Xero, making it easier to empower clients with their own finances
December 13, 2024

Xero, making it easier to empower clients with their own finances

Chris Coetsee | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Xero

Biggest issue most clients used to have was access to up to date data at their fingertips. Most legacy accounting systems meant that, as an accountant, you only get to assist the client after the fact, after they already made some crucial decisions for their business. By implementing Xero we have been able to assist our clients with real time data, meaning we are able to give them insights into their business, making it easier for us to add more value to their business by allowing better decision making when it means the most. It also means we can do in-depth business and tax planning, removing the fear of the unknown from the business owner, and let's face it, most small business owners always fear tax season based on the fact that they don't always have all the facts before-hand. In my opinion, using Xero has been the best decision for us as an accounting practice and for our clients and their businesses.

Pros

  • Keeping track of value added tax for payment purposes
  • Keeping in eye on expenses to keep you under budget
  • keeps accountants in the loop to better guide their clients
  • Accountants can add more value to their clients with the added info at their disposal

Cons

  • Multiple addresses for singular contacts.
  • Limit unit price decimals to 2 digits, currently shows 3 or more after the decimal on invoices.
  • Discounted rates for multiple entities within the same group e.g. if you have a group of 3 or more companies looking to move to Xero, incentivize those clients with discounted monthly rates.
  • Easier way to reconcile loan accounts across multiple entities.
  • If the bank feeds work, it saves a lot of time
  • Fixed asset register makes keeping track of assets a breeze
  • With Hubdoc free on Xero it also helps a lot, especially with time saving and ease of use
It is extremely user friendly. Most clients tend to catch on fairly quickly, from adding new contacts, to creating invoice templates, it all flows into one another quite seamlessly. It also helps with clients who might be a bit older and normally finds using newer tech, anything that is still running on windows '95, and yes, we've had a couple of those, to put them at ease and empowers them to feel in control of their finances.
It has helped a lot, especially when it comes having access to client info well before it is to late to change anything. After we implemented Xero at our clients we found that it opened up the communication channels a lot more, giving us access to info when it is necessary, allowing us to better guide clients when it comes to making the best decisions for the business and for the finances.
We have done quite a couple of integration for direct clients as well as once off clients. Each integration had its own learning curve, but each one was fairly easy from start to finish. We implemented Woo-commerce for a couple of clients to facilitate a seamless transition for online sales between their website and Xero, and the same thing for clients using Shopify.
Each of the products I listed had their own list of drawbacks, but the one thing they all had in common, which was right on top of that list of drawbacks, was ease of use. I struggled to get myself accustomed to each system and struggled, but when it came to getting a client to even try and use it was when the true struggle started. Just found it easier to make use of Xero from the very beginning.

Do you think Xero delivers good value for the price?

No

Are you happy with Xero's feature set?

Yes

Did Xero live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Xero go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Xero again?

Yes

The biggest reason we advise most of our clients to go with a Xero package is the ease of use. Some of the more legacy software suites on the market requires that the user must have some experience with accounting principles and/or software. By making use of Xero we have been able empower even the most inept business owner, making them feel fearless when it comes to their own finances, removing the stigma around finances in business.

Xero Feature Ratings

Accounts payable
8
Accounts receivable
8
Cash management
6
Bank reconciliation
10
Expense management
7
Time tracking
7
Fixed asset management
10
Multi-currency support
8
Multi-division support
3
Regulations compliance
3
Electronic tax filing
8
Self-service portal
5
Global Financial Support
7
Primary and Secondary Ledgers
6
Inventory tracking
4
Dashboards
6
Standard reports
7
Custom reports
4
Plug-ins
8
Role-based user permissions
8

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