To get the most out of your free trial evaluation of we recommend that you make full use of the sample data already loaded into your account.
But before you start your evaluation, you'll need to review and possibly change some important configuration values.
Learn more about our free online self-paced course: Set up for your free trial.
Review two key organisation settings
Check and set up two key organisation settings These settings control key features of the way operates for your business. It's important to at least review (and possibly change) these settings before you start using . . This will also allow you to see the range of settings you can use to tailor to suit your business.
Set staff rates
As a staff Staff are members of your organisation who perform work for your clients. Staff are usually set up as users in so that they can login to enter time sheets, produce reports or invoices or perform other job-related activities. member it's essential that you set up your own staff base rate The staff base rate reflects the cost to your business of an hour of a staff member's time. It is not simply their hourly rate but needs to include an allowance for other costs such as holidays, superannuation, sick leave. and staff billing rate The staff billing rate is the cost to your client of an hour of your staff member's time. The billing rate has a default value for each staff member that can be overridden on a task, job or client basis if required. . This will ensure realistic job costing, billing and reporting during your free trial.
Set task rates
In tasks Tasks are the labour components of a job - the activities that staff perform as they work to complete the job. Time can be recorded against specific tasks, and those tasks can display as line items on the invoice. A job must include at least one task if time is to be recorded against that job. are the activities that your staff complete as they work on your jobs. So you'll need to set the task base rates The task base rate reflects the cost to your business of your staff working for an hour on that task. The task base rate is only ever used at the quote stage, and only if you do not assign staff to the tasks in the quote. and task billing rates The task billing rate is the cost to your client of your staff working for an hour on that task. The rate has a default value for each task that can be overridden on a job or client basis if required. to ensure realistic job costing, billing and reporting during your free trial. Some sample tasks are already set up for you, as you'll need them for your jobs, job templates, quotes or estimates.
Add clients
You need a client A client is an organisation or an individual that you are doing work for, usually on a billable basis. for your first job in . If you're using the sample data provided with your free trial, your own organisation is already set up as a client. However, it's more realistic to set up one or more additional clients before you create your first job.
Optional setup steps
There are some additional, optional setup steps, that you can complete if you are using Xero Powerful cloud-based accounting software that is closely integrated with for invoicing, payments and reporting. , or need to work with costs In , the term 'costs' is used to refer to expenses that you will incur when working on jobs. These costs do not include staff labour costs, which are based on the time worked on tasks. Costs may relate to physical items (such as plant, machinery, consumables) or to other expenses such as subcontractors or mileage. or suppliers Suppliers provide your organisation with the products and services that you need in order to complete jobs for your clients. .