For most SMEs in Perth, Xero is the dominant cloud accounting package. Xero’s ease of use and functionality help Perth family business owners and their accountants gain control of their business and finances, making it a market leader.
However, Xero is not everything to all business owners. As a Perth SME grows, it has more demanding needs for financial + business accounting data, and Xero cannot cater to every unique need. This is where a great business accountant in Perth can help you.
- Xero is slow
The Xero team has a soft cap on its transactions of around 2,000 a month. While many clients use Xero over this cap, the program engineers at Xero have indicated they are not designing the software for this level of transactions.
If your Xero file is slow or timing out on reports, you might find that Xero is not suitable for you.
- You have lots of add-ons
One of the many benefits of Xero is that you can engage with external software providers to give tailored add-on functionality for your business. So programs like Futrli, Unleashed, Employment Hero, and Chaser can power up your Xero file to the next level.
However, every add-on program costs money and uses a different system, and the add-ons are not always 100% reliable with data integration.
So, if you run multiple add-on programs to give you the accounting power you need to run your business, you might be better off with a more complete solution.
- You can’t get your reports in real-time
The add-on programs often do not work in real-time. Sometimes, they integrate nightly, hourly, or manually.
So if the reporting you need to understand your finances is getting delayed because you can’t access the reports you need – the Xero platform might not suit you.
- Getting monthly reports takes too long
If the end-of-month report pack takes too long to issue, it could be a sign that the program is too small. While the delay in reporting could be caused by some factors, including a lack of resources, training, or poor system set-up, another indicator could be that Xero is too small for your business.
While the time of your monthly reports is important – the insight is critical. A profit and loss without review or comments is often pointless. This is where the benefit of engaging a CFO part-time is essential.
- You can’t get the reports you want
As a business grows, its financial and accounting needs exceed profit and loss. If you cannot enjoy the depth of insight into your business that you need and are stuck with off-the-shelf solutions, you might be in a position where Xero is not right for you.
It might also be a function that your team has not yet had the support, training, or insight into Xero that a Platinum Xero firm can offer. So check this out with a quality Perth business accounting firm—otherwise, you could make a big investment in new software only to have the same problem.
- User access is important
For larger SMEs (so think larger Medium-sized businesses), multiple people will access your Xero file – from payroll, billing, stock management debtors and accounts payable.
With multiple people accessing data, you will often need deep and controlled access to reports that are highly tailored to your needs. Sometimes, Xero cannot provide this – and if that is the case, you might have outgrown the software.
- You are using Excel
If your reporting, management, and control systems run on Excel spreadsheets, you can easily see that Xero is unsuitable. An excellent accounting system will automate the cloud accounting process. If the accounting solution is not sophisticated enough for your needs, you might have outgrown the Xero solution.
Of course, this is not the only reason – your team and Perth business accountants might not have the depth of understanding that a Platinum Xero firm has – so getting help at this stage is essential.
- You are operating internationally
Xero has great foreign exchange functionality, but it is not perfect, and the software does not consider the tax regime of every country in the world.
If you operate in a country not supported by Xero and are forced to run multiple cloud accounting solutions from your Perth office, you might be better off with a different accounting package designed to cover those countries.
- Your staff are complaining
Your team is an expensive resource. Spending money on Australian wages is incredibly costly, and if you are wasting their time or creating a disengaged team by using an accounting program that is not designed for you, sticking to the Xero program due to loyalty or cost might be a costly mistake.
- Lots of manual data entry
Xero was a game changer for Perth business accountants, allowing them to enter cloud accounting by automating the bank statement. However, a lot of Xero transactions still require manual data entry.
More sophisticated cloud accounting software providers have solutions that further eliminate and reduce Xero’s gains. So, if your team is doing too much manual data entry and you spend a lot of your finance resources on low-value work, it might be time to consider upgrading.
Conclusion
Every software program has a target market and a price suited to that market. At Westcourt, we are delighted with the support and ease that Xero offers the SME market. However, we are not a Xero-only firm—we understand that Micro businesses cannot afford the cost of Xero, and larger medium-sized companies need it. And sometimes, you might not be using Xero to its full power.
If you are frustrated with your Xero file, it might be worthwhile talking to Westcourt. While we are a Xero Platinum firm, we are independent and not simply pushing a product we are partnered with. Further, our deep global network gives us on-the-ground knowledge of preferred software solutions internationally. We can offer an upfront quote to see how we can help your team, so the downside (if any) of engaging us is limited. So, why not give us a call?
