At SeavorChartered, we are enthusiastic about the difference Xero can make when it’s set up and used well. Part of our role is to look for practical ways to improve how your accounts are managed. That includes keeping up with Xero’s developments and identifying which changes could benefit your business.
Here are some recent Xero updates worth knowing about.
Less typing when dealing with receipts and invoices
Xero’s Smart Document Capture can extract information from uploaded receipts and supplier invoices, helping create transactions with less manual entry. Recent improvements include support for credit notes and automatically attaching documents to existing transactions.
You may also notice that “Files” is now called “Documents”, with its location moving into the Accounting menu.
For businesses processing a steady stream of paperwork, these tools could reduce repetitive work and help keep invoices and receipts alongside the relevant accounting entries.
You may already use Dext or Hubdoc to process purchase invoices and receipts. Xero’s Smart Document Capture provides another option worth considering, depending on the features you need and how your bookkeeping is organised.
How we can help: We can review your current process and identify whether any changes could save time or make it easier to keep your records up to date.
Easier bank reconciliation and review
Bank reconciliation matches the transactions on your bank statement with the records in Xero.
Xero has been improving its automatic bank reconciliation tools, powered by its AI platform, JAX. Recent changes make it easier to review reconciled transactions, see how they were matched and manage supporting attachments. You can also make certain coding corrections directly from the Reconciled page.
The potential benefit is less time spent processing routine transactions, leaving more time to resolve queries and maintain useful, up-to-date figures. Reviewing the results remains an essential part of the process.
How we can help: We can review your bank rules and reconciliation process, assess where automation could help and make sure suitable checks remain in place.
More control over what your team can access
As your business grows, you may want team members to help with accounting tasks while keeping sensitive information restricted.
Xero’s recent permissions changes allow more flexibility, including options to hide banking information from Standard users, provide different levels of stock access and share selected sales or purchases reports. Further permissions improvements are planned, and the options differ between Xero editions.
This could make it easier to delegate tasks while keeping access appropriate to each person’s role.
How we can help: We can review who has access to your Xero account and help align their permissions with their responsibilities.
A clearer picture of supplier payment times
Xero has introduced a Supplier Days to Pay Detail report for UK businesses. It shows how quickly individual supplier bills were paid and groups them by payment time.
For business owners, this offers another way to understand payment habits, spot delays and support conversations about cash flow and supplier relationships.
For example, it could help identify whether late payments are an occasional issue or a recurring problem that needs attention.
How we can help: We can explain what the report tells you and help investigate payment patterns, whether these relate to cash flow, approval delays or administration.
Better tools for planning ahead
Xero has also introduced a new budgeting experience in early access, allowing budgets to be built from existing actual figures. Its recent updates include improvements to how analytics tools are brought together within Reporting.
For businesses still rebuilding spreadsheets each time they plan ahead, these developments could offer a useful starting point.
A budget can help you set targets, anticipate changes in costs and compare actual performance with your plans throughout the year.
How we can help: We can help you turn your accounting figures into a realistic budget, understand any differences from your plans and decide what action to take.
Let’s make Xero work harder for you
The best improvements often start with a simple conversation about which tasks take too long or cause frustration.
You do not need to work out every new feature yourself. At SeavorChartered, we can help you identify the tools that suit your business and put them to practical use.
Our aim is to reduce unnecessary administration and give you clearer, more timely information—so you have more time to run your business and greater confidence in your decisions.
If you would like us to review how you use Xero, contact the team. We can talk through your current setup and suggest practical improvements.
