by Estelle Sherlock |
When I first met Paula and we began discussing LimeCloud, she seemed very passionate about a certain little piece of cloud accounting software called Xero . . . I was very interested to learn that it was founded in New Zealand in 2006, as it is where I was born and spent the first 23 years of my life.
A company of innovation
Over the years Xero has grown to accommodate global markets and in both 2014 and 2015 it was named number 1 on the Forbes 100 Most Innovative Growth Companies. Xero was selected based on investors' ability to identify firms they expect to be innovative now and in the future.
The success story continues . . .
Just five years ago Xero had 50,000 customers, in March this year they announced they had passed 1 million subscribers worldwide, in more than 180 countries – an amazing success story, and Xero are still only at the beginning – there are more than a hundred million small businesses out there in the world and only a few million are running any cloud accounting software! As a hyper-growth business, Xero continue to push the boundaries of technology, business and policy. In the UK, Xero is the leading cloud accounting software.
Works Like Magic
Xero is available all over the world and is based in the cloud. This means you can do your accounts using any device with an internet connection – anytime, anywhere. It even connects with your bank account so each transaction is pulled through and matches up – like it's magic.
Match your bank transactions from your phone in bed, over coffee, or on the train and start your day knowing exactly where you stand. You can send electronic invoices to your clients and they can pay online straightaway, so you get the money immediately - magic.
Xero allows an unlimited number of users at no extra cost – so you and your colleagues can work at the same time, from anywhere. There's nothing to install, upgrades are free, and everything's backed up automatically.
Xero allows true collaboration with your accountant, they just login and check your accounts whenever the need arises, no need to lug paperwork around or email large data files.
Xero also connects to more than 500 popular business apps. These can be for specific business functions or specialist for niche industries. There's tools for CRM, point of sale, inventory, job tracking, project management and hundreds more.
This ecosystem of apps allows real flexibility and scalability.
Xero has a clean and intuitive, user friendly interface, this makes it easy to navigate around without the need for extensive training. The beauty isn’t just in the way it looks, but also in how it works.
All this makes managing your finances and your processes flow, without the old-school pain points of data duplication, inaccessible information (it’s all on the computer in the corner…) and producing accurate reporting. As Xero and the Apps all talk to each other by way of integration and they live in the cloud, your data can be accessed by logging in anywhere with an internet connection and enabling everyone in your organisation (and your advisors) to work in truly real time, on live data.
Monthly Subscription*
So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty, how much is Xero going to set you back. Being a subscription model, there are three pricing plans to choose from, which are transparent and simple to understand:
- The Starter Plan at £10 /mth restricts the number of transactions and is only suitable for extremely small businesess.
- The Standard Plan will be used by most businesses at £22 /mth.
- The Premium Plan at £27.50 /mth offers the same functionality as the Standard Plan but with the ability to deal with multi-currency.
The Payroll module can be added at £5/mth for up to 5 employees with £1 /employee/mth thereafter.
It is really easy to upgrade and downgrade your plan at any time, with a 30 day notice period, beyond this there are no ties or hidden costs. As Xero Partners, LimeCloud can offer discounts on your subscription both as you start and for the lifetime of your subscription. So, if you are interested in using Xero, talk to us about a 30 day trial and discounts available.
We are the (Xero) Champions!
The LimeCloud team has Xero Certified Advisors and Xero Payroll Certified Advisors and has been awarded Silver Champion Partner status. As a Certified Advisor, Paula is also a Xero Champion. All of this means we have been recognised as being exceptionally knowledgeable and committed to growth by Xero.
We are also certified in several Apps, with many of them being advanced Specialist or Implementation Partner status, which also demonstrates our commitment to training and staying up to date as technology develops.
In the Autumn, we are off to Xerocon London, Xero’s annual UK conference where we will be gathered with the UK’s Xero peeps, along with many of the Apps who will be exhibiting there. Paula tells me it is a positive smorgasbord of inspiration, knowledge and fun, which will fuel our passion for development even more. I can’t wait!
*Prices correct at the time of writing