When you’re running a business, being able to make informed decisions swiftly is crucial for success. Xero, a leading cloud-based accounting software, offers an array of robust reporting features that provide valuable insights into your business’s financial health. Let’s go over the main ones so you can properly use your cloud accounting software.

Customisable dashboards

Cloud accounting software holds all of your financial data on the internet so that your account is instantly updated when a change in one part of your finances (such as a new invoice or payment) is made. The result of that is a dashboard that provides a real-time overview of your business’s financial status, letting you monitor essential metrics in almost-real-time, rather than having to rely on last week’s or last month’s data.

These dashboards are fully customisable, allowing you to tailor the display to focus on the data that is most relevant to you in the moment, be it cashflow, profit margins or outstanding invoices. They also include visual tools such as charts and graphs, which makes interpreting trends and spotting potential issues or opportunities far easier.

All these features put together mean that you can stay on top of your finances no matter where you are, allowing you to always make quick and informed decisions.

Comprehensive financial report

With its automation capabilities, you can use Xero to effortlessly create a range of financial reports that will help you understand different aspects of your business. The profit and loss statement, for instance, details your revenue, costs and expenses over a specific period, helping you determine whether you are operating at a profit or loss, while the cashflow statement tracks the movement of cash in and out of your business.

While these statements should be familiar to you, the real advantage of Xero is how easy and quick it is to make them – and how using automation reduces the chance of error during the process, meaning you can trust the reports to be reliable and accurate.

Advanced reporting features

For business owners looking for even deeper insights, Xero’s reporting features include powerful tools for data analysis and financial planning, including the following.

• Budgeting and forecasting: With Xero, you can effortlessly create detailed budgets and forecasts to plan for your future financial performance. You can also compare your actual performance against your budget, helping you readjust your strategies.
• Financial performance analysis: Xero’s analytics tools let you perform detailed financial performance analysis, including trend analysis, ratio analysis and benchmarking against industry standards to help you understand how your business is performing relative to your peers.
• Custom reports: You can also create bespoke reports tailored to your business’s specific needs.

Integration with other tools

Xero’s ability to integrate with a variety of third-party applications further enhances its reporting capabilities. For example, you can integrate Xero with inventory management software to help you keep track of the stock levels and the costs of goods sold without ever having to leave Xero. In other words, if Xero doesn’t let you track a specific metric you need to, chances are you will be able to connect another piece of capable software to Xero to track it.

If you need help connecting your business to Xero, we are here. Contact us today.