Getting set up with Xero

Choose the right plan for your club

Starting with the right plan starts you on the path to success, but what plan does your club need? If your football club sends out invoices for your annual subs, you’ll need the Standard plan which includes sending many invoices and adding a payment service to them. Research has shown that invoices with an online payment service results in faster payment.

Xero Standard pricing plan (Xero website)

All Xero pricing plans (Xero website)

Football clubs qualify for a 25% discount on their subscription. And you can try it for free first.

Start a free trial, then get the club discount

Get set up

Once you’ve chosen the right plan for your club, it’s time to set up Xero the right way. Getting set up right makes everything easier, and, like many things, it’s all in the preparation.

• Get ready to use Xero (help article)
• Check out the Xero advisor directory if you need to find an accountant or bookkeeper
• Talk to your accountant

Convert to Xero from another accounting solution

If you currently use another accounting solution, see how to convert your data to Xero. It can be helpful to consult with your accountant before you begin.

• Convert to Xero from any system (video)
• Convert to Xero from another accounting system (help article)
• Convert to Xero from MYOB (help article)

Set up bank feeds

Connect your bank to get your bank transactions automatically imported into Xero.

• Connect your bank to Xero (help article)
• Apply for a bank feed using an application form (help article)

If you find there’s a gap in your transactions between when you started on Xero and when the bank feeds begin, then manually import bank statements . It's super easy to import them from your online banking.

• Manually import bank statements (help article)

Set up your organisation

You’ll find these settings in the dropdown menu on the top left -hand side of the screen, under your club name.

Invoice settings

You can customise your invoices and set up payment services.

Customise your invoices to customise the look of invoices, purchase orders and more

• Go to Get Xero and edit basic settings to watch Include business details in your invoices (3 min video) and Customise invoices and set payment options (4 min video)
• Complete a learning assignment

Add payment services

• Set up payment services with Xero (help article)
• Go to Manage customer quotes and invoices to watch Customise invoice settings (7 min video)
• Payment services (online course)

Set up automatic reminders for invoices

• How invoice reminders work (help article)
• Set up and add invoice reminders (help article)
• Go to Create an efficient workflow for your business to watch Record sales and schedule invoice reminders (8 min video)
• Go to Get Xero and edit basic settings to watch Customise invoices and set payment options (4 min video)
• Go to Manage customer quotes and invoices to watch Customise invoice settings (7 min video)

Email settings

Set a reply-to email address, personalise your emails, and set up email templates.

• Email settings (help article)
• Add email templates for invoices, purchase orders are more (help article)
• Go to Manage customer quotes and invoices to watch Customise invoice settings (7 min video)

Payroll settings

If your club is using Xero Payroll, you can add and check your payroll settings.

If you wish, you can become Xero Payroll Certified. This is a learning experience that helps you become proficient and confident with Xero Payroll’s features. It covers getting started with Xero Payroll, setting up employees for payroll, and completing regular and advanced payroll tasks.

Xero Payroll certification (Xero Central learning)

Expense settings

Expense settings is where you set up users, enable receipt analysis, and set the accounts you want to use for expense and mileage claims. The standard plan comes with one expenses user included.

• About Xero Expenses (help article)
• Manage expense claims (online course)

Custom contact links

Create custom links to transfer data from Xero contacts to other systems, such as a customer relationship management (CRM) software, instantly. Link Xero contacts to a CRM or other system (help article)

Nice work, your club is now set up on Xero! Let's get started with the fun stuff.

Use Xero every day

Here are a few simple but effective ways you can get up and running using Xero day to day. Join us in one of our live webinars, read help articles, take a course, or watch YouTube videos.

• Live webinars
• Help articles on Xero Central
• Courses and learning on Xero Central
• YouTube videos

Product and service items

Set up the items (products and services) you provide to save time on data entry. Setting up untracked inventory items for things your club regularly supplies or purchases can help you save time when entering your sales invoices, bills received, and other types of transactions later on.

Learn more about product and service items (help article)

Invoicing and billing

Once products and services are set up, you can use them in your club’s invoices and bills when recording sales (invoices) and purchases (bills). Entering invoices and bills helps to get an accurate view of your club's cash flow.

Getting started guides to invoicing and billing at Xero Central

• Creating invoices
• Track and pay your bills

Courses and learning about invoicing and billing at Xero Central

• Enhance your invoicing for faster customer payments
• Customise invoices
• Manage customer quotes and invoices
• Manage supplier bills

Bank reconciliation

Xero makes reconciling bank statements quick and easy by suggesting matches for each statement line to an existing transaction in Xero. You can also create a transaction during the reconciliation process.

• Bank reconciliation in Xero (help article)
• Set up and reconcile accounts (online course)

GST

Once all your transactions are recorded in Xero, you can run and file your GST return. You can even file directly with Inland Revenue if myIR is set up for your club.

• How GST works in Xero (help article)
• Create and file a GST return (help article)
• Go to Create an efficient workflow for your business to watch Run your GST return with ease (5 min video)

Reports

Take a look at some of the reports which will help you manage your clubs daily activities. Think about which reports your accountant and/or advisor will want to see and how often; and what monthly and year-end reports you need to produce.

• Access and browse reports (help article)
• Customise and use reports (online course)
• In Stay on top of your cash flow (guide,) see Use Xero reporting for a business health check

Contacts

Set up and manage your contacts (members and suppliers) is key to having everything run smoothly.

• Add a new contact View contacts in Xero (help article)
• Manage contacts in Xero (online course)

Budget manager

Does your club have a budget? There is the old adage, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Having a budget can help your club avoid financial difficulties.

• Create a budget (help article)
• In Customise and use reports (online course, see Track the performance of your business