Performing Xero Reporting Using a Modern Excel Add-in Solution

Excel is still a favorite for reporting in relation to cloud-based applications like Xero in the accounting space. It is predominantly driven by widely available knowledge, flexibility, and options for adding custom calculation options.

The beauty of this productivity tool is that exporting data to Excel is simple and straightforward, knowledge is widely available, and the flexibility and ease of adding custom calculations is unparalleled. For once-off applications, this is a great approach.

What is Excel Add-In?

An Excel add-in is a software extension to enhance Microsoft Excel’s functionality by adding new features, tools, or capabilities to the application, often to streamline specific tasks or processes.

Why Use Excel Add-In?

For ongoing purposes that involve ever-increasing volumes and frequency of data – imperative in dynamic environments – Excel on its own is often not the best solution for the following reasons:

Hard to Maintain

Working with a simple table for a once-off report or analysis is one thing. But exporting data from various accounting areas like journals, invoices, and receipts, then combining data from these sources and turning them into an actionable report is a different ball game. And that is not even considering that you might want to combine the data with other sources like CRM, operational systems, etc.

The consequence is that highly qualified accountants often spend half a month on data preparation performing lookups, aggregating multiple sheets, and ensuring data quality. When the report is finally finished, the data becomes obsolete.

No Granular Security

Another downside of dumping data is that you end up with a multitude of insecure workbooks as data is stored openly, directly in a file (Excel workbook / Google Sheet). It’s “all or nothing” whoever can access the workbook can access all the data. Even worse is the danger of unintended consequences when users are overwriting (un/intentionally) the formulas or records. Concepts like audit trails offering clear transparency of “who has changed what” are unavailable.

Limited Data

Generally, there is a limit of a million rows in Excel, but by using Power Pivot, you can extend that. Still, neither Excel nor Google Sheets has been built for handling large amounts of data.

Using a Modern Excel Add-in for Xero

Nowadays, only a few solutions provide a high-functioning Excel Add-in: DataDear and Acterys are among the most popular and reliable ones. However, with DataDear pulling the plug on its support for Xero as it has been acquired by Intuit (Xero competitor), Acterys is your go-to choice as the most reliable and effective alternative for your financial planning and reporting needs.

Built-in on-Prem or Cloud Data Warehouse

While most solutions require you to have an existing data infrastructure, with the Acterys Excel Add-in, you get everything within the package. The solution comes with a prebuilt data warehouse (Azure SQL) and runs within Excel, saving you additional infrastructure costs and significantly lowering your total cost of ownership.

Reporting Automation via Live Link to the Data Warehouse

The solution maintains a live link to the data warehouse and automatically updates Excel reports whenever new data arrives from the Xero database. This means that all your data resides in a single spreadsheet, saving you from dealing with hundreds of Excel individual workbooks floating around the organization.

In other words, it ends the dreaded spreadsheet chaos for good!

Detail level security

The Excel Add-in requires users to authenticate access from the central server to ensure reports are only visible to people authorized to view and edit them. The solution also maintains a complete audit trail, keeping a record of everything step users make when working in the spreadsheet.

Zero Maintenance

With the Acterys Excel Add-in, you can bring down maintenance to almost zero. This happens thanks to the one central, properly structured data model that is automatically generated as soon as you connect Xero with the central server. For specific reporting requirements, you can customize the data model in any way you like with ease.

Having a central model also saves a lot of time propagating changes through the reports. For example, if you add a new mapping on the server, it will automatically reflect in all the reports.

Works with Other Tools Seamlessly

Aside from the flexibility and scalability you get within Excel, you can use other tools with the central database, particularly Power BI, giving access to unparalleled analysis power, interactive dashboards, AI insights, etc. This fuels your analytics and planning efforts, allowing you to quickly consume data in Power BI reports and dashboards and get insights in real-time.

Whether you are a regular Excel user who wants to overcome the shortcomings of this longstanding productivity tool or a DataDear user looking for an alternative Excel add-in, Acterys can meet all your reporting and planning needs easily.

Download the free trial and give the Acterys Excel Add-in a try today. For DataDear users, we are providing a free guided onboarding session that includes initial training and migration support to transfer your DataDear reports to Acterys.

Key Takeaways

1. Excel is suitable for one-time or infrequent reporting tasks, but it may not be the best solution for ongoing reporting in dynamic environments due to various limitations.

2. Excel is challenging to maintain when dealing with complex data sources from multiple accounting areas, leading to data preparation inefficiencies and potential data obsolescence.

3. Excel lacks granular security features, making it difficult to control access to sensitive financial data, and it doesn’t offer robust audit trail capabilities.

4. Excel has limitations regarding data capacity, with a maximum of around a million rows, even with the use of Power Pivot.

5. Modern Excel add-ins like Acterys provide a more reliable and efficient solution for financial planning and reporting with Xero.

6. Acterys minimizes maintenance efforts by offering a central, customizable data model that propagates changes seamlessly throughout reports.

FAQs

1. What are the limitations of using Excel for reporting with cloud-based accounting applications like Xero?

Excel’s limitations for reporting with cloud-based accounting applications like Xero include difficulties in handling large volumes of data, lack of granular security, the risk of data becoming obsolete due to manual data preparation, and challenges in combining data from various sources.

2. How does Acterys Excel Add-in address the challenges of data preparation and consolidation when working with Xero?

Acterys Excel Add-in streamlines data preparation and consolidation by providing a live link to a central data warehouse, automating data updates, maintaining granular security, and offering a complete audit trail. This eliminates manual data preparation, ensures data accuracy, and enhances data security.

3. Can Acterys Excel Add-in provide granular security and audit trail capabilities for financial reporting?

Yes, Acterys Excel Add-in offers granular security by requiring user authentication and maintains a comprehensive audit trail to track all user actions within the spreadsheet. This ensures that reports are only accessible to authorized users and provides transparency on data changes.