I’ve been a big fan of Xero, the online accounting system, for quite some time. Since I first blogged about it almost two years ago, the service has come on in leaps and bounds, and an increasing number of Irish accountancy practices have adopted Xero and are recommending it to clients. One of the great differences between Xero and ‘off the shelf in a box’ software like Sage is the immediate roll out of new features when they become available. Not only can you access your accounts anywhere, anytime (you need internet access of course), but you’ll never have to install any software updates ever again. The latest update from Xero – their Invoice Branding Tool – is rather cool.The new update allows you to apply multiple, pretty much unlimited, layouts and logos to invoices and statements. If you’re a multi-product company with various brands under one company name, this feature will make loads of sense for you, so you can maintain brand integrity on invoices and statements whilst providing the correct payment details each time.
You can even specify different payment terms per invoice or statement layout, and on statements you can play around with the font sizes and content of the demand text, to give extra emphasis to the getting money part of running your business! Check out the video here.
Other features in this latest release include a Fixed Assets Import tool, Bank Reconciliation comments (so you can remind yourself what certain purchases were for exactly), and a new setting for Bank Rules to help you recognise the full amount for certain transactions quickly.