Xero bookkeeping only saves time if someone actually uses it. The bank feed brings the transactions in. It does not decide whether a payment is stock, a drawing or a tax bill. That decision, done every month, is the part that keeps the accounts useful.
A setup that stays simple
Connect every business bank account and card, and keep personal spending off them. Use a short list of categories that matches how you actually trade, not a chart of accounts copied from a large company. Sales invoices should be raised in Xero, so the debtors list is real. Supplier bills that you will claim VAT on should be entered with the receipt attached, not left as an uncoded bank line.
The monthly close
Once a month, code what the feed has brought in and reconcile each account to the bank statement. The reconciled balance and the statement balance should match. If they do not, fix it that month. A year of unreconciled lines is why year-end accounts cost more than they need to.
VAT returns, payroll journals and the corporation tax estimate all read these figures. If the bookkeeping is a quarter behind, every one of those jobs starts with a cleanup.
What we take on
Some clients code the daily transactions and we review the month. Others hand us the lot. Either way the file should be current before we prepare VAT returns or year-end accounts. Bookkeeping packages start from £150 a month, including the year-end for a small company. See bookkeeping or book a free accounting review if the file has slipped.
