Xero Tips and Tricks every small business owner needs to know

As a small-business owner with a lot on your plate, using an accounting software platform like Xero can help you manage your complex financial responsibilities more easily.

We've compiled some of our favourite Xero tips — including shortcuts, customizations, and unique features — to help you get the most out of your software while saving you valuable time and energy. These tips apply to all Xero users in general and do not include features that are only available to users with the Advisor (accountant) role.

1. Create personalised roles

The ability to create highly customised roles for each Xero user is the first of our Xero tips. This capability enables you to fully collaborate with everyone who has an impact on your business while preventing everyone from accessing sensitive information. You can assign roles in Xero based on an individual's role in your company (Xero even has a chart to help you compare user roles), and that person will only have access to the capabilities associated with that role.

When you add a user to your Xero organisation, you can assign them the following roles:

1. Select General Settings from the Settings tab.
2. Click the Users link, then Add a User.
3. For six different categories, you will see options ranging from Advisor (the role you want to assign to your business accountant so they can fully advise you on your finances) to None on the next screen. You can also grant users permissions to provide them with additional functionality. These permissions can grant users access to payroll administration, the ability to edit customer and supplier bank account information, and the ability to manage users and change permissions.

You'll find a link to "Understand user role details" at the very bottom of this screen. This link will take you to a page that fully explains what each role can access, so you'll never have to wonder if you're selecting the right options for a new user.

2. Take advantage of the "plus" icon

Let's look at the plus, or add, icon for our second Xero tip. When you log in to Xero, you'll notice a plus (+) icon at the top right of the screen. Although it may appear to be a minor detail, this single icon can be extremely useful.

By clicking this icon, you can quickly access a variety of functions, such as creating a new invoice, contact, bill, or purchase order. This shortcut will save you time and help you develop a flow within your accounting process as you continue to use Xero.

3. Publish reports for a specific point in time.

You can save your annual and interim financial statements, as well as other reports, directly within Xero after publishing them. Though your accounting information changes on a daily basis, it can be useful to have a frozen snapshot of a specific period of time at your fingertips. Publishing these reports within Xero allows you to save this information securely within your accounting software.

To make a report public:

1. Simply click the green Publish button at the bottom of the screen to complete the process.
2. On the following screen, you have the option of publishing the report (as a PDF or spreadsheet) or saving it as a draught.
3. To re-access the report, go to Xero's Reports tab at the top of any screen, select All Reports, and then click the Published link at the top of the page.

When you publish a report, it will be available in this tab for others to see when they log in to Xero. This is an excellent way to share information from a specific time period with other members of your company. You can also save reports in either format to your computer to share or use at a later time.

4. Undo a reconciliation blunder

It happens to everyone: you're in the zone, zipping through your bank feed, and before you know it, you've mismatched a transaction. The "Unreconcile" feature in Xero allows you to quickly correct this error. This Xero tip will save you a lot of time and hassle because unreconcile keeps the account transaction and the bank statement line but removes the connection between them.

To unreconcile an account transaction, do the following:

1. On the Dashboard, click the three small dots to the right of the account name.
2. Select Account Transactions from the Find menu.
3. To open the transaction you want to change, click on it.
4. On the following screen, click Options and then Unreconcile.
5. To unreconcile the transaction, click OK in the pop-up window.
6. After you've finished this, you can re-reconcile the bank statement line.

5. Make use of the built-in calculator to save time.

This Xero tip focuses on a useful tool that many users overlook when learning how to use Xero accounting software. Xero includes a calculator that lets you perform basic math functions directly in certain fields. Using this calculator reduces the possibility of an entry error, as well as saving you time looking for another calculator to use for simple arithmetic operations. It's also useful if you need to perform some quick calculations in support of a more complex accounting formula.

The built-in calculator can perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and group operations. To use it, simply enter an equation, such as 15 * 1.12, into a field. When you press enter or tab, Xero calculates the result. This calculator can be used for both transactions and manual journals; however, you should be aware that not all fields accept math functions.

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