Help and ideas for busy numbers people
Why is reforecasting so painful in many organisations? Why does the word “reforecast” strike such fear into some people’s lives?
I don’t mean so much the content of it – let’s face it, lots of numbers are going to be terrifying at the moment – but more the process itself.
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I offer bespoke Excel training (and tailored Power Query training), particularly to finance teams. But what do I mean by “bespoke”?
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Why isn’t Power Query better known amongst finance teams?
Continue reading “Why isn’t Power Query better known amongst finance teams?”I don’t see much shouting about the benefits to employers of part-time working.
There’s plenty about how employees will benefit, but it is still apparently seen as a challenge that employers will have to manage. I think this is the wrong attitude, and employers of all sizes have a lot to gain from embracing it.
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On the face of it, processing timesheets with Power Query ought to be fairly straightforward. By “processing timesheets” I am primarily thinking about records of hours worked that feed into payroll or job costing calculations.
Continue reading “Processing timesheets with Power Query – what about the human factor?”
Purchase order systems suck for most users within the average organisation and also their suppliers.
Continue reading “Why purchase order systems suck”Here are some practical tips for accounting for VAT partial exemption on Xero.
A basic principle of VAT is that you can only reclaim VAT that relates to “taxable supplies”. A “taxable supply” is a sale or other income line where you charge VAT. If you only sell products where you charge VAT, then you can reclaim all of your VAT as a business. However, if you have sources of income that do not attract VAT – for example residential rent or grants – then you cannot reclaim all of your VAT.
I am not going to go into further details of partial exemption methods or calculations – that’s for HMRC to explain in pages of copious guidance.
There are essentially three parts of the process. Firstly, recording the VAT correctly, secondly carrying out a partial exemption calculation and finally adjusting the VAT return. This process applies whichever system you use, however this post sets out how it applies to Xero.
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Last week I “went” to the Global Excel Summit. This is a three day event featuring many of the superstars of Excel, eg Leila Gharani, Chandoo, Wyn Hopkins, Oz du Soleil etc etc. It was virtual this year, but as I’d never been before I didn’t know what to expect anyway.
I learned way more than five things, of course, but here are my biggest takeaways.
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This post sets out the five most useful new Excel functions for finance teams, based on my experience. By “new” I mean available in 2019 or later versions of Excel (including Office 365).
Note – this post was written in January 2022 and reflects what was available at that time.
Many of us are self-taught in Excel, and it can be hard to keep up with the changes. In the past few years there have been loads of new Excel functions that replace and add to existing ones that you might be familiar with.
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There’s no particular reason why you should listen to my views on how to keep to New Year’s resolutions. This quick blogpost is just to share a few thoughts. Excel is involved, obviously.
Continue reading “Tracking resolutions throughout the year (with Excel, obviously)”