Our product teams have hit the ground running this year to bring you a stack of new features across the Xero platform. The ongoing challenges with COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns hasn’t been easy on our teams, and continues to impact our customers and partners around the world. We hope these new automation and reporting tools give you some time back in your day that you can spend taking care of yourself, your loved ones, and your business.

New features

Get notified of duplicate documents in Hubdoc — Global

Our latest release in Xero’s data capture tool, Hubdoc, will notify you of any duplicate document uploads. Simply move the duplicate to the trash, or mark it as ‘not duplicate’ if you’d like to keep it. This new duplicate detection feature saves you time and reduces errors in your bookkeeping, so you can spend less time double-checking uploaded documents and more time adding value to your clients.

Navigate from Hubdoc to Xero — Global

The new year is bringing Hubdoc and Xero even closer together. You’re now able to navigate directly from Hubdoc to the corresponding transaction in Xero, to streamline your workflow. 

See more information about clients in Xero HQ — Global

We’ve continued to improve your client list in Xero HQ. You can now see your clients’ connected bank feeds, unreconciled items and business numbers at a glance, simply by customising your columns. Our UK partners can also add a column to see which of their clients’ bank feeds will expire and when, as well as quickly see unreconciled lines and financial year-end dates for all clients.

Verify your PayPal account in Xero — Global

We’ve improved the PayPal set-up experience in Xero, so it’s easier to offer this payment service to your customers. It only takes a few minutes to connect and verify your business PayPal account in Xero. Your customers can then pay using the ‘pay now’ button on your Xero invoice.

Submit PDF receipts on the go in Xero Expenses mobile app — Global

You can now easily upload PDF receipts into the Xero Expenses mobile app and it will automatically extract relevant data from the PDF and create the expense claim. The PDF file will also be attached to the claim as a proof of purchase. You can then review and submit your claim in one click.

Customise your Chart of Accounts (COA) templates in Xero HQ — Global

You can now create your own COA templates in the practice menu of Xero HQ. Once your custom templates are set up, you can apply them to any new clients that you add to Xero HQ (they can’t be used to overwrite an existing client’s COA). It will save you time and reduce errors, so you have more time to focus on billable activity.

Search for filter options in reports — Global

We’ve improved the way you use filters in your new reports. You can now access all filters with a single button, and see which tracking categories and options have been archived. We’ll also display which tracking filters have been selected in the report.

See the data you can share with lenders — Global

Getting a loan can be the difference between business growth and failure. That’s why we’ve created a new cash validation report in Xero. It allows you to see data points which you can share with lenders, to give them the confidence in the quality of your accounting record. The report shows the degree to which a business’ accounting transactions are driven by verified activity in the bank account.

Automate excess super calculations — AU

Advisors can now automatically calculate excess superannuation contributions and Division 293 tax for high-income earners in Xero Tax. The new feature includes a superannuation contributions worksheet, as well as an ‘other amounts that may affect the tax estimate’ section on the Estimate tab. This automation will save you time and improve the accuracy of your calculations.

Automate bonuses and commissions — AU

Say goodbye to manual tax calculations on employee bonuses and commissions. Xero Payroll now automates this for you and files the data with ATO via STP. We are using the ATO’s most accurate calculation method for determining the tax to be withheld.

Get ready for JobMaker Hiring Credit payments — AU

Keep track of what’s required to receive JobMaker Hiring Credit payments, in Xero Payroll. The JobMaker Hiring Credit is an incentive for businesses to employ job seekers aged 16-35, to help the economy recover from COVID-19. Eligible employers can register for the scheme for each additional employee they hire in the 12-month period from 7 October 2020. 

Calculate your non-MTD VAT return amounts — UK

If you have not yet signed up to MTD for VAT, you can still generate VAT amounts using our new non-MTD VAT Return in Xero. It includes all the functionality of the latest MTD VAT Return, including  the ability to adjust your VAT Return, track history and add notes. 

Manage Postponed VAT Accounting on VAT Returns — UK

Our new feature allows you to easily manage the new Postponed VAT Accounting (PVA) requirements following Brexit. It’s faster and more efficient because you don’t have to create accounting transactions to populate PVA amounts to the VAT Return. The new feature to manage PVA amounts is available in both MTD and non-MTD VAT Returns for businesses on standard VAT schemes.

View both sides of the accounting journal — US

We’ve added a new column called ‘related account’ in the Account Transactions report. This update gives you a better overview of your accounts. You’ll be able to see how the other side of the accounting journal has been coded, and understand the context of each transaction entered into Xero. This feature will be rolled out globally in the coming months.

Access the new Schedule C report template — US

A new 2020 Schedule C report template is now available in Xero HQ, to help our accounting and bookkeeping partners in the US prepare their sole proprietor clients’ tax returns for the 2020 tax year. Before you get started, make sure you download the custom Schedule C chart of accounts in Xero Central.

Report miscellaneous and contractor payments — US

Our latest 1099 reporting features help you identify 1099-related transactions made in 2020. They also help you generate a 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC report in a single workflow. We’ve increased the rules limit to provide greater flexibility in how you report payments in different boxes. And we’ve given you the ability to select any chart of accounts (not just expense accounts) when creating 1099 rules.

Written by: Anna Curzon – Xero