App of the week: Xero

I don't often get excited about numbers, and even less often about accounting. Then I discovered the Xero mobile app, and while excited may be a slight overstatement, I do find it less painful now.

The app lets you keep on top of your admin while you’re on the go. If you're wondering why you would want to keep on top of your admin on the go, imagine being with a client who disputes an invoice and being able to whip out your phone and show him his transaction history immediately. Or being able to invoice that sale while you're in your new client's office and he's still excited about your products and service. Yes, from  iPhone or Android create and send invoices. So, no more old fashioned invoice books to carry around; you can simply pull out your smart phone and create the invoice then and there. You can even add customer notes for other team members to see.

Making life easier for your sales team has to be a good thing, right?

The feature I love most though, not being a sales person, is the ability to take photos of receipts and submit them straight from a mobile, taking all the pain out of staff expense claims. Let's be honest, it doesn't matter how careful you are with receipts, there are always going to be one or two that simply disappear. Gone are the days of missing receipts and trying to remember which client or project against which the expense should be coded. This app makes being organised easy, even for the most disorganised team member.

Once installed, the app will prompt you to select a four digit pin to make logging in easier and safer. You are then taken you to a dashboard showing the options that are available to you. The team member accessing the system will only be able to use the functions you have given permission for in the main programme - and your financial data remains secure and private.

The real beauty of this app is that it makes keeping on top of admin tasks a breeze - especially for small businesses or team members who may not be admin animals by nature.

The app is available free for nearly every mobile device known to man, but you do need to have a Xero account. Given how painless Xero makes accounting and administration, it probably is worth checking out their pricing models and options.