The mistakes DIY books hide, and what they cost at year end

Last week we put a price on doing your own books. The part people pushed back on was the mistakes.

Fair enough. A miscoded transaction is a five minute fix, and anyone can see that.

It is a five minute fix in the month it happens. That is the whole problem, because almost nobody finds it in the mo...

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Reading your gross margin in Xero, and what a slipping margin signals

There is one number in your accounts that quietly tells you whether the work you are doing is actually worth it. Not your revenue, and not your bank balance. Your gross margin.

The good news is that it is already sitting in Xero, and you can find it in about two clicks. The better news is that once...

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AIM, standard or estimation: which provisional tax option fits you?

If you've ever paid provisional tax, you used one of three methods to work out the amount. The catch is that most business owners never actually chose theirs. They were put on the standard method by default when they first crossed into the provisional tax net, and they've stayed there ever since, wh...

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Stop chasing invoices by hand: automating reminders and direct debit in Xero

Chasing invoices is the job almost no one enjoys. It is easy to put off, easy to forget, and every day it slips is another day your money sits in someone else's account. The good news is that most of it can be automated, so the follow-up happens whether or not you get to it.

Here is how to set your...

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