Latest product news — August 2022

It has been an exciting, bumper month for Xero! We were finally able to host our first Xerocon after nearly three years, and it was fantastic to see everyone in-person again. In addition to the buzz of Xerocon London, we have had a number of product releases, including adding even more customisation and functionality to our new reports in Xero, and the early release of Xero Go for UK sole traders. We have also changed the name of ‘My Payroll’ to ‘Xero Me’, aligning it with the mobile app that has been enhanced to empower employees to track their own start and end times.

The momentum will only continue to increase as we gear up for Xerocon New Orleans on 24 and 25 August and Xerocon Sydney on 7 and 8 September. 

New features

Make the switch to new reports — Global

We’re retiring the older versions of our reports in Xero. This means you won’t be able to use them from 31 July 2023. Our customer research shows us that once people give new reports a try, they love them. However, we’ll be introducing lots of resources over the next year to help you make the switch. Find out why now is a great time to try new reports.

Quotes and Purchase Orders reporting — Global

Based on customer feedback, we’ve now enabled Quotes and Purchase Orders to be added to the Receivable and Payable Invoice (Detail and Summary) reports from a checkbox within the ‘More’ button. We have also created eight new common format reports (two for each of the above reports) to help get you started. Check out these new reports by using the search bar in the Report Centre, or opening the side panel of the Invoice reports. You can also add them to your management report pack for sharing outside of Xero.

Add and edit contacts — Global

In the weeks ahead, the ‘Add & Edit’ page in contacts will be updated with our new design and some enhancements, to make it easier to add a new contact or edit existing contact information. The fields will be reordered and the page will be restructured into sections with related information. Other improvements include separate bank account prefix and bank account number fields (Australia, UK and US), and better error messaging.

Complete a bulk merge in contacts — Global

After listening carefully to customer feedback, we’re excited to be reintroducing the ability to bulk merge contacts. This will save you time when merging multiple contacts instead of doing it one at a time. In the weeks ahead, you’ll be able to select multiple contacts from the main ‘Contacts list’ page and merge their transaction history with a designated contact.

Edit fields on an invoice after payment — Global

In new invoicing, you’ll now be able to edit some fields on an invoice where a payment has already been made. This is a popular feature in classic invoicing, so we’re pleased to be able to introduce it to our upgraded version. Please note you won’t be able to add or edit a contact when updating a paid invoice.

Improve the accuracy of your client records — Global

We’re simplifying the sync between Xero Practice Manager (XPM) and Xero HQ, as a first step to creating a unified client record. From 25 July 2022 (22 August 2022 in Australia and New Zealand), the only fields that will sync between XPM and Xero HQ when a client record is edited will be first name, last name and date of birth. We’ve also introduced the ability to expand and collapse your client list in Xero HQ, so you can fill your screen and see all columns on the one page.

Send invoice reminders in new invoicing — Global

We’ve introduced invoice reminders to new invoicing, so you can save time chasing payments from your clients or customers. You can now turn invoice reminders on and off within an invoice, and a contact. New invoicing is where all our new features and added value will now live, so if you’re still using classic invoicing, it’s a good time to make the switch.

View your Xero balance in the Xero Accounting app — Global

A newly released feature in the Xero Accounting app allows you to see your overall cash balance on the home screen. You can also select which bank accounts are included in your overall cash balance, as well as reorder your accounts and select the type of balance displayed in the bank account widget.

Reimagine your Xero experience — Global

We’re continuing to roll out our fresh new look across Xero. It’s all part of our work to upgrade the technology that underpins the Xero platform, so it doesn’t slow us down over time. This upgrade will help us deliver the features you need in your business or practice, while also improving speed and accessibility. Here are the most recent changes in Xero:

• In the weeks ahead, we’re updating the global search function in Xero with a new design, including a new-look search bar, filter and dropdown menu.
• We’ve updated quotes so a new row is automatically generated at the bottom of the quote when a cell in the last empty row is populated. The ‘add new row’ button has not changed.
• We updated the product details page in Xero so you can now attach, view, download and delete files to inventory items.

My Payroll is now called Xero Me — Global

We have changed the name of My Payroll to Xero Me. My Payroll is the web-based version of the Xero Me app and we’ve aligned the names to make the experience more seamless for employees.

Save time on payroll by empowering your employees to self-serve their work admin tasks. Xero Me allows your employees to access payslips, submit and manage timesheets, leave requests and claim expenses.

Empower employees to track their start and end time in Xero Me — Australia

We’ve enhanced the timesheet functionality in the Xero Me mobile app. Employees can now record their start, end and unpaid break times, as well as add notes against daily timesheets for easy communication. This new feature will help you keep accurate payroll records, and save time on manual processes such as chasing timesheets or reviewing information before doing payruns in Xero.

Ease the burden for sole trader clients — UK

We’ve unveiled the early release of Xero Go, a new app we’ve developed to help ease the burden of financial admin for sole traders in the UK. It streamlines the manual, time-consuming elements of online accounting while empowering them with the tools they need to meet compliance requirements for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA).

Record VAT payments automatically — UK

Once your VAT Return has been finalised or filed with HMRC, you’ll now have an option in Xero to create a draft bill or invoice. You can then generate a transaction with the contact, date, description, account code and tax rate automatically populated for you. All you need to do is review and approve the transaction — saving you time on data entry and ensuring your VAT payments are accurate.

Charting the ‘Expenses by Contact’ report (pilot) — US

We know that images or charts can express complex ideas or data in a much simpler, beautiful way. As such, US customers now have access to a pilot graph on the ‘Expenses by Contact’ report. This graph charts the total figure in the report, providing a valuable insight into one of the top questions asked by small businesses, “Where does my money go?” This is a trial graph, and we are currently gathering feedback from customers on how useful they find it before rolling it out to other regions.

Export bank transaction data in Hubdoc — US and Canada

We’ve released the beta version of a new bank statement extraction feature in Hubdoc that has been rolled out in the US and Canada. It exports transaction data from PDF statements of supported banks (RBC, TD Canada Trust and Chase Bank) into a pre-formatted CSV file that you can manually upload into Xero or QuickBooks Online. It’s fast and available for free with all Hubdoc subscriptions.

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Source: Xero Blog