5 Free Xero Training Tutorials

Xero allows you to add unlimited users and accountants to your company, free of charge. To do so, your user role must include the Manage Users permission. Once you invite a user, they will be sent an invitation that they need to accept or decline. The invite expires after 14 days, but you can resend it if necessary.

To invite a new user from the Organization Settings screen:

• Step 1: Click Users.
• Step 2: Select the green Invite a user button in the upper right corner.
• Step 3: Enter the new user’s first name, last name, and email address. The email address you the send the invite to will be the user’s login email address.
• Step 4: Check the Business and Accounting box and select which features you want them to access, and a user role for each feature.

You will then be asked to specify the permissions for each user you invite. This includes accountants, who will be invited as an Advisor. Available user types include Invoice Only, Standard, Advisor, and Read Only. Here’s a short description of each:

• Invoice Only: This limited role suits users who create quotes and invoices or enter bills, but don’t need access to bank accounts or reports.
• Standard: The standard user has almost full access to Xero, with optional access to cash coding and reports.
• Advisor: Advisors have full access to all areas of Xero. These are the permissions that you will give your accountant. If the advisor is not the subscriber, they will not be able to change the pricing plan or payment details.
• Read Only: These users can view most areas of Xero, but are not able to create or edit transactions, or run new reports.

Once you have specified the user role and permissions, you can add a personal message if you like, and then click the green Send Invite button at the bottom right.

The chart of accounts is a list of all accounts you can use to record your transactions. It helps you categorize your transactions correctly and group similar accounts together to generate reports about your business. When you set up your company, Xero will assign a default chart of accounts. If you prefer, you can import either a chart of accounts from your previous accounting software or your own custom chart.

Add a New Account Manually

To view your chart of accounts, click on the Accounting drop-down menu at the top of the screen and then select Chart of Accounts.

To add a new account, simply select Add Account and fill out the required information. You can click on any account in the list to learn more detail or click on an account balance to view a list of transactions that use that account. If you have created your own chart of accounts or are using the default Xero chart of accounts, be sure to include all of the active accounts you used in your previous accounting system.

You’ll need to enter the following components to add an account to the Chart of Accounts:

• Account type: Each account has an account type, which Xero uses to determine where the account appears in your financial reports. You can change the account type at any time by editing the account.
• Code: Each account has an account code of up to 10 characters. The code is used to group similar or frequently used accounts together in your chart of accounts. You can use any code for any account as long as it’s unique.
• Name and description: Every account in Xero must have a name of up to 150 characters. The account description is optional for all accounts except for bank accounts. Use letters, numbers, or symbols for this account, up to 1,000 characters. You can edit the account name and description if needed.
• Tax: Each account has a default tax rate. When you add an account, you can choose the tax rate for the account. You can change the tax rate on the account at any time by editing the account

Edit an Account

To edit an account, select the account from the chart of accounts that you wish to edit, as shown below. Then, update the information and click the Save button to update the data.

Import a Chart of Accounts

If you’re importing a chart of accounts, the file you import must be a comma-separated values (CSV) file. The name of your file should end with .csv or .txt.

When you import a chart of accounts into Xero, it replaces the existing categories exactly as per the import file. It doesn’t allow you to add to Xero’s default chart of accounts with newly imported accounts because all existing accounts will be deleted when you import a new one. If you don’t want to make changes to an account and want it to remain in the company, keep it in the import file. If you delete the account from the file, Xero will archive the account when the files are imported.

You can import a maximum of 1,000 rows, including the column header. Xero recommends a limit of 699 accounts per company to avoid page loading issues. If your file includes account balances, these will overwrite any existing balances or coded transactions you have in Xero. If you don’t want to overwrite them or you’re unsure, leave the Balance column in the import file blank.

To import the file into Xero:

• Step 1: In the Accounting menu, select Advanced, then click Chart of Accounts.
• Step 2: Click Import.
• Step 3: Since you’re using a Xero accounts template, leave Xero as the system you’re importing from.
• Step 4: Select whether your file includes balances. If yes, enter your conversion date.
• Step 5: Click Browse to locate the saved file on your computer.
• Step 6: Select Import, then a summary will appear that displays all of the new accounts.

You can also import your contacts—both customers and suppliers—into Xero. Imported contacts are categorized automatically into the All contact group when first created. Once you’ve entered an invoice, bill, or credit note transaction for a contact, Xero will assign them into a Customers or Suppliers contact group. It isn’t possible to move contacts between the default groups manually, but you can create a new contact group besides Customers and Suppliers.

To import contacts into Xero:

• Step 1: In the Contacts menu at the top of the screen, click on All Contacts.
• Step 2: Click on Import Contacts.
• Step 3: Click on Select File and select your saved file.
• Step 4: Under On importing an existing contact (so that empty fields will be ignored), select Be ignored.
• Step 5: Click Next.
• Step 6: Review the information you’re importing, and then click Complete Import.

Add a New Contact Manually

When you add a new contact, it displays in the All tab. The same contact also displays in the Customers or Suppliers tab after you enter an invoice, bill, or credit note transaction for them.

To add a new contact to Xero manually:

• Step 1: Click on New Contact.
• Step 2: Enter your contact’s name. If a contact already exists with that same name, you’ll see it listed here.
• Step 3: Enter your contact’s details, which include the primary point of contact and information, such as phone number, email, website, and street address. You can also enter financial details related to W-9 business classification and a credit limit amount. These details will vary depending on the type of contact.
• Step 4: Click Save when you’re finished.