Gone are the days of tallying numbers with paper and pen. Imagine the endless hours accountants had to spend sitting with a calculator to document data from invoices, bills and other documents to manage your finances.
Nowadays, there are much easier solutions to keep check of what’s coming in, what’s going out and what taxes need paying. Cue specialist accounting software, clever pieces of tech that eliminate a lot of the manual tasks associated with keeping your accounts in check.
But what, exactly, do they do? In this short guide, we aim to explore the primary accounting software used by us here at CloudAccountant.co.uk and its functionality. This software includes:
- Xero
- FreeAgent
- Dext
- LinkMyBooks
Each piece of software offers distinct features customised for sole traders and small businesses. These platforms are designed to streamline financial management and ensure adherence to tax regulations.
Xero
Xero is a popular and entirely cloud-based accounting software for small businesses. Being cloud-based, this means it can be accessed from any device and you are not limited to having it installed on a single computer.
What is Xero software used for?
Xero is designed to streamline and simplify various financial tasks, making it ideal for managing day-to-day accounting operations. Xero can be used for tracking expenses, generating financial reports, and ensuring compliance with tax regulations.
What type of person is Xero software ideal for?
Xero’s user-friendly interface means that it is ideal for a diverse range of users, such as non-profits (charities), self-employed individuals, construction workers, trades businesses, and many other small to medium-sized enterprises.
Xero for non-profit organisations
Xero can help non-profits manage donations and grants effectively, ensuring transparency and proper fund allocation.
Xero for self-employed individuals
Self-employed individuals can find Xero invaluable for tracking income and expenses and simplifying tax preparation. It will also allow you to gain crucial insights into your financial health, meaning you are better-informed to make money-based decisions.
Xero for construction and trade businesses
Construction and trade businesses use Xero to handle invoicing, manage job costs, and keep track of payments, making project management more efficient.
Xero for small to medium-sized enterprises
Small to medium-sized enterprises across various industries can take advantage of Xero’s vast suite of tools to automate routine accounting tasks, generate detailed financial reports, and maintain compliance with UK regulations.
How does Xero software work?
With Xero, you can input a wide range of business data with confidence that it will be accurately placed. Xero assists with:
Invoicing: Easily create and send professional invoices to your clients and receive notifications when they’re opened. Automate reminders for overdue payments to improve your cash flow.
Bank Reconciliation: Connect your bank accounts to Xero and reconcile transactions with just a few clicks. This ensures your accounts are always up-to-date and accurate.
Expense Tracking: Monitor and categorise your business expenses in real time. Attach receipts and manage claims efficiently to keep your finances organised.
Payroll Management: Simplify payroll processes, ensuring your employees are paid correctly and on time. Handle tax filings, benefits, and deductions seamlessly.
Financial Reporting: Generate comprehensive financial reports, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Gain insights into your business’s financial health to make informed decisions.
Multi-Currency Support: Conduct business globally with ease. Xero supports multiple currencies, automatically calculating exchange rates and providing accurate financial data.
Mobile Access: Manage your business finances on the go with Xero’s mobile app. Send invoices, reconcile bank transactions, and view financial reports from anywhere, at any time.
How do we use Xero software at CloudAccountant.co.uk to help manage your accounts?
When you first reach out to CloudAccountant.co.uk, we will recommend which software is best for you based on your individual circumstances. If we recommend Xero, we will provide a training session on how to utilise and integrate the software for optimal efficiency. The training session will give you an understanding of how to use Xero software and how to submit information correctly, which will benefit us in the long run.
Your dedicated accountant will then use the information gathered in Xero to submit everything correctly to Companies House and HMRC. Throughout the process, you will get unlimited support, guidance and even more training if needed.
A great benefit of being with CloudAccountant.co.uk is that we have an in-house customer service team available on the phone to provide unlimited support during working hours. Xero themselves only has email-support available, so any queries are better dealt with through us.
What are the key benefits of using Xero accounting software?
So, as you can see, Xero can be a great tool for ensuring you always have a clear picture of your financial help. To summarise, the benefits of using Xero accounting software are:
Saving time: Automate repetitive tasks to focus on strategic business activities.
Accuracy: Reduce human errors with automated calculations and data entry.
Scalability: Xero grows with your business, accommodating increasing complexity and volume.
Accessibility: Cloud-based access ensures you can manage your finances from anywhere, at any time.
Collaboration: Xero allows you to share access with your accountant or team members for cohesive financial management.
FreeAgent
FreeAgent is another popular software option that is in many ways similar to Xero and favoured by freelancers and small business owners. If you just started your freelancing career, check out our ‘Accounting for Freelancers’ guide, for a comprehensive guide on everything that you need to know at this point.
What is FreeAgent software used for?
FreeAgent, like Xero, is accounting software tailored for individuals to access live-bank features, reports, balances, bookkeeping capabilities, expense tracking, and profit and loss records. FreeAgent has been specifically built for small businesses, accommodating companies with fewer than 10 employees.
What type of person is FreeAgent ideal for?
Due to its user-friendly interface, and free of technical jargon, FreeAgent is well-suited for independent contractors, small traders, individuals with small businesses, or small limited companies with simple requirements and no complex income or staffing concerns. It works for a range of businesses including traditional trades, professional services, creative & technology, retail and hospitality and landlords.
How does FreeAgent software work?
With FreeAgent, you can access and manage your business using the FreeAgent mobile app. The app gives you a detailed overview of your business performance through the FreeAgent dashboard.
FreeAgent’s features include:
Cashflow: Monitor incoming and outgoing funds and track financial trends over time.
Financial Reports: Access key accounting reports that are automatically generated and available anytime.
VAT: Generate Making Tax Digital (MTD)-compatible VAT returns as you work and file directly to HMRC.
Self-Assessment: FreeAgent assists in filling out most of your tax returns and enables direct filing to HMRC.
End-of-Year Filing: Submit Final Accounts and Corporation Tax returns at the close of each accounting year.Bank Account Sync: Safely import all bank transactions into FreeAgent automatically.
How do we use FreeAgent software at CloudAccountant.co.uk to help manage your accounts?
At the year-end, we gather your information for corporation tax purposes and use it to submit your accounts to HMRC.
What are the key benefits of using FreeAgent accounting software?
FreeAgent provides insightful dashboards that help you understand your finances at a glance, making it easier to make informed decisions. You will be able to accurately know your cash flow within the business, and what taxes erode from it.
Dext
Previously known as Receipt Bank, Dext (as its old name suggests) is a piece of software that is used predominantly for business owners, accountants and bookkeepers to capture and store receipts, invoices and other supporting documents electronically. Dext is able to integrate with other major software providers such as Xero, Quickbooks and Sage.
What is Dext software used for?
Dext assists businesses in managing digital sales data by calculating transaction volumes and recording receipts and expenses. Dext simplifies administrative duties and is an excellent method for companies to upload necessary documents for verification when accountants reconcile invoices with bank statements in Xero. It simplifies tracking suppliers and customers, benefiting both businesses and employees. It also allows you to process multiple invoices and bank statements simultaneously.
What type of person is Dext ideal for?
Dext is perfect for e-commerce, small business proprietors, and sole traders.
How does Dext software work?
With Dext, you can benefit from enhanced accounting processes and increased productivity, as well as:
Visibility and control: Gain insight and control over crucial data metrics for both your clients and team.
Enhance your current tasks: Utilise tailored automation to boost efficiency.
In-depth Insights: Obtain comprehensive insights throughout the entire accounting cycle to create satisfied clients and a prosperous firm.
Precise, automated data extraction: Dext Preparestreamlines your paperwork processing, from submission to reconciliation, through precise data extraction and dashboard insights.
Enhance data quality & reporting: Dext Precision offers actionable financial insights into your client’s data, improving visibility and helping prioritise client discussions.Access & consolidate eCommerce data: Dext Commerce retrieves sales data from various e-commerce platforms, point-of-sale systems, and more, providing real-time insights and automated transaction breakdowns.
How do we use Xero software at CloudAccountant.co.uk to help manage your accounts?
At CloudAccountant.co.uk, we use Dext mainly to record your expenses and keep
track of these ahead of your account submissions.
What are the key benefits of using Dext accounting software?
Dext allows you to digitally capture and store receipts and invoices, minimising the need for manual data entry.
By centralising processes, there is no longer a necessity to retain paper receipts that can easily go missing. Dext seamlessly integrates with various accounting software, guaranteeing the accuracy and timeliness of your financial information.
Link My Books
Link My Books is a tool created to assist Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Shopify and e-commerce merchants with precise and automated bookkeeping support. This software smoothly connects with platforms like Xero to ensure accurate bookkeeping and track sales, taxes, and fees, giving online store owners more time to concentrate on running their businesses. Link My Books can help with tasks like inventory audits, order fulfilment, and customer service.
Many e-commerce operators work solo or in small teams, making time a precious resource, which adds to the popularity of the app. Through its user-friendly interface and robust functionalities, Link My Books also simplifies activities like transaction reconciliation, financial report generation, and tax management.
What is Link My Books software used for?
Used by VAT-registered individuals, this tool accurately computes VAT for transactions on specific e-commerce platforms. It helps you maintain compliance with tax regulations without the hassle of manual calculations. By automatically extracting relevant data and applying the correct VAT rates, Link My Books ensures that users can confidently submit their tax returns, reducing the risk of errors and potential penalties.
What type of person is Link My Books ideal for?
Whether you’re just starting out or a season pro, Link My Books has been designed to streamline accounting processes specifically for those with eCommerce businesses.
How does Link My Books software work?
Link My Books allows accountants to benchmark clients against industry standards with precision, providing access to growth rates, fee ratios, and return ratios for strategic decision-making.
Link My Book’s automated e-commerce accounting gets to action whenever you receive a payout from Amazon, eBay, Shopify or Etsy. It will create a clean summary entry that accurately breaks down each payout into refunds, sales, fees and any VAT, GST or sales tax too. Link My Books will then post this data to whichever bookkeeping platform you are using (Xero, QuickBooks etc) ready to reconcile the bank statement. Check out our ‘Accounting guide for e-commerce’, if you just started your business.
How do we use Link My Books software at CloudAccountant.co.uk to help manage your accounts?
Here at CloudAccountant.co.uk, our staff are trained to provide knowledge and support to help you integrate Link My Books with your Xero software. Upon joining CloudAccountant.co.uk, our team will guide you through the setup process, highlighting the relevant features and connecting the software to your Xero account.
What are the key benefits of using Link My Books accounting software?
LinkMyBooks enhances accounting precision, reduces manual workload significantly, and minimises the risk of human error for accurate and up-to-date financial records. LinkMyBooks offers real-time insights into your financial status, enabling quick decision-making and helping track business performance, spot trends, and identify growth opportunities. LinkMyBooks is ultimately used to save you time and money by automating bookkeeping tasks and providing accurate reporting on sales, refunds, and taxes with built-in support for VAT, GST and sales tax.
Get in touch
As a chartered accountancy practice registered with the ICAEW, our friendly team of accountants are trained in customer services, meaning they can convey the often-complex nuances of accounting in a simple and straightforward manner.
And just because we’re online accountants doesn’t mean our service will be any less personable. If you choose to be with us, you’ll get a dedicated account manager who you’ll have unlimited access to for one-to-one support via email, telephone and video call. You can even come in and see us if you like – we’re always happy to stick the kettle on.
Get in touch by emailing info@cloudaccountantsoldsite.kinsta.cloud or by calling 01625 546 232 and one of our team will be happy to discuss your accountancy needs.