PARISH COMMON CLOUD ACCOUNTING PLATFORM PROJECT · Parish Common Cloud Accounting Platform Project ... Data collection survey ... Parish Common Cloud Accounting Platform Project

PARISH COMMON CLOUD ACCOUNTING

PLATFORM PROJECT

PILOT EVALUATION REPORT

May 2017

Parish Common Cloud Accounting Platform Project – Pilot Evaluation Report Page 2

CONTENTS Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

Pilot Study Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 4

Participants .................................................................................................................................................... 4

Treasurer Workshop ...................................................................................................................................... 4

Transition procedure ...................................................................................................................................... 4

Feedback from Pilot Parishes ............................................................................................................................ 7

Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................... 10

Appendix 1: Pilot Phase Treasurer Workshop Agenda ....................................................................... 11

Appendix 2: Minutes of Treasurer Workshop............................................................................................. 13

Appendix 3: Data collection survey ............................................................................................................ 15

Appendix 4: Sample Management Reporting Suite ................................................................................... 23

Appendix 5: Pilot Phase Evaluation ........................................................................................................... 32


Introduction

This report outlines the results of the pilot phase of the Parish Common Cloud Accounting Project

The purpose of the Parish Common Cloud Accounting Project is to move all Parishes to a common cloud

based accounting platform. It is expected that this change will:

Make it easier for Parishes to recruit volunteer treasurers by simplifying the tasks;

Allow all Parishes to receive a daily update to their cash position;

Enable the Diocese to provide training and support resources relevant to all Parishes;

Give the Diocese and Parishes increased reporting flexibility and business intelligence capability;

Improve overall governance of Parishes

The purpose of the pilot phase of the project was to seek the input of a sample group of Parishes to assist the

project team to identify, design and obtain consensus for all the common elements required for the smooth

adoption of the Xero platform.

The specific aims of the pilot study were:

To determine the structure of a common chart of accounts to be provided as part of a Parish Xero account

subscription;

To identify and streamline the process to be used to transition Parish data and transaction histories from

systems currently in use to the common chart of accounts in the Parish Xero account;

To determine the contents of a standard Parish financial reporting suite to inform all Parish Councils;

To investigate and agree an appropriate financial and governance model for establishing and managing

Parish Xero subscriptions;

To determine the nature and scope of training resources required to support current and future Parish

Treasurers, office staff and other volunteers;

To provide the Diocese with evidence based recommendation for:

- the adoption of the Xero cloud accounting platform as the mandated accounting platform for use in

all Parishes;

- immediate implementation of Xero in all Parishes


Pilot Study Methodology

Participants

In consultation with the regional Bishops, two Parishes from each geographical region were selected to trial

the Xero cloud accounting platform and provide input to the project during the pilot phase.

The regions were represented by:

Region Parish Current accounting system

Southern

Beaudesert MYOB

Beenleigh Manual (no system)

Northern

The Gap MYOB

The Lakes MYOB

Western

Toowoomba St Barts MYOB

Warwick* MYOB

*Initially, Roma was identified as a preferred Western region representative but subsequently had to withdraw due to the

Rector’s annual leave commitments during January 2017.

Treasurer Workshop

A ‘Treasurer Workshop’ was held on 25 January to introduce representatives from the pilot Parishes to the

Xero platform and to outline the important decisions to be made by the pilot group on behalf of the Diocese.

The agenda for the workshop is included as Appendix 1 to this report. The day included the follow key

discussion items:

Development of a common understand of the Treasurer role

Development of a common chart of accounts for Parishes

Development of a standard reporting suite for Parishes

Identification of the training and support requirements for Treasurers

A copy of the minutes and action items arising from the workshop is included as Appendix 2 to this report.

Of particular significance to the future stages of the project, is the decision made by the pilot group in relation

to the establishment of Xero subscriptions. It was resolved that Diocese would proceed with satisfying the

requirements of attaining “Xero Partner” status. This allows the Diocese to set up Parish Xero subscriptions

under a single, centrally billed account and accesses the maximum available bulk discount. Xero partners also

gain access to advanced reporting template functionality and other useful features not available to individual

subscribers. The centralised subscription model will ensure uninterrupted access to Parish ledgers and

transaction histories and allow the Diocese to assist Parishes on request.

Since the workshop, the Diocese has proceeded with satisfying all requirements to achieve Partner status with

the Xero organisation and pilot Parish subscriptions have now been established with the ‘Treasurer Support’

email account as the linked subscriber. Pilot Parish Treasurers have subsequently have been granted ‘Advisor’

access within their Parish accounts which in turn gives them the option of inviting other Parish users into the

account, if required.

Transition procedure

One of the key aims of the phase of the project was to identify the most efficient methods for managing the

transition of Parish data and transaction history from the current system to Xero.


The key steps to be completed over a 2-3 week period can be summarised as follows:

Mapping MYOB and other accounting system data files

Five of the six pilot Parishes were previously using a version of MYOB accounting software.

At the commencement of the project the intention was to partner with Deloitte Private for technical support

related to the transition of data from existing systems. There were expected to be issues arising from the

mapping of transactions from the existing chart of accounts to the new common chart of accounts. In addition,

it was known in advance that the pilot Parishes were using various versions of MYOB that the Diocese would

not be able to access.

Unfortunately, it became clear that Deloitte that they would be unable to provide the required scope of work at

a cost to meet the project timeline and budget. The decision was made in late December 2016 not to proceed

with Deloitte.

The project team has instead engaged with Jet Convert, a specialist MYOB to Xero service provider, to assist

with the mapping the MYOB account balances to the corresponding account in the Xero common chart of

accounts. For the very reasonable cost of $150 per Parish, the Diocese has been able to transfer a full year

of transaction history in Xero to support the budget versus actual comparisons available as standard in Xero

reporting for five out of the six pilot Parishes.

The Beenleigh Parish was previously maintaining paper based set accounts so has commenced its Xero

account with opening balances only.

Pre-conversion procedure

Working with Jet Convert to complete the conversion of the five pilot Parish MYOB files to Xero has allowed

the project team to develop a clear understanding of the need for rigorous pre-conversion checks and

reconciliation of data.

To support this process in the next stage of the project, a comprehensive data collection and transition guide

has been developed for Parishes to ensure that the time to transition minimised and the required treatment of

specific transaction types, bank accounts and trust arrangements are well understood prior to the

commencement of mapping.

The Parish Xero transition Data Collection Survey document to be used during the implementation phase of

the project is included as Appendix 3 to this report.

In addition, to achieve the transition of all remaining Parishes during the project timeline, it has been identified

that the project team will require additional accounting support to be able to manage all the required checks


and reconciliations pre and post Jet Convert conversion of data. Despite the bad experience with Deloitte

Private, the project team believes that outsourcing the workload associated with the one time data conversion

activity makes good sense because it will allow the project team to focus its resources on user training and

support. With this in mind, Cooper Reeves, a small business accounting firm and Xero partner is assisting the

project team to design an outsourced model that will be rolled out if the project is approved to process to full

implementation.

User Training

Training for representatives of the pilot Parishes has been provided by the Treasurer Support accountant on

a face to face basis.

For the purposes of the pilot this has allowed the project to gain specific insights into the training needs of

volunteer Treasurers and other Parish Xero users including clergy, paid and volunteer office staff and

Wardens.

It has also become clear during the pilot that face to face training of new Xero users is not viable if the project

if the decision is made to adopt Xero at the mandated Parish accounting platform. Self-service training

resources are required to allow training on demand to match the take up of the Xero offer over the course of

the implementation.

With this in mind, the Diocese is partnering with Jet Convert to produce a three part series of one hour

customised webinars demonstrating common Parish transactions and utilising the common Parish chart of

accounts framework. The topics to be covered in the series include

Webinar 1: Getting started with Xero - Dashboard, Navigation, Simple day to day transactions

Webinar 2: Bank reconciliations

Webinar 3: Reporting

In addition, the project team are currently preparing a series of simple “how to” transaction demonstration

videos and written guides to provide a quick ‘walk through’ of standard Xero functionality including:

How to set up a ANFIN bank feed

How to set up a bank rules for Parish Direct, Parish Contributions, Parish Pay

How to record a Parish bank deposit

How to prepare monthly reports for Parish Council

How to prepare Parish BAS return

How to interpret the Parish month financial reports

How to add additional income or expense accounts to the common chart of accounts

Management reporting suite

The Treasurer Workshop held in January highlighted that the Parish Councils of each of the pilot Parishes is

receiving differing standards of financial information.

As part of the pilot processes, the six Parishes have been asked to test and provide suggestions for the

contents of a minimum standard suite of financial reports to be prepared by all Treasurers. The recommended

standard reporting suite contains:

Profit and Loss Statement

Profit and Loss Statement with prior period comparison

Parish Balance Sheet Report

Cash Summary Report

The results of this consultation and feedback have been loaded as reporting templates to each pilot Parishes

instance of Xero.

A copy of a sample Parish Management Reporting Suite is provided as Appendix 4 to this report.


Feedback from Pilot Parishes

To evaluate the suitability of Xero to be the mandated accounting platform for Parishes, the project team has

conducted a formal evaluation with Xero users from the six Parishes participating in the pilot phase.

Formal feedback has been received from the following pilot Parish representatives:

Region Parish Survey respondent

Southern

Beaudesert Tony Swansson (Rector)

Beenleigh Yvonne Bobermien (Warden)

Jean Prior (Treasurer)

Northern The Gap Mark Illingworth (Treasurer)

The Lakes Shelley Ryan (Treasurer)

Western Toowoomba St Barts Warren Dutton (Manager)

Warwick* Madonna Dawn (Parish Admin)

The purpose of the evaluation was to confirm if the Xero platform is providing the pilot Parishes the benefits

outlined in the project plan (as summarised on page 3 of this report).

A formal survey addresses the following key areas:

Cloud Accounting

The survey confirms that the majority of respondents have indeed accessed the Parish Xero account from

more than one location including the Parish office and home.

The majority of respondents used a laptop and/or desktop to access Xero with two respondents also accessing

Xero using an iPad.

Five respondents strongly agreed and two respondents agreed that the ability to access Xero from a range of

locations would indeed assist the Parish to recruit or retain volunteer Treasurers in the future.

Five respondents strongly agreed and two respondents agreed that the estimated future Xero subscription

price for Parishes of approximately $35.00 per month represented good value for money.

Comments:

“MYOB was costing more than this.”

“I was looking at MYOB cloud at $45/month or a $500 upgrade to a standalone package every 2-3 years. “

“I really like that we can scan and upload documents.”

“Treasurer got fed up last year with having to come into the office all the time.”

“Was paying $55/month for MYOB online.”

“Saves running back and forward for Treasurer, saves a lot of driving.”

Common chart of accounts

Three respondents strongly agreed and four respondents agreed that the common chart of accounts did meet

the needs of the Parish.

Comments:

“Because our Parish doesn’t have an over-abundance of money, we need to be able to quarantine some

funds for committed large bills.”


“Added some extra accounts, but very easy to add accounts.”

“I have done a bit of editing. I tried to stay within standard ranges.”

“Covered all the bases.”

Xero features and functionality

The most useful features for the respondents were the Xero dashboard, Bank feeds and Bank rules.

The History & Notes Activity function was not used by the majority of respondents.

Bank reconciliation and Preparing the BAS were reported by most respondents as being easier to use than

the similar functions in MYOB

Comments:

“Oh, I can do that? Better than I expected. That’s excellent!”

“Spits out which number goes into which box. MYOB didn’t have a report that did this.”

“Xero basically does it for you. I just checked the transactions then system did the rest.”

“Being able to visualise the cash flows via the dashboard is helpful.”

“We didn’t have a bank feed with MYOB standalone”

“A lot of entries Administrator was not entering because she didn’t know how. Can now create bank rules for

these, eg payroll”.

“We were in a horrible position. MYOB doesn’t keep a record of submitted BAS – but the unclaimed GST

was immediately evident in Xero.”

“Tells us there are things to be reconciled.”

“Xero alerts us that something has not been done. MYOB didn’t alert us to these things.”

Reporting in Xero

Four respondents strongly agreed and three respondents agreed that they were able to generate reports in

Xero that met the needs of Parish Council.

“There was one person that wanted the old way of reporting.

Everyone else agreed the new reports were better.”

“Comparative figures are better. I couldn’t figure out how to show this in MYOB.”

“Did not understand the old reports, they were too confusing.”

“Feedback from Parish Council is that they are easier to understand.”

“Whole reporting process only took a few minutes, usually took a few hours of typing.”

Governance

Several respondents reported that the draft recommended standard reporting suite provided less information

than their previous reports but most respondents reported that the results were clear and easy to understand.

“The history of the last few months is useful. Can see where we really are.”

“They found it much simpler to read once they understood how to read.”

“Not having a treasurer has been good for the Wardens as we have had to gain the knowledge. We now

have three people who could train a new treasurer or we could even have an assistant treasurer.”

“I don’t believe MYOB had the ability to provide the same level of forecasting

and trending in the reporting function.”

“Cash summary report can be modified to separate operating activities from the building activities.

This modification cannot be done in MYOB, therefore Xero gives a huge advantage.”


Support for change

Written “how to” manuals were rated as ‘must have’ by four of the seven respondents.

Phone support was rated as a ‘must have’ by six out of seven respondents.

Interactive webinars were rated a ‘nice to have’ by four respondents.

A dedicated Xero training course was rated as a ‘must have’ by only three respondents.

Comments:

“Very helpful to have training. We were a bit backward.”

“The process has been super easy and the support from the Diocese has been much appreciated. Especially

then specific tips like those provided for preparing a BAS statement.”

“Current Parish Council members understand their financial needs. No training will be required.”

“Will always need a technical support person to refer to – if there was nobody there we would be in trouble.”

“Not confident yet, needs a ‘how to guide’.”

Next steps

Seven out of seven respondents recommend that Xero be adopted as the common Parish accounting platform

for the Diocese.

Comments:

“Absolutely”

“Definitely”

“Easy to use, easy to undo mistakes, easier that MYOB”

“We’ll be continuing with it either way”

‘Let’s be consistent across our Diocese”

‘Much simpler for when the end of year books are done and common across the Diocese.

Good for people who move between Parishes. Good to have it formalised across the Diocese”


Recommendations

Based on the evidence presented in this evaluation report, the Parish Common Cloud Accounting Project team

recommends that:

1. Xero cloud accounting be adopted as the mandated accounting platform for the Diocese; and

2. The Parish Cloud Accounting Project team be approved to immediately invite all Parishes to prepare

to transition to Xero utilising the tools and learnings developed during the successful pilot phase.

AGENDA

Appendix 1: Pilot Phase Treasurer Workshop Agenda

Pilot Phase – Workshop

Date: Wednesday 25 January 2017

Time: 10.00am – 4.30pm

Location: Maheno Room, St John the Baptist Anglican Church

171 Oxford Street Bulimba

Time Topic Session Coordinator

10.00am Overview of the Diocesan Financial Model

Sandra Long, Chief Financial Officer/Executive Director Financial Services Commission

10.30am Introduction to the Parish Cloud Accounting Project

Linda Hedley, Project Manager

11.00 Roles and responsibilities of the parish treasurer

Developing a common understanding

Linda Hedley, Project Manager

12.00am Short Break

12.15pm Xero Cloud Accounting

Demonstration of features and benefits

Main menu and settings within Xero

Jason Cheung, Senior Financial Accountant/Parish Treasurer Support

12.45pm Lunch

Sandwiches and fruit will be provided.

1.30pm Developing a common chart of accounts Jason Cheung


Time Topic Session Coordinator

Consultation

2.00pm Budgeting

Simple Excel tool integrating with Xero

Jason Cheung

2.30pm Reporting

Consultation of standard reporting templates in Xero to assist treasurers on monthly reporting to parish council and annual report to Diocese (Annual return). Discuss of any other relevant financial reports which can be setup in Xero.

Jason Cheung

3.00pm Afternoon Tea

3.15pm What’s new at ANFIN Emma Cooke, Senior Customer Service Officer

3.45pm Next steps

Jason Cheung

4.30pm Close

Appendix 2: Minutes of Treasurer Workshop

Minutes of Pilot Phase – Workshop

Held 25 January 2017

Item Description Agreed outcome Action by Due date

1 “Finance in the Diocese” presentation

(i) Content of CFO presentation to be expanded to include a summary

of expenditure and outputs/projects of PMC.

(ii) Video suitable for presentation at parish AGMs to be prepared and

link distributed via treasurers ASAP.

Sandra Long/Linda Hedley

24 Feb 2017

2 Financial governance responsibilities of parish council

(i) Determine minimum type and frequency of financial reporting that a

parish council is to require from parish treasurers.

(ii) As part of Treasurer Portal resources, provide resource for council

representatives on the specific financial risks they are responsible

for managing and effective use of performance indicators and

internal controls.

Jason Cheung/Linda Hedley

30 Mar 2017

3 Xero subscription structure (i) Diocese to proceed to set up parish Xero subscriptions under single

account to capture maximum available discounts and reporting

template functionality. Parishes and to ensure uninterrupted access

to parish ledgers and transaction histories. .

(ii) Draft protocol to be documented for consideration be Pilot group on

how to manager Diocese access to parish ledgers to maintain parish

autonomy after initial set up is completed.

Jason Cheung

Linda Hedley

17 Feb 2017

30 Mar 2017

4 Xero user settings

(i) Pilot parishes to provide project team with org structures/access

limitations to enable correct user access settings for each parish

Xero subscription.

Pilot parish

treasurers

6 Feb 2017


Item Description Agreed outcome Action by Due date

(ii) Treasurer Support accountant to have ‘Subscriber’ access during set

up and pilot phase reducing to ‘Read only’ or similar as per protocol

to be agreed as per item 3(ii).

Jason Cheung

30 Mar 2017

5 Common chart of accounts and report templates

Consultation

(i) Pilot parishes to review proposed common chart of accounts and

provide feedback if parish income or expenditure types are not cater

for.

(ii) Pilot parishes to consider report templates and provide suggestions

for improvements or additional common reports

Pilot parish

treasurers

Pilot parish

treasurers

6 Feb 2017

24 Feb 2017

6 Depreciation guidelines

Simple Excel tool integrating with Xero

(i) Treasurer Portal to contain explanation of requirement for asset

depreciation for charitable/non tax paying entities

(ii) Treasurer Portal to contain suggested depreciation rates for use,

where indicated

Jason

Cheung/Linda

Hedley

30 Mar 2017

7 Accounting for bequests, donations, loan balances in Xero

(i) Xero reporting suite to provide facility for loan and bequest balances

to be reported separately from parish operations

(ii) Treasurer Portal to contain step by step guide on accounting for

donations, split income and monies held in trust within Xero

Jason Cheung

Jason Cheung

30 Mar 2017

30 Mar 2017

8 Treasurer Portal content and links (i) Pilot parishes to review the outline of the proposed content for the

Treasurer Portal provide suggestions for improvement or additional

topics/resources/links.

(ii) Treasurer Portal to offer a ‘Treasurer Forum’ to allow online

conversations between the Diocese and parishes and organic

sharing of knowledge and skills relevant to the role of Treasurer.

Pilot parish

treasurers

Linda Hedley

30 Mar 2017

30 Mar 2017


Appendix 3: Data collection survey

Parish Cloud Accounting Platform Project

Data Collection

CONTENTS

Section 1 – Overview

Section 2 – Data Collection

Section 3 – Data File Preparation

Section 4 – Checklist of Information to send

Section 5 – Instructions and Information


Section 1 – Overview

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to assist you to provide all the data required for the conversion from your existing accounting system to Xero, a cloud based accounting platform.

Please return the completed form to [email protected]

Timeline

Section 2 – Data Collection

Parish name:

Parish office phone:

Contact Name:

Position:

Contact Number:

Contact email:

•Invite parish officer to Xero files

•Live Webinar

•Training materials ready for download

Week commencing 22/5/17

•Bank Feed Setup (requires signature from two signatories)


•Data Collection from selected parish


•Data Collection from selected parish


mailto:[email protected]


Accounting System Information

Current accounting system:

Manual MYOB Other: __________________________

MYOB users only:

MYOB version installed: ________________________________________

Is a bank feed established? Yes No

Administrator password: ________________________________________

Users & Access

Who should have access to the Xero file and what type of access should they have?

Banking arrangements:

Please provide details of all bank and credit card accounts:

Bank Account Name BSB Account Number Internet access

Yes No

Yes No

Yes No

Yes No

Yes No

Yes No

Note: The signatories on the account will need to sign a "bank feed" form to provide authority for automatic bank fees to flow into the Xero datafile.

First Name Last Name Email address


Transaction types used for payments:

Cheque EFT (creating batch within ANFIN online) Bank file upload (.aba file) Other

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

Types of bank deposits:

Branch banking Parish Direct EFTPOS receipts Other (please specify)

_________________________________________________________________________________

Who is authorised to transact on behalf of the Parish?

Parish Priest only Treasurer only Parish Priest and Treasurer jointly

Other

Please specify bank signatory/payment authorisation requirements:

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Financial Information

The Parish accounts were last updated on:

_ _ / _ _ / 2017

Please provide a copy of latest management accounts e.g. 30 April 2017

Provided Unable to provide and reason

Please provide a copy of the bank statement for each bank account and credit card as at the date of

the management accounts?


Please provide a bank reconciliation report for each bank account and credit card as at the date of the

management accounts? Note: A bank reconciliation report is not required if the balance of the bank

account in MYOB exactly agrees to the actual bank statement balance.

Provided Not Required (agreed) Unable to provide and reason


Reporting

It is envisaged that a master chart of accounts will be adopted across all Parishes.

Therefore your current chart of accounts will be mapped to the master chart of accounts.

Refer Section 5 for a copy of the master chart of account.

Based on your current chart of accounts and reporting practices for the Parish, do you foresee any issues with adopting the master chart of accounts?

There will be standard end of period reporting that will be automatically setup in Xero.

Refer Section 5 for a copy of the standard end of period reporting.

Based on your current reporting practices for the Parish, do you foresee any issues with using the standard end of period reporting?

Job Codes

Do you currently use job codes in MYOB?

Yes (complete the below) No Unsure

Approximately how many job codes are you currently using?

Unsure Less than 100 More than 100 (please proceed to the next question section)

Are you happy for the project team to only import the job codes with activity in last two years into XERO?

Yes No (project team will be in touch with you to discuss further)


GST and BAS

Is the Parish registered for GST?

Yes No, please proceed to the next question section

Please provide a copy of the latest lodged Business Activity Statement

Provided Unable to provide and reason__________________________

Do the MYOB settings reflect the GST Registration

e.g. Method = cash vs non cash (accruals) and Frequency – Monthly vs Quarterly.

Yes No and unable to update

Payroll

Does the Parish prepare any payroll?

Yes No, please proceed to the next question section

What system do you use to prepare the payroll?

Manual MYOB Other: __________________________

Expenses

When do you record the supplier invoice into your accounting system?

When invoice is received When payment is made Combination of both Unsure

Fixed Assets

Please provide a copy of the fixed asset report?


What system do you use to maintain the fixed asset report?

Manual Excel Other: __________________________


Section 3 – Data File Preparation

It is strongly recommended that you reconcile your bank account(s) as close as the date you

provide the MYOB backup file to Diocese

Check that balances in all reconciled bank accounts and credit cards actually reflect the

statement balances as of the last reconciliation date. Finalise all bank reconciliations.

Ensure all clearing accounts (including Undeposited Funds and Electronic Clearing Account)

are reconciled to NIL.

Confirm that the Accounts Receivable report reconciles to Payable statements and that all

unpaid invoices are still due, and ensure all credit notes are applied unless actually unused

Confirm that the Accounts Payable report reconciles to Supplier statements and that all

unpaid bills are still due, and ensure all credit notes are applied unless actually unused

Ensure that MYOB is set to the correct GST accounting basis (cash or accrual). For example if the organisation reports to the Australian Taxation Office on a Cash Basis please ensure

that the file is set-up accordingly. This can be checked under Setup ➜ Company Information

➜ BAS Information.

Ensure the backup file is in the file format .myo or .myox . If backup is a zip file, please open

the zip file and ensure it contains a .myo or .myox file

It is strongly recommended that no more data to be entered into the MYOB system once a

backup file has been sent to Diocese for conversion. Any subsequent entry will need to be

manually input to Xero again

Section 4 – Checklist of Information to send

MYOB Datafile back up

Copy of latest management accounts

Copy of bank statement for each account/credit card as at the date of the management

accounts

Copy of bank reconciliation report for each account/credit card as at the date of the management accounts (if applicable)

Copy of latest BAS lodged (if applicable)

Fixed Assets Register (if applicable)


Section 5 – Instructions and Information

System Requirements

As a cloud based product, you will need to ensure you have an internet connection in order to

access Xero

For PC users, “Chrome” is more compatible with Xero than other web browsers. Safari for

apple products are also working fine with Xero

Users & Access

An instruction in relation to the user will be attached in your welcome email.

Reporting

A common Chart of Accounts is attached in your welcome email.

A sample of the reporting pack is attached in your welcome email

Job Codes

Where do I go to find out what job codes are in the MYOB datafile?

Ensure the number of job codes is less than 100. If exceed 100, please delete any unused job

codes or consults with our project team for a solution. (please refer to the below link for

instructions of how to delete a job in MYOB

http://help.myob.com/wiki/display/ar/Jobs#expand-Todeleteajob )

GST and BAS

Where do I find and update my GST settings in MYOB?

http://help.myob.com/wiki/display/ar/Jobs#expand-Todeleteajob


Appendix 4: Sample Management Reporting Suite










Appendix 5: Pilot Phase Evaluation

General Information

Parish name:

Treasurer name:

Treasurer email:

Treasurer phone:

Evaluation completed by:

Contact phone number:

Summary of Project Objectives

Xero is being trialed as the common accounting platform for use by Parishes. The Diocese is

considering this change in order to:

- Make it easier for Parishes to recruit and retain volunteer Treasurers by adopting a platform that

simplifies accounting tasks and is accessible from anywhere;

- Ensure the Diocese Finance team can more effectively support Treasurers by providing training

and resources for a single platform;

- Ensure all Parishes have access to software updates and new features associated with a

subscription based, cloud accounting platform;

- Ensure all Parishes can receive a daily update on bank account balances;

- Provide Parishes with increased reporting flexibility as well access to simple business intelligence

tools that support Parish budgeting and decision making

- Improve the overall governance of Parishes by mandating a standard suite of financial reports for

Parish Councils

Purpose of Evaluation

The purpose of this evaluation is to gather feedback from the Parishes participating in a pilot of the Xero

platform. Specifically:

- Is the Xero platform assisting the Parish to achieve the stated objectives?

- How should the Diocese support other Parishes to transition to Xero?


Cloud accounting

Where were you located when you accessed the Parish Xero account during the last month: (Check

one or more places)

☐ Parish Office ☐ Home ☐ Work ☐ Other (please provide details)

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

What type of computer/device were you using when you accessed Xero?

☐ Windows Laptop/Desktop ☐ Mac ☐ iPad/Tablet ☐ Other (please provide details)

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

In your opinion, will the flexibility to access the Parish accounting system from a range of locations

assist your Parish to recruit or retain volunteer Treasurers in the future?

☐ Strongly agree ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree ☐ Strongly disagree

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Did you experienced any connectivity issues while you were using Xero?

☐ Yes ☐ No

If ye, please provide details:___________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Do you believe that a monthly subscription fee of approximately $35.00 to access the features and

benefits associated with the Xero cloud based platform represents good value for money?


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Common chart of accounts

Are you satisfied that the common chart of accounts loaded to your Xero subscription can meet the

needs of your Parish?


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Were you satisfied with how your transaction history was mapped into the common chart of accounts?


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


Xero features and functionality

Please rate the usefulness of the following Xero features and functions:

Xero Dashboard (summary of bank accounts; total cash in and out; accounts watch list etc)

☐ Very useful ☐ Useful ☐ Not useful ☐ I don’t use this feature

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Bank feeds


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Bank rules


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Tracking categories


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Xero Website (eg FAQs, how to guides, training videos)


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

History & Notes Activity (audit trail feature)


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Compared to your previous accounting system, how would you rate Xero for ease of use?:

Bank reconciliation

☐ Easier ☐ About the same ☐ More Difficult ☐ I don’t use this feature

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


Recording of Parish Direct receipts


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Recording payment of a supplier invoice


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Preparing the BAS


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Reporting in Xero

Now we would like you to reflect on your experience with using Xero for reporting of Parish results.

Were you able to generate reports in Xero that met the financial information needs of your Parish

Council?


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Would you say that the Xero reports are easier to understand than the reports from your old system?


Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Is there a need for you to export data into another program for any reason?

Yes No

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Governance

To ensure all Parish Councils receive timely and accurate financial information, as part of this project,

the Diocese is recommending use of a minimum Parish financial reporting suite.

To increase integrity, we will be expecting that Parish Councils will require that these reports be

generated directly from Xero without manipulation and Treasurer commentary should be added as part

of the reporting process.


The recommended minimum Parish reporting suite comprises:

Profit and Loss Statement (which describes Actual vs Budget for the current period and year to date)

Profit and Loss Statement with a prior period comparison

Parish Balance Sheet Report

Cash Summary Report with gives details report of the Parish cash balance and transactions for the

period.

So, reflecting on the current standard of financial governance in your Parish:

Does your Parish Council request a financial report every month?

Yes No

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Did you use Xero reports to report to Parish Council this month?

Yes No

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Was there any feedback or comments from the Parish Council after presentation of the reports

generated in Xero? Please provide details:

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Compared to previous reporting to Parish Council, will the recommended minimum Parish reporting

suite will provide your Parish with:

More information Less information About the same amount

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

If the proposed minimum Parish reporting suite is adopted, will your Parish Council also require

additional reports? (please provide details)

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Will the members of your Parish Council require training on how to interpret the information in the

minimum Parish reporting suite?

Yes No

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


Support for change

Please provide your feedback on the suitability of the following types of training and support for new

users of Xero:

Written “how to” manual ☐ Must have ☐ Nice to have ☐ I wouldn’t use

Interactive webinars ☐ Must have ☐ Nice to have ☐ I wouldn’t use

Training course ☐ Must have ☐ Nice to have ☐ I wouldn’t use

Online help/FAQs ☐ Must have ☐ Nice to have ☐ I wouldn’t use

Phone support ☐ Must have ☐ Nice to have ☐ I wouldn’t use

Treasurer chatroom ☐ Must have ☐ Nice to have ☐ I wouldn’t use

Next steps

Based on your experience in the Pilot, do you recommend that Xero be adopted as the common Parish

accounting platform?

Yes No

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Do you have any other comments or questions relevant to the assessment of the success of the Pilot?

Comments:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you again for taking the time to participate in the Pilot.

Documents

PARISH COMMON CLOUD ACCOUNTING PLATFORM PROJECT · Parish Common Cloud Accounting Platform Project ... Data collection survey ... Parish Common Cloud Accounting Platform Project