Course description

Starting with Xero and not sure where anything goes? This course takes you from a blank organisation to a submitted VAT return, one clear step at a time. You'll set Xero up properly for a UK business, send invoices and record bills, connect your bank and reconcile with confidence, then prepare a Making Tax Digital VAT return and run the reports a business owner actually needs.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons with numbered steps you follow in Xero's Demo Company or a trial organisation. You follow a fictional freelance bookkeeper in Nantwich as she moves a joiner's books from a spreadsheet into Xero and works through the first VAT quarter, with every invoice, bill and bank line, the mistakes she made and how she fixed them. Every section has a worksheet, answers, a cheat sheet and practical tools.

What you'll learn

• Setting up: organisation and financial settings, VAT settings, the chart of accounts, conversion balances and invoice branding.
• Contacts and items: adding and importing customers and suppliers, default terms and items for what you sell.
• Sales: quotes, invoices, credit notes, repeating invoices, recording payments and chasing overdue invoices.
• Purchases: entering, approving and paying bills, batch payments and checking what you owe.
• Bank feeds and reconciliation: matching, creating, transfers, bank rules and what to do when balances don't agree.
• VAT: choosing the right VAT rates, connecting to HMRC for Making Tax Digital, checking the nine boxes and submitting the return.
• Month-end and reports: a month-end routine, profit and loss, balance sheet, lock dates and a quarterly summary for the owner.
• Fixing mistakes: editing, voiding, unreconciling, find and recode, drawings and working with an accountant.

The final project

You'll set up a practice organisation and record a full quarter for a small business: conversion balances, invoices, a credit note, bills, everyday spending and a bank statement. Then you'll reconcile every line and check your VAT return and reports against the model answers. A project brief, all the records as CSV files and a project workbook are included.

Who this course is for

• UK small business owners and sole traders moving to Xero from spreadsheets, paper or other software.
• New and junior bookkeepers who need to use Xero for clients or an employer.
• VAT-registered businesses that want to understand their Making Tax Digital VAT return before they submit it.

How the course works

Read each lesson, then do the steps in Xero. You don't need to pay for Xero to practise: the Demo Company is free to use, and Xero has usually offered a free trial. The course shows you how to use Xero, not what's right for your own tax, so it tells you when to check with GOV.UK, HMRC or an accountant. You keep lifetime access, so you can come back whenever you need a reminder.

What will I learn?

• Set up a Xero organisation with the right financial and VAT settings, chart of accounts and conversion balances
• Add and import contacts and set up items for what you sell
• Create quotes, invoices, credit notes and repeating invoices, and record customer payments
• Enter, approve and pay bills, including batch payments
• Connect bank feeds, reconcile with confidence and create safe bank rules
• Choose the right VAT rates and prepare, check and submit a Making Tax Digital VAT return
• Run a month-end routine and read the profit and loss, balance sheet and aged reports
• Fix mistakes safely and work smoothly with an accountant

Frequently asked questions