Top 5 Bookkeeping frustrations we hear from Business Owners

1. “My bank balance in Xero never matches my actual bank balance”

❌ You check your accounting software, and the balance doesn’t match what’s in your bank account. 

👉 This is usually caused by uncleared transactions, manual entry mistakes, or missing bank feeds.

✅ Fix it by: Regularly reconcile your accounts, check for pending transactions, and ensure all bank fees and transfers are recorded. 

If something doesn’t add up, review previous months to find discrepancies.

2. “Old unpaid invoices are still sitting in Xero”

❌ Your accounts receivable is growing, and you still see unpaid invoices in Xero even if you’ve already been paid or know they won’t be collected.

👉 This often happens due to invoices not being marked as paid, unmatched deposits, or uncollectible amounts that were never written off.

✅ Fix it by: Confirming payment status and matching payments to invoices, following up on overdue invoices, and writing off uncollectible amounts as bad debt. 

Check for duplicate invoices to ensure accurate records.

3. “How do you record entries for a loan or an asset?”

❌ You record a loan or purchase an asset, but it shows up as income or an expense, throwing off your financial reports.

👉 This happens when loans are incorrectly categorised as revenue and asset purchases are recorded as regular expenses instead of fixed assets.

✅ Fix it by: Setting up loans as liabilities rather than income and recording large purchases like equipment or vehicles under fixed assets instead of expenses. 

Work with a bookkeeper to ensure they’re tracked properly, including depreciation.

4. “Undeposited funds keep growing”

❌ Your Undeposited Funds account keeps increasing, and it looks like you have more money sitting there than you should.

👉 This usually happens when payments are recorded in Xero but never matched to actual bank deposits, leading to duplicate or unlinked transactions.

✅ Fix it by: Review the Undeposited Funds account and clearing it by matching payments with actual deposits in your bank feed. 

Avoid manually adding deposits without linking them to invoices.

5. “There’s always a discrepancy when reconciling”

❌ You try to reconcile your accounts, but the numbers don’t match, and your reports show errors.

👉 This can be caused by missing transactions, incorrect amounts, date mismatches, or duplicate entries that throw off your books.

✅ Fix it by: Comparing transactions line by line, looking for missing or duplicated entries, and ensuring all bank fees and refunds are accounted for. 

Always reconcile using actual bank statements to keep your books accurate.

If bookkeeping frustrations like reconciliations, loan tracking, or unpaid invoices are slowing you down, we’ve got you covered!

We handle it all so you don’t have to. Let’s chat!