He was advised by his (new) Accountant to buy Xero purely we believe,because they receive commission on any new clients that start using Xero through them.
My client has no book-keeping knowledge and has entered all the wrong Conversion Balances in. Ultimately, nothing balances!
I know I can change the Conversion Balances, but my client also wants to change the Conversion Date too. As far as I can see, a whole lot of work for me.
My client started using Xero in September 2011 and has been paying £22.80 per month since then, a total of £342.00. Is Xero's contract on-going? Will they be paying £22.80 per month for the foreseeable future?
I have suggested to my client swapping to Sage, a package I grew up with.
I have looked at Sage Instant Accounts.
My main question is, would this package be suitable for my client who has a turnover of approximately a quarter of a million, and eight bank accounts?
The reason I ask is that all my training was done on Sage, and I have no knowledge of Xero.
Secondly as far as I can see, my client could purchase the package for a one off fee of £150 including VAT.
Xero as far as I am aware is a non-tie in contract so can leave at any time. Not sure the procedure for doing this but would imagine just a case of contacting them to say you no longer want to pay. Though would run off any data before you do so. Though if it is all rubbish it might not be any use.
Re SAGE then to buy instant it would cost the £150 (or there abouts) and that is it. Unless you wished to take out SAGE support which is a yearly charge. Dont see why wouldnt suit your client as instant I believe can be set up for additional bank accounts other than the ones already defaulted. Not sure what you cant do on instant v line 50 but expect would be things like POP and SOP, plus line 50 has higher user numbers available.
Like you my training is in SAGE, used it for 15+ years, SAGE accredited and teach SAGE at local enterprise company but looking to learn a cloud package as that kind of accounts package is becoming more popular and for many businesses is better than a desktop package and happens that it is probalby Xero is the one that I am going to linked with as from what I can see it is the front runner.
O Sage instants you can add bank accounts no problem, I have a client that has a few and its not a problem you just have to make sure when you are paying a supplier you choose the correct Bank account to pay it from.
I have no knowledge of Xero, although I have heard very good things about it.
I've got a client using Xero (it came with them) and it seems to do everything they'll need. The charges do mount up, though. Personally, if I had a business making a quarter mil t/o, I'd be looking for the most capable and best-supported option. But then, I always did like buying the shiniest tools possible ...
Online software is predominantly subscription based as they want to stop you accessing your data if you dont pay - so its best to do your homework before making the commitment as it works out a lot more in the long run.
I'm yet to find anything as flexible as 50 Accounts. Yes it costs the most but you get what you pay for and its a one off cost but most places let you pay over monthly payments anyway so you can avoid the up front cost.
I had a look at Xero when I was deciding which online option to offer clients and whilst it seems to have the most to offer in terms of functionality I didnt find it very easy to use and their support was awful.
I went for Sages online offering in the end (Sage One), its free and my online clients have been very happy with it albeit its only really suitable for those with basic needs at the moment. Hopefully they'll add more to it soon.
We are Xero Partners and are find it great for many of our clients.
The cloud base is fantastic as they can access it from where ever they are to create sales invoices, add expenses and view their bank.
Bank feeds are a big bonus as it saves the need for typing up bank statements which simply need to be matched and analysed without have to wait for CSV files or physical statements all the time. We do however ask to see bank statements just to be sure that the bank reconciles.
The fact that our clients can access their data at the same time as us without the need to exchange backups is a major plus. We can "dip in" and support them as needed which attracts many of our clients.
Sage, still has its place however the majority of our new clients are going to Xero partly bases on their choice.
You can stop using Xero at any time without giving notice, as mentioned through ensure you download your data as you will no longer have access to this once you stop. Happy to chat to anybody about it if that helps.
There are other things to consider as well as the monthly vs on-off costs.
If your client has a significant number of bank transactions, then automated loading to Xero could easily save £22.80 a month in your fees if all the rules are set up well (just over an hour a month?)
The ability to access the books from anywhere can be a big plus for some businesses
More than one person can access at the same time - business owner can check something or raise an invoice while the bookkeeper is working
As Sharon says, Sage may be a good fit, but there are more things to consider than price.
PS we are also a Xero partner
-- Edited by Brewsie on Friday 1st of February 2013 08:00:27 PM
Just a note regarding Xero's online bank feeds: they are a great time saver but, as mentioned, using the Yodlee service means giving-up the username and password details which the banks don't like (Yodlee have never had a security breach though, to my knowledge).
However, there are still MASSIVE time savings to be had if the user does not activate the live bank feed and simply downloads the statement information to upload into Xero. It takes 5 minutes. The benefits are that there is no keying in of basic transaction data and, over time, Xero learns where all your regular transactions get posted and automatically codes them for you.
The super-elegant bank reconciliation alone makes Xero worth the monthly fee in my view.
-- Edited by Topaccountants on Saturday 2nd of February 2013 01:49:15 PM
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Adrian Pearson Blog: www.adrianpearson.com | Mobile: 07944 970997 | Email: adrianpearson@outlook.com Xero data conversion specialist. Founder of Movemybooks and Ledgerscope.
