Xero Direct Bank Feeds

Xero Cloud Accounting and Bookkeeping software

For many business that have been using Xero for a while now you will be used to the frequent task of having to refresh your bank feed before reconciling the bank transactions. 

If you are a business with a fair few transactions the process of updating the feeds can take quite a while each time and many directors can find this process rather laborious. 

The good news is that in the last few months Xero has been introducing direct feeds with many of the UK’s most popular banks. 

How does this change the current process?

If you are used to having to manually refresh your bank feed then this means that you bank feed connection is ran through a company called Yodlee. This is a third party that links your bank transactions lines and feeds them into Xero.

Under direct feeds the need to use Yodlee is removed so the data comes straight from your bank. 

The biggest change as a result of this is that you no longer need to manually refresh the bank account each time you want to see the up to date list of transactions. 

What are the benefits of switching to direct feeds?

The main benefit of switching to a direct feed is that Xero each day will display up to date transactions imported straight form the bank.  The saves the job of having to remember to update the feed.

It also means that if you delegate the task of bookkeeping then the bookkeeper isn’t reliant on you to refresh the feed – which is very handy if you are out at meetings or on holiday. 

Another benefit is that if you use Yodlee as it is a third party occasionally there are problems with the bank feed which can cause transactions to be missed or duplications to be pulled in.  By using direct feeds the likelihood of this happening reduces greatly as the data does not need to go through a third party.

How do I get this set up?

Most major UK banks now offer the direct feed through Xero so you need to check via the Xero Helpcentre if your bank offers this.

For many of the banks to get this set up you need to complete a form and post it off to authorise the direct feed set up, which can take a couple of weeks.  However the process differs for each bank so we suggest you take a look at the Xero help centre as it will include details for each bank on how to set it up.

Finally many banks charge a small fee for the bank feeds – this is then either added to the Xero invoice or charged directly to you are a bank charge – again it differs for every bank.

Want to know more?

We think that direct feeds are a brilliant and efficient way to have transactions pull automatically into Xero and for such a small fee. 

If you are interested n getting this set up then get in touch and we will let you know if this is compatible for your business bank.

Emily
Xero certified Accountant and ICAEW Chartered Accountant

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