Since announcing Xero Projects in September, we’ve had thousands of accountants, bookkeepers and small business clients jumping in and trying it out. This has been a valuable source of feedback, which helps us prioritise the right things as we continue to add clever features.
Enhancements already include the handy Android and iOS Projects apps, which are now available to download – so you and your staff can create projects, capture time and lots more from anywhere, making it even easier to optimise the work you do.
See where you can be more profitable
Xero Projects is a simple job costing tool that allows service businesses to track their time and expenses against each job. Integrated with key Xero features, Projects provides a real-time view of how all your jobs are tracking financially. This means you can proactively invoice, make informed decisions and drive profitability.
We’ve added some other goodies since launch:
- Assign invoice line items to a project
- Search and sort your projects list
- Assign spend money, bills, and bank rec transactions to a project
- For those trying it out the New Expenses feature, you can assign an expense to a project
Projects is now available for everyone and free for one month
If you haven’t had a chance to check out Xero Projects, we’ve got great news – from December 5, Xero Projects will be available to all Xero business customers and you can try it out free-of-charge for one month. If you’re not the subscriber, simply ask them to activate Projects and add you as a projects user in your Xero organisation.
For our customers in the US, Xero Projects will be available in the new year but you can still ask your Xero Advisor to provide you early access now.
If you’re one of our early adopters you can continue to use Projects until the end of the year at no charge. From January 15 2018 you will need to opt-in to continue using Projects and charges will apply.
How to add Projects to your subscription
Only the subscriber can add Projects to a subscription. Projects can be added at any time, to Starter, Standard or Premium plans, from the ‘Subscriptions and Billing’ tab within Xero or directly from the Projects tab within the Xero organisation.
Billing and users
Your first month of Xero Projects is free and includes as many users as you need. Thereafter, projects is billed in advance every month for the base fee, which includes the first the active user. You’ll only pay for other users who were active that month.
To be counted as active, users must interact directly with Projects. This includes logging time, adding projects, adding expenses and invoicing for a project. Xero advisors and other staff can view project information and run reports free of charge.
Important information for Xero Partners
Partners who hold the subscription for their clients will need to enable Projects on their behalf. So, to avoid any requests during a time you may be away from the office, we recommend getting this sorted before the end of this year. Clients who hold their own subscription can opt in themselves.
We’ll let users who do not hold the subscription know that they’ll need to get in touch with their subscriber if they’re keen to carry on.
If you’re currently using Projects for your own needs within your practice organisation nothing will change. This feature is included as a benefit of the partner program.
What happens to my information if I don’t add Projects?
Just like your Xero information, your Projects data will be stored securely in Xero, ready for you to pick back up if you decide you’d like to use Projects down the track.
We hope this helps you out during this initial transition phase. If you need any further Projects info, check out the resources below.
If a Client wishes to trial the Projects feature, can they opt out if they don’t think they will use or benefit from it?
Hi Louise,
Certainly. The first 1 month of Projects is free for unlimited users. Your clients can opt out at any time. If it is within the first month there will be no charge to them.
Don’t know how far you’re thinking of going with this but if you can make it as good as Harvest and Forecast combined we will swap.
Thanks Aaron, good to know what you consider the benchmark to be.
Each project needs to have a number. We have some customers who have 4 or 5 different jobs/projects that are in progress at one time, and we use the jobs number when we order parts for that job/project. Please add it to your next upgrade.
Thanks Marion, job numbers is certainly something we are considering as a future enhancement to Projects. Appreciate your feedback.
Hey hi
i was not known well about xero but i like the concept i wana try this in my project but i din’t know how to do that
can u please help me in that
Hi Kiran,
If you’re the subscriber for your Xero account, then you’ll see the Projects tab. From there it will take you to manage your subscription. If you are not the subscriber, you will need to ask the subscriber to add Projects to your account, and then make sure they give you one of the Project User Roles, so that you have access to the feature. Find out more about setting up Projects here: https://central.xero.com/s/article/Set-up-your-organisation-to-use-Projects
If you would just like to try it out, I’d suggest creating a Demo Company, in which you can enable Projects and have a play around. If you get stuck reach out to our friendly team at support.xero.com or check out central.xero.com for more help information. Thanks!
I am trying to use projects to keep track of events we host. Is there a way to set up projects that you can view and sort by event (like a charity event) and then break that into expense types and from there see the vendors that make up the expenses?
Thank you!