How Xero Accounting Software Helped Our Client with Foreign Exchange Complexities

Challenge

One of the biggest challenges was the difficulty of managing their finances with multiple currencies. They had to raise invoices manually, outside of the accounting system and then deal with foreign currency conversions in the accounting system leading to significant loss of time & transparency. They had to resolve numerous issues of matching customer payment with the correct invoice due to the inadequacy of the system. They also had to constantly track exchange rates, calculate the costs of goods in Canadian dollars, and manage their cash flow to ensure that they had enough funds to cover their expenses. They were struggling to accurately forecast their profits and losses due to the volatility of exchange rates.

Solution

We analyzed the current situation and suggested migrating their accounting into Xero Accounting software as this is the only accounting software in the market that addresses this unique problem. Xero supports over 160 currencies, which means that you can send and receive payments in different currencies. Xero offers features such as multi-currency support, real-time exchange rate updates, and automatic currency conversions.

We did not have much time to migrate the data from the old accounting system into Xero due to year-end tax deadlines. There was also resistance from the staff to change their accounting system due to non-familiarity of the new platform and the increased unbudgeted cost involved.

We dealt with the resistance, explicated the time and eventually cost-saving benefits, trained the users and migrated the accounting data within one week. Post migration, our team worked closely with the client and to set up the new product pricing in respective foreign currencies. The entire process from migration to set up took not more than 15 days.

Results

After implementing Xero, our client was able to manage their finances more effectively. All the issues of recording the transactions or exchange rates manually were eliminated as they could track the costs of goods in Canadian dollars, automatically convert foreign currency transactions, and generate financial reports that accurately reflected their financial position. This helped them to make informed decisions and plan for future growth.

With Xero, they were also able to reduce the amount of time spent on bookkeeping tasks, allowing them to focus on other aspects of their business. They were able to improve their cash flow management and accurately forecast their profits and losses, helping them to make better business decisions.