Xero in on Xero; ASK

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Xero has a lot of awesome features, this series has highlighted a small segment of them so far. However, there are MANY features (and more being built) focused on making the lives of the accountant easier. The most effortless feature that is often overlooked of Xero is in Xero HQ - Ask.

Ask is exactly what it sounds like. It is a tool to ask clients questions and collect data AND documents. Woot! Let’s make it more beautiful and streamlined to request information! Also, if you are like me and love documentation - this tool gives you time stamps, users, and views. Basically, it gives you all of the documentation you need without taking the time to save emails or write notes (plus it is more reliable than your notes).

When you first set up Ask, you will navigate there in the Xero HQ on the top menu bar.

Once here, you will need to create a template. The template is the easiest way to standardize information requests that go out to clients.

The questions are very flexible and allow for many options. The client can always attach a document to each question, however, if you specifically want them to know they should attach something, you can choose that as an option.

After you build fantastic templates, you can customize the time frame and send them to clients!

After this screen, you will choose which clients to send it to. You can send it individually or en mass. Yes, you read that right. YOU CAN SEND A QUERY TO YOUR ENTIRE CLIENT BASE AT THE SAME TIME! I am sorry for the shouty caps, but not really, this is extremely exciting!

Before you send out the query from the template, you can edit it once again. The edits that you make here will only be done for the clients you chose to send this instance of the query to. Being able to modify the template is great for one-off clients that you need an extra question for.

Additionally, you will be able to preview the query before it is sent.

Like everything Xero does, the design is clean and allows for clients to send you information quickly and effortlessly. As busy season sucks down your free time, getting information timely will be a life saver!

After the query is sent, you will be able to see data like when it was sent, if you sent reminders (date and time), and if they responded to you. It will also show up on your activity page of Xero HQ as new information for you.

I cannot tell you how much I love this feature and how much I hope you go utilize it today to save yourself time, energy, messy inboxes, and the busy season self-questioning of “I swear I asked for that or the client sent it but I can’t find, so I must be insane.”

Author Bio: Liz Mason is the co-founder and CEO of High Rock Accounting, a technology company, born in the cloud, that happens to do accounting. They focus on implementing next-level technology solutions, while providing services from CFO level down to basic accounting. Liz is also a writer, coach, entrepreneur and a National Xero Ambassador. When not in Phoenix, you can find her traveling the world, enjoying other cultures and planning world domination. Check out The Hot Accounts for more entertaining small business topics. Twitter Handles: @HighRockCPAs @LizzyNorMa