Xero is one of the largest and widely used SME accounting software in the world. It offers many features from invoicing to billing customers to dealing with foreign currencies. But since it offers such a huge range of features. it can be difficult for beginners to use. There are many tutorials on Youtube and there’re even live in-person Xero accounting training courses. But these can be time consuming.
Strangely, Xero and other accounting software aren’t focused on in accounting degrees even though that’s what a large portion of accounting is. While many Xero courses have been popping up recently in Singapore, there’s still a lot of accountants looking to upgrade their skills and retrain. Many new fresh accounting graduates are also looking for certifications that they can show their first employers that can indicate their expertise in Xero.
Just dive right into it
The best way to learn Xero yourself in the shortest time possible is to drive right into it. Create an account and start doing accounting and bookkeeping for your own business. You can always outsource accounting and pass on your Xero bookkeeping account to an accounting firm or accountant later. (In fact this is the best time to hire an accounting firm because of the accounting PSG Grant which is a government grant that subsidises up to 50% of your accounting costs!) Try to add new accounts to your Chart Of Accounts and entering new income or expense transactions.
If you don’t have a company, try imagining that you’re running the nearby bookstore or shoe store. What income and expense transactions will you have to enter everyday? How will entering a purchase from the manufacturer affect your income statement and cashflow statement? Buying on credit means that the expense from your manufacturer will show up earlier on your income statement (once you receive the shoes). But your cashflow statement may only show the decrease in cash in three months time when you actually make the payment to the manufacturer.
Try Wave (a free accounting software) for something easier
If Xero seems too complicated, you can try to create a free account on Wave. Wave is another accounting software but free to use. While Wave has fewer features than Xero, you can use Wave to learn about Chart Of Accounts, reconciliation, billing and journal entries before “levelling up” to Xero. You’ll have the benefit of being able to make use of Wave’s community and Wave’s simple to use interface. Again, this is all free to use so there’s no sell or catch.
Wave is a for-profit business. But they make money primarily from their American and Canadian businesses that use their software. You can still use Wave as a Singaporean but won’t have access to their other features like invoicing that have integration with North American banks.
Once you’ve gotten familiar with bookkeeping using accounting software and moved to Xero, you can outsource your accounting to an accounting firm like WLP Group and get help from one of our accountants. Our accountants will also offer Xero accounting training for you and your team so that you can view financials anytime and anywhere. You can log onto your cloud Xero account from anywhere and all data is saved online like Google Drive. You can ask us any question you have or post to the online Xero community. You can also ask for assistance from your professors if you’re in university, or assignment help for Singapore students from a tutor.
