Software Archives - Nimbus Accounting

How to streamline you business with Xero, ReceiptBank and DropBox.

Are you the type of business owner that still keeps a bag of receipts? If this sounds familiar, then it is unlikely you are in complete control of your finances.

At Nimbus Accounting we help our clients develop a robust accounting system, which allows them to maintain all the necessary business records.  This not only gives our clients the peace of mind that everything is in order, but delivers the timely financial information to enable them to make informed decisions.

Our solution, that suits the majority of our clients, is a combination of three cloud based products.

We recommend Xero as your core financial management tool.  We believe it is so important that we include it at no extra cost in our fixed fee packages. Xero is an online accounting solution that will take care of your invoicing and account for all your business transactions.  Xero can download your bank transactions every evening, which allows you to keep track your financial position and performance. We have previously written about the many benefits of Xero, if you would like to find out more about what the software has to offer please follow this link – http://www.nimbusaccounting.com/why-we-recommend-xero-online-accounting-software-to-enhance-the-accountantclient-relationship/

Xero will handle all the transactions that go through the bank, but in order to digitise your purchase invoices, you will need to consider the services of ReceiptBank. ReceiptBank is, as the name suggests, a storage service that keeps all your receipts in one place.  More importantly, rather than you manually entering the details into Xero, ReceiptBank completes this for you, giving you more time to focus on growing your business. The company has developed an app which allows you to take a photo of a receipt and within 48 hours it will appear in Xero. You can also forward electronic receipts by email or put them in the post, so all formats are covered. Whichever method you use, all your receipts will be uploaded to the cloud, providing you with access to the original paperwork at all times.

Once you have Xero and Receipt Bank working in harmony, the final piece of cloud software you need is online file storage. There are an increasing number to choose from, one of the biggest and early entrants into this arena is DropBox. It offers you an initial 2GB of storage, which is sufficient to get you started. The facility enables you to save everything in the cloud and sync all your files on every device you use, giving you access to all your important documents wherever you are. You can even share specific folders with other users, such as your accountant, allowing those larger files that are to big to email to be easily shared.

Nimbus accounting can guide you through setting up your business to embrace cloud technology. We provide all the advice and support you require through our team of qualified accountants, who specialise in assisting entrepreneurs grow and manage their businesses.

If you want to know more about how we can help you, please call us on 01273 782 742 for a chat. 

Software Review – Sage One

We recently had an online demonstration of Sage One, which is the first cloud product the company has launched. They offer two versions, Cashbook and Accounts, which are priced at £5 and £10 per month (+VAT) respectively. Sage claims to have between 5,000 and 10,000 users of Sage One.  There must be something that appeals to these customers, we wanted to see for ourselves what it was.

Our first impressions were very good. The interface is very well designed and Sage has clearly listened to their customers.  There is 24/7 telephone support,  all the traditional Line 50 accounting terminology has been translated into plain English and the nominal codes are hidden from view.  Accountants need not fear as all that remains in the Accountant Edition.   

Sage One Cashbook, as the name implies, records cash entries.  That is pretty much the limit of the software. This version can’t raise invoices or monitor anyone that may owe you money – it is no good for anything other than a cash business.  The transactions you record will replicate your bank and petty cash accounts, but you have to manually enter every transaction. Once this is done you need to check all your transactions against the actual bank statement, another manual check. In terms of reports, there is One. It will generate a Profit & Loss report (on a cash basis) and that is it.

Sage One Accounts is identical in look and feel to Cashbook, but has more features.  It has the ability to issue sales invoices and record your purchases. If you keep your bank reconciled, it will be able to produce statements for both. There are only four invoice templates, so be prepared to change your current layout if it doesn’t fit the mould. The software can also submit your VAT returns directly from the software. It has only five reports – Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Debtors, Creditors and Trial Balance. 

It is clear that the cloud will strengthen the accountant / client relationship by being able to collaborate on a real-time basis. But the question is, has Sage delivered a product that is better than the competition?  The Nimbus Accounting view is no. In this day of live bank feeds and CSV uploads, offered by other cloud based software such as Xero and FreeAgent, it is surprising that Sage still make you repeat the work your bank has already done on your behalf.  So for this reason, Nimbus Accounting do not recommend Sage One.  We believe Xero offers a much more powerful solution for a small to medium sized business and FreeAgent is a better fit for a freelance consultant.  Both place the bank account at the heart of the software and have the ability to automatically download bank transactions each night.  With live data in your software, producing your accounts can’t get any easier.

If you are based in the Brighton & Hove or Sussex area and want to discuss how your business can benefit from integrating the cloud, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01273 782 742.  Nimbus Accounting staff are all qualified accountants and have a specialist knowledge of SME accounting and taxation.