As the co-owner of a cloud-based accounting practice as well as AccountKit, I truly understand what it’s like to walk in our customers’ shoes! In fact, the issues I faced with syncing and centrally managing client data when migrating my practice to the cloud were what led me to build AccountKit.

Today, AccountKit’s cloud-based suite of practice tools is designed specifically to optimise aspects of the Xero and XPM experience for accountants. Here’s what that looks like:

1) Illustrate complex business structures and entity relationships for clients in minutes

AccountKit’s Client Map Tool allows you to create custom diagrams of client business structures and entity relationships. Any changes you make to client relationship information are automatically synced between Xero Practice Manager and AccountKit, and you can manage all your client relationship data in one location without having to jump in and out of every entity.

2) Track all client correspondence across your practice

AccountKit’s Correspondence Register can be used to record and store phone calls, meetings, file notes and drop-ins in a central repository. Simply open the tool and choose the type of correspondence you want to record from the dropdown menu, to automatically populate information like the client’s name and contact details directly from Xero Practice Manager.

3) Automate inter-entity loan reconciliations

The Inter-Entity Loan tool within AccountKit pulls data from multiple Xero files and accounts, enabling quick, regular reconciliations of inter-entity loans throughout the year. This equals significant time savings and greater accuracy across complex client groups – keeping accounts in balance throughout the year.

4) Automate fuel tax credit calculations straight out of Xero

Many accountants are familiar with the not-so-user-friendly ATO fuel tax calculator tool. AccountKit’s Fuel Tax Credit Calculator can be used with or without Xero to quickly and easily calculate FTC. If connected to Xero, AccountKit extracts litreage information from the description and automatically applies the correct fuel tax rate according to the type, use and applicable period.

5) Manage equipment finance more effectively

Using the Equipment Finance Tool, you can plug the details of any client asset purchase and associated finance arrangements into AccountKit, build a finance schedule (either regular or irregular) and automatically post the interest entries to reconcile the schedules throughout the year. You can also easily process the required entries to refinance or pay out a schedule should the need arise

All this is brought together on the Client Group Page, which is the central hub where you can see all your client information and tools from a single screen