Posts Tagged ‘Xero’

Awesome Apps for Accounting: Genius Scan, Hubdoc and Xero

In my search for a fully automated, completely paperless, and mobile-friendly accounting system, I’ve discovered three apps I love that have almost made it a reality. Genius Scan, Hubdoc and Xero Unless I’m near a desktop scanner, every receipt or document enters my virtual file cabinets through Genius Scan.  I don’t know how it does it, but it turns my iPhone’s camera into a high-quality PDF scanner.  I love being able to crop my receipts, make them black and white, and make the PDF file sizes less than 100 KB (while image files from the camera are normally several megabytes).  I then use the app to easily upload documents to programs I use to organize them such as… Hubdoc recognizes the text on the receipts and puts them into a list showing the vendor name, date and amount of each receipt.  It also automatically gives them file names (such as Wal-Mart_20150126_$20.00) when I download the files.  Hubdoc DIETA VEGANA E CARROCERÍA generic zovirax por generic en espana acyclovir bodybuilding – día a díahas some good organizational tools for marking documents as paid, adding tags and notes, and putting documents into folders.  Hubdoc also automatically pulls online statements from my Amazon, credit card and utility accounts and similarly names and organizes those documents.  Hubdoc exports the electronic documents and transactions into online accounting systems such as… Xero has been my personal accounting software for some time now.  I’m a fan of the beautiful web interface and the mobile app that lets me reconcile transactions on my iPhone. I have a wish list that would make the process perfect:
  • Genius Scan can automatically upload to several apps, but Hubdoc is not on that list.  I currently e-mail each receipt to my Hubdoc e-mail address to do the job which isn’t too much of a hassle.
  • I’ve created many bank rules in Xero to automate how it classifies bank transactions it downloads, but they don’t apply to transactions coming from Hubdoc.  Although the two programs do an amazing job auto-categorizing them, I wish I had more control.
  • The Xero reconciliation screen doesn’t show me how the transactions from Hubdoc are categorized, so I have to drill into the reports to find them and make sure they’re categorized right.
Please leave a comment below if you have a different set of accounting apps and processes to share.

Can accounting be fun?

The stereotype is well-established.  SmileAccountants are often portrayed in the media with glasses, a pocket calculator, and the personality of a rock.  Prior to studying accounting, people warned me of it being the most boring profession there is.  While I admit that doing accounting will never be on par with a trip to Disneyland, I’ve learned that accounting can be fun because of the people and the technology. I work with people more than numbers.  My days are full of meetings and phone calls.  The joy of accounting comes from advising people and improving their lives financially; I have those opportunities every day.  Plus, I’ve worked with many in the profession who are fun and interesting people.  From trampoline dodgeball, go-cart racing, and a Mini-Masters golf tournament, I’ve been part of a lot of fun activities with other CPAs. Technology can make accounting fun (or at least less boring).  Many will agree that mind-numbing data entry and bank reconciliations are tedious tasks; few enjoy them.  I have helped friends move from traditional manual accounting systems to bank-connected online accounting software, greatly reducing the amount of time they spend doing their accounting.  Their feedback included:
  • “This is as fun as accounting can be,” and
  • “I’m actually looking forward to doing my accounting.”
Accounting software has become more beautiful and fun.  QuickBooks Online has a nice new look and simplified interface.  FreshBooks proclaims “Yo!” on its website and has some creative instructional videos that are actually fun to watch.  Xero touts itself as “beautiful software” and claims accounting can be fun (even addictive). Do you want to make your accounting more fun?  Let me know.  I’ll have fun helping you. Maybe your idea of “fun” is letting someone else handle the accounting.  I understand.  I have friends who would rather poke out their eyes than be the banker in a game of Monopoly.  In that case, I can help you too.

Fixing issues with the new QuickBooks to Xero conversion tool

While Xero has been converting QuickBooks files to its online accounting software platform for some time, it released a tool a few days ago allowing users to upload files themselves for conversion.  I am quite happy with the result, but it wasn’t as simple as making a few clicks.  When I converted a QuickBooks Online file to Xero, I discovered the following:
  • Subaccounts may cause problems.  I got an error message after uploading my QuickBooks file, but it didn’t specify what the error was and the file converted anyway.  Everything seemed fine at first, but then I found that I couldn’t make manual journal entries to a couple of credit card accounts.  It was as if they didn’t exist in Xero, though they both showed up in the complete chart of accounts list.  I believe that the reason for this problem was that they were both subaccounts of a credit card account in QuickBooks Online.  I deleted the Xero company, moved both accounts up a level so that they weren’t subaccounts in QuickBooks Online, and then went through the conversion process again.  There was no error message the second time, and now both credit card accounts are working as they should.
  • The balances don’t match!  After connecting the bank feed, I found that the balance in Xero was correct, but the statement balance was off. I had made sure it was reconciled and up-to-date in QuickBooks Online prior to the conversion.  In Xero, there were no imported transactions and no bank statement lines to reconcile, yet the “account transactions” tab showed many unreconciled transactions going back two years.  It was a perplexing problem, but I found a solution.  I exported a reconciliation report to Excel, made a few formatting changes, and imported it as a statement into Xero.  My finger is sore after clicking on “OK” a couple hundred times to match the transactions, but now I have a beautifully reconciled account.
Xero reconciling Has anyone else experienced these issues and know of a faster way to fix them?

Three time-saving banking features

Online and mobile banking offer quite a bit more than bill pay, PDF statements and a summary of recent activity.  Some of the best time-saving features aren’t as well known, such as:
  1. Alerts.  It’s common knowledge that it’s a good idea to frequently monitor bank activity for errors and fraudulent activity.  I have signed up for e-mail alerts whenever there are international, Internet, phone or mail order purchases made with my debit card, as well as when purchases and ATM withdrawals exceed a certain amount in a given day.  For a credit card I use once a century, I get e-mails whenever charges exceed $0.01.  Alerts don’t completely replace my manual monitoring, but are more effective than daily booting up my computer, mistyping my password, re-entering the correct password, entering my PIN, selecting the checking account, perusing the recent transactions, and trying to remember what that $100 charge at the electronics store was for.
  2. Mobile Deposit.  Sign the check, open the mobile app, enter the amount, take a picture of the check, and it’s done!  Wow!  That was so much easier than finding a deposit slip, filling it out, driving ten minutes to the bank, waiting behind two cars in the drive-through teller line, and opening that pesky vacuum tube canister!
  3. Bank Feeds.  Today’s personal finance and business accounting software can connect to bank accounts and import transactions on a daily basis, and that’s just the beginning.  Xero, the software I use for my personal finances, easily creates and automatically classifies transactions based on a predetermined set of rules.  It’s been a much better experience than the poke-your-eyes-out manual data entry that I used to do!
What online or mobile banking features make your life easier?

Set amount thresholds in Xero bank rules so fixed assets aren’t expensed

One of my favorite things about Xero, an online accounting software, is its ability to automatically categorize transactions based on a customized set of rules.  While other accounting software have some built-in automation features (such as pre-filling information from the last entered transaction for a payee), Xero is unique in that it categorizes transactions when they match certain conditions for payees, amounts, references, etc. While this automation can save a lot of time classifying transactions, it could also result in misclassifications if bank rules are applied carelessly.  For example, if both office supplies and fixed assets are purchased from a payee, additional conditions may be required in the bank rules so that transactions are classified correctly.  In the screenshot below, I created a bank rule so that amounts less than $500 spent at Best Buy are classified as office supplies expense (I’m using this amount as an example – consult your tax advisor to determine if a transaction should be expensed or capitalized). Xero rule with threshold amount On the reconcile screen, Xero prompts me to apply the rule for the amounts less than $500, but not for the $1,053.62 which may need to be categorized as a fixed asset.  That transaction is left open, forcing me to investigate it further and properly classify it. Xero reconcile with bank rules  

Do you put social media links on your invoices? It’s easy with Xero

A creatively designed invoice can be so much more than a collection tool.  Links to social media websites are simple additions to electronic invoices providing opportunites for increased visibility and contact with customers.  Plus, they add a little color and fun to an otherwise boring document. While I was exploring settings in Xero, the social links area caught my attention.  When activated, it adds Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ icons to online invoices.  This is one of Xero’s many new invoicing features introduced in December 2012 and is a small step into the exciting world of Social Accounting. Social Media Links in Xero  

Bank rules in Xero for fixed amount checks

One of my favorite things about Xero, an online accounting software, is its ability to automatically categorize transactions based on a customized set of rules.  While other accounting software have some built-in automation features (such as pre-filling information from the last entered transaction for a payee), Xero is unique in that it categorizes transactions when they match certain conditions for payees, amounts, references, etc. For example, I set up an automatic monthly payment on my bank’s online banking site for a recurring expense with a fixed amount.  The bank sends the payment with a paper check.  Xero does not import a payee or description for these particular transactions.  Xero imports the amount of the check and “CHECK #XXXX” for the reference.  Even with this limited criteria, these transactions can be automatically categorized with the rule shown in the screenshot below. Xero bank rule for check Creating the automatically categorized transaction in Xero and reconciling it then becomes as easy as clicking on the “OK” button.  Though setting up the bank rules takes some time on the front end, it saves a ton of time in the long run.