Deciding what accounting system to use is a big decision for a company.  Whether it’s your first accounting system, or upgrading from an existing system, you are looking for the right system that will grow with you over the years to come.

Every business is different, and the needs of every business are different.  Understanding your business, your needs and your company ways of working are key to a successful implementation.

As a Xero Partner and Certified Advisor Indigo Accounting can help you in defining what you want from Xero and implement the system so that it delivers benefits to your business, both now and as you grow in the future.

Xero is available in a web version as well as a mobile version (tablet and phone).

Whether it’s capturing expenses or issuing invoices to clients, the mobile app allows you to stay on top of the important things whilst on the move.

The first step in any successful implementation is defining what you as the customer want from the system:

• Who will use the system (in-house accounting team, outsourced team, sales staff on the go, etc.)?
• What external systems do you need Xero to integrate with?
• What processes currently cause you problems that you want Xero to ‘fix’?
• Do you operate in just one currency or in multiple currencies?
• What reporting do you want and when?
• etc.

Once we understand your business we can then get on with building and tailoring Xero to meet your needs.

We can also demonstrate Apps that integrate with Xero, that may be of interest to you for ‘fixing’ some of your current process pain-points.

For any business the easiest time to implement an accounting system is when you first start operating.

In reality however implementing an accounting system is low on most people’s priority list when they start a business, and using excel or managing by the bank balance is how most people start out.

Therefore we will need to agree with you what go-live date you want for Xero, and what you want to do about transactions before that date.  You have two options:

This is the most straight forward option.

You close your previous financial year on your old ‘system’, and tell us what sales and purchase invoices were outstanding and your bank balance(s).  Once you have audited financial statements you give us the detail of the other balances that make up your balance sheet.

We will load those outstanding invoices and balances into Xero, and you’re ready to go.

This option is more complicated, and will incur additional costs.

You can either:

• Close your old ‘system’ at a month end, and give us those balances to start Xero with; or,
• We recreate your transactions since your last financial year end in Xero.

If you go for the first option this will mean your auditor will have to audit two systems to cover the full financial year, which they will probably charge you extra for.  Auditors generally don’t like this option.

The second option means we have a catch-up piece to do, but then you have the advantage of reporting for the full year, consistently, from Xero and your auditor will immediately see the benefits of auditing based on Xero.  This is the preferred option if you are going live part way through a year.

At the same time as implementing Xero we can be training your staff.

This may be a full finance department, if you have in-house finance staff, or just key staff if you are outsourcing your day-to-day accounting to us.

In addition, we can provide training on how to run reports in Xero (plus any add-on reporting app(s) you may have decided to use).

We can also provide training for staff using Xero Expenses and/or Xero Projects, or other apps that integrate with Xero (if you’ve decided to use third-party apps instead).

We will agree with you the scope of training, and the staff who should attend, as part of scoping the implementation service.

Getting your staff bought in to the new ways of working that will come with fully implementing Xero will be key to realising the benefits that Xero will bring to your business.

If you have decided to use our outsourced Accounting Service you will get ongoing support as part of that arrangement, and Indigo Accounting will hold your Xero licence on your behalf.

If you have in-house accounting staff that you wish to retain we can offer a support service, either for a short period post implementation or for a longer period.  We can also hold your Xero licence on your behalf.

Interested in seeing how our services could benefit your business, or know someone who may be interested in our services?

Please get in touch and let’s workout how we can support you in building your business, and help you achieve your business goals.