As Adelaide Xero Bookkeepers, our firm is expert at dealing with the various functions and pathways within the Xero system. The Xero dashboard is the first of these paths, being the landing page once you log into your account.
From this page you can get easy access to key information such as bank balance, outstanding invoices, expenses and more.
The dashboard is easy to edit so you can see the things you want to see and hide the things you don’t.
Starting at the top left, there is a drop down menu showing the company you are currently working on. If you are a business owner or employee, you may have only one business that you use Xero for, but through this drop down menu you can also select the Demo Company (great for trying out things and learning new Xero skills) or go to My Xero, where you can review access settings, subscriptions and add other businesses to Xero. So if, for example, you require external support, you can use this to add an Adelaide Xero Bookkeeping firm to your profile page so we can assist you with ongoing support.
On the top right, you will see your own name. From here you can go into and set up your profile (useful if you want to be an active member on the Xero forums). You can also make changes to your account settings. This is also where you will find the log out button for when you have finished your session.
Back to the dashboard, just below the drop down menu are the links to all of the pages and functions within Xero. This top bar appears on all the pages, so it is easy to navigate to the page you want to get to, wherever you are in Xero.
Working from left to right, we have Dashboard, Accounts, Payroll, Reports, Advisor, Contacts, and Settings. Depending on your own level of access you may not see Payroll or Advisor, as these are restricted to users with Payroll or Advisor access.
If you click on the Dashboard button it takes you back to the dashboard. However, holding the mouse over the other buttons brings down a drop down menu, from which you can choose the appropriate page to go to.
In Accounts we have Bank Accounts, Sales, Purchases, Inventory, Expense Claims, and Fixed Assets.
In Reports, we can actually choose the reports we want to see in the drop down list. Just click on Reports and then highlight the reports you want by clicking the star, which will turn blue. The report will now show up in the drop down menu. Un-star those reports that are highlighted but that you’re not interested in. You now have easy access to the key reports for your business!
Contacts allows you to search contacts. You can choose suppliers, customers, or all, and you can also make Smart Lists that enable you to filter contacts by selected criteria.
Settings allows you to edit the General Settings or the Chart of Accounts. The General Settings contains all of your business and financial details, such as company name and address, tax periods, currencies, invoice settings, etc.
The Chart of Account is where all of the different account headings on the financial statements are created and stored. These accounts can be edited to allow you to categorise each transaction in a way that suits your business.
We will look at all of these functions in upcoming blogs published right here by Adelaide Xero Bookkeepers.
To the right of these menus are four further boxes – Files, Notifications, Search, and Help.
Files is where any files you upload to Xero via email will go. These can then be attached to the relevant invoice or purchase on Xero.
Notifications is messages from Xero on new features and updates.
The Search box allows you to search for an invoice or transaction within the company.
Help allows you to search by keyword, visit the help centre and even find an approved Xero advisor to help you with your bookkeeping.
Back to the Dashboard, below these menu bars, you may have a small help section offering tips and videos to help get you started. Under this is the main dashboard.
On the left you will see your bank accounts. If you have not set bank accounts up, you will see a box where you can add your bank account. You can either import bank statements manually (via CSV) or you can use the live feed option, where the bank will automatically send updated statements to Xero on a daily basis. All you then have to do is reconcile the account, coding the items so they appear in your reports and financial statements.
