Save hours with Xero’s CIS Contractor functionality – now live

Last year we launched the open beta of our new Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) features and many of you used it to file monthly CIS returns directly from Xero to HMRC.

The feedback was incredibly positive: “Using Xero CIS has helped us streamline the CIS process, and keep everything in one place to avoid errors and save precious time,” says Cheryl Price from CH Accountancy.

That’s why we’re really excited to launch our game-changing CIS Contractor add-on to everyone. Business Edition customers can use it at no additional cost until the end of March 2020 – it’ll cost £5 per month thereafter.

Xero’s CIS functionality helps ensure contractors, subcontractors and accountants fulfil their CIS obligations. Discover some of the awesome features below and learn how to activate the functionality in Xero.

What does the CIS mean for you?

If you’re a UK construction contractor or an accountant with construction clients, you’ll no doubt know all about the CIS, which mandates a set of rules for payments made by contractors and subcontractors.

There are a number of tasks and calculations mandated with CIS. Those include every single invoice or bill you send, providing subcontractors with accurate statements and filing monthly returns to HMRC.

Many businesses will keep track of their invoices and bills on spreadsheet or pen and paper. They often hand a list of transactions over to their accountant to sort through and process.

But calculating the right amount of CIS to deduct each month across each and every transaction is stressful and prone to errors. Moreover, inputting the right information and filing this monthly to HMRC is time-consuming and inefficient.

That’s where we come in – Xero’s CIS Contractor functionality saves you time and reduces the risk of errors.

Anne Timpany, Co-founder and CEO of ATRA Living

“As a mechanical services company, using Xero’s CIS feature is vital. It makes managing our CIS obligations easy and means calculations and deductions are handled automatically,” says Anne Timpany, Co-founder and CEO of ATRA Living.

Key CIS Contractor features

If you’re a Xero Business Edition customer, you can already:

• Automate all CIS calculations, so you can be confident you’re getting your numbers right
• Automatically calculate the right deductions when you send invoices and bills
• Automatically calculate CIS deductions before making payments.
  

From today, you can use these new CIS add-on features to save even more time:

• File your monthly contractor CIS returns directly from Xero to HMRC in a few simple steps
• Create payment and deduction statements and reports for all your subcontractors – in one go – so you can show them how they’ve been affected by CIS.

The functionality includes a new e-filing tool which allows you to submit returns with a click – making it easier than ever to stay compliant with HMRC. We’re proud to say that Xero is the only major cloud software provider to offer this feature.

Learn more about Xero’s CIS contractor features here.  

How to activate CIS Contractor in Xero

As a contractor, you can file monthly CIS returns directly from Xero, and create payment and deduction statements for all your subcontractors – in one go. All you need to do is add CIS contractor to your subscription. It’s easy:

1. Go to the Settings tab and click Manage Subscription
2. Click on Options and then Change pricing plan
3. Add CIS Contractor
4. Done.

If you’re an existing Xero Business Edition customer and you haven’t enabled the core CIS features yet, follow these simple steps:

1. Go to the Accounting menu tab and click Advanced
2. Choose the Financial setting page
3. Select whether they are a contractor, subcontractor or both
4. Done.

As an accountant with construction clients, you can make their lives easier by handling CIS in Xero. All you need to do is add CIS Contractor to their subscription.

Cheryl Price of CH Accountancy says, “It’s extremely easy to set up in Xero, we just entered the correct details in the Settings tab, then entered the subcontractor details in the Contacts section and it was all done… a few minutes at most.”

You can get started here.

Resources

We’ve created useful guides and toolkits to help you get started with CIS:

• If you’re a contractor, take a look at this handy guide that shows you how to file your return: 
• If you’re an accountant, download our construction partner toolkit to learn more about the CIS features and how it can benefit your construction clients.

The post Save hours with Xero’s CIS Contractor functionality – now live appeared first on Xero Blog.

Source: Xero Blog