At Writers Tax we’re big fans of being organised. We encourage our clients to use Xero for their bookkeeping.  Xero is a cloud based bookkeeping software that is easy to use, cheap and extremely powerful.

Here’s why we think it’s a good idea:

1. Being organised saves you tax.  If you run a separate business bank account you can set up a bank feed directly into Xero.  This means all your business expenditure is captured and recorded in real time and you won’t miss out on expenses writers can claim for. 
2. Your book keeping is simpler and takes less time. Using Xero means you can easily set up rules so that recurring transactions are automatically dealt with.  It’s (almost) effortless. 
3. You can keep your receipts digitally.  Xero comes with an electronic filing system so you can keep digital copies of receipts, agent statements, publishing contracts etc and ‘attach’ them to the relevant transaction. Alternatively, you can use an app like Receiptbank together with our bookkeeping service to fully automate things.  Just take a picture on your phone and you’re done. 
4. Your records will be more accurate. Spreadsheets can easily go wrong and a few changes can mean your figures don’t add up and you pay too much (or too little) tax.
5. We can help. Xero is ‘in the cloud’ so if you’ve got an issue with a transaction then we can log in and take a look. 
6. It’s easier (and that means cheaper) for us to do a tax estimate. One of the most valued services we offer is advising our clients how much tax they need to have set aside each quarter.  Xero means we can quickly get our hands on accurate data to do these calculations.
7. It’s safe.  Xero is backed up regularly so your information is protected.  Spreadsheets are much more vulnerable to being lost or corrupted.
8. If you’re a VAT registered writer you probably ought to be making Making Tax Digital (MTD) VAT returns. Xero is set up to make these return easily without faffing about with bridging software.
9. There’s a good chance you’ll have to keep electronic records soon enough. MTD for Income Tax is due to commence in 2023 and will mean sending quarterly tax returns to HMRC. Preparing this information from spreadsheets doesn’t seem very efficient or cost effective.
10. It’s cheap. Our clients can access a basic cash book version of Xero for £5 plus VAT per month. 

Other cloud software is available – such as Quickbooks and Freeagent – but we’ve been fans of Xero for years having tested all the others.  We also think it’s better for our clients if we’re really good on one piece of software than if we know a bit about a few different ones.

Our clients get full training and unlimited support to use Xero. 

Interested? Get in touch and we’ll talk you through how we can help.