We all know that data entry takes time, it's easy to make mistakes and it's generally not what business owners should be doing! Even if you have someone else doing the data entry in your business you still want to eliminate as much as possible.
Thanks to Xero, you can certainly reduce your data entry time. We've showed you previously how to do this by using quotes, templates, eliminating the paper you receive, using shortcut keys, using auto super and batch payments just to name a few. So lets take a look at how you can streamline and #banadmin even more.
Invoicing your customers
Repeating invoices are great if you have:
- customers you invoice monthly (even if for different amounts)
- customers you invoice quarterly
- customers you invoice yearly
- basically anyone you invoice (or should invoice!) on a recurring basis no matter what time period that is.
It doesn't matter if the amount or what for changes each time you invoice. You just chose to leave this invoice as a draft instead of approving and sending automatically.
If you invoice a customer the same amount each month (ie monthly retainer of $5,000) and this never changes you can automate the entire process. You setup your repeating invoice with Approve for Sending ticked. This means the invoice will automatically be sent to the client on the day you chose. You can include a placeholder so the Invoice has the Month or week or year or a combination. You can even include the contract the customer has signed as a file.
If you have customers that you invoice each month but the amount changes or maybe you include other services it's best to chose Save as Draft. The invoice will be drafted each month/week etc and you can change it before sending to the client. This ensures you don't have to remember who to send the Invoice to or to prepare them!
Invoices from Suppliers
Another neat automation in Xero is repeating bills. Take your monthly Internet and Phone bill as an example. This is something you have to pay each month. It might vary slightly as the amount you have to pay or it might be exactly the same.
To save data entry time you can set this up as a repeating bill. It's the same process as setting up your repeating invoice, you just chose to Save as Draft if the amount changes each month or Approve if its always the same.
