Xero - Why its the bees knees!

A few years ago, who would have thought you could be watching your kids play sports while keeping on top of your business’s finances? All from a phone in the palm of your hand? Or that you could be travelling – across town or across the world – and be able to login to your accounting software and see where your business stands at that precise moment in time?

As we reach the end of National Small Business week, it’s important to reflect on how technology plays a pivotal role in most small businesses and, for businesses using Xero, how you can take advantage of its capabilities to achieve your business goals.

If you’re a small business owner, here are five reasons you should use Xero to help you run your business.

1. Work where and when you want toWhether you want to use your smartphone or tablet, or your PC or Mac, Xero lets you keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. Xero also works hard to ensure you – and anyone else who needs to access your finances – are working off the same data, wherever you are, whenever you want.

2. Improve cash flow and get paid fasterEvery business needs to get paid, and Xero equips small businesses with tools you can use to get paid faster.
Go beyond “traditional” printed invoices and start using online invoices. Rather than send your customers a PDF file – or, worse, a printed document – you can send them an online invoice. The advantages? Not only is it faster, you can also see whether they’ve opened it, and they have the ability to pay you online through your invoice. The faster the process, the faster you get paid.

3. Let Xero do the heavy lifting while you sleepSmart software should be easy to use and also work behind the scenes to help you save time. Let Xero perform those tedious, repetitive tasks that take you away from doing the things that can add more value to your business.
If you use invoicing, then Xero’s automated Invoice Reminders can do the chasing for you. If your customers take a while to pay you, or you are spending hours chasing overdue invoices, then Invoice Reminders is a must-have. It will automatically send an email to your customers if an invoice is overdue (or about to become due).
And if you’re an advisor, then Find & Recode could save you hours. It’s easier than ever to find your way through a client’s records and then update those records en masse. Hundreds of records to update? Find & Recode will save you hundreds of minutes.

4. Collaborate with your advisorsWe call it the Single Ledger, but think of it as the single set of data that both you and your advisor can work from. This means you’re both seeing the same set of data at the same time.
This saves you from having to export data and send it to your advisor – as soon as you sent it, it’s likely out of date. And as an advisor it saves you the trouble of importing the data into another solution, which not only means you may not be working off the latest information but, because it’s often unwieldy to do, then any problems in a client’s business may not be discovered for months.
What’s more, you’re free to invite your advisors into your file at no additional cost – we make it easier than ever to collaborate with those who matter.

5. Xero grows with youWhether you’re just setting up your business, or you already use multiple systems, Xero’s ecosystem can help you. Xero works with more than 500 products so you can craft a solution that meets your needs.
Whether it’s integrating with your email (Xero integrates with Gmail and Office 365) or you want to use specialized systems – such as customer relationship management, inventory or industry-specific solutions (such as Vend or Shopify), then Xero’s add-on marketplace gives you the flexibility to create a mix that meets your business’s specific needs.
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If you’ve yet to try Xero, you can easily sign up for a free 30 day trial. And if you’re a current Xero user, why not take the time to reflect on how you use Xero and explore their range of videos and courses to get the most out of it!

​Blog adapted from Top 5 reasons why small businesses should pick Xero from our friends at Xero

Ready to switch to Xero…But not sure where to start?There’s a few things you can do:

• You can dive right in and book in your Xero Setup with Laguna Bay Bookkeeping.
• Book a consult with us to talk about whether Xero is right for you.
• OR if you’re a current Xero user, we can conduct a Free Xero Health check to ensure everything is in tip top shape.