Financial Literacy Training for Xero Users
Welcome to our online group training course designed for non-accountants who want to better understand and manage small business finances.
Upgrade your financial skills and, at the same time, master Xero bookkeeping and accounting software.
What You Get
Self-paced video training modules
Q&A sessions with your trainer
Choose from two program streams
Worksheets and templates provided
Small group format - max. 8 participants
Learn from an entrepreneurial accountant
What is financial literacy?
Financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works. In this course, we look specifically at financial literacy in relation to managing small business finances.
Why is financial literacy important?
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a business owner or an employee, good financial skills go a long way towards making stronger, better business decisions.
Financial literacy is an investment
When you consider that cash flow issues are a leading cause of business failures and that most entrepreneurs have limited financial management experience, you can begin to see why improving your financial literacy is a vital investment.
Who is this course for?
This course is designed for any person who wants to improve their business financial literacy skills.
As you learn about business finance fundamentals, you’ll also discover the power and beauty of Xero, the world’s leading small business bookkeeping and accounting software.
This course caters for beginner to intermediate competency levels.
One course, two streams
The course is offered in two streams: one stream for small business owners and another for small business employees (including virtual staff and assistants.)
Both streams are hands-on and highly practical.
As you increase your financial management skills, you’ll also be learning to master Xero, used by nearly 2 million people all over the globe.
Small Business Owner Stream
This stream is customised for business owners and includes important, often overlooked content, such as “paying yourself”, as well as other specialty content related to business ownership.
Small Business Employee Stream
This stream, for small business employees (virtual or otherwise), has a focus on developing financial skills that can be applied in the workplace for an employer or client.
I am not a numbers girl and I was completely overwhelmed by not knowing what was going on money-wise with my business. I basically went from having no idea about how Xero worked or how to read a profit and loss statement.
Course Delivery and How It Works
This course is an interactive learning program, led by a chartered accountant and certified educator. Video training modules are supported by a series of online, live Q&A sessions where you receive personalised coaching in a group setting.
- Not a lecture series – it is an interactive, trainer-led education program
- Led by a certified and entrepreneurial accountant
- Small group—maximum 8 participants per group—so you get more time to ask questions
- Weekly online Q&A sessions
- 4 x self-paced video training modules, with worksheets and templates
- Weekly hands-on activities to support your learning
- Weekly accountability check-ins to keep you on track
- Access to a private ‘Slack’ group for Q&A during the course
- Receive recordings of all live Q&A sessions to share or review later
I found the content really logical and straight forward, easy to understand every week. Every week there was just that little gem that I could add to my accounting processes, and know that I was getting value every week from that.
Explore the Course Topics
The course topics are designed to develop financial literacy fundamentals, while building your Xero skills in relation to your specific business. We then dive even deeper in the Q&A sessions and online forum. You can purchase each module separately or together as a discounted bundle.
Program 1: Financial Systems
These modules are focused on helping you build your financial system using Xero.
Getting started with Xero
- How to set up Xero correctly
- Chart of Accounts and its purpose
- How to organise your Xero Chart of Accounts correctly
- How to set up business bank accounts in Xero
Ensure you get paid
- How to raise (create) an invoice in Xero
- How to allocate/code online sales
- How to quote in Xero
- Customer payment options
- Reconciling – what it is and why you need to do it
Paying your bills and expenses
- The difference between bills and cashcode
- Using bank rules for payments
- How to manage and pay suppliers, bills & other expenses in Xero
- How to handle subscriptions (weekly/monthly recurring expenses)
- How to pay yourself (for business owners)
- What to do when a personal purchase is charged to a business account
- What to do when a business purchase is charged to a personal account
Let’s do your books
- How to perform basic (daily, weekly or monthly) regular bookkeeping
- Basic features and functions of Xero software
- Simple automation opportunities and how to apply them
Bank reconciliations
- What a bank reconciliation is and why it’s important
- Why and how to balance bank reconciliations
- Common error identification and fixes
Ongoing Improvement
- Review your Receipt Management Process
- Review your understanding of cash v accrual accounting
Program 2: Financial Reporting
These modules are focused on helping you understand financial reports and make better business decisions using Xero.
Understanding your financial reports
- Key financial reports needed for good business management
- Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
- The purpose and value of financial reports in a small business context
- How to interpret your financial reports and which metrics to look for
Making big financial decisions (part 1)
- Purpose and value of month-end procedures
- How reporting is linked to planning and future business success
- Mapping a financial path to your business goals
Making big financial decisions (part 2)
- How much to pay yourself
- Using financials for strategic decision making
- Protecting your business from fraud
What’s in it for your business?
Financial literacy and Xero small business training is an investment in your business and professional potential
- Gain confidence as you stop worrying about blind spots or gaps in your financial management skill set
- Apply what you learn in the course immediately and critically assess your business performance
- Increase your business survival rate by understanding and taking better control of cash flow
- Meet other business owners and operators and learn from their experiences and questions
- Make better, faster decisions while reducing risk through better planning and forecasting
- Have better conversations with your accountant because you both talk the same language
- Get paid on time and pay your bills on time, including payroll and taxes
- Much, much more
I gained a better understanding of where our business is positioned financially. Getting the opportunity to work directly with an expert was great. Also, the various templates that we normally don’t have access to, and having the deadlines to complete them on a weekly basis were quite helpful.
Do I need a Xero account to do this course?
We love Xero because it’s the gold standard in bookkeeping and accounting software for small to medium enterprises. Don’t have a Xero account? Don’t worry! We’ll show you how to sign up for a free account.
Meet Your Trainer
Meryl Johnston is the founder and CEO of Bean Ninjas, the global bookkeeping business she launched in seven days in 2015.
She’s a Chartered Accountant who has vast experience in commercial accounting roles and as an auditor and accounting lecturer.
You can follow Meryl on the Bean Ninjas podcast and blog where she shares her ideas about entrepreneurship, surfing and building a thriving global business that supports the freedom of its founders, staff and clients.
I would definitely recommend this course … It will help you identify any knowledge gaps you have, to automate processes to save time and money and to help validate that you’re on the right track.
Get Started
Client Value Bundle
- Video training modules
- Choose a stream: business owner or employee
- Worksheets and templates
- Q&A sessions
- Learn Xero
- Learn from a qualified accountant
- 4x Weekly group calls
The next Financial Literacy for Xero Users course starts on Monday 2nd September.
Note: We also offer an ULTIMATE Package for $999USD, which is the Value Bundle PLUS 1x 1-on-1 Call with Meryl. This is available on the purchase page.
Don’t take our word for it
Hear from previous students who have completed the ‘Financial Literacy for Xero Users’ course.
"I basically went from having no idea about how Xero worked or how to read a profit and loss statement, to feeling like I was comfortable with all of those things."
Stevie D.
Stevie Says Social
"I gained a better understanding of where our business is positioned financially. Getting the opportunity to work directly with an expert was great."
Hayden B.
Zea Relief
"Great for anyone starting a business. It will help you quickly automate as much as possible, saving you time and money. And help you validate the path that you're on."
Kate L.
Rex Plumbing
"I found the content really logical and straight forward, easy to understand every week. Every week there was just that little gem that I could add to my accounting processes."
Krystle D.
KCS
"Scott enrolled me in the course because he wanted to bring [bookkeeping] into my role. I was able to apply my learnings to the business, including creating a cash flow forecast, and then take over financial tasks on Scott's behalf."
Christine R.
Scale My Empire
"The biggest benefit was the insight that it gave me to my own business. My ability to go back and critically look at my numbers and get a better handle on those, and how to improve them."
Marcus D.
Resolve Mining Solutions