The Latest Xero Updates – Spring/Summer 2022

This year is turning out to be a busy one for the business community now that businesses have been able to open their doors fully without the restrictions we have all faced over the past few years.
We’ve seen the return of in-person events and expos, businesses thriving once again, and the tech industry has continued to churn out some brilliant updates and innovations for businesses of all sizes.
As a Xero Platinum Partner, we provide a free subscription to Xero for all of our accounting clients, so it’s worth keeping up to date with. We’ve compiled all of the updates that will affect UK businesses from this spring and summer.
April Updates
View progress while importing contacts into Xero
Xero has improved the way you import contacts in Xero, with a refreshed design and simplified language on the import page. You’ll notice a new tabular layout.
Empower new employees to submit expense claims in Xero Me
New employees will now be directed to download Xero Me, rather than submit their expense claims within the Xero Expenses app. The expense technology inside Xero Me has the same functionality as the Xero Expenses app, with a fresh new look.
Enjoy a new look in payments services settings
The payments services settings page has been given a fresh new look. While the functionality remains the same, there are some slight variations to the look and messaging on the page to make your experience more seamless.
Use ‘save’ and ‘approve’ workflows in new invoicing
To bring the features of new invoicing in line with classic invoicing, Xero has added the ‘save’ and ‘approve’ workflows to the new version.
Re-invite users to your Hubdoc organisation
You can now resend an email invitation for a new Hubdoc user to join your organisation, if they haven’t accepted a previous one.
Better manage contacts in the Xero Accounting app
New functionality in the Xero Accounting app gives you more flexibility when using contacts on the go.
Updates to the search field makes it easier to find the contacts you need in a hurry, and improvements to the contact screen show an overview of what each contact owes or is owed. You can also sort contacts by name, amount owing and owed, email and date added.
Enjoy more flexibility in your history and notes report
Xero has refreshed the design of the history and notes activity report. There’s a new ‘reset filter’ button, and the ability to select both individual and pre-selected dates. The new ‘load more’ functionality will also help reduce page download time.
Print and send a draft invoice in new invoicing
Being able to print and email a draft invoice is important, so Xero has added these buttons in the overflow menu of your draft invoice in new invoicing. They’ve also introduced a number of approval actions in the list, to remove any confusion when saving or approving invoices.
May Updates
Enjoy a new dashboard experience
The new version is designed to give you a consistent experience across Xero, while also improving speed and accessibility. Learn more about the changes.
Get less notifications in Xero
Xero is removing the confirmation notification when you successfully email a file to your file library inbox. You’ll only get a notification if there’s an error, to help reduce any disruption to your workflow.
Track time on your desktop in Xero Projects
To bring Xero Projects desktop functionality in line with the mobile version, Xero has added a timer to help you to add accurate time entries against your projects. It features the same start, pause and stop functionality, with clear visibility of how you’re tracking at the bottom right-hand side of the desktop screen.
Import inventory items in bulk
There’s a new feature to Xero’s inventory solution that allows you to import items in bulk. From products and services, you can download a CSV template to add your items. You can also choose to export existing items into a CSV file on the same page and update the file. When you upload the CSV file, any errors or warnings will be highlighted, so you can rectify them before completing the import process.
Create and edit purchase orders on the go
In addition to viewing purchase orders, you can now create and edit purchase orders on the Xero Accounting app, to better manage your work on the go. This feature is available on Android devices and will be available in iOS in the months ahead, however, if you’d like to send a purchase order, you will need to do this on your desktop.
Send invoices to multiple emails in the Xero Accounting app
If a contact in Xero has multiple email addresses added, you can now send an invoice to all emails at the same time via the Xero Accounting app. Not only will this reduce the mental load of remembering separate contacts, but will ensure everyone is kept across key communications when it matters. Available in both Android and iOS.
Save time managing your bank rules
Setting up bank rules is an easy way to get Xero to automatically code transactions on your bank reconciliation screen, based on criteria you’ve set. This update will streamline the steps needed to create or edit a bank rule, as well as the ability to switch between rule types without losing data.
Manage apps in one place with Xero’s App Launcher
Xero’s new App Launcher is a free tool to group all of your Xero App Store apps in a single dropdown tab within your My Xero dashboard. Once set up, you can stay logged in to all of your apps via Xero single sign in (where two-factor authentication hasn’t been set up), and switch between them without leaving Xero. It also links to the Xero App Store, so you can browse and quickly add new apps.
Enjoy a refreshed design in report templates
The next time you open report templates in Xero HQ, you’ll notice a refreshed design that brings it in line with other new reports in Xero. Changes include fewer actions when adding a report to a template, the ability to reorder or remove reports from a link in the contents dropdown, and more intuitive placement of buttons for common actions.
Personalise your Executive Summary report
Xero’s new Executive Summary report is now available to all customers globally. Located in the new report centre, it includes more flexible date ranges, more comparative periods and the ability to add commentary text. Plus, you can save custom reports and can hide any rows you don’t want by using a filter.
New-look batch deposit screen
A batch deposit records multiple invoices in a single payment transaction. Updates have been made to the screen where you create a new batch deposit with a new look, but there will be no change to the functionality.
Save time when invoicing in WorkflowMax
The invoice information page in WorkflowMax has been re-designed and time-saving enhancements like drag and drop functionality, the ability to change tax rates using a dropdown menu and the ability to easily add new contacts, tasks and costs have been added.
Better manage personal and corporation tax
You can now access a Capital Gains Schedule (SA108) form to manage your capital gains tax obligations in Xero Tax. Improvements to company tax returns, with numeric breakdowns and more detail on larger totals that form a material disclosure, have also been added.
June Updates
Send files as email attachments with quotes
Send files as email attachments with your quotes, so customers can open attachments from the email itself rather than a webpage.
Add folders to your invoices in WorkflowMax
Send an invoice in WorkflowMax, based on the folders you’ve created. This means you can transfer information from your folders directly into the invoice for the job or project. The details will also integrate into Xero.
Tailor your business snapshot in Xero Analytics Plus
You can now control which metrics are displayed in your business snapshot dashboard.
Simply visit the ‘Edit metrics’ side panel and select ‘Hide or show metrics’, then uncheck the boxes you don’t want to see on your dashboard. They’ve also added the ability to drill-down to a transaction level into the free version of Xero Analytics.
Get quick access to answers in new reports
You can now customise your comparison periods in new reports. Depending on the date range of the report, you can compare two identical date ranges of your choice instead of making these adjustments manually in ‘Edit layout’.
They’ve also built a simplified version of the Receivable and Payable Invoice reports, to help you identify who your top customers and suppliers are in a single click.
See your cash balance in the Xero Accounting app
The home screen of the Xero Accounting app has been updated, so you can understand your overall cash balance position. You can customise which accounts are displayed, to help you make informed decisions on the go.
Reimagine your Xero experience
Here are the most recent design changes in Xero:
An upgraded experience in quotes, with a fresh design and some changes to the way you add a new inventory item, add an account, add or edit a currency, and attach a file.
A new design in the Xero Accounting app dashboard (Android) and bank reconciliation screen (iOS and Android).
The introduction of a compact view in new reports, to reduce the vertical white space between rows of financial data.
July Updates
Automatically add Xero contacts in Hubdoc
When Hubdoc publishes a document to Xero, it requires a contact name. Previously, you had to manually search and attach a contact for any new suppliers in Hubdoc. However, now it will automatically adds the supplier extracted from the document if it’s already a contact in Xero.
Update overdue bills and invoices in short-term cash flow
Change the planned and expected dates of overdue bills and invoices in bulk within Xero Analytics and Xero Analytics Plus.
Make the most of recent releases in new reports
Xero has made a number of enhancements to new reports in Xero over the past few months:
Sticky headers
Sticky headers have been introduced to transactional-style reports in Xero. This functionality freezes heading rows at the top of the browser when you scroll down the page, making it easier to analyse the data.
Report annotations
Report annotations have been introduced to new reports. This allows you to add commentary to entries, so you can alert your clients to areas of interest or attention and really bring the numbers to life.
Tracking categories
If you have up to 100 active tracking options in a single category in your organisation, you’ll now have the option to use Xero’s tracking common format report in the side panel of the Profit & Loss (Income Statement) report, rather than building it from scratch.
Transactions by contact
The Income & Expenses by Contact and Drilldown reports in new reports has been enhanced. New features include the ability to group and sort, add text blocks, and add the contact name to the title of your report.
Adjust your VAT flat rate scheme returns
Organisations on a flat rate scheme can now add non-posting adjustments to boxes in the VAT return and access a new VAT audit report, Non-Posting adjustments by VAT box. This enhancement means you can make adjustments that are not sent back to the general ledger from within the return.
Improve your workflows in Xero Tax
Company accounts tax
You’re now able to see backing computations, which are a detailed breakdown of figures that make up the company tax return (CT600) in Xero Tax.
Xero has added additional disclosures to company accounts, to explain assets under lease agreements, dormant company filing status, dormant company disclose employees, and increased the number of directors who can sign, as well as substantial improvements to the formatting and presentation of accounts.
Personal tax
You can now file tax returns where capital gains income needs to be disclosed. They’ve also included a downloadable capital gains report to show breakdown of disposals for CGT.
In addition, Xero has been making compliance updates to existing schedules, including adding additional information to a self employment schedule from the 2020/21 tax year onwards; supporting foreign earnings; resubmitting rejected returns; generating IR marks; and improved search functionality in the foreign income schedule.
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