Xero - anyone got any first hand experience

[madmover]

We just had a free trial for one of my companies, and it seemed pretty decent. We're partially exempt from VAT and on the face of it, Xero seems to handle that quite well although I think it needs to be configured better than what I did the other day.

Is anyone else partially exempt from VAT? If so, can you recommend either Xero or an alternative?


Andy

[tuffer]

I use it for generating quotes and the accounts team use it for invoicing and other stuff, I really like it and they don't appear to have any complaints. Sorry that may not be very technical or detailed but I am not a "power user" as such.

[timskipper]

I've used it exclusively for 5 years now, I think it's bloody brilliant, and so does my accountant.

[doogle83]

I'm looking at setting this up currently too.

Like the look of it for raising purchase orders to suppliers and invoices to customers. Do people use the online "pay now" feature on invoices and if so, which payment gateway did you go for?

[PhilboSE]

Accountant recommended we use it, have done so now for a year, it does the job.

Strikes just the right balance between complexity and capability. Very intuitive to use. Reporting is a bit sub-par, though.

[Eric Mc]

I've had a look at at and was not too impressed. I'm a bit old fashioned I suppose and I found it difficult to follow transactions through.

It will be interesting how it will fit into HMRC's Making Tax Digital plans.

[Flooble]

I struggled to figure out how I could set up a "contact" (i.e. customer) with more than one person as the recipient of invoices. Some of our customers are rather large and thus there are multiple people with whom one has to deal when sending out the invoice (or the quote, for that matter).

Irritating, when cheaper software allows you to do it.

[uber]

It's worth hiring a trainer for half a day to come in, set it all up and show you how things work. It's a powerful bit of kit and we have done tons of integrations with it.

[andyb28]

We have used Xero for around 18 months now.

Previously we had always used Quickbooks, which I really liked, so it took quite a lot to consider the change.
However, once we were shown how to use it, I wouldn't move back, its a great system.

The biggest bonus for us was sharing our accounts with the accountant. Previously we had to upload a large quickbooks file for them, but now they just log into Xero.

Andy

[V8OW]

I think it's a great product. The fact that high street accountancy firms seem to be recommending it over Sage 50 (which was previously the standard for many) suggests it's got a lot of support within the industry too.

[Eric Mc]

I wonder are they on commission (like Sage always did)?

[V8OW]

Not the firms I know of, but could well be. Regardless, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want their clients on an inferior platform for a small amount of commission.

[Eric Mc]

You never know with some accountants.

I worked in a firm that got commission from Sage. This was about 20 years ago and it's one of the reasons why Sage gained such a foothold in the small business sector at that time.

[Davel]

We moved from Sage Line 50 to Xero mainly on the advice of our Accountants too.

Find it very good and our Accountants can pull off reports and make any adjustments as and when required.

[bga]

Eric Mc said:

I wonder are they on commission (like Sage always did)?

Xero have an affiliate program.

I can only speak from my experiences of the tool - they are pretty positive. We use it for UK, US, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia.

We have had some glitches mainly with fixes to one problem causing new errors elsewhere however they are generally fixed quickly.

[TheD]

I use it as well and I think it is great. I was already on it when I moved to a new accountant (long story) and he is chuffed I use it. He hopes through time all his smaller clients move over to it.

[Eric Mc]

bga said:

Xero have an affiliate program.

I can only speak from my experiences of the tool - they are pretty positive. We use it for UK, US, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia.

We have had some glitches mainly with fixes to one problem causing new errors elsewhere however they are generally fixed quickly.

How ell does it monitor Debtors' and Creditors' ledgers?

The one example I saw of it in use it wasn't great. However, that could have been down to teh user rather than the system.

[s2kjock]

The firm I work for is a Xero "partner", and I think there are benefits when you reach thresholds of clients with it, but our main reason for offering it was down to client demand, in particular from smaller/new organisations.

I have not used it that much myself (it's not my area) but the sessions I have had on it demonstrated that it could do most of what Sage can and in a more easily understood way for "non-accountants".

If you are familiar with Sage as an accountant it does take a bit of time to work out how to get what you are used to, but with regular use shouldn't be a problem.

Sage could be more cost effective as a one off purchase, but AIUI they seem to be heading towards the ongoing fee model of Xero anyway so that may not last long.

[tpalmer]

Another vote for it here.

We've been using it for 18 months or so now, and very impressed on the whole.
Also have several clients and friends using it who all rave about it.

Regarding training, we have received some from a previous client, and would definiltey recommend it if you're struggling to get to grips: kenbellaccounting.co.uk

[bga]

Eric Mc said:

How ell does it monitor Debtors' and Creditors' ledgers?

The one example I saw of it in use it wasn't great. However, that could have been down to teh user rather than the system.

I'm afraid my knowledge is limited, I used Aged Payables & Aged Receivables reports to track creditors & debtors respectively. It's also simple to go into the GL and view AP and AR aggregates and line items for a given period.