50% off Xero Business Edition for four months.
Use the promo code EOFY50OFF when you sign up new clients to Xero before midnight (AEST), 30 June 2017. Offer is only available for Australian based organisations.
There is a second code that gives you the same thing: EOFY50OFFD
Not much but about the best discount Xero ever gives. Better than nothing if you are starting to use Xero at this EOFY time.
Don't forget any plugin/apps you need is a seperate add on, which can add up very quick.
I'd be tempted to look somewhere else for the an accounting package.
Have you looked at SageOne? It is a bit cheaper than Xero without the polished look.
I'm in the same boat. A sole trader who needs something simple that works. I hear Xero is super easy and looks great, but it's just too pricey. My accountant recommended SageOne so I think I'll give that a shot. I think they said it was $200/yr, so much cheaper.
I did look at a free cloud based one called Wave, but as it's a Canadian product it doesn't make doing BAS and GST very easy. Where as other software calculates it all automatically. I'm not into numbers or anything, so just want something that makes my life easy with minimal time.
Yes I used Wave for a bit but the GST calculation make it difficult to use. You also need a bit of accounting background yourself. I was a bit apprehensive when they link your business bank account to do the recording of transactions. Not sure about security of letting them to link your bank account. Having said that because it is free, if you do have accounting background you probably can give it a try.
After talking to other small business owners that I know, everyone raved about the simplicity of Xero. I did some research, watching video etc and was sold. The high price sucks a bit, but if the product is good, then I'm okay with that. Thanks for the post OP, saved me a few bucks! Cheers
Xero is easy to use.
especially for us, we have no accounting skills at all.
we tried MYOB but that was a nightmare.
You can try Manager IO
The desktop version is free. It is easy to use, but not many features as Xero.
I trialled MYOB and Xero before settling on Xero. I have noted tried any other systems so keep that in mind.
I was initially going to go with myob because of cost but I have thanked myself for not cheating out and going with Xero.
It's just so easy to use. I believe they have UX down pat.
These are the features that save me so much time:
Batch payments to suppliers. Instead of manually entering each amount to multiple suppliers, just export the .ABA file and upload it to your business bank account.
Payroll is super easy. Timesheets, batch payments, and automatically generate and email payslips.
Super is super easy as well. It calculates it for you and you need to go through 2 factor security but Xero will automatically send super for you.
All the reports are simple to understand so that BAS, IAS, and any other ATO forms are super easy. Takes me less than 10mins.
Reconciling transactions once you have your bank account linked up is super easy, and you can then attach receipts to each appropriate transaction.
Easy to understand P&L.
Easy to schedule payments to suppliers.
Basically Xero is well worth the money in my mind because running a business is stressful enough and Xero just makes things so simple and easy to look at.
Oh wow so many errors in that post because I was on mobile.
WaveApps is free and will suit most people who are small traders.
As far as I can tell, you would need to do your BAS manually though because all accounting packages are based on Accruals not Cash but Xero has a BAS Report that works on Cash - Wave doesn't.
I am setting up as a company/sole employee arrangement. Having no BAS or other experience, is this the best package?
I would recommend talk to your Accountant to help setup, as any savings could be undone by them charging to fix errors.
Currently price war for Accounting software. My preference is Intuit Quickbooks Online - can be had very cheap wholesale and your Accountant my pass on lifetime savings ie 66% off forever 😀
thanks, I will look into that.
Pricing from the Xero website:
I been wanting try Xero and I get that it may be cost effective for medium and larger businesses, but I can't see what advantage Xero offers over spreadsheets for a 1 owner-operator business for $300/yr (undiscounted) or even $250 for first year (discounted). The only viable plans seem to be Standard or Premium 5 plan and then we're talking about $600+/yr.
I'd like to hear other's experiences - is it worth the price for a very small business (say < 5 casual employees)?