22/09/2026
Is Xero a tool you use - or a chore?
For the chores:
💣 Everything is on paper - or in inboxes. At a month end, VAT quarter, year end - there's a mad scramble to put it all on Xero so you can do something for HMRC - or your accountant.
💣 You've got no idea how much to pay your suppliers. They send you statements and you pay what they tell you. You've got no system in place.
💣 Your VAT is all over the place. You're likely underclaiming VAT as you don't have any automation in place to get the recovery you're entitled to.
💣 Your VAT could be all over the place because the person working on your accounts doesn't know what they are doing. We had a scenario where the bookkeeper was claiming VAT on PAYE. Yes - you read that right 😶 In fact - almost every VAT treatment there was just wrong.
💣 You haven't got any idea if you've made a profit. The biggest issue we find is that spend on salaries doesn't make it into the accounts. Your accountant is doing the payroll - and only enters those figures at the end of a year. (I saw that a month ago 😶)
💣 You can't forecast cashflow in your software as you've got no useable data.
💣 Your bank reconciliation might have hundreds or thousands of unreconciled transactions. Until those are reconciled - the numbers aren't included in your reports. I think our worst was in excess of 37,000 unreconciled transactions. We are literally unshockable
💣 Your sales come in from other system. You record the income you receive at the bank - but actually this includes discounts, payment charges, gift cards, shipping. This isn't just an e-commerce issue. Membership organisations, beauty salons etc - all have variations on a theme.
If Xero is a tool:
🚀 Your paperwork is automated to flow into your accounts daily.
🚀 Your bank reconciliation is in a position to turn on auto bank reconcile - so there's very little interaction or work required here, other than a review.
🚀 Your sales are generated in Xero - or the data is integrated from your other systems and all mapped to the correct codes
🚀 You've got payment services turned on - and combined with credit control measures, so your customers pay you promptly.
🚀 You run regular payment runs, paying the invoices you've seen and approved - with visibility over the value of payment runs a couple of weeks before you actually have to pay them
🚀 Your cashflow is up to date - and that is reviewed weekly. You've got good visibility over the next two or three months
🚀 Your account codes are structured well. They describe what your business actually does - so that the numbers produced are meaningful.
🚀 We can track gross profit and net profit margins so we know when these are dipping - and can dig in to the why. Too many business owners have to spend time on what the profit margins are - before they can even get to the why.
If you're worried - at all - about your accounts, we’d be really happy to have a quick chat - and give some advice.
📸 Throwback to 2024
