With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting small businesses around the world, Xero has accelerated the rollout of the expanded reporting pilots and introduced new features so businesses and their advisors can quickly see crucial financial metrics and manage business continuity.

Gary Turner, Managing Director of Xero said: “There are many small business owners making tough decisions on how they can get through the next six months. They’ve had to act fast and completely change the way they work. One way we’d like to help is by making financial information real time and insightful, making it easier for businesses to be paid faster and control their cash. And that’s why we are launching these tools; so small businesses and their advisors can easily view high level information on revenue, profitability and cash flow.” 

As part of Xero’s efforts to help small businesses and advisors manage through COVID-19, it is accelerating development and availability of three pilot tools, to quickly provide high level information on revenue, profitability and cash flow.

Business Snapshot, first announced in November 2019, helps easily compare profit and loss, revenue, expenses and cash balances in different periods through a real time, single report, instead of needing to generate additional reports or spreadsheets.

By delivering a single, streamlined report for clients, advisors can help their small business clients understand crucial health metrics quickly, providing a starting point for deeper conversations around business performance, and possible risks or opportunities. View the demo here. 

Short Term Cash Flow, first announced in September 2019, enables businesses to project their bank balances 30 days ahead, showing the impact of existing bills and invoices if they're paid on time and has been built in close consultation with the small business and accounting communities. The short term cash flow pilot will be rolled out in the next two weeks.

The two tools are still in development and testing with the broader Xero community, but are now being rolled out for free to all Xero customers in Business Edition plans until 31st August 2020.

Accountants and bookkeepers using Xero HQ can now quickly download a monthly revenue export of client organisations to get a high level view of the health of their clients. The report shows year-on-year revenue changes, current cash balances and their primary banking relationships, giving advisors oversight on which clients are impacted most, potential eligibility for banking support packages, and creating a starting point for conversations with those that need the most help. The export forms part of a new COVID-19 Support Page, with links to supporting resources. View the demo here. 

Manage and pay multiple bills through Xero using Pay with TransferWise

Small businesses and their advisors now have an easier and more efficient way to pay and reconcile multiple bills on the Xero platform through Pay with TransferWise.

Now, no matter who they bank with, small businesses can pay multiple bills through Xero with just a few clicks. Simply submit the payment details in Xero and send the details securely to TransferWise through the Xero account. Once funds are transferred to the TransferWise account, TransferWise processes payments to suppliers and bills are marked as paid in Xero. This removes the hassle and time spent dealing with batch payment files, or checking the status of individual payments in an account.

Managing the end-to-end payment workflow through Xero will give business owners a real time picture of their bills and a better understanding of the impact on their cash flow.

Pay with TransferWise will be available for UK customers to add to their Xero Starter, Standard or Premium subscription later this month. The service is available for free until 31st July 2020. After this, there will be a monthly charge. View the demo here.