3 Xero Tips from Beany’s Xero Whiz, Phil Wood

With over 1 million people now using Xero as their accounting system, and over 10 years of development under their belt, the Xero platform is continuing to grow it’s functionality and usefulness. With all the platform growth it’s no wonder that some of Xero’s less glamorous (but still extremely useful) features tend to get overlooked.  In the following blog we’ll dive deep into a few Xero features that many small businesses aren’t yet taking advantage of.

Continue reading “3 Xero Tips from Beany’s Xero Whiz, Phil Wood” →

Take AIM (accounting income method)

It’s sometimes rare for the public and private sector views on business (and tax!) to align.

However, Beany, Xero and the NZ government acknowledge the importance of small business to the NZ economy and also the technology changes that small business is adopting.  Here’s an excerpt from the recent IRD discussion document:

“The AIM measure announced by the Government proposes that, accounting information prepared by a taxpayer for a period, be used as a basis for calculating the tax liability of the business for that period. The resulting amount would be payable by the taxpayer as a provisional tax instalment.

AIM payments will be generated by the accounting software and authorised by the user, whether a business or its advisors. The user will confirm the amount to pay and then activate the payment for both GST and provisional tax. The calculation and payment of provisional tax will become part of running the business instead of an extra process.” Continue reading “Take AIM” →

What’s happening out on the farm?

And how is it affecting everyone else?  

Like it or not, New Zealand depends heavily on its farming sector for export earnings and to keep the flow of money passing through our economy.  Unlike many other industries, the money earnt on the farm passes out quickly into the regional economy and flows like water from farmer to contractor or service provider to shops.  

When the dairy sector is in the dumps, rural spend declines massively and the regions suffer disproportionately.  It’s not just about the money either.  Farmers go from being saviours of the nation to near bankruptcy depending on factors entirely outside of their control.  World commodity prices and the weather are not easily influenced by the farmer on the land. Continue reading “What’s happening out on the farm?” →

How to make your mind up about Xero

(in 5 quick questions)

Everyone is talking about Xero and you’ve heard a bit about it.  The question is, would it help you and your business?  Here’s the Beany questionnaire about whether it would be a good idea for you. Continue reading “How to make up your mind about Xero? 5 quick questions to help you decide” →

We work with a lot of building contractors operating small and medium sized businesses, and many of them are now using Xero.

We hear it is really helping them to run their businesses. They can access it out on site (the joys of cloud based accounting) and can invoice directly from the Xero software without having to drive to an office. They actually don’t even need an office.

While Xero sends out documents stating “Tax Invoice” it doesn’t send them out stating “Payment Claim”, and it doesn’t send them out with the correct conditions attached. Continue reading “Xero Helps Contractors Get Paid” →