Smartsoft is pleased to announce that we have now completed the Xero integration and are in the final stages of internal testing and documentation.
We are looking for a group of beta testers that are happy to trial the new integration in early January. Initially, we are looking for:
- Front Desk users that do not currently use Xero, but are looking to start using Xero in the near future or;
- Front Desk users that currently use Xero that are happy to create a new Xero account to familiarise themselves with this new functionality.
Xero offers free 30-day trials to evaluate their product, which can be used for the beta testing.
Following this initial beta testing, we will commence a second beta test program to test the interface in production Xero environments.
Users that are interested in participating in the beta testing can register their interest by opening a support case at www.smartsoft.com.au/support with ‘Xero Beta Testing’ in the description field.
Timothy, Business Care Manager
Posted 8 months ago
Thanks Tim. Will Frontdesk interface allow the entry of the EFT code from the supplier and the suppliers name when paying an account by a DD amount and will this info turn be uploaded to Xero linked to the payment amount. Just trying to get an understanding on how the reconciliation will work in Xero with the integration.
Timothy, Business Care Manager
Hi Adam. Are you referring to accounts payable functionality? Paying of practice expenses would be handled by Xero directly and not Front Desk.
Sorry my mistake. I meant insurance companies paying a bill for say physio service rather than suppliers. Currently we enter the payment as a DD on Frontdesk but there is no space in Frontdesk for extra information such as the EFT code and the insurance company name - all of which we need to reconcile the deposit in xero.
Timothy, Business Care Manager
Thanks for clarifying Adam. I can confirm that the Xero integration will synchronise the remittance number that you can currently list on a group direct deposit. We have also added new fields to the payment type screen allowing you to record payer and remittance information for single direct deposit payments, which are also synchronised to Xero.
We will also be including a new report in Front Desk that will list all direct deposit payments (group & individual) to make manual bank reconciliation easier.
We will also be including a new report in Front Desk that will list all direct deposit payments (group & individual) to make manual bank reconciliation easier.
Fantastic - that report will save us a lot of time even without the direct integration.
Thanks
Thanks
Will we also be able to load the remittance advice into the transaction?
Hi Tim, we have started entering the remittance no and payer details when making DD payments on frontdesk but the remittance number section is too limited for characters - is there a chance that this can be increased?
Timothy, Business Care Manager
Hi Adam. Thank you for the feedback. Currently, there are 30 characters for a payer name and a 12 characters for a remittance number. Historically, this has been acceptable for group deposits. Note that we have to consider the lengths of these fields as they are also used in reports and external interfaces such as Xero. We're happy to considering extending these out in future based on user feedback.
Thanks Tim - currently in xero we create an invoice for each dd. Unfortunately each insurer includes different information on their bank deposit description so for us to reconcile we need each xero invoice we create to contain the payer name, the claim number, the date of payment, the Eft code, and the patient name, and invoice number. Somewhere in that information will give us the necessary information to reconcile. Obviously impossible to fit in the 42 characters.
A question regarding Xero integration and confidentiality. We assume confidentiality exists, however currently we are required to ensure any processes we use are based in Australia (eg cloud) as a measure of protection.... Where is the information that will be integrated into Xero stored and what measures of confidentiality are in place? (eg client names on DD). A great move by the way!
(Edited)
Steven, Business Care
Hi Astute Psychology
Though we are providing Xero integration, you will need to refer to Xero in regards to their privacy policy, I believe it can be found here: https://www.xero.com/au/about/legal/privacy/
Though we are providing Xero integration, you will need to refer to Xero in regards to their privacy policy, I believe it can be found here: https://www.xero.com/au/about/legal/privacy/
thank you for the reply. Xero states that the data is stored in the US which thus prohibits us from using it if it stores any client information. Will the integration mean that client names will be exported/imported for reconciliations?
Timothy, Business Care Manager
Hi Astute Psychology. We can't confirm where Xero stores their data, but it may be in the US as you state.
Smartsoft is providing three types of Xero integration. The first is a detailed synch where each Front Desk patient file has a record in Xero with their associated transactions.
The second synchronises all Front Desk transactions to a single record in Xero, however for reconciliation purposes, the patient name is included in the transaction description.
The third type of integration is a summary mode, which will only upload a summary of payments received. It does not upload individual invoices and payment transactions, but instead creates a new invoice in Xero reflecting the total of each payment method received that day.
If you're wishing to avoid synchronising client names to Xero, the summary option is your best choice.
Smartsoft is providing three types of Xero integration. The first is a detailed synch where each Front Desk patient file has a record in Xero with their associated transactions.
The second synchronises all Front Desk transactions to a single record in Xero, however for reconciliation purposes, the patient name is included in the transaction description.
The third type of integration is a summary mode, which will only upload a summary of payments received. It does not upload individual invoices and payment transactions, but instead creates a new invoice in Xero reflecting the total of each payment method received that day.
If you're wishing to avoid synchronising client names to Xero, the summary option is your best choice.
Thank you Timothy, according to AHPRA it will be only the summary we can use.
Is the initial Beta testing still ongoing or have you progressed onto the second program?
Steven, Business Care
Hi Julie
Xero integration testing is still ongoing. We have three types of integration with Xero. Two are ready for production, the third which is a summary entry is having some tweaking to include more breakdowns in payment types (DVA, Medicare etc.) to assist with reconciliation. It will be released to the beta testers on Wednesday next week, and we expect a general release a few weeks after that.
In relation to working on a second program, you may be referring to PracSuite. We have different teams working on Front Desk and PracSuite. Both applications will be developed and supported in the future as there is a demand for both desktop and cloud products.
Feel free to join the beta program on Wednesday next week if you wish to have some exposure to the new Xero interface.
Xero integration testing is still ongoing. We have three types of integration with Xero. Two are ready for production, the third which is a summary entry is having some tweaking to include more breakdowns in payment types (DVA, Medicare etc.) to assist with reconciliation. It will be released to the beta testers on Wednesday next week, and we expect a general release a few weeks after that.
In relation to working on a second program, you may be referring to PracSuite. We have different teams working on Front Desk and PracSuite. Both applications will be developed and supported in the future as there is a demand for both desktop and cloud products.
Feel free to join the beta program on Wednesday next week if you wish to have some exposure to the new Xero interface.
Timothy, Business Care Manager
Hi Tim - we had the scenario this AM where our admin staff entered a DD amount and then accidentally hit enter before entering the payee/EFT number. When she went to "edit the Item details" by right clicking on the payment the option to enter these details was no longer there. Is there any chance that this could be fixed?
Also some of our Insurers have a 14 digit remittance number which won't fit.
Thanks,
Adam
Also some of our Insurers have a 14 digit remittance number which won't fit.
Thanks,
Adam
Andrew, Community Manager
Hi Adam
I've moved this reply to a new conversation, as it doesn't relate to Xero integration beta testing.
Please reference the new conversation here: Direct Deposit - Editing & 14 digit remittance numbers
I've moved this reply to a new conversation, as it doesn't relate to Xero integration beta testing.
Please reference the new conversation here: Direct Deposit - Editing & 14 digit remittance numbers
(Edited)
Timothy, Business Care Manager
Timothy, Business Care Manager
Though, we think Cash Flow Manager is a good, simple accounting system, Xero is currently the market leader for SME businesses and proper integration is an enormous effort. I say ‘proper’, as we have reviewed some other integrations to Xero and though they do upload some data to Xero, we were surprised to find that they were not actually being used my most of their users due to the superficial nature of how this was being done and the limited support by the vendor. You can expect this to be done properly in Front Desk.
If you’re interested in migrating to Xero, it may be worthwhile contacting Xero to see what options are available to transfer your Cash Flow Manager data.