Another tax year has passed and we are starting the process of emailing out our Xero Ask checklists to gather the information we need to prepare your accounts and/or tax returns.

We recently outlined the information that is needed and why, which should help you when it comes to completing the checklist.

We have listened to the feedback we were given last year and have considerably streamlined the checklists so that they should be quicker and even easier to complete.

When you click on the Answer Questions button in the email, you will be asked to log in to complete the checklist. This is really straightforward:

• if you already use Xero for bookkeeping purposes, you can use your existing login address and password;
• If you don’t use Xero already, you will have to set up a login before completing the checklist, but this is simple to do and does not require a bookkeeping subscription. Here is how you set up your login for Xero Ask.

One great feature of Xero Ask is that there is no need to answer all the questions in one go. It automatically saves your progress even if you have to stop part way through – simply log in again when you are ready and pick up where you left off.

Even if you haven’t filled out a questionnaire for us before, we really encourage you to use Xero Ask. This acts as a ‘catch all’ and will prompt you about any new income streams or changes to your circumstances which may be relevant to your accounts and/or tax return.

These are the reasons why we use Xero Ask:

1) It’s all in the Cloud
This means that we can both view your answers at any time, so if there’s something you aren’t sure about, just let us know, and we can point you in the right direction.

2) It’s tidy
You can attach all your documents, such as bank statements or NHS pension summaries, directly to the relevant question on the checklist, keeping it all in one place.

3) It’s flexible
We understand that it’s not always the practice owner who deals with the finances. If you need someone else to answer some of the questions we can easily give another person access to the same checklist, whether that’s your bookkeeper, practice manager or business partner. Alternatively, a separate copy of the checklist can be sent to them so they can complete their own section without seeing your answers to other sections.

4) It’s a great introduction to Xero Bookkeeping
If you read our Insights you will quickly gather that we love Xero for managing our clients’ bookkeeping. It’s user-friendly, cloud-based and can link directly to your business bank accounts. The Xero Ask checklist is a separate, additional function of Xero, and does not require you to use Xero for your bookkeeping, but we highly recommend you do!