Before Xero, what did you use?

Quickbooks.

What problems did you have with your old accounting system?

One of the main issues was that I needed to have a Windows desktop available to run it - we are a Mac and Linux shop so it was a nuisance having to keep this extra machine running.

Quickbooks was fairly difficult to use. As the company founder I had learned how to do the accounts in it but it was difficult to explain to Drew once he joined as Director and there was no easy overview as to our situation to keep him up to date.

The accounts were on one machine in the office - I would need to use an SSH tunnel [complex security software] and remote desktop software to get to it when I was working from home, which was slow and not ideal. There wasn't any easy way to import bank statements so I had to enter all of that information manually.

How did these problems affect your business?

It was expensive to have a computer just to run one bit of software and then not being able to access the data easily remotely. One of our Directors was feeling 'out of the loop' as far as finances were concerned because it required a lot of knowledge to understand the system we had been using.

I would lose a couple of days every quarter entering all the data for the VAT return. If I am doing that then I am not doing chargeable work!

What made you decide to use Xero? Did you try out any other solutions?

I had thought that I would change to MYOB, however while this does run on Macs the interface was just as clunky and unfamiliar as Quickbooks and I quickly realised that it would only solve one problem (that of having to run Windows) and not the other issues we had, so I started to look around to see what else was out there. I liked the look of Xero and thought I would try it out.

What was your experience when switching and getting started with Xero?

Very positive ­ the contact that was made by your team after I signed up for a trial account was professional and not pushy at all. I felt that I had somewhere to ask questions if I needed to.

Getting all the data into Xero for half a financial year did take a bit of time but I had no problems at all during the process and the site is very fast and responsive so it didn't feel like I was doing this over the internet. A lot of the time Xero feels like desktop software - the use of Ajax etc is well done and adds to that effect.

I was so happy when I did my first import of a bank statement and didn't have to do all that data entry by hand!

How has Xero improved your business?

It is brilliant being able to access Xero from my Linux desktop or my Macbook Pro - and from work or home ­ or wherever I happen to be. I don't have to plan when to do things and can quickly look up figures at any time.

Our other Director is able to create invoices and enter his own expenses as the system doesn't need a lot of bookkeeping knowledge to use, so this saves me having to sit and enter these things. He can also get a quick overview of our financial situation from the dashboard. The overall company financial position is now less reliant on me sorting things out, which is great.

The import of bank statements and reconciliation is wonderful. This saves me so much time and I am usually far more up to date as it doesn't take any time to get the latest statement and import it - before it was a chore I dreaded. I'm not sure that anything can make bookkeeping "fun", but it now isn't something that is a difficult chore.

Visit Rachel's website at www.edgeofmyseat.com