Xero

JimAndy · Jan 29, 2021

i remember from a few years ago this was the accounting package that most on here recommended.

is it still as good ?

as i was reading some of the newer reviews and a number of them were saying that it is now were near as good value anymore, that it customer services had gone to hell. and that it just doesn't work as well (has got bloated)

any one use any other account software, of farmware that able to do accounts as well

Chae1 · Jan 29, 2021

I get on fine with xero. I'm a simpleton.

Do 4 sets of accounts on 3 different packages. Xero is my favourite.

Boysground · Jan 29, 2021

Xero is great. I have never worried about the cost as it’s substantially less than I used to pay for farmplan. It’s easy to use the only training I had was a couple of hours with my accountants Xero guru. Nobody to speak to on the phone but the online help is excellent. Lots on TFF use it and the Xero thread is a very handy place to ask questions

Give the demo a go. I’m not changing now, been using it for 5 years

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Farm Matters Ltd · Jan 29, 2021

We use Xero and find it works great for us.

• Easy to use
• All the functionality we need
• Saves us loads of time compared to the old paper/Excel records
• Lets us easily track our financial performance

To echo @Boysground we've also been using it a few years and have no desire to change.

I would suggest that having an accountant that knows about Xero is a big help.

Boysground · Jan 29, 2021

The other advantage of an accountant that uses Xero is no paperwork to shift around. It’s all on Xero

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JimAndy · Jan 29, 2021

Farm Matters Ltd said:
We use Xero and find it works great for us.

• Easy to use
• All the functionality we need
• Saves us loads of time compared to the old paper/Excel records
• Lets us easily track our financial performance

To echo @Boysground we've also been using it a few years and have no desire to change.

I would suggest that having an accountant that knows about Xero is a big help.

alas my accountant recommended sage, and after a year of using it. i hate it.

i just find the interface junky and old fashion, and i think that it problem. sage has been around forever and they had to keep the old interface, and i think that why i don't like it. ive been around computers for ever and spend my 20's as a programmer, so i know what a good interface can be

Chae1 · Jan 29, 2021

Boysground said:
The other advantage of an accountant that uses Xero is no paperwork to shift around. It’s all on Xero

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What do you do with payments you receive?

For paying invoices I forward them to xero then create a bill from the draft.

I can't see a facility to do this for creating invoices.

Will Blackburn · Jan 29, 2021

Chae1 said:
What do you do with payments you receive?

For paying invoices I forward them to xero then create a bill from the draft.

I can't see a facility to do this for creating invoices.

I scan it in same as invoices but just use that to facilitate downloading to the laptop. Once downloaded then attach it to an invoice that i write and delete the "invoice" that it generated.

Boysground · Jan 29, 2021

Milk cheque or wheat sales for example I scan or forward the invoice into Xero and then create the invoice with the companies paperwork attached. Then when the payment come in it will reconcile.
Most of the bills I pay I use Ezzy Bills. That forwards them into Xero as a draft, it learns the companies so I usually only have to do minor alterations and confirm the transaction. For every payment and receipt I try to attach something to the Xero transaction

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Boysground · Jan 29, 2021

Chae1 said:
What do you do with payments you receive?

For paying invoices I forward them to xero then create a bill from the draft.

I can't see a facility to do this for creating invoices.

Easiest way to get to creating invoices is click the + on the top right of the screen go to "create Invoice" and remember in Xero talk Invoice is something you receive and Bill is something you pay

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Chae1 · Jan 29, 2021

Boysground said:
Milk cheque or wheat sales for example I scan or forward the invoice into Xero and then create the invoice with the companies paperwork attached. Then when the payment come in it will reconcile.
Most of the bills I pay I use Ezzy Bills. That forwards them into Xero as a draft, it learns the companies so I usually only have to do minor alterations and confirm the transaction. For every payment and receipt I try to attach something to the Xero transaction

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That's what I haven't figured out how to do. So is there a separate email address in xero for sales?

I forward all invoices I receive to xero and attach these to bills to pay. Find that quite straightforward.

Most of my invoices and bills come by email now in pdf format.

Boysground · Jan 29, 2021

If you forward the pdf into your Xero files inbox, along the top of the inbox it says "Add to New" with a dropdown arrow. Tick the box on the left of the file you want, and use the dropdown to select a new sales invoice. The invoice template will appear with the file attached.

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Boysground · Jan 29, 2021

Or just start a new invoice and attach the file from the tab within every invoice.

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chickens and wheat · Jan 29, 2021

I just add such as wheat sales direct to the account and attach a copy of purchasers self billing invoice to that

ollie989898 · Jan 30, 2021

JimAndy said:
alas my accountant recommended sage, and after a year of using it. i hate it.

i just find the interface junky and old fashion, and i think that it problem. sage has been around forever and they had to keep the old interface, and i think that why i don't like it. ive been around computers for ever and spend my 20's as a programmer, so i know what a good interface can be

Sage?! Years out of date and like an arthritic old dog that should have been shot and done away with.

Renaultman · Jan 30, 2021

Boysground said:
Xero is great. I have never worried about the cost as it’s substantially less than I used to pay for farmplan. It’s easy to use the only training I had was a couple of hours with my accountants Xero guru. Nobody to speak to on the phone but the online help is excellent. Lots on TFF use it and the Xero thread is a very handy place to ask questions

Give the demo a go. I’m not changing now, been using it for 5 years

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Same here, only one business though. We still don't use it properly as would like to input invoices as they come in, and only reconcile with the bank monthly.
Only 2 hours training for us too, with ongoing support from the accountants. £25 a Month isn't cheap but by no means the end of the world would be nice to see my accountants bill drop a bit, as promised, when we signed up.

Chae1 · Jan 30, 2021

JimAndy said:
alas my accountant recommended sage, and after a year of using it. i hate it.

i just find the interface junky and old fashion, and i think that it problem. sage has been around forever and they had to keep the old interface, and i think that why i don't like it. ive been around computers for ever and spend my 20's as a programmer, so i know what a good interface can be

Sage lineone is one of other packages I use. I don't hate it but don't like it as much as xero.

It's very cheap. Ours comes through Costco!

40 series · Jan 30, 2021

The bill bit sounds very familiar.
I would have thought they actually would have had less work to do because of xero but no the bill seems to go the other way

upnortheast · Jan 30, 2021

Renaultman said:
Same here, only one business though. We still don't use it properly as would like to input invoices as they come in, and only reconcile with the bank monthly.
Only 2 hours training for us too, with ongoing support from the accountants. £25 a Month isn't cheap but by no means the end of the world would be nice to see my accountants bill drop a bit, as promised, when we signed up.

Get your accountant by the throat. The bill should be less as they will have hours less work if your records are already on zero.

computerbeing · Jan 30, 2021

Quickbooks is a good alternative.

Xero

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Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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