I'm self-employed. I have to keep track of income and expenditure, pay bills, issue invoices and record who's paid and who hasn't. For years I used software on one of my two computers.

It was great software, but often on the 'wrong' computer. What's more I'm not an accountant and generally messed up even simple transactions. Finally, about 18 months ago I employed someone who did understand what they were doing to help me.

She comes to my house for a few hours each month to keep my accounts in order. So I had to set her up on my computer, give her access to the accounts package and so on.

Recently though I switched to using Xero Online for my accounts. The whole thing is handled on the web. My accounts person and I can access my invoices and payments, bank balances etc from any computer (using Firefox or Flock). We can both look at the accounts at the same time, and the chartered accountant who handles my annual tax return can also log in to do what she needs to.

So far I'm very pleased with Xero. It's a New Zealand company, based in Wellington, so it understands NZ conditions. They meet my small (sole trader) business needs, and have an eye on community organisations too, as they explain on their Xero | Businesses | Clubs web page:

Xero is a great fit for clubs, making accounting easy for people who aren't accountants. Set up recurring subscriptions, produce professional reports, and track profits and losses for any part of your club.

Let Xero look after subscriptions

Keep track of membership fees that are due or outstanding, with Xero's repeating transactions. No more working out who owes what, Xero will tell you who's paid and who hasn't.

Save your volunteers

The reality of running clubs is you are dependent on volunteers — and they may change frequently. Xero is web-based so can be accessed using any computer connected to the internet. Your treasurer can easily log on at home or wherever they are. And if you appoint a new treasurer it's no problem, simply invite them in and away they go — no need to transfer data from one place to another.

Whether you belong to a small or large community organisation it would be worth your while to at least see what Xero have to say. They have some videos you can watch, and a demo you can try out for free. They also have a detailed Clubs How to page.

[Via : Xero | Businesses | Clubs.]

Disclaimer: After doing some work for Rod Drury earlier this year I receive a discounted rate for my Xero subscription.

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