Blog

(first published 10th May 2010)
I was asked this question by Brian Barnes of Time Assistant.

Brian feels that cloud accounting packages like Xero are so intuitive and easy to use that they reduce the need for a bookkeeper. He wanted to know if my bookkeeping clients had reduced my hours once they started using Xero and how did it affect my business. His view is followed by my reply:

After having used Xero for over a year for our business accounting, I don’t think we could switch back to one of the ‘old’ players of the industry.

It was with reluctance we moved away from Sage, but it certainly has been one of the best things we have ever done – for the business.

For the potential bookkeeper we would have employed though, this wasn’t good news at all!

Xero provides such a user-friendly interface that even with no bookkeeping experience, you will not only be able to do your own bookkeeping, you will enjoy it, my Business Partner certainly feels that way.

Having a lot of common sense, my Business Partner likes everything in plain English in front of him, and that’s exactly what Xero does for him, he can log in from anywhere and see that the accounts department are logging payments, chasing payments etc, and this makes for some very easy going board meetings.

Now the good points have been mentioned about Xero and how you don’t need any bookkeeping experience to use it, how is it, and other similar solutions, having an impact on the professional bookkeepers position – is it attainable?

This is my reply as a bookkeeper:

As my clients move onto Xero I find the bookkeeping part of my business becoming more enjoyable. Suddenly clients become far more interested in the financial side of their business. I’m not constantly having to ask or look for invoices and receipts, question what the expenses are for, beg for bank statements.

Clients new to Xero start by entering sales invoices and tracking debtors. As everything is so clear, they quickly want to start entering purchase invoices to keep a rudimentary eye on cashflow. My bookkeeping hours are now reduced as I’m really only required to do the bank reconciliation, entering any missing transactions and make sure the VAT figures are correct.

So is a bookkeeper needed at all?

The role has become more advisory. I set up businesses on Xero, migrate the data and show clients how to use it. I can then do as much or as little bookkeeping required. Usually it becomes less as time goes on. But this is not a problem. I am no longer a necessary evil for my clients, “Oh no, the bookkeeper is in today, I’ll have to find all my paperwork and answer loads of difficult questions.” I am someone who can help and guide them. It is me who gets the questions now. I feel I’m a useful part of these businesses. I am helping them to move forward and grow. This is so much more rewarding.

With the reduced bookkeeping hours I have the choice to take on more bookkeeping clients and be involved in more businesses or use the time to evolve my own business and offer other services. A win-win situation I think.