Practical Dext configuration and Processing

Dext can speed up your data entry of invoices and expenses into your accounting records. However care is needed in setting it up and when starting to process transactions.

We would recommend that we do the initial configuration - and the default settings we would select are as shown below. 

Unless a different option is chosen on a receipt the default will be to push it to the purchase ledger. This will differ however if you have only the "cash book" version of Xero.

The next two determine where they appear in Xero - and initially we suggest that they are reviewed in Xero too before committing the postings into the accounting records. These settings can be changed later on to automatically flow from Dext straight into Xero.

We would also recommend that items are not automatically published to Xero as soon as Dext has processed them. This can again be invoked later on.

Items can be sent into Xero in a variety of ways - and a scan of the document appears on screen in Dext alongside the data entry screen. For small (in size) receipts such as the petrol bill above, by far the quickest way to get these into Dext is via the app on your mobile device. We recommend you download the Glover Stanbury app - from within the app you can go straight into Dext and Xero. There are also many other tools and features.

This information is populated from the scan. Check to ensure the details are correct. There is a dropdown alongside the Receipt Type - this is populated automatically but is not an essential field to get 100% correct.

Ensure the figures are correct - this is of course critical. If the tax is incorrect the dropdown can be clicked and alternatives selected. By default Dext will try to extract any tax detailed on the items you submit. If there is no tax detailed in the item, no tax will be displayed.

If you wish, you can set default taxes for each supplier by clicking on the Suppliers tab and then on the desired suppliers. To enable these settings please switch this option on under the 'Account Settings' menu within the 'Integration' tab - 'Use supplier rate'.

The category is critical - you do need to tell the system where to publish this expense in your accounting records. The description is optional - but highly recommended. If you do not make any entries here, in Xero there will be just a . in the description field. Keep the text as short but as meaningful as possible.

You are able to select to remember the settings for future bills from the same supplier.

However, CARE is needed - we chose a Tesco receipt for illustration here. However, i may buy something else from Tesco e.g Stationery for my business. I do not want this automatically posted to Motor expenses in the future so i would not choose to apply the same coding to all future Tesco bills.

The Paid field is optional as is the payment method. However, the payment method may be applicable if you want transactions to appear as coming out of a particular credit card account for instance. It is not possible to be more specific as it really depends on your personal circumstances. If you pay expenses by cash though, it does help if you choose the payment method of Cash.

If you have a business credit card but also use a personal credit card for some expenses, and when you pay by cash, it is recommended that you write on the receipt where it was paid from before you take a photo and send to Dext.

The "Publish to" field is critical though. As we saw above, the default is purchases, which will make an entry onto the purchase ledger as an invoice. It may well be that this is the easiest way of dealing with all items.

In certain circumstances, the expense claims should be used where you are paying items privately and want to be reimbursed for them form your business. The other option is Bank Accounts - but if paid from the bank it is often just as easy, as mentioned above, to have the bills on the purchase ledger and use the payments from the bank to pay them off.

Glover Stanbury

30 Bear Street, Barnstaple T 01271 375271

27 Bridgeland Street, Bideford T 01237 471881