What is Xero and what makes it amazing?

Xero is the UK's leading online accounting software for small businesses. But what is it and what makes it so great? Carol Lewis, Director of Bainbridge Lewis, shares the top five things that make Xero amazing.

Xero is an online bookkeeping system which allows business owners, bookkeepers and accountants to work together on one set of figures. Xero have spent a lot of time developing their user interface so that the software is easy to use and they even use the tag line “Beautiful accounting software”.

It is perfect for small and start-up businesses as they charge a monthly subscription (normally £20 plus VAT a month) rather than you having to purchase the software and then pay for updates and support.

Here are the top five things that we think make Xero amazing:

Less stress - Xero operates in the cloud so you can access it from anywhere, even on your mobile phone. Your accountants can access it too, so if you get stuck or need some advice they can have a look.

Save money – Automatic bank and PayPal feeds save you so much time as you do not have to enter all the transactions. Once set up, the transactions from your business accounts feed straight into Xero, all you have to do is let it know what these transactions are for. It even starts to learn what your regular transactions are.

Make money – Raising invoices is really easy and you can email them straight out to your customers. You can even set up repeating invoices to be sent automatically. Your dashboard clearly shows all the invoices that are outstanding making it easier to chase in what you are owed.

Control - Xero offers easy access to up-to-date information. The home screen in Xero shows your current bank balances, money that is due to come in and money due out. This makes it so much easier to manage your cash flow. There are also very easy to use reports that can show how your business is doing, comparing month by month or by year.

Simplicity - Xero is designed for small business owners and doesn't contain lots of accountancy terms like debit, credit and liabilities. Items are labelled exactly for what they are, in plain English.

Bainbridge Lewis are currently offering free trials of Xero to the end of November so email them at info@bainbridgelewis.co.uk or call 01273 737307 if you want to give it a go.

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