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WORK[etc] Web App Blog
Xero Beta - Coming Soon
23
Nov
Nov
Someone smart once told me that the first place business owners go to for advice is either their accountant or lawyer - ironically it was actually my accountant that told me this.
It was this bit of advice ultimately behind the decision to draw a line in the sand as to how far we'd take WORKetc. This line we won't be crossing is rolling out a full blown accounting module into WORKetc.
To do so would mean that before we could sell the product, we'd have to be educating accountants. That is a pretty expensive proposition to undertake; educating a market before you can actually sell into it is a heap of work, time and risk I couldn't afford to take on.
And then if we had gone down this path not only would we have to be all over the nuances of accounting rules that apply in the 40 odd countries we have customers in, we would also have to stay up-to-date. Again more work and time. And lets not even take into account trying to compete with existing, established and excellent products like Quickbooks and Xero!
Which of course presents a problem. Our goal of putting an end to double entry kind of gets blown out of orbit.
Sure, you can export stuff out of WORKetc; downloading a file to your desktop. But then you have to upload and import into your accounting software and hope all the fields are going to match up. Easy at first but painful by the 20th time you run the process.
So a few weeks back we finally got talent and resources in place to start building and rolling out live interactions with Quickbooks and Xero.
Last week I announced the Quickbooks Desktop integration. Today I can announce the impending release of Xero. What this means is that we're at an internal testing stage for both integrations and expect to be able them more available very soon.
Discovery: WORKetc Invoicing is more Powerful than we Realised
One of the challenges we had with both integrations is the method of invoice creation we built into WORKetc. With transparency in mind, we set the original invoicing engine with options to show ancillary items such as discounts, taxes and shipping as completely separate line items.
This means that with a detailed WORKetc invoice, your customers can easily see exactly how the total amount on their invoice is calculated. They can effortlessly understand discounts, shipping rates and taxes (or you can choose to just produce very simple invoices).
The first idea here was to eliminate end customer queries; especially from those end customers who use the excuse "I didn't understand my invoice" to delay actually paying their account (you all know exactly the kind of customer I'm referring to).
The second idea was that invoicing is marketing. If you're providing a customer with a discount, then you absolutely want to be reminding them at every opportunity. If you're throwing in some extra free time or including free shipping, then shout it out loud.
This detailed invoice approach also allows flexibility depending on convention in your country or region. For example, you can:
... Back to the integrations
Both Quickbooks and Xero don't accomodate ordering discounts, shipping and taxes as discrete line items. We didn't want to sacrifice WORKetc's invoicing functionality just because we we're integrating with other products.
So what we've done is kept all invoicing function inside of Wetc and just focussed on synchronizing meaningful invoice data through to the end software package. Kind of tricky but we're almost there.
Here are some screenshots of Xero in action (click to zoom):
Update for Quickbooks Desktop Beta, Invitation for Xero Beta Testers
So last week we put the call out for Quickbooks (Desktop) beta testers. Everyone that replied will (most likely) get access to the installer late this week. We still need to run some install tests for various combos' of Quickbooks and Windows.
Depending on how long it takes for Xero to approve our Partner Add-on status, we should hopefully be seeding the Xero integration within the next 14 days.
If you want to try out the Xero Integration, please throw your account name into the comments below. We'll then reach out when its ready to roll.
Oh - and coming up over the next few weeks is the new Groups & Permissions and Outlook Add-in betas.
It was this bit of advice ultimately behind the decision to draw a line in the sand as to how far we'd take WORKetc. This line we won't be crossing is rolling out a full blown accounting module into WORKetc.
To do so would mean that before we could sell the product, we'd have to be educating accountants. That is a pretty expensive proposition to undertake; educating a market before you can actually sell into it is a heap of work, time and risk I couldn't afford to take on.
And then if we had gone down this path not only would we have to be all over the nuances of accounting rules that apply in the 40 odd countries we have customers in, we would also have to stay up-to-date. Again more work and time. And lets not even take into account trying to compete with existing, established and excellent products like Quickbooks and Xero!
Which of course presents a problem. Our goal of putting an end to double entry kind of gets blown out of orbit.
Sure, you can export stuff out of WORKetc; downloading a file to your desktop. But then you have to upload and import into your accounting software and hope all the fields are going to match up. Easy at first but painful by the 20th time you run the process.
So a few weeks back we finally got talent and resources in place to start building and rolling out live interactions with Quickbooks and Xero.
Last week I announced the Quickbooks Desktop integration. Today I can announce the impending release of Xero. What this means is that we're at an internal testing stage for both integrations and expect to be able them more available very soon.
Discovery: WORKetc Invoicing is more Powerful than we Realised
One of the challenges we had with both integrations is the method of invoice creation we built into WORKetc. With transparency in mind, we set the original invoicing engine with options to show ancillary items such as discounts, taxes and shipping as completely separate line items.
This means that with a detailed WORKetc invoice, your customers can easily see exactly how the total amount on their invoice is calculated. They can effortlessly understand discounts, shipping rates and taxes (or you can choose to just produce very simple invoices).
The first idea here was to eliminate end customer queries; especially from those end customers who use the excuse "I didn't understand my invoice" to delay actually paying their account (you all know exactly the kind of customer I'm referring to).
The second idea was that invoicing is marketing. If you're providing a customer with a discount, then you absolutely want to be reminding them at every opportunity. If you're throwing in some extra free time or including free shipping, then shout it out loud.
This detailed invoice approach also allows flexibility depending on convention in your country or region. For example, you can:
- Choose to apply discounts to the before-tax price or the after-tax price; especially handy for a "we'll pay your VAT" type promotion
- Apply different discounts to different items in your invoice and easily see the discount benefit as it applies to each individual item, making sure your customer is absolutely aware of the benefit
- Choose which order to apply state, canton or federal taxes and whether to apply progressively or to the original amount; particularly relevant to some of the European countries
- Include multiple shipping charges for different line items on the same invoice
- Provide your customers with different levels of detail in the invoice. For example, notes that are created as part of a timesheet entry can be included, or you can elect to just provide the applicable activity type or project
... Back to the integrations
Both Quickbooks and Xero don't accomodate ordering discounts, shipping and taxes as discrete line items. We didn't want to sacrifice WORKetc's invoicing functionality just because we we're integrating with other products.
So what we've done is kept all invoicing function inside of Wetc and just focussed on synchronizing meaningful invoice data through to the end software package. Kind of tricky but we're almost there.
Here are some screenshots of Xero in action (click to zoom):
Update for Quickbooks Desktop Beta, Invitation for Xero Beta Testers
So last week we put the call out for Quickbooks (Desktop) beta testers. Everyone that replied will (most likely) get access to the installer late this week. We still need to run some install tests for various combos' of Quickbooks and Windows.
Depending on how long it takes for Xero to approve our Partner Add-on status, we should hopefully be seeding the Xero integration within the next 14 days.
If you want to try out the Xero Integration, please throw your account name into the comments below. We'll then reach out when its ready to roll.
Oh - and coming up over the next few weeks is the new Groups & Permissions and Outlook Add-in betas.
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- Four Questions that Bring Teams Together
- See all from Coalface
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tcn.worketc.com
Keen to try out the xero integration..
Thanks!
I would be willing to try the Xero integration.
I use Xero for my invoicing and accounting, but WETC for tracking my time for analysis and to meet my professional body requirements.
virtualhr.worketc.com
I am excited to see how far you've come with the Work Etc integration. While we were able to save invoices as cvs files and then manipulate the columns for import into work etc it was a tedious process. This will help keep our accounting up to date and accurate.
Thanks!
cbserves.worketc.com
I am also keen to try the Xero integration.
I look forward to hearing more about this asap!
venuspest.worketc.com
We are switching to Xero 1.1.12 and are new to worketc, if you want me to see how it works for a newbie
Excited for Outlook!
Even though I'm still in the trial of my subscription, I would like to beta test the Xero integration. I will be converting my books from quickbooks online to Xero very shortly and badly need a client management tool. I was looking at another tool but now think Work, Etc might be a better fit.
dogatemybooks.worketc.com
p.s. I'm also a certified xero partner.
viva.worketc.com
Happy to be part of Beta for this one. Please include me.
New WorkEtc customer here.
pronetd.worketc.com
We are moving from Netsuite to WOrkEtc & Xero. We're migrating data now for a cutover at year's end. So, very interested in the integration.
Keep me posted.
Thanks,
Tim
How do you want me to market this for you?
four.worketc.com - we use Xero in a big way in our business; and have been for a few years, so would be good to beta it up!
Really looking forward to the XERO API. Wetc is just what invoicing needs that XERO does not have. Surely a winning combination.
Yes, Please. I have been longing to see this integration.
sitelaunchllc.worketc.com
Looking forward to it!
Thanky Thanky for all this good ifnormatoin!
We'll be in that
Update announcement coming soon. We ran into some unexpected delays with Christmas, New Year, the way WORKetc handles expenses differently and a few other minor but delaying integration issues.
We (chilli.worketc.com) would also like to be included into the beta for Xero integration.
We started using Xero in AUS 6 months ago and now also set up in UK. Have been waiting for this confirmation before commencing a trial of WETC. Need to move from Outlook BCM to the cloud. Fantastic news that now almost ready. Can you arrange our trial to include the Beta? Cheers
acc.worketc.com
Can we also have the BETA installed ?
The beta isn't available yet, please see the roadmap post for an update:
http://www.worketc.com/blog/Development/94
@Signarture - Xero won't be available on T-suite.
@DAN @ WORKetc thanks for posting that update. Can see now anticipated End Jan. But now confused : Xero is available through T-suite today...but are you saying that if I trial WORKetc through T-suite later this month when the Beta test for integration is rolled out, it's not going to work for me?
@signarture - you need to contact support at worketc dot com
Hi, please include us for the BETA release of Xero integration - SMSF Property Advisers Pty Ltd is the account name, thank you
Any update on the beta release? We just switched to WE and Xero at the beginning of the year.. I was hoping not manually import my first month's invoices from WE to Xero.
Hello, we are a Xero user since many years and I would be pleased if we can try the beta integration as well. Given that we do a lot of work internationally (and us having a different locale) in various currencies, we can certainly provide valuable feedback.
PLease include me on beta
PLease include me on beta
Hello we're just trialling WE & XERO, really want to move from Quickbooks...
Shoot me a beta invite. I changed accounting software to Xero so I could integrate it with WorkETC!
Hi,
If the Xero beta is available please send me an invite. I cancelled my Freshbooks for WrokETC and Xero.
Thanks
Hi,
If the Xero beta is available please send me an invite. I cancelled my Freshbooks for WrokETC and Xero.
Thanks
Really keen to try out the Xero beta
Erm... not sure if I'm too late to jump on the bandwagon, but I'm gagging to try out the Xero integration.
If you still need testers, count me in @wildfirepro
Please send me an invite for the Xero beta.
Cant wait for the Xero integration, please send me an invite. accessjb
We're still waiting on certification with Xero.
is this ready yet as it is part of my criteria for purchasing work ect. Thanks
@Freg - yes, has been available for months.