There is a strong similarity between our recent transitioning of our accounting system from desktop software MYOB to cloud based Xero, to the approaching birth of a child. As the due date drew closer for our conversion, I couldn’t wait for MYOB to be out. Excited, full of fear and trepidation, I couldn’t concentrate on many other tasks. Xero was coming soon and our lives were about to change forever; or so my developers kept telling me.

On the day of our new arrival, there was the expected pain. Not all data had not imported correctly. There was joy – sending invoices had been converted into a simple click of a button from our custom built CRM, Copimaker. More excitement. We could link our clients accounts to Xero through the API to give them up to date balances, download invoices and more.

There were a few sleepless nights. Adjusting incorrectly imported invoices; testing out the new functions our developers were integrating, and just general fear of the unknown.

Fast forward three weeks later, and Xero has made the accounting side of our work a joy. Like any mother will say, any pain experienced, is quickly forgotten! With the incorporation of a bulk payment reconciliation tool, the ability to push out invoices directly to the software, batch bill uploading and more, we are already saving several hours of time each week and our business processes have vastly matured. Without a doubt though, the best part is accessibility via the web. Having our new team ‘member’ available on the go is crucial for a busy, time poor person like myself. So too is the ability to provide different levels of access, from data entry only for our Office Junior, through to complete advisor access for our Accountant. No more backing on up disks or uploading huge files to Dropbox, Mac vs Windows operating system issues. Blah, blah, blah. All in the past.

I cannot recommend Xero highly enough. I am not an accounts person and what Xero says is true – it does make accounting enjoyable. A big shout out and thank you to Gillian Rossouw from Jill of All Trades who assisted with the conversion, provided training to myself and our in-house Accountant Michelle, and continues to support us through our journey. My web developers and I look forward to pushing the limits of Xero integration and providing the same time and cost savings to our clients. We can proudly say that our custom designed websites and software are built using Ruby on Rails, the very same platform that built Xero, and provide a stable base for future enhancements, add ons and integrations; growing with you and your business.

Annette McDonald, Managing Director