When to use Fresh Start

Before we get into when to use the FS method, let’s discuss what it is. FS is the easiest, cleanest, and quickest way to set up Xero. You load the balances from the last known good period and roll with it from there. You set up your bank feeds and balance them. We will get into the details of exactly how we accomplish this later in this chapter.

You have your Xero company set up for use. Now, you have the decision of how you want to get the data from your old system into Xero. You should go into this process with this decision before you sign up and set the software’s settings, as we did in the previous chapter.

Looking back, you either have a brand-new business and are ready to proceed from this point, or you have an existing business, and you kept your books on something other than Xero, such as QuickBooks, used a spreadsheet, or you didn’t keep books at all and worked from bank statements.

Using a spreadsheet or bank statements...