Business owners are allocating upward of 80 hours per year on accounting and bookkeeping issues, and spending anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 in fees to ensure their practices meet the legal requirements. Unsurprisingly, then, 40% of small and midsize business owners say bookkeeping and taxes are the worst part of owning a business.
40% of midsize business owners say bookkeeping and taxes are the worst part of owning a business.
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Today, Bigcommerce and Xero announce general availability of an automated accounting system to alleviate this painpoint and give merchants back value time to dedicate toward other business growth opportunities –– for no additional cost. Through the partnership, hundreds of thousands of merchants using Xero and Bigcommerce can connect their online store and accounting software, providing an accurate, real time view of financial data from a single interface.
Immediate Benefits for Bigcommerce Merchants
Merchants already on the Bigcommerce platform can install and begin using the integration immediately by either installing the app from your control panel or from the Bigcommerce Marketplace.
Businesses taking advantage of this partnership with Xero can expect:
- Automatic data transfer: Your sales will now flow automatically from your online store to your accounting software. Any associated product, customer, tax, discount, refund, payment and shipping data will also be synced, creating a complete view of the health of your business –– all on one dashboard.
- Save time and achieve data accuracy –– every single time: With your sales data flowing automatically from your ecommerce backend to your accounting software, you’ll eliminate the need for manual accounting and the chance for human error.
- Easy customization and flexibility: No two businesses are the same. This is why we built in easy customization and flexibility, allowing you to specify which operations –– such as create associate products in Xero or authorize payments –– you want to manage within the control panel and how often you want to automatically sync that data. All the decisions are left up to you, allowing you to run your unique business in the most time-conscious fashion.
Why Use Xero as Your Accounting Automation Software
We’re glad you asked! Bigcommerce considers Xero a best-in-class partner with more than 600,000 customers across the globe. Forbes magazine also named the company the #1 most innovative growth company in the world in 2014 and 2015. Xero offers a number of key features, including:
- Payments: Manage your cashflow by scheduling payments and batch paying suppliers.. The Xero dashboard provides a graphical snapshot of outstanding bills, helping you to decide what to pay and when.
- Purchase orders: Create custom purchase orders and save time by transferring data from a purchase order to a bill for payment or a sales invoice for on-selling goods.
Beta-tested in Time for the Holidays
Bigcommerce business owners start companies to focus on their passions: selling great products and marketing their brand. They don’t intend to spend countless hours managing company finances.
“Our merchants oversee every part of their business, and this integration brings peace of mind and frees up time and money to spend elsewhere,” said Tim Schulz, chief product officer of Bigcommerce. “It was a big demand from resource-constrained retailers.”
There are always a dozen things that require attention. I can take manual entries off the list.
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And, the timing couldn’t be any more vital. The holidays are approaching, and merchants shouldn’t be forced to choose between marketing hours or bookkeeping hours –– or, worse, spending their holidays on accounting to measure the health of their business for end of year.
“I rely on Bigcommerce and Xero every day, and now I can easily see how my business is doing in one place without having to worry if the information is up-to-date,” said Robert Gilbert, owner of K9 Nutraceutics. “As a business owner, there are always a dozen things that require your attention. I’m glad I can take manual financial entries off the list.”
The Bigcommerce and Xero integration is available for all Bigcommerce and Xero customers at no extra cost. Install the app here.
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