As the benefits of digital transformation are realised by more small businesses, Xero, the global small business platform today announced the early release of Xero Go, anew mobile app designed to serve the increased number of sole traders over the last two decades1that is available for IOS download today.
According to HMRC, there are around 2.6 million sole traders in the UK and the freemium app will make it easier to access accounting software for small self-employed businesses including sole-traders, tradespeople, freelancers and gig workers, expanding Xero’s offering to provide a more cost-effective entry point into cloud accounting and digital record-keeping.“
This is a product that caters to the entry-level accounting needs of the self-employed – a growing area of demand. So we wanted to offer early access to a product that caters to the basic accounting needs of self-employed businesses in the UK, the number of which has increased over the last 20 years, and also those of their advisors,” said Anna Curzon, Chief Product Officer at Xero. “Xero Go helps businesses streamline the manual, time-consuming elements of being self-employed, while also providing accountants with accurate, clean financial data they need to service these clients.”
Xero Go will also support the self-employed to get ready for one of the largest changes to the UK tax system — Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA).
From April 2024, self-employed individuals earning above £10,000 will be required to keep digital records of income and expenses on MTD-compatible software, and to make more frequent submissions.The app will give those impacted by the government legislation one easy tool to capture and track expenses digitally on-the-go and manage invoices. Expenses are recorded throughout the year and available in one place at tax time, reducing the need to chase up missing information.
Xero Go will enable the self-employed to:
- Record expenses on the fly using the Quick scan feature, powered by machine learning. Quick scan extracts expense information from receipts, imports them into Xero Go and auto-suggests tax categories for them, saving time on manual expense record gathering and tax coding around submission dates and supports better accuracy.
- Create, send and track customisable invoices — including customer reminders for late payments — and add Stripe payments to invoices to streamline invoice management, get paid faster and feel more in control of their finances.
The app is complemented by the Xero Go Partner Plan, an edition for accountants and bookkeepers that hosts all financial data they need to service their clients using the Xero Go app. Advisors receive accurate, tax-coded financial data — as well as income data gleaned from invoices — supporting the min spending less time on the manual, time-consuming financial admin of servicing self-employed clients and more time on higher-value work.
Alex von Schirmeister, Managing Director, UK and EMEA, said: “With MTD for ITSA also coming soon, we want to support our accountants and bookkeepers by removing the time-consuming workload associated with its increased reporting requirements, so they can work smarter, not harder, to help their customers prepare. Accountants and bookkeepers can remain compliant while focusing on what they value the most: providing the best service and experience they can for their clients.”
The app will initially launch as an early release for UK subscribers on iOS from 20 July 2022, with anAndroid app and additional functionality to be added in the months ahead in the lead-up to MTD forITSA. The sole trader Xero Go app will be free to download with paid add-ons that bring additional capability available within the app.
For more information on Xero Go and prices, please visit our sole trader page here and our partner plan page here.
Xero is currently running an MTD for ITSA beta programme which is HMRC-recognised and also available to accountants and bookkeepers wanting to support their clients through this change.
Xero Go was announced at Xerocon London, one of the world’s premier events for cloud accounting leaders. Taking a fresh perspective, more than 2,000 accounting and bookkeeping partners and the Xero app partner community have gathered over two days to hear the latest from industry leaders.They’ll also gain expert insight into the newest Xero tools and features to help save time, grow their business and have a greater impact on their clients’ success.
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