open plan offices with their noise and lack of privacy don’t help. He tells the story of a Yorkshire call centre manager who says his most important number is staff retention rather than calls handled per hour. High churn rates cost money and reduce productivity for a variety of reasons. Staff surveys revealed the staff most likely to stay were those with friends in the workplace. The manager’s response was to organise an extremely active social programme to create the conditions for more friendships to form – it worked. In another case, he points to Dyson’s headquarters in “the middle of nowhere” somewhere north of Bristol. The company is competing with top employers in London for talent yet has no difficulties with recruitment. The secret is the quality of the workplace – when candidates take a look at it for themselves, they have no problem moving down from London. If you are struggling to recruit the best people... look at your Wellbeing offering The wellbeing wave is now here and if accountancy firms don’t catch it they will be left behind in the backwash. The brightest and best talent will be off to work for the companies with the fresh fruit, meditation rooms, plants, human centred office design, active social programmes, and maximum flexibility. That’s the latest from the front in the war for talent. A good start would be to give graduate entrants more interesting work to do…

FIND OUT MORE... Please visit our website at: > autoentry.com

Issue 22 / 63

The AppsMap™ Feature in GoProposal is turning app confusion into app confidence for accountancy firms The opportunity in the app space is exciting because they’re unlocking greater insights, efficiencies and profits for accounting businesses and their clients. But the challenge we’re seeing is that accountancy firms are struggling to position themselves as THE app authority in the relationship with their clients...

his means that for many firms, apps become costcentres rather than the profitcentres they should be.

We’re switching that balance with the launch of the latest GoProposal feature called AppsMap™. What does the AppsMap™ do?

@GoProposal

James Ashford, Founder, GoProposal James helps accountants and bookkeepers to price consistently sell more confidently & grow more profitably. He’s achieved this in his own firm - MAP - where alongside Founder Paul Barnes, they first developed GoProposal & implemented a sales culture to ensure they were maximising the value of their clients. James now helps thousands of accountants & bookkeepers around the world to achieve the same through his software - GoProposal - his philosophies, strategies, videos, books & keynote talks.

will be automatically generated, every time you produce a proposal. How Do We Get Started With The AppsMap™?

The AppsMap™ enables accounting If you’re already a GoProposal businesses to show how the member, just login to your app and apps they’re providing head to Configure or recommending fit > Pricing “I just love the way together and how the Tool Setup > the AppsMap gives data flows between AppsMap. us that instant them. authority, when There are support presenting the app You can choose videos to help stack to the client.” an icon, insert a guide you and if Euan Brown description and you need any extra Owner, Total Accounting service schedule and help, just message us determine the price you in the live chat. want to charge for that app, with as much sophistication or If you’re not a GoProposal member complexity as it needs. yet, schedule your LIVE demo today The whole purpose of this is to give at GoProposal.com/demo you the confidence to be the app authority in the client relationship. How Do You Setup the AppsMap™ Feature?

FIND OUT MORE... Visit our website at: > goproposal.com/blog/theappsmap-feature

Setup is really simple. All our GoProposal members have to do is, choose the apps they’re selling/ recommending, assign an icon to that app and set the price (if you charge for it.) After that point, your AppsMap™

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Your Apps Map

BE THE APP AUTHORITY

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Confidently communicate the app stacks you provide instantly, in front of your clients, with our new visual AppsMapâ&#x201E;˘ feature, positioning you as the app authority. Simple to setup & free for all GoProposal members

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Issue 22 / 67

Tutorial

How to:

Using SuiteFiles & Xero

@SuiteFiles

Molly Banister, Marketing Manager, SuiteFiles She is passionate about communication and how technology can help create more effective channels for information storage and sharing, providing greater clarity in business.

Xero Practice Manager is a powerful piece of software, with the ability to easily manage your jobs, client details, timesheets and more. But the more you make use of connected apps the greater time savings you can drive within your practice...

sing SuiteFiles and XPM together gives you the ability to maintain one system, XPM as a single source of truth for your client details and job management, but gives you the ability to do so much more than you can with XPM alone. We spoke to our clients to find out their favourite parts of using XPM & SuiteFiles together. Truly two-way integration SuiteFiles and XPM are truly 2-way integrated, which means that information flows between both systems. Whenever you create a client in XPM, their folder and subfolder structure is generated in seconds, and is available in SuiteFiles instantly. It also means you can access all of the documents relating to your client, job or quote from within XPM, no need to switch between systems. You can also upload documents straight to SuiteFiles from within XPM and use the integration to automatically create new job and quote folders as they enter XPM. SuiteFiles was built with accountants and XPM in mind, and the integration was working on by both Xero and SuiteFiles for months to ensure it was seamless, making using the systems together simple.

Document management within XPM One of Xero’s strength is it’s Ecosystem partners, who add on a range of functionality to their core product. This is especially true in the instance of XPM, which relies on third party integrations for Document Management. SuiteFiles is able to be accessed from directly within XPM, you can browse through your document library, create new folders, upload and preview documents without leaving Practice Manager. SuiteFiles quite literally becomes a part of XPM. This also allows users to get the full benefits of cloud-based document management through SuiteFiles. With your documents able to be accessed from anywhere in the world, without the need to remotely login to a server. It means that your client documents are being backed up each day, and stored with enterprise grade security in a data center that is local to you. When combined with our two-way integration, it creates a potent combination of features that provide robust practice management ability and timesaving opportunities. Powerful templating One of the best parts of integrating

68 / Issue 22

your client/practice management solution with your document management system is the ability to use your client data to autopopulate templated documents and emails you might have. SuiteFiles gives you the ability to create templates for cover letters, engagement letters, workpapers, year-end letters and more. So long as it is an Office document type, you can create a template and then use the data in XPM, both the standard and custom fields – to populate that document or email and send it straight out into the relevant client. Another benefit of this style of templating is that whenever you update the data in Practice Manager, you don’t also need to make that update in SuiteFiles, as it will just flow through when you next populate a template. It’ll also mean if you make updates to your own practice or user data, then those will flow through to your templates. Document signing Building on template capabilities, SuiteFiles document signing makes it easy to send any of those documents out to be signed by your clients. They’ll receive automatic email asking them to sign the document, as well as a copy as soon as everyone has signed the

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Tutorial

document. From within XPM you’ll be able to see anything that client has signed. SuiteFiles will also store a record of who has viewed and signed the document and give you the ability to set an expiry date, issue reminders and more. Any document that can be converted to a PDF can be set up for signing, and there is no limit to the number of signatures you can request. Plus – your clients can use their Xero credentials to access any documents they may need to sign, plus other Single Sign On options. Easy communication register By linking XPM and SuiteFiles you create a single register of

communications with your client. You can see the hours staff spend working on a specific client or job, as well as all of the email communication going to the client. SuiteFiles will automatically file your email conversations relating to a client or job in the relevant folder, so you can access these directly from XPM, making it easy to see what’s been communicated to the client thus far and to pick up on any possible issues or oversights.

There are over 30 apps that integrate into XPM and each of them opens up a whole range of possible ways to get some time back in your day for whatever you think is more important. By using SuiteFiles and XPM in conjunction, you help remove the risk of duplicate data and open up a number of ways to save time.

The integration with Outlook and email also means that you can quickly attach any Xero reports or other collateral that’s saved within SuiteFiles and send it out to the client quickly and easily.

FIND OUT MORE... Not using SuiteFiles yet? You can sign up for a product demo or trial it for free at: > suitefiles.com

Financial controls and vendor bill automation for multi-entity organisations #eCommerce

#BillAutomation

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Issue 22 / 69

Start a data-driven conversation about cutting costs with your clients When it comes to advisory, understanding clients’ data is key to providing impactful advice. With Chata, you don’t have to be a data analyst to be a trusted, datadriven advisor.

tarting a meaningful conversation about finances with your clients often begins with finding a pain point. In business and beyond, we’re always looking for ways to save money so we can do more with what we earn. When your client asks: “Where exactly is my money going?” or “Where can I cut costs?” taking a look at cost of goods sold (COGS) and operational expenses, in

70 / Issue 22

particular things like rent or labour, is a good place to start. If your client is looking to free up working capital to reinvest in their business (or their dividends), you can use their data to see if, and where, it’s possible to cut operational costs. You’ll want to determine: where does my client spend the most

@thechataHQ

Keagan Perlette, Communications & Content Specialist, Chata Keagan is an extremely curious writer obsessed with telling stories. FinTech, business strategy, and AI are just a few of the many subjects on her list of topics she’ll totally write about for the blog. At Chata, Keagan creates content for financial professionals to help them future-proof their businesses and provide their clients with exceptional experiences.

money on their business on a monthly/quarterly basis? Is there an opportunity to strategically shift their use of capital based on what the data tells us? The Advisory Studio by Chata can help you answer these questions and lead you to deeper investigation so that you can provide strategic advice and empower your client to make

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informed decisions about where expenses can be cut. In the Advisory Studio, you can simply ask “Total operating expenses by account last year by month” and find where your client spends the most money on a regular basis. Easily select a heatmap visualization to show your client where the bulk of their expenses accumulate each month. Maybe you notice that following wages and taxes, rental costs are particularly high. Now you can establish whether there are options to decrease rental costs: if the client rents out more than one office location, is there a chance they can consolidate them? Encourage remote work to take place? Decrease rented storage space? While rent is an operational cost, you can also take a look at COGS data to determine if certain products are worth the cost of renting storage space, for example. It’s easy to create high-impact Dashboards that show an overview of trends in your client’s COGS

with Chata. Including heatmaps or graphs is as simple as typing in “COGS by product (or tracking category) by month last year.” You can include “Revenue by product by month last year” and/or “Profit by product by month last year” to offer a comprehensive picture of which products might be costing more than they are worth. Perhaps you find that the cost of storing one product is significantly driving up the rent. With this information, you can easily show your client where they might be able to reduce COGS and rental costs at the same time, freeing up that valuable working capital. When you back your expert advice with data-driven insights, your clients will reach their goals, faster.

Find out more... Discover how you can provide next-level advisory services with the Advisory Studio by Chata: > chata.ai/advisory-studio

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Issue 22 / 71

Pacioli and Penny The end of accounting and bookkeeping as we know it? Five hundred years after his death, Luca Pacioli is ironically still known first as the friend of Leonardo da Vinci rather than the founder of bookkeeping as we know it.

uch like a portrait, the principles of modern bookkeeping have changed little but for the occasional modification of fame. Indeed, the industry has survived four industrial revolutions with just a shake of dust here and there. Until now. When I left my role at Just Eat, I didn’t foresee two things. One was that within a year, I’d be sitting under Pacioli’s watchful eyes, at the heart of the profession he founded. The second was that I’d have the numbers of 45 accountants and bookkeepers on my personal mobile. Pacioli built a way of working that was strong enough to survive the modern era - one that over half a millennium later is just making the digital leap. And one of those bookkeepers - Penny Rowden - is leading the way. Penny is a shining example of a bookkeeper. She runs a small practice with her husband in Chichester, UK, knows the first names of each of her 200 clients and could deliver a college lecture on cloud accounting without notes. Some might say that accountants 72 / Issue 22

and bookkeepers like Penny face an existential threat from technological change. But Penny is not just the exception. She is rapidly becoming the rule. Over a quarter (25.98) of chartered accountants are reportedly at risk of losing their jobs because of automation. Some even suggest that those in the profession should try something new rather than risk competition with software. These statistics paint a one-sided picture. The truth is that we should never underestimate how much a business-owner needs their accountant or bookkeeper. And Penny would be the first to admit her work can be automated. One in three British businesses (33.87%) “share their physical financial documents by post or dropping them off to their accountant”. A quarter of UK SMBs (27.78%) are still using “a physical book to record their business finances. Shoeboxes are still appearing at the office doors of accountants and bookkeepers days before a tax deadline.

@ReceiptBank

Adrian Blair, CEO, Receipt Bank Prior to this, Adrian was the Global Chief Operating Officer of Just Eat and the only executive team member to serve throughout the company’s transformation from start-up to FTSE 100. Before this, he led business development for Spotify in Europe and spent six years in commercial roles at Google in California and London. He is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of Circl, a next-generation leadership development programme for students from deprived backgrounds. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

When Penny took the leap into cloud accounting, she saved an hour’s work on each client, each week. No more chasing paperwork, no more late nights deciphering whether an O is a 0 by lamp light. Penny turned technology to her advantage and made more of the one commodity businesses crave but cannot create: time. There are millions of businesses up and down the country with their own Penny. Like Felicity, a nail salon owner from Newport. When Felicity’s marriage broke down, saddled with business debt she took the brave step of calling

BOOK A DEMO Save the wait and dive straight into the data with our NEW feature, Automatic Line Item Extraction (ALIX). ALIX is one step closer to effortless processing, giving you the control and confidence of a manual workflow without compromising on time. > receiptbank.com

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a bookkeeper named Ivy. The next day the two met in a coffee shop to work through Felicity’s business finances in person. They’ve been working together ever since. Open Banking changing the frame For Pacioli and Penny, open banking tied with cloud developments is changing the frame of the future. Neobanks - digital-only banks such as Monzo, Starling, Revolut, Tide and Atom - are seeing incredible growth. While open banking is in its infancy, the changing marketplace is likely to force significant changes in the way businesses access their data. Having data at your fingertips gives you the information you need to truly become a trusted advisor. It’s moving beyond the world of costs into revenue, payroll and bank data. The trust, understanding and personal connections that accountants and bookkeepers like Penny bring are irreplaceable. An accountant or bookkeeper that, to quote another business owner, “makes me feel safe” cannot be automated or bolted onto a software package.

If we are truly to make technology built around people rather than process or profit, it has to be the connective tissue that brings businesses and their advisors together. And if we do that, automation will serve and not replace that special connection. Because a future without Penny is not one I’d like to be part of. And - I am sure - neither would Luca Pacioli.

FIND OUT MORE... Receipt Bank takes paperwork from all places, digitises it and makes it ready for reconciliation - from supplier portals and utility providers to receipts stuffed in glove compartments. Find out how real-time data just got real at: > receipt-bank.com/xumag

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Improved sales invoice accuracy and enhanced customer satisfaction #XeroPlatinumChampionPartner

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Issue 22 / 73

Deploying advisory services with Spotlight Reporting Richard Francis from Spotlight Reporting explains how the company’s products are helping move advisory services forward and making it easier than ever to deploy...

potlight Reporting exists to empower accountants, advisors and bookkeepers to do more, be more and proactively contribute more to the outcomes of their clients. Our software tool set – Reporting, Forecasting, Dashboards and Multi – provide a plethora of outputs to stimulate the discussions and debate from which greatness happens.

Deploying advisory services requires a heady mix of courage, self-awareness, art and science. Firstly you need the courage to commit to the journey and get out of your comfort zone and daily grind, you will need to understand your own strengths and weaknesses so that you can offer the right services and get the right tools and training you need, and then you need to set the services and momentum that makes sense for you and your clients. Doing great advisory is in your hands, but it is a commitment

@spotlightrep

Richard Francis CA, CEO, Spotlight Reporting Richard is a CA and trusted advisor with 20+ years of advisory experience. As the director of a boutique professional practice, Richard saw a need to improve analysis and forecasting for his clients that led to him founding Spotlight Reporting – a global company and also the #1 Reporting and Forecasting app in the Xero ecosystem. Richard was also GM of Workpapers for Xero.

of time, energy, and intellect. Creating your own advisory practice (or firm-within-a-firm) is powerful and rewarding. When I was in practice, Francis Consulting was designed from the get-go to offer solutions and services (advisory) beyond the historic numbercrunching. We attracted a lot of clients by ‘being different’ and when we were amongst the first adopters globally of Xero, we really started to fly. We saw two gaps in the cloud space at this time - so we created and sold Workpapers to Xero in 2012, having founded Spotlight Reporting in 2010. We love software and we love solutions that make complex tasks simple. Spotlight Reporting allows easy and quick advanced reporting and forecasting for the majority of your client base. The beautiful outputs are designed for you to adopt an advisory footing with minimal investment and hassle.

74 / Issue 22

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My 7 tips for deploying advisory are: 1. Trial or subscribe to Spotlight Reporting! (2,000 leading firms canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be wrongâ&#x20AC;Ś) 2. Start with 2-3 clients; build a Report or Dashboard using one of our templates for free Advisory can and share. change lives if done 3. Structure with passion - and customer the best-of-breed sessions around software solutions. discussing insights and - use Spotlight opportunities, Forecasting to do this and actively listening quickly and efficiently. to clients sharing their goals, 6. Interact with our Training and challenges, roadblocks and Customer Success Specialists opportunities. we have humans and resources 4. Offer structured, periodic to help you become a better mentoring (anchored by advisor and more proficient with Spotlight) so that you can aspects of our software such as be their advisor, guide and scenarios, consolidation, whiteaccountability focal point. Add labelling and using our powerful value every single time. data-crunching and visualisation 5. Expand your reach across the engines. Get certified! client base; every business client 7. Engage the team, train them up, deserves a Forecast and Budget appoint Advisory (and Spotlight)

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Champions. Show the team that accounting can not only be sexy, but it can and will change lives if done with passion and the support of the leading software solutions!

FIND OUT MORE... Find out how you can use Spotlight Reporting to deploy advisory: > spotlightreporting.com

Issue 22 / 75

Make payments from Xero Instant accounting. Bank simplicity

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Issue 22 / 77

Talking Point - Mental Health

TalkingPoint Mental Health in the workplace Helping people to tackle stress, anxiety and other mental health issues is central to promoting a positive and professional workplace culture. And that goes for accounting practices big, small or multinational. For Accountex 2020, we’re sharpening our focus on the topic and making sure it takes centre stage in the expo’s educational seminar programme. Here, four of our speakers - all wellbeing experts - share their knowledge on this important subject...

Meet our panel of speakers:

Sharon Critchlow Council Member ACCA

Nick Elston Founder Forging People

ZL:

Can small practices skip subjects like mental health and wellbeing?

NE:

In short - no! In fact, small practices may have the greater challenge especially as an owner/partner - as we can sometimes fall into the trap of self-care being selfish. Even though this is in the context of a professional environment - to be happy and strong in business you need to be happy and strong personally. We very often forget that we have a small thing called ‘choice’ that we have every day - but we frequently relinquish that and fall into the trap of firefighting and just going with the ebb and flow of life. Take back control!

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Richard Jenkins Psychologist & spokesperson for CABA

RJ:

No matter the size of an organisation, mental health support and wellbeing need to be acknowledged and should still bra a key consideration for their workforce. No one is exempt from poor mental health, whether that’s a CEO of a multi-national corporation, or a junior member of a small start-up. The scale of the support on offer will vary across different sized practices, but ultimately, the clear line of non-judgemental and safe communication needs to exist, whether there are 3 accountants employed, or 300.

SJ:

Small businesses have a great opportunity to include staff in the strategy and work together on forming a plan.

@Accountex

Zoe Lacey-Cooper, Event Director, Accountex Portfolio Zoe has worked in the media/ events sector for more than 20 years. She’s no stranger to success. Her shows have won awards for best launch, plus nominations for best brand extension, best trade show and rising star. Zoe took over Accountex five years ago. During that time, the number of visitors attending the annual accountancy expo at ExCeL London has doubled to 9,000. An active promoter of diversity in the profession, Zoe is a judge for the Women in Accountancy and Finance Awards, and has been voted a “woman in accounting influencer”.

Sarah Jones Founder & Director Sarah-J Coaching If your employees are not healthy, happy or appreciated - you will lose productivity and results in your business as your teams shut down. Health & wellbeing is like the foundation of a house – it needs to be supported and I would argue it is a priority for every business, no matter how big or small. The FSB tells us that the annual bill for sickness is 25 billion in small businesses and we have 60% of employees in the UK employed by small businesses – that is a significant percentage. There are many programmes that exist and you can adopt – so it’s not a one size fits all – work together to co create the programmes you can adopt into your organisation to have productive, loyal and supportive colleagues. Key areas can include physical health,

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

Talking Point - Mental Health diversity, inclusion, mental health, social connection and sustainability contribution but each company can devise its own strategy, involving employees. There is a duty of care here for organisations.

ZL:

How can small accounting practices help to foster a positive approach to mental health?

SC:

Be open and talk about it before it is an issue. If there is a history of mental health issues ask them before there is a crisis what they would like you to do if an issue occurs. That approach is also very useful for staff with epilepsy, asthma and diabetes. Have a group discussion or during one to one conversations ask about how stress feels to them. Some people go quiet, some are vocal under pressure. Consider as a group what you can do to support each other. Sometimes its easier to talk about stress than to label it mental health and it starts a conversation around triggers and workplace work arounds which tend to work in both scenarios. As a leader If you have lived experience of mental health and feel you can share it, then do so. Its hard for an employer to embrace change for their staff when they are struggling themselves. Mental health is only one part of the wellbeing landscape, embracing the other areas such as creativity, creating community, getting better sleep, understanding our group and individual goals all help to provide a collective support framework. As leaders we need to listen, not to respond but to understand. Accept that you are there to help a solution but do not feel the need to become a mental health professional or to find a solution for them. It is their journey and you can signpost and encourage. Do not under estimate the power of being in someones corner.

SJ:

By being open about it and making it clear that this is a priority for the company.

Have a clear strategy and plan across different facets – health, fitness, mental health, environment, diversity and inclusion, community, wellbeing. I think be open about it and introduce programmes that walk the walk such as mental first aid.

have given permission to discuss it. It’s not about interfering with employees’ personal lives but more about giving them what they want, which is access to services and tools to help them look after themselves.

ZL:

NE:

SC:

As an employer should we be keeping an eye on our employees burning out?

Sometimes, just sometimes - you never see it coming. That’s important to know. I never saw it coming when I had my ‘meltdown’ - it just happened. I now know why people reach that stage - they do not schedule recovery. They will fill up their diary with all of their work stuff - then the rest of their diary with everyone else. But where do you figure in your own life? If you do not schedule recovery - the things that you love - that life, recharge and energise you - YOU WILL STOP. Some tells can be excessive tiredness, lack of attention, high anger/aggression - basically erratic or irrational responses to situations or events. But as I say - we mask ourselves - so not even we see it coming sometimes.

RJ:

Every member within an organisation should be mindful of burnout, as multiple studies have shown a considerable number of us feel mounting stress from demanding workloads, and the more stressed we feel, the lower our productivity and overall wellbeing. Lack of productivity is a huge barrier for employers, therefore spotting the signs of burnout, and being mindful when adding to people’s workloads or unreasonable deadlines, will go a long way in ensuring the positive mental wellbeing of colleagues.

SJ:

I think promoting a culture of mental first aid is key as this makes the topic less taboo. Watch your teams typical style and identify any changes in behaviour- are they late, sick, injured, irritable, overworked? what changes or behaviours do you notice? And then making sure you

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How can you spot the signs of someone struggling with mental health?

It’s different for everyone, the important thing is to note changes in how people are. They may lose interest in how they look so there could be visual clues. They may argue more or not speak up at all. If this is different to normal, it could be a sign. Interestingly this includes flamboyant behaviour or extreme expenditure which could be a way of masking issues or not facing a situation. With mental health can come addictive behaviours from drugs and alcohol to gambling.

RJ:

There isn’t a definitive checklist of signs to spot mental health issues in people, as all symptoms will differ depending on the person. Changes to a person’s usual habits, however, may be a more obvious sign. If someone is usually on time has begun arriving later than usual and tired, or if an employee’s work isn’t up to standard or if they’re missing deadlines, these could all be red flags. It is important to be as sensitive as possible when handling these situations, and to not come across as accusatory.

ZL:

How much of being a great manager or leader is down to mindset?

SC:

It is all down to mindset. Yes, you can learn some techniques or approaches to leadership but you have to want to see your team grow, to stretch their abilities and encourage them to learn new things. If you have done it well, they may start to excel in areas which were your speciality. Having a growth mindset will allow you to keep pushing yourself and get out of the way of your teams progression. >

Issue 22 / 79

Talking Point - Mental Health

RJ:

A strong and positive mindset are of course great assets for leaders and managers, but to really excel, there are more factors to consider. Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills, adaptability, responsibility and communication are just some of the assets a leader needs to exude. Leadership is much more strategic, and very much future-focused. Effective leadership skills empower you to build trust with, influence and motivate people to achieve goals.

SJ:

The concept of having a fixed (closed) mindset or open mindset is a key to success. Without an open or growth mindset we can take a one size fits all approach to life and shut down the possibility of solutions that we, or our team, may not have thought of. Our roles are different today – we are working often across several generations in our employees, with part-time arrangements, cultural aspects with working across borders or different backgrounds and a great manager will adapt and flex his or her style accordingly according to team and business requirements. Years ago – when we were in more of industrial age rather than service age – maybe a more top down approach worked, but not anymore. You can see some of this appear in comments that exemployees add on Glassdoor and other sites, and I cannot tell you how many Masterminds I attend where finding and retaining good staff is a challenge. We are in a service industry and when I meet accountants and financial experts it seems the ones that succeed have an open mindset and a commitment to providing a more rounded (above compliance) service to customers, putting themselves into the customer’s challenge and offering a flexible approach to working. Many leaders need to influence and act to support future transformations in their organisation, their own development and that of their team

80 / Issue 22

so it’s critical. Your team need to see you can listen, appreciate and adapt your approach rather than sticking to methods that are outdated and not bringing results. The ability to be inclusive and react to change means this mindset is a key success factor. Listening, asking questions, opening debates and listening to feedback always ranks highly on effective leadership traits, we don’t always need to know the answers ourselves as leaders!

ZL:

Are there any good resources that small business owners can tap into to help their employees that are struggling with mental health or at least help to point their employees in the right direction?

NE:

It’s important to say this; the reason why we are afraid of people that may open up to us about Mental Health and their challenges is because we inherently feel the need to fix people. It’s a human trait. However, as employers, they are not coming to us to be fixed. Essentially in life - people just want to be heard and they want to be understood - and if you can do that - they will feel empowered to find their own way forward. So our only responsibility is to ‘actively signpost’ - get very good at knowing where to send people. Whether it be through a Mental Health First Aider, Employee Assistance Program or an organisation such as Time To Change, Mind or Mental Health UK - all you have to do is listen - properly listen then suggest a way forward to a professional or organisation.

SC:

It is time to talk day on 6th Feb so take a look at their website for ideas on getting the conversation started. www. time-to-change.org.uk Also www.mind.org.uk ACAS can help with what to do as an employer - they have a mental health section on their website: www.acas.org.uk There are a lot of smaller charities local mental health charities around

the UK who offer support services – google what is available in your area. Such as Off The Record: otrbristol.org.uk Papyrus trust - papyrus-uk.org We have Bristol resources here: discoveryourbounce.com/ socialpassionproject Join an employee assistance programme. They are available from as little as £1 per employee per month. This would allow them access to help. There is also training for managers for mental health awareness. dpt.nhs.uk/mindful-employer You could put up a list of useful apps in prominent place: - Stay Alive helps people with suicidal thoughts - Calm and Rain Rain for getting better sleep - Insight timer for mindfulness There are blogs and resources you can share with positive messages: - discoveryourbounce.com/blogs - actionforhappiness.org Online wellbeing tool kit: discoveryourbounce.com/ forbusiness/mywellbeing/ Giving back... Why not adopt and support a local mental health charity with a sponsored event and ask them to speak in your office. Even if there is only a couple of staff you could arrange to have a chat about their services and do a fun run for them. It opens the conversation and gives a sense of human connection to a potential solution should they or a family member need it. It also provides an opportunity to reach out to your clients - 1 in 4 of them will totally appreciate you are doing this as it directly impacts them too - a nd you may find they become closer to you because you are embracing mental health.

ZL:

How can a show like Accountex help small business with issues surrounding mental health/wellbeing?

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

Talking Point - Mental Health

NE:

When I first spoke at Accountex 2019 - I was the only Speaker on the line-up talking about Mental Health & Wellbeing. My talk was absolutely rammed! So much engagement & interaction. I think it showed us just how much the Accountancy industry is crying out for more awareness, insights and solutions in this field. People were coming up to me to open up for the first time ever about their own challenges - I made so many friends, partnerships and new clients that day. I was then booked to speak at Accountex Summit North in Manchester 2019 - and again, the response was phenomenal - standing room only again. Accountex can truly lead the way in the industry & I’m excited to be partnering with them again into 2020.

SC:

Have a debate and get the conversation started. Its hard being selfemployed and its lonely. Put it front and centre on your stage. Use your platform to

promote positive mental health outcomes such as community problem sharing. In April 2019 my business carried out public Hackathon for mental health in Bristol. It was fast paced and involved groups answering questions and recording their findings. We discussed issues, resources, what everyone can do to help themselves and others. We created a report and issued it as part of our Social Passion Project. www.discoveryourbounce.com/ socialpassionproject If a Hackathon sounds a bit too sexy, why not carry out a survey? Find out what people in our sector are concerned about. What barriers are they experiencing? What would be helpful to them? If nothing else this could let people see they are not alone.

SJ:

Shows like Accountex are pivotal in placing issues such as mental health higher on the agenda. Providing an open platform for discussion will only help to

create an inclusive environment equipped to support everyone. This will particularly help to provide small businesses with tools and providers that can help them fundamentally shape policies and programmes.

FIND OUT MORE... Accountex is Europe’s No. 1 Accountancy & Finance Expo. Find out more and register for a free ticket (quoting priority code XU101) at: > accountex.co.uk/london

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Issue 22 / 81

Industry Focus: Property

How property management meets technological innovations The future of real estate in the next five years

@ArthurProperty

Patrick Caulfield ACA, Associate Director, Arthur Online After graduating from Durham University with a Masters in Economics, Patrick joined EY (London) where he became a chartered accountant. He then spent 3 years in M&A and investment banking with Citi Group and an early stage VC. Patrick now works at Arthur Online where he manages everything finance and investor related, from fundraising to shaping and rolling out Arthur Onlineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ambitious growth plans.

PropTech is a welcome opportunity for an industry that has been plagued by inefficient processes which are both time consuming and costly.

echnology has been a major influence across all sectors over the past 10 years.

level of transparency is achieved, resulting in higher levels of trust and efficiency.

The Real Estate and property sector has been no exception, albeit at a slower pace. This has presented a massive opportunity for PropTech Entrepreneurs, driven not only by the vast size of the market and the lack of technology available, but by industry practices being plagued by inefficient processes which are not only a headache, but are both time consuming and costly.

2) Clearer communication

PropTech has been shaping the Real Estate and property sector for several years with no sign of abating, but what are the real benefits?

Many PropTech companies focus on setting up messaging services in order to improve communication between landlords and tenants. A lot of platforms provide access to documents or forms for claim reporting. Therefore, Property Managers can carry out their work effectively, whilst the owners can respond directly to tenantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; requests. As a result, less misunderstandings occur and there is a significant increase in response rates. 3) Automation

1) Greater transparency New technologies such as big data, or blockchain in particular, improve transparency. Various PropTech tools aid users in simply tracking their property transactions at the touch of a button. Since all parties involved have full visibility of each transaction, a greater 82 / Issue 22

PropTech can automate administrative duties such as the processing of extensive paperwork, leaving those in the industry more time to concentrate on providing excellent service and other customer centric activities. Reminders including rent due dates, viewings and check ins and

checkouts can be automated which reduces the margin for human error. Another great benefit is dealing with legal paperwork; the software can constantly update your documentation to ensure you have the correct legal contracts and notices, etc. on file. It also helps the property managers remain fully within the parameters of the law by ensuring that nothing is ever overlooked. As a certificateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expiry date approaches, the systems can automatically contact contractors or managers to inform them. 4) Voice activated property search The latest advancement in PropTech is the introduction of voice activated property search. The idea is that search engines such as Google and Amazon, triggered by voice activated instructions, could help you find individuals find their next home. New products like Amazon Echo Show, which is a screen-based device that works via voice activation and user data preferences, could show properties based on your preferences directly

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

Industry Focus: Property

by voice command. How will the sector evolve over the next five years in terms of technology?

housing search apps, where users are alerted when passing by an available property, as opposed to wasting time wandering their favourite streets in search of ‘for sale’ or ‘to let’ signs.

1) Blockchain 3) Big Data Whilst still in its infancy, blockchain is currently having its golden moment. Out of all the emerging technologies, blockchain is the most likely to transform the real estate industry by revolutionizing the way in which transactions are made. Blockchain is a shared, distributed, and unalterable ledger for recording any type of transaction. The technology eliminates all risk of fraud and counterfeiting, thereby instilling trust among all parties involved. Thus, blockchain can replace an intermediary in any situation where a trusted third party is necessary. Blockchain will add liquidity to the real estate market and allow real estate transactions to be carried out in a less complex and much safer system.

Big Data is enabling the real estate sector to better understand the trends, needs and interests of the end user. This allows them to adapt to unique profiles more effectively and make better decisions. This refinement means that sellers are targeting the right buyers. Companies are also using the power of big data to make strategic business decisions and adapt their business models accordingly. Via better understanding of the users’ needs and by having a much clearer picture of the market, businesses are provided with greater flexibility to adapt directly to their customers’ needs. Additionally, estate agents, investors, and buyers can make smarter investments by using data analysis to accurately predict market trends and risk.

2) Geolocation 4) Crowdfunding Geolocation technology is highly relevant to the real estate sector. Geolocation provides the location of a device to other users and associates your location to real world locations such as shops, restaurants and events. Geolocation enables the potential for companies to assess the value of various locations based on user behaviour. Within the real estate sector, companies can better analyse the location and sell the properties in a more personalized way. In addition, geolocation allows for a major improvement when it comes to the user experience. Companies have begun to use geolocation in

Finally, crowdfunding is one of the leading trends in PropTech, it allows anyone to invest in property companies via an easy to use, online platform. Crowdfunding opens a market that would otherwise be inaccessible to many.

property professionals who were seeking a solution to the various operational and reconciliation pain points they were facing. Arthur Online’s software automates and centralises lease administration and accounting of property portfolios on a single platform. Via Arthur Online’s mobile apps, landlords and managing agents have access to live and accurate insights directly on their smartphone. The Arthur Online system is seamlessly integrated with Xero, an award-winning online accounting tool. The founders of Arthur Online designed the software with the primary goal of making it as user friendly and ready to use as possible. Traditionally, B2B software is less user-friendly than B2C software. By taking inspiration from intuitive apps that are used by individuals on a daily basis, they were able to develop a software that was easy to use and accessible to all. In conclusion, technology was once perceived as a disruptor, but is fast becoming the norm, a trend which is showing no signs of slowing down. The sooner property businesses adopt technology to improve their processes, the sooner they will start seeing a significant return on their investment both financially and from time saved.

Leading PropTech companies that can help you transform your business One of the most popular PropTech companies that is making waves within the property industry is Arthur Online. Arthur Online was born, designed and developed by

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Issue 22 / 83

Case Study

Spend control for a hospitality business In this case study, you’ll learn how Haines Watts – one of the UK’s top 12 accounting firms – helped its hospitality business client to implement financial controls over its procurement operations and significantly improve spending by making their purchasing and approval process mobile.

ospitality is one of the most dynamic and quickly growing industries for accountants to serve and the use of technology is key in transforming these established business models. Regardless of a client’s size and specialisation, one of the vital priorities for businesses in the hospitality sector are transparency, traceability and overall spend control within their procurement operations. The challenge The Haines Watts’ client – a large regional hotel – numerous procurement requests get initiated by various operations personnel within the hotel. The hotel operates 24/7, people work in shifts and are away from their desks, stations and computers

About Haines Watts Haines Watts is one of the largest accounting firms in the UK, and now one of the top 12 in the country. It has 60 offices around the UK from the South East to the West and Scotland. Each office is owner managed, so a partner owns the business. Its client base is very diverse, including A-listed clients. They come from all walks of life and all industries, ranging in size from really small ones to those with a 10 to 20 million pound turnaround.

84 / Issue 22

most of the time. Historically this used to cause major problems in terms of authorisation, delays to goods arriving and coordinating procurement decisions. Haines Watts: “With this type of business it is impossible for the finance team, who are located in an office, to go and ask, let’s say the chefs in their kitchen or the housekeeping staff, about the purchase orders and approvalrelated information.” Purchase orders and bills were being processed using a combination of manual approvals and emails. Paper clutter, lack of transparency and the inability to trace back approval decisions – those were the significant drawbacks of this former process. Haines Watts: “There was not enough control in place. Everyone could basically order what they wanted for no reason. At the same time, we could not just halt operations while collecting approvals. So, we needed a solution that puts spending under control and keeps the business running at a pace.” To gain the necessary oversight of all procurement operations and implement a straightforward, quick, transparent approach for handling them, we decided to implement an automated purchase order and invoice processing – called “Bill

@ApprovalMax

Helmut Heptner, Director of Operations, ApprovalMax Helmut masters not only theoretical knowledge about effective organisations, but has helped many businesses to transform their daily operations and make them more efficient.

automation” by Xero. Bill automation as key for spend control The automation of our purchase order approval process was essential for introducing efficient spend control, and we could not have done it without ApprovalMax. Today, every purchase order goes through ApprovalMax. Both their creation and approval can be done either on the go using the mobile app, or via the web interface. Firstly, purchase orders are created outside of Xero. This protects financial data from unauthorised access and also enables us to define certain rules for specific purchase order requesters to limit them regarding the suppliers they can use and items they can order. These additional controls to what Xero has in place have been very beneficial. Purchase orders are then run through a business-defined authorisation process, making sure that purchases of a certain size or type get authorised by budget holders. All approvals can be done on mobile devices, helping budget holders to review and approve (or reject) on the fly, making the whole process much faster and a lot more efficient than before. After having been authorised

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Case Study properly, purchase orders are synched to Xero for further processing. This includes emailing purchase orders to the supplier and making them available for the “Bill to purchase order” matching at a later stage. Haines Watts: “ApprovalMax allows us to embed the approval process into a system, gather all approval-related information and route purchasing documents to all required authorisation levels. It implements the necessary layer of control; and makes the process efficient, standardised and therefore audit-ready. “ Bill to purchase order matching ApprovalMax provides the capability for matching supplier invoices (or bills) and the respective purchase orders, which have been created and approved in ApprovalMax beforehand. Two scenarios for “Bill to purchase order” matching are supported: we can match either multiple bills to a single purchase order, or one bill to

multiple purchase orders. During this procedure, proper checks and validations take place. Once a bill has been matched with the correct purchase order(s) and the coding has been reviewed and validated, the bill authorisation process as set up by the finance manager will start. All fully approved bills are then synched to Xero.

guide for hospitality advisory and contains recommendations and app solutions for each of the hospitality focus areas. Among a number of other apps required for the delivery of accounting and advisory services, ApprovalMax features there as a bill automation app which addresses complex multi-level approval workflow automation.

Hospitality App Playbook by Xero The Xero Hospitality App Playbook is a reference book on using Xero and choosing the right integrated apps for customers in the hospitality sector. It is a

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Issue 22 / 85

Aspirin for Small Business Pain in business is everywhere, from friction points, to being time poor. Pain happens when your needs aren’t being met and small businesses experience more than their fair share.

ith 20 years’ experience in financial services, I understand the amount of resources it takes to develop solutions, resources that a small business does not usually have access to. However, what small businesses lack in resources and economies of scale, they make up for in agility and therefore can slay

to trawl data, the growth in cloud apps means small businesses can tap into technological advances more quickly than their larger counterparts. They are not bogged down by laborious vendor sourcing processes. The marriage between small business and cloud apps unlocks a competitive advantage for small businesses over larger companies (50+ staff ). Helping small business thrive is the key to economic growth and competition that, in turn, drives innovation for better customer solutions. ...Nothing motivates me more than helping small businesses alleviate pain and drive the economy to grow faster than ever before! Manual Analysis Paralysis

pain faster and more effectively. For example, in the performance uplift journey, while they cannot afford a dedicated analytics team

FIND OUT MORE... Start feeling connected to your finances, try Zivora for free: > zivora.co 86 / Issue 22

One of the biggest pain points, from my own experience and in speaking with small business owners, is how time consuming it is to analyse business financials with the intention to speed up debtor collection and grow the customer base. Traditionally accountants’ acumen lies in tax and financial reporting, so they are not necessarily across product economics or the customer/ supplier ecosystem.

@ZivoraApp

Wayne Zwar, Co-founder, Zivora Wayne has more than 15 years senior leadership experience within the financial sector, centred on product, payments and distribution solutions, as well as data insights. He has co-founded Simplio.co which designs bespoke customercentric data solutions and consults to key Australian financial institutions. With cofounder Prasanna Nagar, he has now set up Zivora.co to bring his know-how of data, insights and engagement solutions to the accounting space.

Zivora – Making pain redundant So my business partner and I created an application to analyse our own business growth opportunities and provide financial insight alerts to help us give the greatest value to our employees, customers, suppliers and the tax department. Everybody happy = healthy bank balances and cashflow all round! The natural progression was not only to make this application available to other small businesses, but also to encourage bookkeepers and accountants to introduce it to their clients. This allows bookkeepers and accountants to change gear by automating what they do and allowing them to provide a higher order virtual CFO/COO/CMO capability to their clients. The key was to make it fun and tactile at any time outside the traditional contacts (email, face to face, phone) — so we socialised accounting by creating beautiful actionable growth insights that accountants and clients could interact with anytime, anywhere. Lay your pain points down on me aka Zivora.co and let’s slay them one by one!

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Issue 22 / 87

XPM - Part 1 of 2

Common KPIs for the Timesheeting Firm and how to Track them in Xero Practice Manager

@Xero

Naomi McDonald, Xero Lead Practice Consultant, Xero Naomi spent more than 8 years in practice driving efficiency through technological change. At Xero, Naomi leads its implementation team for Xero Practice Manager, and assists partners to streamline their processes and systems.

A two-part article by Naomi McDonald Part One of Two

or timesheeting firms, the most common or standard KPIs are often known, but not fully understood or tracked with any consistency. Many firms know they “should” track the productivity and recoverability of their firm or staff, but don’t understand the role it plays in understanding the actual profitability of various jobs or clients. In this article, I’ll explain how we define some common KPIs in Xero Practice Manager (XPM), and how to make sure the figures are accurate and meaningful.

Below: Control how WIP is calculated using a charge-out rate for the staff member or a chargeout rate for the task - on the Practice Settings page.

The KPIs I’ll cover in this article are defined as follows: • Productivity is the percentage of a worker’s available time or capacity, which was spent on billable work (time posted as billable divided by actual capacity). Use the Productivity Dashboard on the All Reports page to monitor this KPI. Be wary

of monitoring Productivity as the sole KPI for managing staff performance! Your staff will stack their timesheets with billable time that will probably not all be recoverable. • Recoverability is the comparison of the invoiced value of billable time (“Invoiced Amount” field in XPM Reports), to the calculated WIP ledger value of billable time (“Billable Amount”); this can be shown as a dollar value of the difference, which is the writeon/off, or it can be shown as a percentage: invoiced amount divided by billable amount. (When we invoice the exact WIP value, recoverability is 100% and the write-on is $0.) Use the #Staff Write-Ons by Job report on the Samples tab of the Report Builder, and adjust as necessary to show Recoverability by Job Manager, Recoverability by Job Category, Recoverability by Client

or Client Group, or Recoverability by Partner, as some examples of ways you can view this information. • Closing WIP balance is the WIP value of billable but unbilled time at the end of a period after invoicing has been done. Use the WIP Dashboard and the As At date combined with Filters to monitor this KPI. This third crucial KPI will be covered in detail in part two of this article. What is WIP? If you’re a timesheeting firm, you’ve most likely calculated some chargeout rates for your staff. XPM will use these rates (provided that your practice settings are configured in a particular way: see image below) and the amount of time entered to calculate an estimate of what you can bill. This is called Work in Progress or WIP value. In the truest sense, WIP is the value of unbilled time & costs that we are expecting to invoice in the future. When we have WIP which is then invoiced, we can compare the WIP value (for a job, or a staff member, or a business division) to the invoiced value, and the difference is the write-on or write-off. If you’re tracking write-ons and write-offs, the assumption is that it’s giving you an indication of the profitability of jobs or staff members or clients. If we have no write-offs in a period, we think

88 / Issue 22

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Issue 22 / 89

XPM - Part 1 of 2

Above: The Productivity Dashboard can be run for a future period to calculate billable targets per staff member.

that’s a good sign… but is it? The answer is it can be, but we need to make sure TWO important details are right, before we can confidently land on that conclusion. 1) Calculating Charge-out rates If you want to use write-ons and write-offs (also known as “recoverability”) as an indication of profitability, correctly calculating the charge-out rates of each staff member is crucial. To illustrate this concept: imagine a full time staff member who is paid $100K per year, whose charge-out rate is $50/hour. Even if we recover all of the WIP of this staff member, we wouldn’t be receiving enough income to pay the staff member’s salary, let alone cover overheads or any profit. We need to make sure that the calculated WIP value means we can pay the staff member, pay our overheads, and make some profit! There are many models used to calculate charge-out rates. One common model uses a three-times multiplier of the staff cost, to arrive at the charge-out rate for each staff member. Whatever model you use, it’s wise to make sure that your predicted revenue based on capacity can adequately cover your overheads and provide some profit - I don’t need to lecture accountants on the importance of a budget forecast for your business. The Productivity Dashboard in XPM can be a useful tool when preparing

90 / Issue 22

your budget forecast. After you’ve entered your staff charge-out rates and configured the Capacity Settings page, you can enter any date range (including future periods - which can take into account approved scheduled leave), and use the third column to predict the dollar value of potential revenue from each staff member, taking into account their productivity target that you have set on the Capacity Settings page. 2) Stop Carrying Forward Time! Now that we have our WIP calculating correctly, we know what we need to be invoicing in order to cover our staff costs and overheads in our budget. But for many firms, we look at the WIP figure for a client and we suspect the client will not be willing to pay that amount for the services they’ve received! So, we pull some of the timesheets onto our invoice, that roughly equate to the value we think we can charge, and we carry forward the rest. If your invoicing process includes carrying forward some of the time posted, with the hope that we might recover it down the track, this means your writeon/off figure does not indicate profitability. It can be very difficult for the firm Partners to write off WIP, because they generally have already paid

the staff member for that time, and they’re hanging on to a whisper of hope that the dollars may be recovered in future. If this is you, consider a few key ideas: • Shifting to Value Pricing - The shift from time-based billing in arrears, to value-based pricing, means that when you write off WIP, you will have the information at hand next year to offer a more appropriate price. You’ll also be creating an efficiency driver in your firm: If the fee is fixed, and staff are rewarded for reducing the time spent on the job, they’ll seek out ways to become more efficient, and individual jobs will become more profitable. In the time based billing model, only the client wins when the firm becomes more efficient. • Information is Not Lost - You’re never losing the information about what time was spent, when you write off WIP. In fact, quite the opposite: we’re gaining information via our KPIs, which can help us make important business decisions! Which of your clients are not worth your efforts? Which service lines are not profitable? Which staff members are not working as efficiently as they could? And the opposite of those statements - which service lines should you put your energy into? Which staff members could be rewarded? Your recoverability

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Issue 22 / 91

XPM - Part 1 of 2 reports will give you this information, if you have the right invoicing procedure in place. In XPM, this means: do not click into individual tasks and select “Future” on certain timesheets, unless that time is part of a separate piece of work that you’re expecting to invoice soon. In that case, move the time to a job set up for that

92 / Issue 22

particular piece of work. If you can’t actually bill some of the time spent on this piece of work, write it off. XPM helps you make this shift, because it’s actually impossible to carry forward a portion of a timesheet. The third and crucial part of the complete picture is your closing WIP balance. We’ll explore why it’s

so crucial, how to split your WIP into meaningful segments, and how to monitor their closing balance, in Part Two of this article.

Below: This report shows us our write-ons and write-offs for any client group, for all work invoiced in the last 12 months.

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Issue 22 / 93

Online buying is the norm in personal life. Businesses are next! A

nswer honestly, when was the last time you visited a physical store to make a purchase? When there’s an item you have to buy, do you get in your car and drive yourself over to the nearest shopping complex? Or do you get your phone or laptop out and search through the major online retailers to find the best deal, without having to go anywhere? I think I speak for many of us when I say it’s usually the latter. But does your answer change if I position this question around how B2B businesses make purchases? Buying online has swiftly become the norm in our everyday lives and although many B2B organisations usually deter their staff from buying online, the risks of doing so are becoming harder to justify. Whether its lack of spending visibility, approvals or simply not having that customer/supplier relationship many businesses have become accustomed to, accounting teams don’t enjoy having to navigate the disjointed steps between online buying and their AP process. For accountants, the two simply work well together and it’s not worth the product range and pricing deals you can find online compared to current suppliers. However, this seems to be changing. In a recent report by Forrester, they predicted that by 2023 online buying within B2B organisations will account for 17% of all B2B sales. It may not seem like a revolution in how businesses are buying, but in contrast to how 94 / Issue 22

non-existent online buying is in most businesses, it’s a pretty significant jump. This trend can be accounted for the growth in of a fast-growing accounting process… Buy to Pay.

@compleatp2p

James Vear, General Manager APAC, Compleat Software James joined Compleat’s UK division in 2017 with experience in financial and payment software, having previously worked at Xero Australia and PS Financials. He now heads up Compleat’s APAC division in Melbourne, Australia.

much, well after the bill has arrived on your desk.

No supplier/customer relationship For many B2B organisations, a big advantage of dealing directly with a supplier is the opportunity to Sometimes confused with Purchase build a relationship with them. This relationship can be beneficial for to Pay, Buy to Pay also covers activities of requesting, purchasing, both parties, but for you as a buyer it can be a route receiving, paying for and to negotiating accounting for goods better service, and services. The By 2023 online prices and major difference delivery time. is that a true Buy buying within B2B But even with a to Pay solution organisations will good supplier should allow relationship, you to make account for 17% of these perks are your purchases all B2B sales. not always a given through online and you may have retailers without to source multiple stepping out of your suppliers for different items. ordering, approval and Buying online can offer a wider invoicing processing. range of products and better savings, without having to spend Let me explain by addressing time shopping around. some of the key concerns that accountants have with their Multiple invoices from various organisations buying online. suppliers for one order One advantage of some online Disconnect between online marketplaces is that they can purchase and AP process enable their customers to purchase The beauty of a true Buy to Pay solution is that everything captured multiple supplier items in one transaction. It cuts out hours of and processed in one place – I’m shopping around, but I know the talking all the way through product thought of how an accountant can codes, PO numbers and header/ match multiple supplier invoices line-level data! It’s this act of against one purchase order is a capturing the data that then allows daunting one. But with every step a solution like ours to present of the buying process happening in spend data into a real-time view of your Buy to Pay system, purchase the whole purchasing process. No orders are automatically matched longer will you have to keep tabs with incoming invoices, even if on who has a corporate credit card, there are multiple supplier invoices what they can spend it on and how

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

to one PO coming at different times. No visibility over maverick spending or approvals One of the biggest concerns with online buying is accountability. For example, if corporate credits are given to heads of departments, how can you track who has spent what in their teams? Furthermore, how would you know who it was approved by; if at all. A Buy to Pay process allows accountability for every stage of the purchasing process, with audit trails and approval workflows to make sure maverick spending is curbed and that no spending can take place outside of the approved process. After understanding how Buy to Pay addresses the major concerns many accountants have with online buying, there really is no excuse for businesses to continue avoiding it. By excluding online buying from your organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buying process, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re missing out on the wide range of product choice and price savings that you benefit from when making personal purchases

online. A Buy to Pay solution encompasses all your accounts payable requirements, whilst seamlessly integrating with your Xero accounting software to cover every step of an online purchase. So, the next time you find yourself looking to make a purchase online, ask yourself: what other excuse is

there to not be buying online in my organisation?

FIND OUT MORE... to learn more about a Buy to Pay solution, visit: > icompleat.com

Introducing the all-new

Hub From the creators of XU Magazine xumagazine.com Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

Issue 22 / 95

From Xerocon Cover Story London 2019

f you could change one small thing in your life? In your business? What would that be? How about one BIG thing in your life? Business? And yet there’s a reason you don’t make those changes. Why? Can I take a guess? I think it’s probably because you are scared of the consequences of any decisions should it not go your way. So you would prefer to stay where you are, because its comfortable/ secure/familiar.

doesn’t change, it doesn’t grow, yet somehow over time the pain it creates does. they just get more and more painful over time. Not making change, not dealing with problems is the same. Change is never easy. Even more so when decisions are sometimes made on your behalf. Brexit. Like any divorce. Initially. It’s all tears. Worst day ever. “I’ll never find happiness again.” A few later years... Woohoo – Thank God I left that idiot. Now What?

Xero fans, will know me from my opening keynote day 2 at Xerocon London 2019. I’m Brad Burton, The UK’s #1 Motivational Business Speaker. Well I am now. I used to be Brad Burton, the long-term jobseeker on benefits for four years. So, what changed? I did. Pebbles in shoes don’t magic their way out, the size of the pebble 96 / Issue 22

But in order to move on, you have to move on. Please answer this question, before reading on. Do you consider yourself an expert in your field? See here’s something I teach and 100% believe to be true, that changed the way I approach decisions, approach change.

Making it a whole lot easier. An expert is someone who has made all the mistakes in a particular niche field. If you want to be considered the expert you need to make all the mistakes within your field, in order to make them, you have to make more decisions. Also, a mistake is only a mistake after the event, up until that point it’s the correct decision, no one including me wakes up and says “You know what, I think I’m gonna go mess up today!” The reason we don’t make change, resist decisions, is we’re scared they are the wrong ones. But think about it this way- make a decision, if it’s the wrong one, it moves you one step towards being an expert. If you get it right, one step towards success. You really can’t lose. I can also tell you this – any seemingly insurmountable problem you currently face will one day no longer be as big as it feels right now. That’s not to say it isn’t difficult to deal with, but

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

From Xerocon London 2019 uncomfortable change in fact allows each of us to grow. In 2004, I told my employer to shove his job up his arse. No money. £25,000 in personal debt, I started my first business, delivering Pizza at weekend to keep it afloat. I had no real idea of what I was going to do or how I was going to do it. Just knew it was time for change, and that I’d come to the end of the line of someone else being in control of my life, my destination, my destiny.

Would I have ended up starting my own business, writing books, speaking, if I was still the same guy I was in my 20s? Of course not. So your ingredients are your ingredients, but your recipe that can be changed and tweaked at any time. Are you ready to have your mind blown? Every single decision you have ever made in your life has brought you to this point, to be reading THIS article. I’ve written this specifically for you.

Those close to me told me I was making a crazy decision... End of days. Massive uncertainty. I didn’t starve to death. At times it’s been tough. There’s been eleven really hard times since then and each time I’ve questioned whether I’ve made the right decision. But I kept going. Now - I really looked forward to going to Disney with my kids in the summer. The house I live in has 3 more bedrooms than the one I used to live in. I have on occasion made more money in one hour than it used to take me 6 weeks to earn. And those people that in 2004 that said, “You’re crazy walking out of your job” are still in the same place. Their job. I’ll bet they would swap positions with me. My daft idea is no longer considered daft. Now. Significant change is always an uncomfortable opportunity. Whether you see it like that will determine whether you benefit from the change. Life, business, change has a way of sorting itself out.

Are you up for the change? As in really? If not, accept that you have just made the decision. The decision to stay as you are. Make better decisions. Faster. So those big and small changes you face, require decisions.

“Significant change is always an uncomfortable opportunity.”

At Xerocon I shared with the audience my 24 secs 24 mins 24 hours model I created and which I use in order to help me make better decisions. Faster.

You can change yours too. You got about 23 seconds to go before you make that decision…. Your success or failure depends on it.

I make a decision in 24s, if I can’t make it within that time I revisit it in 24m if after that I can’t. I’ll come back in 24h if after that point, I can’t make a decision. I just made a decision. Its not important. Next.

Rock and Roll accountants anybody, Xero, CHANGED THE GAME. I’ll see you at Xerocon London 2020!

Everything in life - the decisions are down to you.

FIND OUT MORE...

You have a choice to make now, a change to action. If you want to make change to your life, business, as in really make change, then make a decision

Brad Burton – The UK’s #1 Motivational Business Speaker. > www.BradBurton.biz

Approval management as a key component of bill automation in accounting outsourcing #XeroPlatinumChampionPartner

today. Where you end up on life, and your success depends on it.

#Advisory

Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

#SmallBusiness

Library of industry-leading case studies – now available!

Go to approvalmax.com/resources/case-studies

#BillAutomation

#Multi-Entity

#AU

Issue 22 / 97

Time and attendance tracking apps, which one is best for your business?

@eBillity

Joe Daee, V.P. Business Development, eBillity Joe Daee brings 20 years of experience in software and technology to the eBillity team. He joined in March 2017 with a goal to expand the company’s global partnerships and channels into foreign markets – which we can say he has successfully done – launching Time Tracker in Australia, the UK, and Europe.

Are you on the hunt for the best time tracking app for your team? You’re not alone. Time management is a huge priority for businesses of all sizes and industries. Companies are relying on technology to help streamline their processes and boost operational efficiency. In fact, a study by PTC found that 40% of executives are seeing huge benefits in operational efficiency from digital transformation and tech initiatives.

hen you are considering timesheet apps they need to be able to easily collect, track, and measure data. Data is an important piece of any business, whether you’re tracking data from customers and potential clients or measuring the internal functions of business and employees. Time tracking data and keeping an electronic record of employee hours is an important part of running a successful and profitable business. You probably didn’t get into business to constantly think about payroll and billing, but, federal and state laws require you to track employee hours closely. Therefore, it is worth finding a quality (but still affordable) time tracking app that reduces administration time and keeps your business compliant with employment laws and regulations. A lot of time tracking apps offer similar features, but not all features work the same. For example; when it comes to tracking time, does your team clock in, take breaks and clock out or do they complete a weekly timesheet? Do you manage a basic schedule or do you need more automation to manage continuous 98 / Issue 22

change? The only way to find out if a feature like “scheduling” is the right type of scheduling tool for your business is to “try before you buy”. Here are some additional points to consider when making your decision on which time and attendance tracking app is right for your business: Pricing In addition to a free trial look for apps that don’t ask for a credit card up front that way you won’t be charged for something you don’t want or haven’t made a decision on. It’s equally important to experiment and find out which time tracking app offers the features you need at an affordable price. Most will also provide annual discount pricing, so if you are looking to lower your cost you should definitely consider choosing this option. TIP: If your free trial gets away from you before you really have time to try it out, we recommend reaching out to the support team, chances are they will give you a one-off extension on your trial account.

Free Integrations The easier it is for employees and Human Resources to access time clock data; the more accurate payroll and reports will be. Many of the popular timekeeping apps integrate with payroll, expense and accounting software to sync important data such as; employees, clients, payroll items, timesheets etc. Also consider other integrations that help with efficiency and productivity, apps like; Zapier, Amazon Alexa and Google Home or connected apps that sync time like Google Calendar and Outlook/365. You never know what is around the corner so explore all your channels to avoid a costly or time consuming product switch in the future. Mobile Apps Mobile apps are a must when considering a timekeeping app, being able to track time from any location means all hours are accounted for. This will also help you run an accurate payroll and bill clients for every second worked. GPS tracking and geofencing are great features for managing a remote team; they allow you to

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

Disclaimer. This is a paid advertisement by eBillity. The comparison chart is information gained from online research and some details may have changed since the time of print.

see who is on the clock and where, whose on a break or offline – all in real-time. Whereas geofencing will allow you to set a predefined boundary around where the employee can clock time, think of it as an ‘out of bounds” management tool, if your employee is not inside the predefined circle then they cannot log time.

look to see what that means for your timezone, and the method of contact available. For example, does it include phone, live chat, email, webinars, private demos and an online help forum? You should seriously consider support when deciding on a time and attendance tracking app because we may love technology but some days technology doesn’t love us!

Support Our Recommendation? With so many apps on the market to choose from you get to be picky. Select apps with free unlimited lifetime support and one-on-one training. Be sure to take a closer

We’re not going to do all the heavy lifting for you! We’ve given you an overview of what to look out for and now it’s up to you to try and buy.

Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

Start some free trials and determine what app has the right features and benefits for your business and budget.

FIND OUT MORE... Get started on your journey today with Time Tracker by eBillity visit: > www.ebillity.com Use promo code ‘Accountex2020’ to receive an extended 30-day trial PLUS a 50% discount on annual billing for an entire year. Afterall time is money, and we want you to have more of both!

Issue 22 / 99

CHASE OVERDUE

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WORKFLOWS & TRACKING

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LATEST TECH

Customised task and template creation for your team and clients.

Add a super-smart browser extension to Xero so you can be even more efficient.

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

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5 ALERTS 5 ALERTS SINCE SINCE LAST LOGIN $11,220 $3,133 0.26 $11,220 $3,133 LAST LOGIN

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TOTAL BALANCE ON CREDIT CARDS

$12,680

XBERT P&L INCLUDING UNRECONCILED OUT OF CASH IN

INCOMING CASH

RECURRING MONTHLY SPEND

Outside of wages and salaries is

ACME Construction Industries Group

TASK

$49,420 ACME Construction Industries Group

TOTAL BALANCE IN BANK ACCOUNTS

49,420

Total owed $67,020

GST

LARGEST EXPENSE IN 90 DAYS

TRENDING

$240,390

$13,420

TRENDING

Current as of today

LARGEST INCOME

Geoff Baker the buisness owner

CHASE OVERDUE

99 DAYS

TRENDING

Julie assigned

UNRECONCILED AMOUNT

you are burning $1,917 per day

OF ALL BANK BALANCES - 25/05/17 XBERT TASK - RISK $16,500 XBERT TASK URGENT - RISK $16,500 TOTALTASK URGENT

Julie assigned

TRENDING

Your cash balance is $189,801 and

XBERTS & TASKS

Geoff Baker

$-5,800

VIEW DETAILS

TRENDING

2 Days ago

$189,801

21 March

3 MONTH CASH FORECAST

BOOKKEEPING 2 Days ago: $2,530 Today RISK : $2,530 BOOKKEEPING RISK

TOTAL BALANCE ON CREDIT CARDS

From Xero bank feeds on or after the

Microsoft (total for the last 90 days)

Today REPORTING RISK

TOTAL BALANCE IN BANK ACCOUNTS

TRENDING

OUT OF CASH IN

Julie Rogerson not assigned

not assigned Julie Rogerson

You have 15 in total. 5 assigned to you

TRENDING

VIEW DETAILS

Risk Angel is by Last viewed

Julie Rogerson not assigned

not assigned Julie Rogerson

VIEW DETAILS

WEEKLY BURN RATE

You have 15 in total. 5 assigned to you

Calulated by...

Data integrity means accurate reports and insights.

VIEW DETAILS

Calulated by...

$11,050 -$13,985 UNREC’D OUTGOING

UNRECONCILED PROFIT & LOSS YTD

$271,855

VIEW DETAILS

$49,300

$31,876

7+ 14+

If all were paid your cash balance would be

$168,700

30+

If this income landed your cash balance would be

$490,280

VIEW DETAILS

https://go.xero.com/Bank/ViewTransaction.aspx?bankTran You can also add the 1 browser extension that checks for XBerts while you work and Bill Raised with Supplier not Registered for GST “We’ve been able to free up 3 to allows you to create 5 hours a week across the team, enabling us to spend extra time on linked tasks from higher-value tasks while knowing inessIncorrect name forbusiness ABN Duplicate contact Bill Paid with Incorrect nameoffor ABN Bill Paid with Incorrect the quality our work is still at Duplicate contact Supplier Details Supplier Details anywhere in Xero. a high level. The extension XBert

contact. contact record and this contact record andupdate the details for thisupdate the details for this contact. Review any money due. chase any money due.

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2 Days ago

GST RISK : $171

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Geoff Baker

2 Days ago BOOKKEEPING RISK

RESOLVE DETAILS

Days ago GST RISK :3$171

Issues created on this entry

Create Task

Assigned to David

Due Oct 30

3 Days ago

A bill has been raised for $1500 with supplier ACME Industrial. It includes GST for $136.36 However, this business does not appear to be registered for GST.

Geoff Baker

made a comment

RESOLVE

created is also an amazing tool that allows us to easily identify an issue and create a task for another team member, all whilst working within Xero”

s ACMENumbers with You have a contact named The business ACMENumbers with You have a contact named Msmatch. Bev Williams which may be aWilliams duplicatewhich of may be a duplicate of 34517 does not Ms Bev ABN ofmatch. 73074134517 does not another contact, which is named another contact, which is named d. Review thisiscontact record. The ABN registered. Review this contact record. Ms Beth Williams. Ms Beth Williams.

Liam RESOLVE DETAILS

McNamara - Business DETAILS RESOLVE RESOLVE DETAILS Solutions Manager, Jaquillard Last by is Last viewedXBert by Minns Last viewed by is XBertviewed is Accountants Chartered &XBert Julie Rogerson assigned assigned Julienot Rogerson Julienot Rogerson not assigned Business Advisors 7

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DETAILS

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Related Tasks

Assigned to David

Due Oct 18

Expenses with a Cancelled Business Business Barry’s Plumbing has an ABN (90 344 000 689) that is cancelled or does not exist on the Australian Business Register. Amount due is $5367. You may need to withhold the tax

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Discuss our discounted onboarding program by registering your details at www.xbert.io/xumag Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

60+

DAYS OVERDUE

$9,800

Issue 22 / 101

Why moving your practice accounts to the cloud with an integrated solution will boost your bottom line Every practice partner will often task their teams with the objective to find efficiencies and reduce wastage in the practice. Their goal is to improve the productivity and profitability of the practice. Two of the biggest culprits within this process are data entry and reconciliations across disparate software.

anual data (re)entry is a routine activity with a corrosive effect on your efficiency. Can you confidently say you can increase your current capacity, reduce errors and increase your face time with your clients without a centralised data system or automated processes? Whether you are unlocking time to develop new services, attract new clients or looking to improve your cash flow, it’s an opportunity to look closely at your own practice accounting processes. Keeping the question, “Is my bookkeeping as productive as it could be with the right software?”, front of mind will reveal what is really hampering your efficiency. What is holding back your practice? Manual data entry, getting paid on time and too much time spent on producing practice accounts are common culprits where this question is concerned. What we regularly hear from practices is that time recording, billing and the sales ledger tasks are dealt within one product while the purchase ledger and bank 102 / Issue 22

reconciliation is held in a separate product. The management accounts will be produced in one of these systems (or perhaps even a third product). The status quo is this disparate way of dealing with your practice’s accounts. With this approach, the risk of error is high, due to the amount of data that must be manually entered and linked in disparate systems. What’s more, without a centralised data entry point that integrates data across the suite, there isn’t a single source of truth. One staff member might trust your tax software over the accounts data while another will consider the accounts data the primary source. Another key factor is the reconciliation of data between systems. For example, manually sending out debtor statements at the end of the month will add unnecessary delay to your practice receiving payment for the services you have provided. The reminders and chasers in the weeks that follow require your team to manually monitor the responses. Efficient use of resources and time, cash flow and accuracy are three non-negotiables in a practice. But

@wolterskluweruk

Phil Thornton, Lead Technology Product Manager for Digital, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting UK Phil is responsible for bringing our digitalisation strategy to market. Phil spends his time working with our customers to understand what becoming a digital practice means to them, what is happening in the market and to build solutions that will support our customers on this journey. Phil believes that digitalisation will bring about many opportunities for the industry.

they are so often undermined by inefficient, standalone systems with limited on-premise functionality. Digitalisation is here - the time to prepare is now We have seen many practices are reviewing processes which are ripe for automation. Adopting an integrated software suite which includes cloud accounting for your practice accounts will eliminate manual processing and enable your practice to manage processes by exception. What’s more, new disruptive firms are entering the market, using automated tools to complete more work in less time both in compliance processes and the back office, thereby reducing costs with the capacity to undercut traditional practices and remain profitable. Even if you are using sophisticated disconnected software to automate, siloed applications leave room for wasted productivity and will lack the real-time visibility across all areas which efficient practices need to operate today. An integrated suite can drive processes like data capture across

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

the solutions automatically, rather than you needing to update spreadsheets or standalone products. You will then be alerted to any abnormalities on invoices, duplicated invoices or incorrect bank feeds reducing the risk of these going unnoticed. Moving your practice accounts to the cloud The future of managing your own practice accounting processes is in the cloud. Moving to the cloud means streamlining and digitalising key processes to unlock dead billable time, as well as integration,

consolidation and access from any device. Working in the cloud ensures reliability, mobility and increased profitability. Cloud accounting automates key tasks and eliminates wasted time on installation and updates. Cloud accounting software is not reliant on the device or storage on that device. Data is instantaneously available from anywhere to both you and your clients with the right software. Moreover, it provides a higher level of security than onpremise with additional levels of

encryption. With that in mind, how do you combine your integrated suite with cloud accounting software to futureproof your practice processes and make you more profitable? Making the most of the power of integration Integrating your software onto one centralised system means you can intelligently share information wherever and whenever itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needed, boost efficiency and ensure a single source of the data. You no longer need to open different applications, extract data, combining it and format it manually to build a snapshot of information which will soon be out of date. Instead, simply drag and drop whatever you need onto your own home page and watch it update in real-time. Integrating your practice management system with your accounting processes is key to building a future fit practice. CCH Practice Management and Twinfield from Wolters Kluwer is now fully integrated. Together with Basecone, you can create a fully integrated experience, with an effortless approval workflow to manage both your purchase and sales ledger from one location. Start with effortless data capture Basecone is an online cloud tool which enables users to capture

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Issue 22 / 103

management accounts and rich reports produced are produced and the figures can be passed to CCH Accounts Production for statutory accounts, if you have the integrated suite. The integration also enables you to control WIP and increase productivity with CCH Practice Management where you can see the progress of jobs, time spent on them and remaining budget. CCH Practice Management alerts you about possible time drains or overruns ahead of time so you can plan more effectively. and upload invoices and other accounting documents directly to Twinfield via an internet browser or the Basecone app for mobile devices. Basecone utilises Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to read scanned documents, recognise elements and automatically code them based on previous actions in real-time. The Basecone App enables you to approve all your purchase invoices and be productive in places and periods where you would otherwise not have been, like when you are travelling to meetings with clients. Once manual data entry and paperbased services are eliminated, your employees and clients can capture, upload, review, approve documents and submit expenses in real-time. What’s more, if you complete the books for your clients, you can make it easy for your clients to submit receipts and invoices as they receive them, using the app or an email address. You will no longer need to manually process the receipts as the OCR automatically codes them for you. Basecone gives you full control and instant access to data in Twinfield. Twinfield easily manages all you practice accounting functions,

from invoicing to management accounting. It is a true cloud accounting product with the experience and functionality that growing practices and their clients need to future-proof their accounting processes. Twinfield is multi-company, multilanguage and multi-currency, meaning you can instantly see a company’s financial position in the currency of choice, as well as produce international group reports in the designated reporting currency from a single location. Bringing your purchase ledger and sales ledger onto one system Add CCH Practice Management to the process and you have created a full online approval workstream with no manual intervention needed. Bills, sales information and employee expenses from CCH Practice Management flow into Twinfield, and customer receipts from Twinfield’s bank feeds synchronise into CCH Practice Management where they are automatically allocated. Once receipts and invoices have been fed into Twinfield through Basecone, the purchase ledger can also be managed within Twinfield,

Find out more... For more information watch on of our on-demand webinars, visit our website: > wolterskluwer.co.uk

104 / Issue 22

The integration also enables you to create bills quickly and easily, and automatically publish them to CCH OneClick. The automated credit control processes improve cash flow and profitability. Live bank feeds in Twinfield feed into CCH Practice Management which can then automatically match cash or receipt against debts. You can then manage your expenses in Twinfield or CCH Practice Management. This partnership creates a single online accounting product for managing your practice and figures without needing to re-key or export sales figures. Optimising your processes for the future Whether you complete your own practices accounts, or you provide bookkeeping services for your clients, speeding up your practice’s accounting processes can ultimately impact your bottom line. The best question to consider when assessing your practice’s productivity is: Is your practice in the best digital shape to take on the competition? Maximising the efficiencies of your existing processes with an automated, integrated accounting system will create an efficient, outsourced finance function that keeps overheads down while monitoring performance and profitability.

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

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Issue 22 / 105

Apps Compared

Compared:

Cashflow Castaway

Float

Fluidly

Futrli

Spotlight

Unlimited Formulas

Drill Down to Account Level Detail

Consolidate Multiple Companies

Multi-curreny consolidation

Eliminations

Customisable Dashboards

Graphs - Online View

Graphs - Print View

Progress Bars tracking Actual vs Budget

Dashboards per User

P&L Budget

Balance Sheet Budget

Import budgets via CSV/XLS

Core Reporting Functionality

Drill Down to Transaction Level Detail

Consolidation Functionality

Dashboards

Budgeting

Via Excel

Automatic Import of Invoices & Bills from Xero

Set Expected Payment Dates on Invoices & Bills

Actuals + Invoices & Bills Track Against Budgets Daily

Track expected payments against cash projections Daily

Track costs and revenue against forecasts Daily

P&L Forecasting

Cash budgets against P&L accounts

3-Way Forecasting

Cash budgets against balance sheet accounts

Imports budget from Xero Budget Manager Budget vs actual reporting

Cash Flow Forecasting Direct Forecasting

106 / Issue 22

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

Apps Compared

For more information, please visit: Castaway - castawayforecasting.com Float - floatapp.com Fluidly - fluidly.com Futrli - futrli.com Spotlight - spotlightreporting.com

Castaway

Float

Fluidly

Futrli

Spotlight

Add forecasts to account codes

Add payment terms of forecasted numbers

Specify tax rates for each forecasted number

Automaticaly calculate future tax payments

Coming soon

Set multiple forecasts per account line

Automatic daily sync with accounting software

What If Scenarios Actuals automatically update

(Hourly)

Formula builder for custom KPIs

Set and Monitor Key Financial KPIs

Set and Monitor Non-Financial KPIs

Benchmarking

Accountant view to track all clients in one place

Overview of client key metrics

Quick Start Templates

Create and Save Own Reports / Report Builder

Export Reports as PDF

Export Reports as XLS

Email alerts

SMS alerts

In app alerts

Set aside extra funds

KPI Reporting & Benchmarking

Divisional Reporting Tracking category analytics

Branding & Customisation

White Labelling - Online View White Labelling - Print Custom domain

Alerts & Reminders

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Issue 22 / 107

Apps Compared Cont. Castaway

Float

Fluidly

Futrli

Spotlight

Xero

Quickbooks Online

MYOB

Detailed User Rights

Unlimited Users

Unlimited staff

Unlimited Forecasts

Client Access View

See outstanding and overdue invoices

Send chase emails for overdue invoices

Automatically sorted debtors

Help Centre

Email Support

Phone Support

Training Webinars

Accounting Integrations

FreeAgent

User & Permissions

Credit Control

Support

Compiled by Matt Flanagan, Director, BlueHub (Web: bluehub.co.uk, Twitter: @Blue_Hub) This information was true and correct at the time of publishing. New releases happen all the time. Please contact the App for the latest release information.

108 / Issue 22

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

New Releases

Updates and new releases from the Xero App Marketplace Accountancy Manager accountancymanager.co.uk The new two-way integration between AccountancyManager and Xero means all invoices and any changes to your client’s details in one system, will automatically show up in the other. • Build invoices directly from your tracked chargeable time and review client profitability • Record all communication with clients (including invoices) on the AM timeline and all documents in the client’s portal • Set up AM to automatically chase for invoice payment - just like for records and requests ApprovalMax approvalmax.com Recent product enhancements include the launch of the ApprovalMax Partner Portal, which provides the mechanism for partner onboarding. On completion of this onboarding, ApprovalMax partners achieve the official ApprovalMax Partner status. The Partner Portal also serves as a repository for educational and advisory content that helps finance and accounting practices with their daily service delivery and app advisory to their clients. On top of that, it facilitates the Learning and Certification programme. chata.ai chata.ai Gain unlimited access to several pre-built Dashboards in Chata’s Advisory Studio. Whether you’re looking to monitor Cash Flow, keep an eye on Product Sales, or see a snapshot of Expenses, we’ve got you covered. Easily customize Dashboards to meet your needs, select your preferred visualizations, and drill down into individual data points in real time. Stay on the

pulse without lifting a finger. ProfitSee myprofitsee.com/startup Recent updates include simplified data entry, improved monitoring of capital expenditure, and a loan refinancing strategy. While each new feature adds unique capabilities, they all make your forecasts and budgets more powerful and help clients see the long-term impact of their day-to-day business decisions. Sapaad sapaad.com We’re excited to announce the launch of Sapaad Connect. With Sapaad Connect, restaurants can seamlessly integrate Sapaad Cloud POS with leading online food ordering platforms. Sapaad Connect empowers restaurants to effortlessly manage their menu in multiple online stores from right within Sapaad, receive orders directly into Sapaad, and monitor online sales using Sapaad’s best-in-class LIVE business dashboard. simPRO simpro.co.uk We have partnered with leading payment processor Square to make business easier, and more profitable, for trade contractor businesses in the field and the office. Customers signed up to Square now benefit from faster payment processing with more ways to pay and flat transaction fees. Spotlight Reporting spotlightreporting.com • Colour Palettes: Choose from nine new colour palettes that work perfectly across all 100+

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charts – from pie charts to the Cashflow Waterfall. • Chart Gallery: We’ve reorganised and redesigned our Chart Gallery to speak more clearly to the way you work. Tidy tidyinternational.com

New feature shout-out Are you a Xeroconnected App? Got a new feature or update you’d like to share with the Xero User community? Email alex@ xumagazine.com

Microsoft Project Integration - This enhanced integration allows you to leverage the power of Xero and Microsoft Project Online to enable the efficient import and export of information between Tidy and Microsoft Project, further increasing the capability of your Tidy software Wolters Kluwer cch.co.uk Open Integration, via CCH OneClick, enables the efficient transfer of financial data to and from our CCH Central suite - giving the practice the ability to make a permanent connection between a client’s business in CCH Central. This means that live transactional data can be made available on a 24/7 basis. Open Integration allows for adjustments to be made within CCH Accounts Production and then automatically synchronised back to Xero. XBert xbert.io XBert now uses tagging for risk alerts and tasks, allowing customised process management and tracking. XBert CONNECT’s new Process Status dashboard provides oversight of your clients and your team’s workflow. Plus, you can create Template Tasks in CONNECT for use across all clients or a selection. We’ve also released alerts for lock dates, integrated Xero single sign-on and included an option to update user permissions to match permissions in Xero.

Issue 22 / 109

From “small data” to deep insight

How restaurants get better business intelligence from the cloud

@SapaadPOS

Raymond Calbay, Product Specialist, Sapaad Raymond Calbay works at Sapaad, a leading cloud-based POS and restaurant management system that empowers restaurateurs worldwide to drive business growth and enhance customer experience with the power of the Cloud.

Data is considered to be the new currency in the Digital Age. But the question remains: how much data do businesses need to master for more success? For restaurants, “small data” holds important indicators toward more profitability and better efficiency.

uestions on sales forecasts, customer preferences, or item stock levels? Your restaurant’s point-of-sale (POS), customer relationship management (CRM), or inventory systems should have ready answers for you. An all-in-one, integrated cloud solution can provide you with better control of your restaurant business since you see how data impacts its operation in real-time. Comparing big data and small data Big data has been the talk of the town in recent years, promising predictive prowess based on our collective digital footprints. The term “big data” typically implies large, distributed sets of databases that require complex processing. When analyzed holistically, these mega databases are supposed to provide answers to society’s shared challenges, such as food scarcity or environmental degradation.

teams of data scientists, and even the use of artificial intelligence. Sometimes, the attempt to structure an otherwise chaotic, disparate data dump is bound to be futile. On the other hand, “small data” refers to a data set that can be easily accessed and made sense of. According to web guru Neil Patel, “small data is all about people.” Since small data is readily available within the organization – such as from your restaurant management software – it’s convenient for restaurants to find the right data for their problems and challenges. Indeed, competitive advantage can result from turning data into actionable insights. Of course, some tools are also needed in figuring out small data, but it can be as simple as a worksheet or as powerful as a built-in software dashboard. Ready-to-serve dashboards

However, it doesn’t make business sense for operations like diners, cafes, or food trucks to pour in money for a crumb of insight from big data. Getting something out of big data involves complicated number-crunching workbenches, 110 / Issue 22

Making sense of data typically involves three things. First, data that is relevant for a specific business process must be defined. Next is identifying the sources of data. And finally, it must be

confirmed that data will be sufficiently available as frequently required by the business. This complicated process can be automated in dashboards – setup may not even be required. Dashboards visually organize data and represent a snapshot of the business in any given period. With the capability to drill-down on specific data, a well-designed dashboard offers information that can be of immediate assistance to pressing operational concerns. Dashboards transform small data into mission-critical metrics to help in monitoring the state of business. As a case in point, restaurants using cloud-based POS software benefit from real-time sales updates in dashboards. Getting the feed “LIVE” makes all the difference when you have important decisions to make. As an owner or business decisionmaker, you can quickly see which items are selling the most, which are most profitable, and whether service delivery rates remain above par. Each of these can be easily tracked via widgets, which highlight predefined metrics and show snippets of the latest data.

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

With integrated cloud-based software, there’s more leeway to access data anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Small data, big deal to business Data exponentially grows, and there are more ways than one to how much it can positively impact businesses. It is for this reason that modern businesses, including restaurants, should opt for software that future-proofs their data requirements. Apart from dashboards, another source of business-boosting information is your CRM. Since the cost of acquiring new customers is at least five times more than retaining existing ones, it’s important to understand what the data says about those who already actively engage with the brand. A CRM should be robust enough to store and easily retrieve customer details, order histories, and preferences – without a cap on data. Coupled with a loyalty program, you can leverage your CRM to unlock more sales and opportunities. But to do so, barriers to access by people who need to make informed decisions should also be removed. With cloud-based software, there’s now more leeway to access data anytime, anywhere, and on any device – which is a paradigm shift compared to how traditional

software operates on a strictly perlicense usage. Small data as gears for business integration “The data fabric is the next middleware,” says tech executive Todd Papaioannou. Indeed, it is through small data that different business systems can enable interoperability. Since restaurants typically use multiple systems for their different processes, integration between these systems allows for smoother collaboration in the organization. Indeed, data serves as the gears that lead to harmonizing business processes. In the case of restaurants, the flow of data doesn’t stop at the point-ofsale. For example, when integrated with accounting software, data from recorded sales also syncs as scheduled for accurate bookkeeping and for ensuring tax compliance. Such an ability to integrate with other business systems is widely considered as a primary consideration for selecting restaurant software. With the popularity of online aggregator sites among consumers, restaurants are also seeing the need to centrally manage their

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order fulfillment and delivery. It would be cumbersome for restaurants to separately track orders, manage menus, and monitor distribution for their various online and mobile sales channels. Restaurants stand to save a lot of money and effort if they use a seamlessly integrated, allin-one system for their third-party partners. Small data can give restaurants and customer-centric businesses a diagnostic check of their shortterm and long-term prospects. This is where an all-in-one cloud software that holistically offers a LIVE business dashboard, complementary modules (CRM, loyalty, inventory, etc.), and thirdparty integrations can provide your business with a strategic edge. With data-driven insights at their fingertips, it’s much easier for restaurants using cloud solutions to make better-informed decisions for how to run and level up the business.

FIND OUT MORE... To find out more about Sapaad cloud POS & complete restaurant management solution, visit us at: > sapaad.com

Issue 22 / 111

Are you ready for Year End Financial Reporting? Year end reporting can seem like a huge task but with some forward planning it need not be so onerous. Not for profit reporting may differ from for profit reporting depending on your country’s regulations. Usually there is additional reporting that needs to be done for not for profit organisations in order to maintain their charitable status.

ecently New Zealand changed their reporting standards and regulations. The External Reporting Board (XRB) has issued a new financial reporting standard: Service Performance Reporting (PBE FRS 48). From 1 January 2021, Tier 1 and Tier 2 charities will need to include non-financial information alongside the financial statements they file with Charities Services. Together, the financial and nonfinancial information is referred to

as a Financial Report. Tier 3 and 4 charities are required to prepare a Statement of Service Performance as part of the Performance Report which contains non-financial information about outcomes and outputs. Outcome: What the entity is seeking to achieve or influence through the delivery of goods or services, in terms of its impact on society. Example: To increase the native bird population by rehoming stray cats. Output: The goods or services that the entity delivered during the year. Example: 100 cats were rehomed. Non-financial information is important for accountability and decision making as well as telling the story of the charity. In some cases, the non-financial information may be considered to be more important than the financial results.

Find out more... For more information go to: > infoodle.com

112 / Issue 22

The Service performance reporting content will be determined by your organisations objectives, mission, outputs (goals) or Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that have been set and should provide readers with the information they need to get a full picture of what a charity has been able to achieve in the past year with the resources available to it. This means you need to be planning now for next year’s reporting!

@infoodle

Aukje Smith, Sales Manager, Infoodle Aukje, along with her husband Richard, founded infoodle in response to the need for a reliable, user friendly and cost effective database and donor management system for the medium to small sized charities and churches. Having experience working with charities and churches in Africa, Eu and NZ in a support and administrative role Aukje draws from her experience and knowledge to serve the charity sector through infoodle.

While readers will not all be in New Zealand, most other countries have similar regulations. Even if you do not need to report on outcomes and outputs it is still good practice to provide your board, and your members with this information in your AGM reports. Showing you are responsibly carrying out your mission may also encourage more donors to contribute to your cause. How do you plan for next year’s reporting? 1. Identify why the charity exists, what it wants to achieve. 2. Identify how it wants to do this in a general sense. Example; Alleviate malnutrition among low income families by providing food parcels. 3. Identify what needs to be included in the report. Example; Number of food parcels delivered, Number of families receiving repeat parcels. 4. Plan how you will gather the information required. Once you have identified what you need to record you will need to ensure you have a system in place to gather and store those details. A good CRM that integrates with Xero like infoodle is your best option. Xero and infoodle together will provide the financial and non financial reporting required.

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

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Issue 22 / 113

Good record keeping is good for business

Joanna Cruickshank, State Manager, CloudPayroll CloudPayroll is a standalone payroll system suitable for 1 – 1000 employees. Joanna, is passionate in helping people get the best payroll solution for their organisation.

t is important for your clients to understand their record keeping obligations, as well as ensuring that records are stored safely and securely. With the introduction of Single Touch Payroll (STP) in Australia and Payday filing in New Zealand, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and Inland Revenue (IR) now have immediate visibility over what is being paid to employees at the time of each payday. In Australia, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Act 2017 is in effect. This means a reverse onus of proof can now apply when the Fair Work Ombudsman pursues legal action in relation to underpayments that have occurred since the commencement of the Act. If an employer does not meet record keeping obligations, including pay slip obligations, and they cannot give a reasonable excuse, they may need to disprove allegations in wage claims made in a court. ATO have five rules for record keeping; 1. The requirement to retain all records related to starting, running, changing and selling, or closing your business. 2. The records must not be changed and must be stored in a way that protects the information being changed or damaged.

FIND OUT MORE... To find out more visit: > www.cloudpayroll.com.au > www.ipayroll.co.nz

114 / Issue 22

3. The requirement to retain most records for five years, for FBT, Super contributions and Super choice forms are from lodgement, contribution or received choice fund details. 4. The ability to show the ATO your records if they ask. 5. Your records must be in English, or able to be easily converted to English. Opting for a Human Resource and Payroll system which provides digital record keeping will save your clients valuable time and money. It will also help them to meet their tax, superannuation and employer record keeping obligations. They will also have the added benefit of being able to retrieve relevant records/documents quickly and easily and run reports on changes making the audit process less stressful. Clients who do not have a digital solution may find it difficult to keep records orderly, making them hard to find as well as being less private and secure. Using the CloudPayroll payroll system in Australia and the iPayroll payroll system in New Zealand, can greatly reduce the

burden of record keeping for your clients. These well established payroll systems have the following features: • Upload documents – keep employment documents secure and easy to access for each employee. • Create HR custom fields – including next of kin, probation expiry dates, certification expiry dates (e.g. first aid, drivers’ license, Visa, training records etc). • Diary Notes – record activities for each employee. For example, record date and action of a disciplinary discussion, a promotion, or wage increase. • Audit trail – you can view who made a change to which employee and what the change was. There is also a pay rate audit trail which will show when a pay rate change has occurred. As your clients’ trusted adviser, you can recommend record keeping methods best suited to the business needs to ensure they are keeping the required records.

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

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Issue 22 / 115

Revolut for Business and Xero: Bringing expense management into the next decade The workflow upgrade that will save you time and money in 2020

@RevolutBusiness

Vaidas Adomauskas, Head of Revolut for Business, Revolut Vaidas Adomauskas is the Head of Business Product at Revolut. He is passionate about helping businesses of all sizes and sectors save time and money everyday through easy to use financial tools. Before joining Revolut, Vaidas was Product Director at Railsbank, and CoFounder and CEO of WoraPay. Outside of the world of fintech, Vaidas is an agile evangelist and lecturer.

Vaidas Adomauskas, Head of Business Product at Revolut, talks expense management and how Revolut for Business’ partnership with Xero is helping finance professionals keep their clients ahead of the curve...

s finance experts, we can be set in our ways about how we like to do things. Each of us has our own set of favourite tools, tricks, and methods of conquering our to-do lists. Not only do our preferences impact our own work, but the work we do collaboratively with our clients. Part of being a finance expert is being a leader and a resource in the industry – and often leadership means taking your clients with you into the next decade. Even a process in good working order may be overdue for some critical improvements. Without a doubt, you’ve updated your process dozens of times since you first started out. But even if you’ve done it before, the prospect of another big shift can be a bit intimidating. Don’t fix; evolve At Revolut for Business, we’re dedicated to empowering businesses to strive for success beyond the bottom line. We help our businesses (and accountants!) save time and focus on what really matters; growth and providing excellent service. Developed as an alternative to the status quo 116 / Issue 22

of business accounts, Revolut for Business is radically different by our nature. We’re a platform designed to accommodate global businesses big and small. With our frictionless user experience, super fast setup and connected tools, you’ll have ultimate control over your business and full access to clients’ finances. And, of course, Revolut for Business offers complete transparency of costs and the security you expect from a top-tier provider. Our community of businesses are incredibly savvy, so it came as a surprise when we looked into the financial habits of small businesses throughout Europe, and discovered that a whopping 44% of SMEs had no formal system for expense management – and are thus putting themselves at risk for some nasty surprises when they reconcile their finances. While settling up for some business travel or the occasional client lunch can seem trivial, it can have a massive impact on your bottom line. In fact, businesses lose 1.9 billion pounds* every year to unauthorized expenses. Because of this, we’ve done our best to raise the profile of our incredible expense management

solutions and help you avoid being part of that dreaded 44%**. A singular solution With Revolut for Business, you can issue physical and digital company cards for employee use, which cuts down on paperwork. Then, as employees spend, they can quickly snap photos of their paper receipts (or upload PDFs) before they get lost. If they forget to upload or to categorise their expense, we’ll send them a gentle reminder. And once the expense has been successfully submitted, you can review, edit and reconcile all in the Revolut for Business app. Then, as with all of your business expenditure, the information is synced with Xero. Connecting your account to Xero takes just a few clicks. This means that you no longer have to manually export and import spreadsheets, saving you precious time. By having the two accounts speaking the same language, with Xero receiving transaction feeds directly from your Revolut account, there’s little need for human intervention - which ultimately reduces human error and makes your business more efficient. You can bid farewell to having

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

to use multiple products from different providers – Revolut for Business gives you just one login and one dashboard. Plus, we’re rolling out new features constantly, including invoices and cash flow management, to offer you a more perfect finance product. Transactions in real time Most traditional bank feeds update transactions once a day, so no matter how fast your Xero account is, your feed will nearly always lag behind, giving you (or your accountant) an outdated view of your Link your financials. With our Xero feed in Super fast setup Xero integration, seconds, and transactions get set up expense Think about your updated much more management in traditional business frequently and you a few clicks. account and consider can also manually rethe time it takes to run sync your transaction feed some basic task like exporting a at any time. This means you’ll bunch of statements - it’s not really be able to track your business’ quick or intuitive, is it? financial health almost in real time. Complete control No account would be complete without putting you in full control of your finances - at least in our view. That’s why our Xero integration (and most other ones in Revolut Connect) allow you to sync, pause and resume activity at any time, at the click of a button. One of the main problems with integrations in general is a lack of flexibility. In our industry, this usually translates into incomplete statements, missing information and so on. We’ve worked closely with accountants to provide superior statements in Xero, which include support for multi-currency accounts, payee name, notes and more. With Revolut for business, you no longer have to compromise flexibility or security. We offer payment approval for secure transactions, customised user permissions, spending limits, and an audit trail, so you can work more effectively with your clients.

With Revolut, signing up for an account and getting your entire team set up on the platform can be completed in as little as a few minutes. You can link your Xero feed in seconds, and set up expense management in a few clicks. What’s more, if you’ve already been using both Revolut Business and Xero, you can simply sync up your accounts and let us stream all your past and future transactions automatically - all hassle-free, of course. For them, for you We’ve heard time and time again from accountants on our platform that once they’ve tried Revolut for Business, they can’t stop evangelising about it. You know that feeling when you discover an amazing new show and you just have to tell your friends about it? It’s like that – but with finance systems. If you’re an accountant, there’s no greater gift you can give to yourself than onboarding your

** Press Release. Survey Topline. July 2018, Soldo * Percentage of small businesses with more than one employee (N=433) surveyed across UK, France and Poland in October and November 2019

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clients to Revolut for Business. Whether they’re a large corporation or a freelancer just starting out, they’ll be able to grant you access to their profile within Revolut for Business so you can all stay on the same page. No more endless email attachments, paperclipped receipts or frantic phone calls. But don’t worry, you’ll find a use for all of those unused manilla folders. Take the leap Supercharging your process doesn’t have to be scary – we think of change as exciting. Innovation is always at the heart of what we do at Revolut, and we believe that a growth-oriented mindset will help your business, and your clients’ businesses to thrive well into the next decade. We’re always pushing to succeed with new features, conquer new frontiers, and to tackle new challenges with grit and ambition. We invite you to give Revolut for Business a try this week. Setup is quick and easy, and there is no commitment. We’re sure that once you’ve explored our platform, you’ll be hooked.

FIND OUT MORE... Find out how Revolut for Business is helping Nephos accountants save time and money: > links.xumagazine.com/wpzjc

Issue 22 / 117

Strengthen Your SelfWorth and Increase Your Confidence As a small business owner, you understand the importance of strengthening your sense of self-worth. It is going to be key to getting through each day successfully. It takes effort and resilience to maintain a great sense of self-worth. At times it is challenging. It is important to help create a successful business. Believing in your value is a critical emolument to maintaining good mental health.

here will be days when you feel confident and happy and have the strength to deal with every situation. Other days you may feel something is missing. These other days are the days when that “something” may cause you to feel uncertain about yourself. You may find yourself questioning your abilities. Do you have the courage to send that proposal with the fee that represents your true value? Do you have the finances to pay employees and bill? Do you have the strength to let go of that employee that no longer fits your culture? These days may question your confidence, happiness and everything you thought you knew about yourself. This is because you have allowed outside sources to take over what you know internally. Giving them your power. You should not be too hard on yourself when this happens. You need to learn how to correct and get yourself back on track. Strengthening your sense of self-worth will be key to better managing each day. 118 / Issue 22

What is self-worth? To have a high level of self-worth means having a favourable opinion or estimate of yourself. It is not the same as having an inflated ego. It means having unshakable faith in yourself and in your ability to follow through and get things done.

@timhoopmann

Tim Hoopmann, Speaker and Trainer Experienced founder with a demonstrated history growing small business. Strong entrepreneurship and professionally skilled in Business Planning, Cloud Technology, Sales, Marketing, and Operations Management. A passion for helping small businesses use technology as a key enabler to increase productivity and decrease costs. A volunteer speaker for beyondblue, an Australian organisation that works to raise awareness of anxiety and depression, reduce the associated stigma and encourage people to get help.

You can develop a healthy sense of self-worth without losing empathy for others or becoming excessively self-centered. Self-worth is being able to feel good about yourself with no influence from another person or outside source. And, it’s something that many people, including highly successful people, struggle with. According to a US report, 85% of people struggle with having good self-worth. But thankfully, there are things that you can do to improve your self-worth, and we’ll discuss some of them later. Why is self-worth important? Self-worth is important because it heavily influences your choices and decisions. It serves as a motivational function by making it more likely that you will take care of yourself and explore your full potential.

Having a high degree of self-worth means feeling worthy of good things. It recognises that you are valuable because you are you; you are unique, and there is no one else like you in the world.

Having healthy self-worth not only helps prevent poor mental health, but it also has many other positive benefits. When you value yourself no matter what circumstance you’re in or who is around you, you have

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

the strength to strive for what you want. You can be your best and do your best. You can have the best quality of life possible for you at any given moment. A high level of self-worth will allow you to: • Solve problems confidently • Make decisions more boldly • Take on new opportunities and try new things • Have more honest relationships • Be more realistic in expectations • Be more resilient and get through tough situations

Low self-worth can make it difficult to accept responsibility and constructive criticism, which can hinder you from opportunities. It may prevent you from taking on new challenges in your business. It can also have a negative impact on important relationships. Low self-worth affects our emotions, our thoughts, and behaviours. How to better manage your selfworth?

There are many and varied ways you can better manager your own self-worth. It takes effort and Managing your own business can at possibly some additional help to keep positive. Here are a few times be challenging. A high level possibilities for of self-worth will make it increasing your selfeasier and allow you to You can develop worth. be more productive. What effects your self-worth?

a healthy sense of self-worth without Believe in Yourself losing empathy for Believing in yourself others or becoming is important excessively selfto maintaining confidence and a centered.

There are many aspects which impact your self-worth. They can be different for everyone and may change for you from time to time. The importance here is to be as resilient as possible to negative effects on your self-worth. Also, to not punish yourself when things do impact you. We often have to get up, dust ourselves off and shake off any negative effects. Work out how to avoid these situations as best we can and then move forward. Here are just some of the things that my impact or effect your selfworth. • The environments in which you live, work, and socialise. • How you believe you perform in different activities and settings • What other people say to you? • Perhaps most importantly: what you say to yourself Of all the things that affect our sense of self-worth, self-talk is the one we have most control over. That means it is very important to get into the habit of replacing unhelpful thoughts like ‘I am not good enough for this new client’ or ‘Nobody likes me’ with helpful ones like ‘I am the best person for this job’ and ‘There are people who care about me’.

high level of your own sense of self. You must trust yourself regardless of what others say or expect of you. It is important to support yourself though all of your choices and decisions. Trusting that you know what is best for you. Live and Speak your Truth Allowing yourself to listen to others as they tell you who you are and what you should be doing gives your power away to them in that moment. It is important to stay connected with what you believe, your values, integrity and how you want to live your life. This will help you gain confidence and courage to live for you. Do what you Love How you spend your time shows where your priorities are. Each day that you spend at work, you’re making a choice about what’s important to you. If you want to build your self-worth, do what you love and rest easy knowing you’re going after your passion. Take in Compliments The better you get at accepting compliments, the more easily you can boost your self-worth. When someone offers you a compliment,

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thank them and then feel the joy it provides for that job that was well done. Go on give it a try.

Stop Criticising Yourself Sometimes, we’re so worried about being criticised that we criticise ourselves before anyone else has the chance. There is a difference between identifying areas for improvement and criticising yourself. By concentrating on improving rather than being selfcritical means you can maintain a better sense of self-worth. Find the Good in Yourself When something goes wrong or a mistake is made, you can rebuild your self-worth by looking for the ways you are good in that role or situation. Things don’t always go perfectly. We all make mistakes. It becomes about how we mange situations when they do that help us protect our self-worth. Keep Moving Forward Just like you must forgive yourself, you must also forgive others and let go of the past. Let go of anything that is keeping you from being focused on the present. Allow yourself to see how far you have come and how much you have grown by getting out of your own way. It is vital to have a strong sense of self-worth in life and in business. Seeing yourself in a positive light requires an awareness and an alignment of your thoughts and actions. It also requires discipline and consistency, so you are able to shift any self-negativity into positivity. It takes daily work, but the results are tremendous, especially when it comes to maintaining a healthy sense of self-worth.

FIND OUT MORE... To find out more about self-worth and mentally healthy workplaces go to: > www.beyondblue.org.au > www.headsup.org.au

Issue 22 / 119

Marketing for Accountants - Part 4

Sharing your content: Events, Campaigns, and Social Media

@karenlreyburn

Karen Reyburn, Owner, The Profitable Firm Karen is a creative, and also a qualified accountant (CPA). She believes (and knows from experience) accountants have creativity too, and encourages them to build and use those skills via The Profitable Firm (PF), a creative agency for accountants. Karen is a sketchnoter who is fueled by copious amounts of black coffee.

PF helps accountants understand and love marketing. Part of this includes training in the form of a coaching course helping them understand the twelve elements of great marketing for accountants. These sketchnotes highlight the final three sections in this series...

he final step on the accountant’s content marketing journey is actually sharing the content you’ve been creating. In my previous three articles, I’ve talked about the actual content you’ll create - who it’s for, where it goes, what topics to cover. Sketchnotes created by PF’s Graphic Designer Chryzia Itay.

Once you’ve started on the path of creating content regularly, you

get into a good pattern. You blog weekly or start recording videos. You’re saving the questions clients ask into a list, and you’re starting to answer those questions with content.

The final three (of twelve) content marketing elements address this: events, campaigns, and social media.

Now... how do you get people to find your content? Or how do you get MORE people to find it than are finding it now?

We might have Xerocon in our minds when we think of events - zip lines, full parks with real grass in an exhibition hall, amazing food, disco lights and a big party, thousands of people milling about.

Events

But even a small firm can run a successful “event”. Getting two or three people together in a boardroom - or even a co working space - can qualify as an event. Pick a topic, either charge them or have the event free, and work on that particular topic with those who are there. The power of an event is not in the sheer numbers: it’s in the impact it has on those who attend. If you impact three people so their business and life are even slightly improved, you’ve held a successful event. If you’re considering running an event for your firm: 120 / Issue 22

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

Marketing for Accountants - Part 4 • Create an event campaign plan. Even the smallest event takes more admin and planning than you realise. Ask us for a free event campaign plan to get you started - we’ll send you the Gsheet. (Email team@wearepf. com) • Make the topic about them, not you. Events on “making tax digital” were historically not very well attended. But events on “getting paid faster” or “building a website for your business” were much better attended, because it felt relevant to their current issues. • Invite a guest speaker from one of the Xero apps. If it’s a topic you know a little less about, you can still run the event by bringing in a speaker who knows that particular topic really well. Choose an app and focus on that issue - not the app itself necessarily, but the issue and problem your clients face. Then invite an app to be part of it. • Share it everywhere, over and over. You will be tempted not to “over share” your event, but the truth is people need to see it appearing in many different places before they decide to attend. Share links on the socials. Send emails. Write a blog post about the topic you’ll be covering. Record and post videos about the power of the event. If people keep seeing it appear (and others are going too) they’re more likely to attend. • Follow up is 90% of the work. After the excitement of the event is over, send emails and make calls and even send physical post to follow up. Take the notes you have of conversations you’ve held and encourage attendees to take action. If instead of running an event you’re attending one, you can still use it as a launch pad to great marketing. Write the blogs, record the video, share live footage on socials, follow up. Campaigns Developing a ‘marketing campaign’ sounds like a big achievement (or investment), and it can be both. But

it can also be as simple as a list of a few actions you’ll take relating to an event you attended. I suggest creating a simple campaign in a Gsheet, with a list of actions you’ll do relating to one particular topic or area. It could be a new service you’re offering, or a problem or issue your clients are facing (no cash, low profits, recruiting issues). Start your campaign with a Gsheet, with columns for: • The action itself: what exactly do you need to do? Be very specific - “Post on the socials” will never happen. “Write content for Facebook post” is a lot more achievable, and you can follow it up with “Choose image to go with Facebook post”, “Get image redesigned in brand colours”, and specific actions like these. • The category: This helps you see whether you have a ton of actions relating to social media, but none relating to content, or vice versa. Categories include website, email, blogging, social media, video, analytics, at least! • Responsible person: Who is actually going to do all these things? If they’re all you, get some help (either within the firm or outsourced). • Due date: Pick a date that’s reasonable enough to be possible, but challenging enough to push you a little. Get

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someone in the firm (your PA, an admin or receptionist) to hold you accountable. Give them the authority to truly hold you accountable, not just send you reminders you ignore. Social media Social is such a vast area - the more we learn about it, the more we discover how unique each platform is. Facebook is vastly different from Instagram or Twitter or LinkedIn. Knowing how each one works, and adapting your content to each accordingly, will help you get better engagement. The “big five” of social media are as follows (in no particular order). These are my perceptions from using them and seeing clients use them: Facebook: Almost solidly in the “old school” category now. Used primarily for groups. You can post on your business Facebook page or your personal “public profile” now and then, but there’s a lot less engagement and it’s more for a reminder your business is still around. LinkedIn: Accountants love it because it “feels more professional”, but the question (as with all socials) is, does your target audience love it? Do they use it? If not, don’t waste too much of Follow us on Twitter: @xumagazine

Issue 22 / 121

Marketing for Accountants - Part 4

your time there and go where your clients are. If your audience is there, post thoughts, articles, and video. And tag people when relevant - that gets you more visibility. Don’t go crazy with the hashtags. Twitter: Still in high use, but much more for either politics or events. We’re seeing impact from firms who’ve been using Twitter consistently and faithfully for years. Post a few times a week, tag other people and accounts, use hashtags on a limited basis. Make sure you use good images - they matter immensely. Either get custom

FIND OUT MORE... To learn more, visit: > wearepf.com

photographs taken or get branded imagery designed. Instagram: It’s becoming fairly popular with accountants - and it’s been my personal favourite for years. My suggestion is not too make it too “business-y”. This is not for business accounts really - it’s for making connections, sharing real life photos and video, being creative or artsy, and staying up to date on people’s lives. Use it that way. I’d recommend a personal instagram account rather than a business one, if you have to choose. It has a bigger impact in the long run. YouTube: It doesn’t feel like “the typical socials” because it doesn’t have the same posting types, but YouTube still remains one of the most powerful platforms for

controls for a multi-entity client #AccountingAdvisory

122 / Issue 22

#FinancialControls

#BillAutomation

findability. Record videos regularly (even if they’re rubbish at first) and KEEP GOING. It can take six months to get even a few followers; and then the next six months they’ll double, and the next six months they’ll quadruple… Most people give up too soon. So there you have it! Run an event (or attend one), create a campaign for even the smallest marketing actions, and share your content regularly on the socials. Doing these will go a long way to get your firm ‘seen’ - and all the content you’ve been working so hard to create. Thank you for joining us for all four ‘episodes’ of great content marketing for accountants!

Library of industry-leading case studies – now available!

Go to approvalmax.com/resources/case-studies

#Multi-Entity

#AlternativeEnergy

#UK

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

New Xero Connected Apps

New to the Xero App Marketplace Bulletproof my Business bpmb.com.au

HR Partner hrpartner.io

Bulletproof my Business are Australia’s only debt preventers they will get you paid on time and in full by automating signing of Terms of Trade.

HR Partner provides a seamless link to your Xero payroll system, and can pull employee data as well as current leave balances to eliminate double entry of information.

Charge Over chargeover.com

Nexvia nexvia.com.au

Charge Over - save time, get paid sooner, and make your customers happy by automating recurring payments and subscriptions.

Nexvia platform improves your businesses efficiencies with outstanding project and production management tools.

Cloud Business HQ cloudbusinesshq.com

Nimbla nimbla.com

Cloud Business HQ helps automate bookkeeping by synchronizing SMB’s Stripe charges, invoice charges, and charge refunds with Xero. Sync your on-going Stripe transactions to Xero.

Nimbla invoice insurance that can help your business expand into new and existing markets, secure invoice funding, and protect against insolvent customers.

CreDec credec.com Make payments from Xero automatically through existing bank accounts with CreDec. All you love about Xero now with real-time payments and bank feeds. Etani Business Platform etani.com.au Etani empowers accountants to deliver Power BI as a service to their SME clients with an out-of-thebox BI platform including reporting templates. Etani is a leading reporting tool that: • Provides an out-of-the-box BI platform using Microsoft Power BI • Offers truly flexible and extendable reporting templates • Helps Accountants deliver Power BI as a service to their SME client base

Projectworks projectworks.io Projectworks is a business management platform designed to help professional & creative services businesses better manage their organisations in the areas of project management, project financials, and people management. Projectworks gives everyone at your services company the tools they need, whether they’re a PM, exec or handling the books.

rental and production companies to plan and manage their events – whether it’s big tours, productions, or dry-hires. SaaSOptics saasoptics.com

Are you a new Xero-connected App? Let other Xero users know... email alex@ xumagazine.com

SaaSOptics is a subscription management platform that automates financial operations for growing B2B SaaS businesses: • Automate Order-to-Cash • Eliminate Spreadsheets • Scale 10X Faster Skeduler skeduler.com.au Skeduler provides all the tools for you to manage your maintenance service company. From jobs, technicians, customers, finances and much more. SmartTrade smarttrade.biz SmartTrade is an affordable, flexible tool to increase productivity and sales, improve cash-flow, enhance customer service, strengthen compliance, and much more. Uber for Business uber.com/business Uber for Business is now integrated with Xero to save time and simplify expenses.

PWC Cashflow Coach pwc.com

Yak Pay yakpay.com

PWC Cashflow Coach is a cloud based, predictive tool that helps business owners navigate their short-term cash flow, up to six weeks ahead.

Yak Pay is designed for Accounts Payable, Yak Pay can pay any supplier using your credit card, even if that supplier doesn’t accept credit cards.

Rentman rentman.io/integrations/xero Rentman makes it easier for event

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New App shout-out

Please note: this is not an exhaustive list of new Apps in the Xero App Marketplace. You can see all Xeroconnected Apps at www.xero.com/ marketplace

Issue 22 / 123

App/Service Directory To advertise, please email the team at: advertising@xumagazine.com

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capsulecrm.com/addons/xero Collabspot | @collabspot collabspot.com Connectably | @connectably connectably.com

authorisedcloudintegrator.com.au LimeCloud | @LimeCloudLtd limecloud.tech Maze Digital maze.digital

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how you do CRM with Xero

TOA Global | @TOAGlobal theoutsourcedaccountant.com Waypoint | @We_Are_Waypoint wearewaypoint.com

Conversions Click 2 Convert | @C2Convert c2convert.com cloudconvert | @CloudconvertSa cloudconvert.co.za

connectably.com commonsku | @commonsku commonsku.com CRM Online crmonline.com.au

trippeo.com/xero

124 / Issue 22

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

App Directory CustomerSure | @CustomerSure customersure.com/xero Exsalerate | @exsalerate exsalerate.com/xerointegration

Syngency | @syngency syngency.com Vision6 | @vision6 vision6.com.au

Infoodle | @infoodle

Workato | @Workato

infoodle.com/xero

workato.com/xero WORK[etc] CRM | @WORKetc_support worketc.com Xact | @Xactsoftware xactsoftware.co.nz Xploite | @xploiteapp xploite.com Zendesk by Cloud Elements | @CloudElements cloud-elements.com Zendesk by Zapier zapier.com/zapbook/xero/zendesk

Custom Integration 3Bit Solutions 3bit.com/xero_solutions.aspx Axis Direct | @NZAxisDirect axisdirect.nz BlueHub | @Blue_Hub bluehub.co.uk Custom D | @customdhq customd.com Coherent | @CoherentSoft coherent.net Databuzz | @databuzz databuzz.com.au Defsys | @defsys defsys.com.au Digital Fusion teamdf.com Dynamic Solutions Ltd dynamic-solutions.co.nz/xero EndGame | @GoEndGame end-game.com/xero Infopower customintegration.co.nz Interlockit.com interlockit.com iSOS | @isos_uk

Practice management that integrates with you

Macbusiness

Try Senta now, free for 30 days

NetEngine | @Net_Engine

Totally unlimited use with no obligation. No credit card required.

www.senta.co/xerouser

isos.com macbusiness.co.nz/xero-integration netengine.com.au/xero-integrations Numernet numernet.com nuSoftware | @nu_Software nusoftware.com Open Sauce Systems | @

Socket | @socketapp socketapp.com Solve CRM | @solve360 solve360.com SugarCRM | @crmonlineaus crmonline.com.au SyncApps by Cazoomi | @Cazoomi cazoomi.com

OpenSauceSystem opensauce.systems Red Jungle Limited | @redjungle redjungle.com Smudge | @smudgeio smudge.io Southgate Labs | @SouthgateLabs southgatelabs.com

Trineo | @trineoltd trineo.co.nz Trio Technology | @Trio_Tech triotech.co.nz/xero Web Industries webindustries.co.nz Zynk

i2b-online.com MyDocSafe | @MyDocSafe mydocsafe.com Office 365 | @Office365 xero.com/uk/office-365

zynk.com/solutions/xero-integration/

Debtor Tracking Armatic | @armaticio partners.armatic.io/xero Chaser | @chaser_hq chaserhq.com Check Business check-business.co.uk/xero CollBox | @CollBox collbox.co CreditorWatch | @creditorwatch creditorwatch.com.au Debtograph | @Debtograph debtograph.com Debtor Daddy | @debtordaddy debtordaddy.com/xero Debtze| @DebtzeCollect debtze.com/xero Ezi Debt Collection ezidebtcollection.com.au EzyCollect | @ezyCollect ezycollect.com.au InvoiceSherpa | @invoicesherpa invoicesherpa.com IODM | @IODM_Software iodm.com.au Late Fee Manager | @LateFeeManager1 latefeemanager.com/xero LedgerLive ledgerlive.com/xero Mentio | @mentiohq mentio.ca/xero SMS My Debtors | @smsmydebtors smsmydebtors.com Vision6 | @vision6 vision6.com.au XO Cashflow | @xocashflow xocashflow.com/Xero-Integration

Documents Basecone | @Basecone get.basecone.com/xero Boxkite | @getboxkite getboxkite.com DiGA - Xero Excel Reporting businessbackbone.co.uk Evernote by Zapier | @zapier zapier.com Formitize | @Formitize formitize.com/en FYI | @fyidocuments fyidocs.com Google apps for work xero.com/uk/google Hubdoc | @Hubdoc

Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

hubdoc.com i2B | @i2B_Limited

eCommerce A2X Accounting | @a2xaccounting a2xaccounting.com/xero Airsquare | @airsquare airsquare.com Amazon.com by Stitch Labs | @StitchLabs stitchlabs.com Bigcommerce by Carry The One carrytheone.co.uk Bigcommerce by OneSaas | @onesaas onesaas.com Bigcommerce by Stitch Labs | @StitchLabs stitchlabs.com Carry The One carrytheone.co.uk Checkfront | @Checkfront checkfront.com Connex jmawebtechnologies.com CS Cart by 4Sprung | @cscart marketplace.cs-cart.com Dear Systems dearsystems.com Dremus | @dremus dremus.com eBay by OneSaas | @onesaas onesaas.com eBay by Stitch Labs | @StitchLabs stitchlabs.com eCC Cloud | @webgility webgility.com ecwid | @ecwid ecwid.com/xero ecwid by Stitch Labs | @StitchLabs stitchlabs.com Expandly | @expandly expandly.com ezimerchant | @ezimerchant ezimerchant.com EZ Rent out | @EZRentOut ezrentout.com/xero Handshake | @handshake handshake.com/integration/xero Intellibook | @intellibookapp intellibook.co/features/Xero

Issue 22 / 125

App Directory Financiery | @financiery

Loaded Commerce by Carry The One

financiery.com

carrytheone.co.uk

Fundbox | @fundbox

Magento by OneSaas | @onesaas

fundbox.com

onesaas.com Magento by Unleashed | @unleashedteam

Fundera | @fundera fundera.com

unleashedsoftware.com

Hike | @hikepos hikeup.com/xero-pos-integration MRPEasy | @mrpeasy mrpeasy.com simprogroup.com

bookingbug.com/xero getbriefcase.net BriteBiz | @britebiz

GetCapital | @Get_Capital

britebiz.com/xero-crm-integration

getcapital.com.au

partner.mindbodyonline.com

BuilderTREND | @BuilderTREND

iwoca | @iwoca

Neto | @netoecommerce

buildertrend.com/xero

iwoca.co.uk/xero

neto.com.au

BuildXact

Kabbage | @KabbageInc

Opencart by Carry The One

buildxact.com.au

kabbage.com

carrytheone.co.uk/xero

Chargebee | @chargebee

liberis | @LiberisUK

Order Space | @orderspace

liberis.co.uk

orderspace.com/integrations/xero

MarketFinance | @MarketFinance

PayPal by Zapier | @zapier

marketfinance.com

zapier.com PrestaShop by Carry The One

TidyBuild | @TidyInt tidyinternational.com TidyStock | @TidyInt tidyinternational.com

global.co-construct.com

rocketspark.com/nz/xero/

commonsku | @commonsku

sendle.com

commonsku.com

BUSINESS FINANCE MADE EASY

Shopify | @Shopify shopify.com

Commusoft | @Commusoft

STOCK MANAGEMENT

Shopify by Pipemonk | @pipe_monk

marketfinance.com

pipemonk.com

tidystock com

Shopify By Stitch Labs | @StitchLabs stitchlabs.com tradevine.com

Moula | @MoulaMoney

Squarespace | @squarespace

moula.com.au

squarespace.com

OFX

TaxJar | @TaxJar

xero.com/uk/financial-services/ofx

taxjar.com

SmartBiz Loans | @SmartBizLoans

TradeGecko | @tradegecko

smartbizloans.com

tradegecko.com

TradeLock | @TradelockCover

Tradevine | @TradevineTeam

tradelock.co.uk

tradevine.com

Validus

Veeqo | @Veeqo

validus.sg

veeqo.com/integrations/xero

Waddle | @getwaddle

Vextras - Kiwi | @vextras

waddle.com.au

vextras.com

Inventory

Volusion by Vextras | @vextras vextras.com

CIN7 | @Cin7online

Zapier | @zapier

cin7.com

zapier.com/apps/xero

Current RMS | @currentrms

Zen Cart by Carry The One

current-rms.com

carrytheone.co.uk

DataQlick | @DataQlick dashboardstream.com

Financial Services

DEAR Inventory | @DearInventory

Beyond Merchant Capital | @beyond_cap

Equifax | @equifax equifax.com Everline | @everline everline.com

moolahsense.com

dearsystems.com Evopos | @evoposdms

tradegecko.com

farmflo.com

corecon.com

unleashedsoftware.com veeqo.com Vend xero.com/uk/marketplace/app/vend Viberent | @viberenthq viberenthq.com Vinsight | @VinsightSW vinsight.net

Invoicing & Jobs Accelo | @accelo www.accelo.com ActionStep | @Actionstep actionstep.com/xero Active Collab By Trio | @Trio_Tech triotech.co.nz Acuity Scheduling | @AcuitySchedulin acuityscheduling.com AffinityLive | @affinitylive affinitylive.com apparelmagic.com

Fishbowl | @fishbowl

Corecon

Veeqo | @Veeqo

Apparelmagic | @ApparelMagic

expandly.com

wise-sync.com Copper | @copperproject

Unleashed Software | @unleashedteam

Expandly | @expandly

fishbowlinventory.com

126 / Issue 22

TradeGecko | @tradegecko

evopos.com

Farmflo | @farmflo

commusoft.co.uk ConnectWise by Wise-Sync | @wisesync

copperproject.com

MoolahSense | @MoolahSense

Shopify By Tradevine | @TradevineTeam

credi.com

cliniko.com/xero Clio | @goclio Co-construct | @coconstruct

Sendle | @sendle

Credi | @CrediPlatform

chargebee.com/integrations/xero Cliniko | @Cliniko

landing.clio.com/xero

carrytheone.co.uk Rocketspark | @Rocketspark

beyondmerchantcapital.com.au

b2bgateway.net

briefcase

FundTap fundtap.co.nz/xero

xero.fooman.co.nz MINDBODY | @mindbodyonline

B2BGateway | @B2BGateway BookingBug | @bookingbug

fundingoptions.com

zapier.com Magento Integration (Fooman) | @foomanNZ

aroflo.com Ascora | @ascoraapp ascora.com.au

simPRO | @simprosoftware

Funding Options | @FundingOptions

Magento by Zapier | @zapier

AroFlo | @aro_flo

ApprovalMax | @ApprovalMax approvalmax.com/xero AppsForOps | @AppsForOps appsforops.com

CLOUD-BASED CONSTRUCTION

SOFTWARE www.corecon.com coreplus | @Intracore coreplus.com.au CurrentRMS | @currentrms current-rms.com Cushion | @cushionapp cushionapp.com Dentally | @DentallyApp dentally.co/integrations/xero DonkeyBean donkeybean.com EMAC | @EMACsoftware emac.com.au ePrint MIS | @eprintmis eprintmis.com etz Technologies | @etzTechnologies etzpayments.com Experieco experieco.com

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

App Directory Fergus | @FergusApp fergusapp.com

Quotient | @QuotientApp quotientapp.com/integrations/xero

Field Aware | @fieldaware fieldaware.com

tradifyhq.com Traffic Live

fleetmatics.com.au

deltek.com

Foodstorm | @FoodStorm

TriggerApp | @triggerapp

foodstorm.com

triggerapp.com/xero

Formitize | @Formitize formitize.com

vinsight.net

Qwilr | @Qwilr

Vintrace | @vinx2

qwilr.com ServiceM8 | @ServiceM8

simplesalon.com/xero simPRO | @simprosoftware simprogroup.com Smart Reports | @smartreports smartreports.com.au SmartTrade | @SmartTradeSW

vinx2.com vWork | @vWorkApp vworkapp.com WHMCS for Xero | @edgehosting edgehosting.uk/whmcs-xero-addon Work[etc] CRM | @WORKetc_support worketc.com/new_landing/xero WorkflowMax | @WorkflowMax workflowmax.com

smarttrade.biz synchroteam.com

i2b-online.com icoslive.com InvoiceTracker by eBillity | @eBillity invoicetracker.com

getboxkite.com

syngency.com

businesssorter.com/xero Chata.ai | @thechataHQ

Start your FREE trial: workflowmax.com/xero Workshop Software | @workshoponline workshopsoftware.com.au xedi.com

LEAP | @LEAP4LawFirms

Manufacturing

leap.co.uk

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT tidybuild com

mechanicdesk.com.au/addon-xero

mytrucking.com/integrations/xero NextMinute | @NextMinuteApp nextminute.com Okappy | @ok_appy

Get started free www.chata.ai

AroFlo | @aro_flo aroflo.com Tidy Enterprise | @TidyInt tidyenterprise.com

MinuteDock | @minutedock MyTrucking | @MyTrucking

AI-Driven analytics and reporting

XEDI | @xediLtd

kickserv.com/xero

minutedock.com

chata.ai

tidyinternational.com

Kickserv | @kickserv

MechanicDesk | @mechanicdesk

blendo.co

Business sorter | @BusinessSorter

The Service Manager | @theservicemgr

itrade.net

loc8.com

backupmybooks.com BizEquity | @BizEquity

Boxkite | @getboxkite

synergist.co.uk

iTrade

Loc8 | @Loc8com

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a match made in heaven.

Syngency | @syngency

theservicemanager.com

trustfile.avalara.com Backupmybooks | @backupmybooks

Blendo | @blendoapp

Synergist | @Synerg1st

TidyBuild | @TidyInt

Avalara | @avalara

bizequity.com/xero

Synchroteam | @synchroteam

iCOS LIVE | @iCOSLIVE

arthuronline.co.uk

deltek.com

Simple Salon | @SimpleSalon

getharvest.com

arlo.co Arthur Online | @ArthurProperty

Vinsight | @VinsightSW

servicem8.com

i2B | @i2B_Limited

aider.ai/partners/xero Arlo

triotech.co.nz/xero

onesaas.com/integrate/xero

Harvest | @harvest

agprofit.com.au aider | @AskAider

Union Square | @unionsquareltd

GeoOp | @GeoOp

goproposal.com

Ag Profit | @AgProfitAus

Trio Technology | @Trio_Tech

FreshBooks | @freshbooks

geoop.com

totalsynergy.com Tradify | @tradifyhq

Fleetmatics WORK | @fleetmatics

GoProposal | @GoProposal

Total Synergy | @totalsynergy

Cloudbusiness | @CloudBusinessLt cloudbusinessllc.com CloudDash

TidyEnterprise | @TidyInt

vesvault.com/partner/xero

tidyenterprise.com

ClubHub | @ClubHubSSL

TidyWork | @TidyInt tidywork.com TimeTracker by eBillity | @eBillity ebillity.com

okappy.com Order Space | @orderspace orderspace.com/integrations/xero

PROJECT & INVENTORY MANAGEMENT tidyenterprise com

Patchability time.patchability.com pay RIGHT AWAY | @PayRIGHTAWAY payrightaway.com.au Preno | @prenohq prenohq.com/xero ProWorkflow | @ProWorkflow

clubhub.co.nz Controlc control-c.com/landing-xero CoverKit by NZI nzi.co.nz Cradle | @letscradlenz cradle.io/integration/xero

Other A2X Accounting | @a2xaccounting a2xaccounting.com/xero Acuity Scheduling | @AcuitySchedulin acuityscheduling.com

Curve | @imaginecurve imaginecurve.com Customer Lobby | @CustomerLobby customerlobby.com EntryRocket | @entryrocket entryrocket.com

proworkflow.com

Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

Issue 22 / 127

App Directory Expense Check | @expensecheck expensecheck.com.au ezyVet | @ezyvet ezyvet.com/xero-accounting/ Farmflo | @farmflo farmflo.com Flowrev | @flowrev flowrev.com/xero Fresh Projects | @ukfreshprojects freshprojects.co.uk G-Accon | @G_AcconServices www.accon.services Google Calender By Zapier | @zapier zapier.com Imporex imporex.com.au InView inviewapp.com JobReady | @JobReadyNSW jobready.com.au Kitomba | @Kitomba kitomba.com LEAP | @LEAP4LawFirms leap.co.uk LeaveCal finlert.com/leavecal-xero.html Office 365 | @Office365 xero.com/uk/office-365 OneSaas | @onesaas onesaas.com Onsight | @Onsight_App onsightapp.com OzBiz Solutions | @OzBizSolutions ozbizsolutions.com.au PennyPipe | @PennyPipe

Track1099 | @Track_1099 track1099.com

ezidebit.com.au

TransferMate | @TransferMate transfermateonline.com

workato.com/xero Workshop Software | @workshoponline workshopsoftware.com.au Wufoo by Zapier | @zapier

rdvault.co.uk

zapier.com zapier.com zenoti.com/xero

Sharesight | @Sharesight sharesight.com/xero Sharesight Pro | @Sharesight pro.sharesight.com.au Synergy 8 | @SynergyEight synergy8.com Tax1099 | @efile1099 tax1099.com

acuityscheduling.com Authorize.Net | @AuthorizeNet reseller.authorize.net Bill and Pay | @BillandPay

Australia

OFX xero.com/uk/financial-services/ofx Pay RIGHT AWAY | @PayRIGHTAWAY payrightaway.com.au register.payoneer.com

Bill.com | @billcom

Payment Express | @PaymentExpress

bill.com Chargebee | @chargebee chargebee.com/integrations/xero Chargify | @Chargify

paymentexpress.com/xero PayPal | @PayPal paypal.com PayPal by Zapier | @zapier

chargify.com/xero Checkeeper | @Checkeeper

checkvault.com.au

zapier.com PennyPipe | @PennyPipe pennypipe.com/info/xero Pin Payments | @PinPayments pin.net.au

CreDec | @CreDec

Plooto | @PlootoInc

credec.com

app.plooto.co POLi Payments | @POLiPayments polipayments.com

Make payments from Xero Instant accounting Bank simplicity credec.com/xero

Receivabl | @receivabl_es receivabl.es Rerun | @Rerunapp rerunapp.com SAT FXOnline | @satworldwide satfxonline.co.uk Shieldpay | @shield_pay shieldpay.com

Debtor Daddy | @debtordaddy

Stripe | @stripe

debtordaddy.com/xero CreDec-XUMag-43x43mm-Directory.indd 17.2.2020 20.00 stripe.com Directli | @Directli directli.co.uk DPS Payment Express | @PaymentExpress paymentexpress.co.uk EazyCollect | @eazyCollect eazycollect.co.uk EzyCollect | @ezyCollect

cloudpayroll.com.au

kwanji.com

Payoneer | @Payoneer

billandpay.com

eway.io

128 / Issue 22

invoicesherpa.com

Kwanji | @KwanjiX

Acuity Scheduling | @AcuitySchedulin

ezycollect.com.au

ipayroll.co.nz

izettle.com

Payments

eWay | @eWAY_

New Zealand

integrapay.com.au

iZettle | @iZettle

Real Estate Investar | @reiaustraila

rerunapp.com

cloudpayroll.com.au

InvoiceSherpa | @invoicesherpa

Zenoti | @ZenotiSoftware

re-leased.com

Rerun | @Rerunapp

citrushr.com/xero CloudPayroll

IntegraPay | @IntegraPay

Zendesk by Zapier | @zapier

Re-leased | @re_leased

realestateinvestar.com.au

appogeehr.com citrusHR | @citrusHR

Zapier | @zapier

Progressclaim.com | @progressclaim

RDvault | @rdvault

business.worldpay.com

gocardless.com/xero

zapier.com

propertytree.com

Make sure you get paid on time, every time with the GoCardless for Xero app

Workato | @Workato

Podio by Zapier | @zapier

PropertyTree | @PropertyTree

ucollect.biz/xero Worldpay

appogeeHR | @AppogeeHR

wisenet.co

CheckVault | @CheckVault

progressclaim.com

uCollect | @ucollect_biz

Payroll & HR

Wise.NET | @WisenetLRM

pensionsync | @pensionsync

podio.com

gocardless.com

vinosmith.com

checkeeper.com/xero

Podio by Phases

GoCardless | @GoCardless

Vinosmith | @thevinosmith

pennypipe.com/info/xero pensionsync.com

Ezidebit | @Ezidebit

Stripe by Commerce Sync | @commercesync commercesync.com Square | @SquareUK squareup.com Transfer Mate | @TransferMate transfermateonline.com TransferWise | @TransferWise transferwise.com

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

Professional Services AppsForOps | @AppsForOps appsforops.com BGL Corporate Solutions | @BGLdot bglcorp.com BGL Corporate Solutions | @BGLdot bglcorp.com Hunt & Hawk | @HuntandHawk huntandhawk.com Inform Direct | @InformDirect informdirect.co.uk instafile | @InstafileApp instafile.co.uk Link Solutions | @LinkSolutions linksolutions.co.nz SuperConcepts | @SuperConceptsAU superconcepts.com.au

Reporting Ag Profit | @AgProfitAus agprofit.com.au Angeloop | @AgProfitAus agprofit.com.au Asset Guru | @Asset_Guru asset.guru/xero Benchmarking.com.au benchmarking.com.au Bizeo | @bizeo bizeo.com.au BizEquity | @BizEquity bizequity.com/xero Blink Reports blinkreports.com BPM bpmglobal.com Brightgauge | @BrightGauge brightgauge.com/xero Bstar | @BstarAustralia bstar.com.au

Quick win development | @quickwindev quickwindevelopment.com QVinci | @Qvinci qvinci.com/xero Recount recount.com/xero-homepage-uk Ranqx | @ranqxHQ ranqx.com Report Amigo | @reportamigo reportamigo.com/xero Saasabi | @Saasabi saasabi.com/xero Savvy Reports savvyreports.com SeederBoard | @seederboard seederboard.com Simple Numbers | @gregcrabtreecpa simplenumbers.me Simply Cashflow | @simplycashflow simplycashflow.com/xero StatX | @StatXapp statx.io Spotlight Reporting | @spotlightrep spotlightreporting.com

Futrli | @Futrli futrli.com Infoodle | @infoodle infoodle.com/xero joiin | @joiinreporting joiin.co Klipfolio Dashboard | @klipfolio

#1 Reporting & Forecasting app in the Xero Ecosystem

klipfolio.com Maus | @MAUS_Software

spotlightreporting.com

maus.com.au Momentum atsora.com/xero My Cash Flow app | @MyCashFlowAppSa mycashflowapp.co.za My work papers | @myworkpapers myworkpapers.com My Own CFO | @myown_cfo myown-cfo.com Neatly | @go_neatly neatly.io/integrations/xero Numerable | @NumerableSW numerable.io Onestop reporting | @OneStopReports onestopreporting.com/xero Panalitix | @panalitix panalitix.com

Btc | @BTCSoftwareUK

ProfitSee | @MyProfitSee

btcsoftware.co.uk

myprofitsee.com/xero

Thomson Reuters | @TaxAccountingUK tax.thomsonreuters.co.uk Unleash unleash.us Visible | @VisibleVC visible.vc/integrations/xero Vistr | @VistrTeam vistr.co Wink Reports ;) | @WinkReports winkreports.com/connectors/xero Watchful Eye | @watchful_eye_sw watchfuleyesoftware.com Xavier | @xavieranalytics xavier-analytics.com XBert | @XBertapp xbert.io

AI-powered process automation and risk alerts 2019 XERO AWARDS EMERGING APP FINALISTS

www.xbert.io

checkmybooks.co.uk

shopify.com

Subscribe for FREE: Go to subscriptions.xumagazine.com

Issue 22 / 129

App Directory Zenflow zenflow.me

MinuteDock | @minutedock minutedock.com

Total Synergy | @totalsynergy totalsynergy.com

account-kit.com

Tsheets | @tsheets

Zivora | @ZivoraApp

Class Super | @Class_Ltd

tsheets.com/xero

zivora.co

class.com.au

Tymwise | @kapaitymwise tymwise.com workflowmax.com

Excel Int. Tools - QWD | @quickwindev

zerotime.io

quickwindevelopment.com

ZUUS Workforce | @zuusworkforce zuusworkforce.com

Zoho | @Zoho zoho.eu

Deputy | @deputyapp

Tanda | @TandaHQ

ebillity.com Fergus | @FergusApp fergusapp.com

ezzybills.com

Boma | @Boma_Marketing bomamarketing.com/xero Datamolino | @datamolino

myown-cfo.com

fathomhq.com

My work papers | @myworkpapers

Futrli | @Futrli

myworkpapers.com

futrli.com

NowInfinity | @Now_Infinity

Hubdoc | @Hubdoc

nowinfinity.com.au

Practice Ignition | @ignitionapp

Quick Win Development | @quickwindev quickwindevelopment.com Receipt Bank | @ReceiptBank receipt-bank.com Spotlight Reporting | @spotlightrep spotlightreporting.com

Temponia | @temponia temponia.com/xero TidyWork | @TidyInt

300+ five star reviews

suitefiles.com Receipt Bank | @ReceiptBank receipt-bank.com spotlightreporting.com

JOB MANAGEMENT

Google Calender by Zapier | @zapier zapier.com Harvest | @harvest

timesheets.com.au jobprocentral.com KeyPay | @KeyPayApp keypay.com.au Magnetic | @magnetichq magnetichq.com/xero Microkeeper | @Microkeeper microkeeper.com.au

130 / Issue 22

Suitefiles | @SuiteFiles

TimeTracker by eBillity | @eBillity ebillity.com

Year End Wolters Kluwer | @wolterskluweruk

File management for accountants

TimeCamp | @timecamp

Xero add-on marketplace

timecamp.com Timely gettimely.com/timely-xero Timestamp | @timestampio

trustworks.co.nz Xero Workpapers | @Xero xero.com

suitefiles.com

tidywork com

getharvest.com iCOS LIVE - Online Transport

end-game.com Trustworks | @trustworksnz

Spotlight Reporting | @spotlightrep

geoop.com

JobPro Central | @JobProCentral

stryke.com.au

Time Tracker by EndGame | @GoEndGame

GeoOp | @GeoOp

i-man.com.au

Stryke Tax | @stryketax Suitefiles | @SuiteFiles

tidywork.com

freshdesk.com/xero

Intertec TimePro

Practice Ignition | @ignitionapp practiceignition.com

practiceignition.com

tanda.co

Freshdesk | @freshdesk

IMS Service Track

mogul.nz/xero My Own CFO | @myown_cfo

Fathom | @fathomhq

flexitime.co.nz

icoslive.com

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Dawn of Relevance Follows a Decade of Discovery Whether you believe we are in a new decade or still seeing out the old one, the grand arc of technology development certainly feels like it has shifted...

ne could characterise the past decade as the coming of age of cloud accounting software. The next period will see their consolidation into broader business platforms that will become central to the operation of many SMEs. Look at the speed at which software companies are pushing against the boundaries of online accounting software, bringing it to parity with the desktop and beyond. Xero Projects is maturing rapidly into the starting point for any business wanting to track profitability through job cost tracking, and time. Xero’s projects module followed a year after Intuit added a similar function to QuickBooks Online. Receipt capture is also now firmly part of the accounting experience. MYOB released a functional version with Smart Bills in 2017, and Intuit added receipt capture for US customers last June. Last year, Xero took it a step further with the acquisition of a standalone document collection and management app, HubDoc, and included it as part of the Xero subscription. HubDoc pioneered document fetching, and is using Xero’s extra volume to improve its receipt processing ability. Sage followed suit when it snapped up UK-based AutoEntry, a more robust receipt capture tool, in September. Suffice to say, business 132 / Issue 22

owners will expect receipt capture and processing to be included in online accounting software from 2020 onwards. Xero also expanded accounting software further into payments with a major Stripe integration that added a Stripe bank feed and subscription invoicing. Xero then followed up with a major integration with Australian bank NAB that sends a batch payment directly to NAB. The business owner can then approve the bills from the NAB mobile app, without needing to visit NAB’s online banking portal. Intuit has had something similar in the US for some time – an easier proposition given that it operates its own payments service, competing with Stripe and other suppliers. Zoho Books too has built deep integrations with banks in India such as ICICI. Will this make the online banking portal obsolete? Innovation in this area is desperately needed. If your accounting software becomes the portal for all your payments tasks, with a bank smartphone app just for approval, this is quite a leap in the importance of your accounting software. All these new features certainly give small businesses much more productivity firepower from their accounting package. The more powerful the package, the longer Xero and others will hold onto

@AccountingBExpo

Sholto Macpherson is an awardwinning journalist who has spent the past eight years researching SME accounting technology and its impact on the accounting profession. He is the editor of accounting tech blog DigitalFirst.com and is the head of content for the Accounting Business Expo and Accountech. Live expos. He also contributes to In The Black and Acuity magazines, among other publications.

their biggest and most valuable subscribers. This is good news for public accountants too. Upgrading to an ERP such as NetSuite usually involves hiring an internal accounting team, and cutting back on outsourced services such as bookkeeping. But the ERPs won’t give up the high-end of the SME market without a fight. NetSuite has dropped its prices and rolled out industry specific templates under its SuiteSuccess program. It is also putting more effort into selling directly to SMEs rather than through its consulting partners. Sage snapped up Intacct, a popular online ERP in the US that focuses on services based businesses. Intacct will play a key role in the renewal of the Sage brand as a cloud-centric software company. ERPs are honing their pitch as “the one business platform you will ever need”. You can imagine Xero saying something similar in the future, at least to SMEs that don’t have international or interstate aspirations. To fulfil this goal, ERPs and accounting software will need to borrow aspects of the other. It will be interesting to see where these two camps end up after another 10 years of competition. Apps for managing accounting

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practices has been a relatively underfunded area compared to SME tools. Now we are seeing some really interesting developments. There are new players with new ideas such as Brussels-based Silverfin making moves in the UK, and Tax Lab emerging from New Zealand into Australia. One to watch is Microsoft. It is rapidly increasing the breadth of its Office 365 productivity platform; the launch of Slack competitor Microsoft Teams, a chat-based interface for

internal communications, could revolutionise how firms operate. It is also democratising enterprise technologies such as robotic process automation with Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow), an automation platform similar to Zapier or Workato. The technology wheel inevitably turns. Each revolution brings with it new questions for every business. Instead of, “Which platform is best for me?” perhaps we should be asking, “How can I get the maximum benefit from what I’m

paying for?” Both excellent questions, and with highly valuable answers. The Accounting Business Expo 2020 is the easiest place to find those answers in the shortest time. I look forward to seeing you there.

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Issue 22 / 133

...and finally

Uber for Business joins Xero Connect in Australia and NZ W

@Xero

Tyson Lloyd, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Xero Australia

e’re proud to announce that Uber for Business has joined Xero Connect in Australia and New Zealand. Since unveiling our partnership with Uber for Business last year, we’ve been working hard on a solution to reduce administrative burden for small business owners. The feedback we’ve had so far has been great. And from today, the integration is available for free to all users of Xero and Uber for Business. “We’re constantly on the move, so using Uber for Business to manage staff travel is a no-brainer,” said Alyce Tran of The Daily Edited, a luxury brand specialising in monogrammable leather goods. “We are excited to have Uber for Business available on Xero Connect, as it means we’ll save even more time at the end of month by removing manual data entry.” Uber for Business with Xero can simplify your travel expenses as well as help streamline cash flow with monthly billing. Instead of paying per trip, organisations can apply for monthly billing, eliminating the hassle of handling multiple trips and receipts from employees. And with Xero Connect,

the monthly Uber bill will flow seamlessly into Xero. This saves business owners time, removes manual data entry and increases the accuracy of invoices. A regional first Xero is the first online accounting platform to partner with the global ride-sharing app in Australia and New Zealand. “By partnering with Xero, we’re creating another avenue for Uber for Business customers to benefit from streamlined technology solutions that not only improve business travel but save precious time,” said Georgia Foster, Head of Uber for Business, Australia & New Zealand. Customise your experience While employees get the freedom to set up business profiles to keep work and personal trips separate, Uber for Business lets organisations manage how their employees use Uber for work-related trips. Here are some other great features: • Separate personal from business: Request rides with your Uber for Business account from one global app, and streamline expenses

with a separate business profile. • Custom Travel Policies: Set your own travel policies for different teams and projects while ensuring that every trip is correctly coded for reconciliation and accounting. • Easy Group Travel Management: Gain insight into how your teams move with Uber. Set custom permissions and monitor travel usage, compliance, and spending. How to get started • The first step is to download Uber for Business from the Xero App Marketplace. • If you’re not already an active Uber for Business user, you’ll need to create a new account here. • For organisations who sign up to monthly billing, Uber will email you a monthly PDF statement outlining the trips made that month for all employees on your account. • To apply for Monthly Billing simply log in to your Uber for Business Dashboard, go to the Billing tab and submit a request • Xero will extract the statement data and automatically create a draft bill in Xero. • You can then review, approve and pay the draft bill. • When the payment record comes into Xero via your bank feed, it will automatically be matched to your Uber for Business statement and reconciled. If we can help you save time processing travel costs, simplify reconciliation, and provide a seamless experience with Uber for Business and Xero, we’ll be delighted. Head over to the Xero App Marketplace today and download Uber for Business to get started. And let us know what you think in the Marketplace reviews!

134 / Issue 22

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