Compared to other accounting systems, Xero provided a total lower cost solution because there is no upfront outlay and just a small monthly fee.

Much like Xero, YouDo is a company at the forefront of the Internet age. YouDo executes all aspects of design, development, hosting and supporting for web applications. They are quickly building a reputation for their commonsense approach to delivering Internet solutions that empower their customers.

Dan says using Xero was logical for a startup.

"We were a startup company in April and had to be very careful where we spent our initial capital. We had very little accounting knowledge, so we tried to find a cost-effective, user-friendly package, which would enable us to concentrate on our business."

"Xero's a great starting product – not having to outlay a huge amount of initial investment in software was helpful for a young company like us."

Dan says Xero's upfront pricing was also attractive.

"What you see is what you pay with Xero - other systems only tell you about the purchase price - what you find out later are the expensive operational costs involved in installing and managing the software."

Accounting has been made easier for Dan and his fellow directors at YouDo, thanks to Xero.

"We always do our transaction reconciling as it happens - we used to have to log-on to the desktop, but now with direct feeds we don't have to muck around it's just as easy as ticking a box."

www.youdo.co.nz