1. Setting up your organisation

To get your club started in Xero there are a few simple things you need to set up first.

• Enter your club details including your Company name and GST number (if applicable) into the Organisation Settings screen.
• Set up your invoices by uploading your logo and entering your contact details in the Invoice Settings screen. We suggest adding your bank details to the Terms and Payment advice to encourage your clients to pay you electronically.
• Invite any other people you wish to access the financial data for your company e.g. your treasurer, or accountant etc.

• Set up your Chart of Accounts in Xero by importing your existing Chart of Accounts or use the Default Consultants Chart of Accounts Template attached here for you.

  Download: Default Clubs Chart of Accounts (CSV)

  Download the Default Clubs Chart of Accounts template (CSV file) to your computer. You can then upload it into Xero to replace the default Chart of Accounts set. It is important that it remains a CSV file and isn’t changed into an XLS or any other file type.

2. Adding in your bank details and opening balances

Xero can automatically import your bank statements overnight. Each morning you can quickly process the new transactions, including rents received and expenses incurred.

• Add your bank account(s) including your bank account number.
• Set up your automatic bank feeds so all your cash transactions will be brought in daily. Xero provides you with a form that you send in, which gives authority to enable the bank feeds. It isn’t necessary to have internet banking for this facility to be available.
• If you are converting to Xero from another accounting package, you need to enter your opening balances in the Set Starting Balances screen. The balance you should enter is the closing balance as at the day before you start using Xero (if you are starting 1 April then your balance will be for 31 March).

These are the normal activities you would do every few days in Xero.

1. Process your cash transactions and reconcile your bank account

• You can log in to Xero where you can see any payments that have been received or if expenses have been incurred.
• Receipts can be reconciled directly to your outstanding Accounts Receivable invoice with a single click.
• Expenses incurred directly from the club bank account only need to be classified once, after that, Xero will remember this prior classification for you.

2. Invoicing

You will need to invoice any prorated membership fees.

• Make sure your invoices are set up to go under the Settings / Invoice Settings menu option.
• Simply create a new invoice from Accounts Receivable or the ‘Add Receivable Invoice’ button on the Xero Dashboard.
• Enter your member name and the date of the invoice.
• We suggest that you use the membership or card number as the reference.
• Xero allows you to enter in meaningful descriptions that can be several sentences in length.
• Work out the prorated amount of the membership and ensure if this is GST inclusive that you select the GST Inclusive button.
• To add an extra line to split your invoice details out, simply click 'add line'.
• The fastest way to send an invoice is to hit the 'Approve / Approve & Print / Email' option. You can then enter the email address of the contact a short note if required, click send and Xero will send out a nicely formatted PDF on your behalf.
• The invoice is now in the system and when the money is received it can be receipted with a single click when you process the bank transactions.
• You can keep track of outstanding invoices on the Accounts Receivable dashboard, or by running the Aged Receivables Report. To chase down outstanding invoices we suggest resending the invoice with a reminder message.

3. Subscriptions

To keep track of your members' subscriptions, set them up as a repeating invoice so Xero automatically creates an invoice when the payment is due.

• Create a recurring invoice from the repeating transaction menu (Accounts – Repeating Transaction).
• Select how often you would like this to repeat (ie. every 12 months).
• Select the date that you would like the invoice to generate.
• If the amount is always the same then select to 'Automatically Approve'.
• Fill in your member details – you may wish to use the membership number or card number as a customer reference.
• Once you have completed the above steps click save. The invoice will now automatically create itself on the date the subscription is due.

4. Purchases

Once you have received the club’s bills, you will need to process these in Xero.

• Simply select Add a Payable Invoice from your dashboard.
• Fill in the purchase screen with the information you have received.
• Select 'Send for Approval'.
• This will now enable your treasurer to log in to your Xero file and approve any expenses awaiting payment.

5. GST Returns and Tax

Once all your transactions are in, you can easily generate a GST Report in Xero.

• We suggest that you send a note to your accountant to review your GST Return and ensure that expenses are classified correctly and that you are maximising your deductions.
• Your accountant can view the GST Audit Report to quickly review your transactions.
• Once you are happy with the GST Return, click on 'Publish' to save this report in case it is required to view again the in future.
• Your accountant can also view your provisional tax situation. Often consulting companies have significantly varying income levels from year to year so it is important that you have this under control to avoid penalties and maximize your cash flow.

6. End of year

End of Year reporting is fast and easy with Xero.

• Ensure that all your transactions have been loaded into Xero.
• Give access to your accountant who can quickly review your position. They can add in additional items like depreciation.
• Your accountant can complete all the usual end of year activities and work with you on a plan for the following financial year.

7. Tracking

You have the ability in Xero to now track different divisions of your club. For example if you have a bar and would like to have a separate Profit and Loss report for this you simply need to enable tracking.

Please follow these steps to do so:

• Select Settings – Tracking.
• Click 'add a tracking category'.
• As a suggestion type in division as the category name.
• For the category options you now need to type in each area you would like tracked. (ie. Bar, Pro Shop & Club).
• You will find that when posting any information into Xero you simply select the category that you would like the amount tracked to.