Tide and Xero with AFEX

Choosing who to bank with for my company, Teseteo, was a no-brainer after seeing all the features and capabilities of Tide. As an automation and AI enthusiast, I was keen to find a product that would make my life (and my colleague’s lives) easier through innovative technologies. I also wanted something fun to use with smooth UX and fast, friendly customer service. Tide offer all that and signing up was a quick process through my smartphone. It was an exciting moment to receive a card in the post - especially as it came in a cool wallet with the words “Big ideas have small beginnings” printed inside. Tide also have an option to upgrade from a blue card to a premium black card for ￡9.99 a month + VAT. Added extras include 24/7 priority chat, phone support and a legal / tax helpline. Over and above that; any company spending ￡10,000 + a month will always get their next month free. Although primarily a mobile application, Tide is as good on desktop, if not better, than most well known banks. In fact, I went out of my way to compare it with Barclays and the usability was leaps and bounds ahead - it also opens through a QR code ensuring top levels of security. 

Established by ex-banker George Bevis and venture capitalist Eileen Burbidge, Tide was one of the first British digital-only finance platforms in existence. It officially launched in 2017 and raised ￡11m that same year. January 2018 was a big milestone for the company as it was granted authorisation from the FCA to be an official electronic money institution. Since then, Tide has gone from strength to strength and can now boast of 90,000 members nationwide. In just three years over 11 million payments have been made amounting to around ￡6bn in annual transaction volume. February 2019 marked another milestone for the firm when they received ￡60m funding from the RBS Remedies Package. This money has gone towards developing further time-saving products giving clients a genuine alternative to expensive, inflexible high street banks. Tide has partnerships with PayPoint and the Post Office to facilitate cash deposits. It employs over 80 people, they are headquartered in London and Oliver Prill is currently CEO. “Although we work in financial services we don’t behave or think like bankers, “says founder George Bevis. “We are all mission driven and everyone generally wants to change the industry for the better while building an awesome product.”

On smartphone, Tide requires a 5-digit passcode and once inside, users are given a slick and simple-to-navigate piece of software. Incoming and outgoing balances are clearly viewable with quick access to integrations such as Xero, FreeAgent and Sage. Important information such as account numbers, company number, VAT number and business address are all in plain sight which is handy. Every payment that comes in and out is categorised i.e. sales, tax, payroll, WiFi etc. This makes life lot easier when accounting through Xero. Attachments, photographs and notes can also be added to each remittance making purchase ledger / accounts payable fully digital from start to finish. Freezing lost cards with Tide is done at the touch of a button and then un-frozen when found or re-ordered instantly through the app. Invoices are also put together and sent via mobile but only to existing clients. The process of formatting an invoice (design, contact details etc.) is completed on desktop. When sending; users can input what date money needs to be received and if it doesn’t arrive, Tide will automatically chase the overdue amount. Outgoing payments are made / scheduled through the app and then recorded / categorised for future reference or accounting.

Multiple business accounts can be maintained simultaneously with Tide, although most directors such as myself will only need one. Payments are easily scheduled, direct debits managed, and statements downloaded through the mobile app or desktop platform. With the free blue card membership, customer service is restricted to online chat with no phone support. That being said, Tide staff always promptly respond with useful and practical advice. The majority of back-end admin is managed via desktop and users are given an excellent selection of features to streamline their business processes. A full statement of recent transactions is visible on the homepage and can be categorised, filtered or exported quickly. “Read Access” allows account administrators to select colleagues as team members. This is especially relevant when it comes to transparency of an organisation because financial information can be seen by outside parties. It’s also very helpful when accounting with Xero because a company’s figures are accessed via the platform or through Tide itself. If the account is run well and Xero is used properly - accountants will only be needed for annual returns and audit so it can save a lot of money. The integration has made day to day bookkeeping far simpler - even for people who are not so good with numbers like myself.

Team members can use the Read Only feature of Tide by signing in just as an administrator does. There is also API access available, so developers are able to build applications around the platform. Staff are given their own cards with a limit set on each to avoid overspending. Xero software syncs with your bank account every 2 hours meaning all ingoing and outgoing payments are logged for reconciliation. This is hugely handy and has made bookkeeping a task anybody can do while leaving more complicated work (such as annual returns or audit) to the professional accountants. Other accounting software that integrates with Tide include FreeAgent, Sage, Reckon and KashFlow. Everything a manager does via Tide will be recorded through Xero so it is important to keep that in mind when running an account. Categorising transactions is worthwhile, and your accountant will be more than grateful! “We’re excited to be teaming up with Tide,” said Gary Turner of Xero. “Like us, they have a mission to arm business owners with the tools they need to simplify financial management and invest time in what matters; building a great business.”

Xero's products are based on an SaaS model and paid for by subscription. A single unified ledger syncs with Tide allowing users to work on the same books regardless of location or operating system. There are 3 plans to choose from - starter (￡5 pm + VAT), standard (￡12 pm + VAT) and premium (￡15 pm + VAT). Day to day bookkeeping is made easy with Xero, especially when coupled with Tide. All records can be shared via the cloud and extra features include auto receipt scanning, flexible user permissions, insights / analytics, multi-currency processing, expense labelling and push notifications. Payroll via Xero only costs ￡1 + VAT per staff member so cost effective. That being said, companies reaching over 100 people should switch to a real-life accountant for payroll. Xero make good use of AI/Automation as it eases up much of the administrative effort around accounts payable and purchase ledger. Automating accounts payable has huge time saving impact. Regardless of the way an invoice arrives – in the post, through email, or via an online portal – Xero can process it. Clients are also able to approve and pay for invoices from within the software itself. Overall, this type of automation reduces errors, streamlines invoice approval, boosts security and gives users a better understanding of cash flow for forecasting.

Xero was founded in 2016 by tech entrepreneurs Rod Drury and Hamish Edwards. They both felt traditional desktop accounting software had become outdated so decided to create a modern cloud-based product. The company now employ 2,500 + people, have offices around the world (including Africa) and maintain over 2 million subscribers globally. Xero are listed on the New Zealand Stock in Exchange but not in America so 2018 was a ground-breaking year for them to announce settlements of $300 million USD (convertible notes). Over the years, this business has raised hundreds of millions of New Zealand dollars and turned over 353.5 million (USD) in 2018. The platform was originally called Accounting 2.0 but later changed to Xero. They have made many acquisitions and in July 2018 announced a strategic alliance with US payroll platform Gusto. In August 2018, Xero bought Hubdoc, a data capture solution firm and in November 2018 acquired Instafile; a cloud-based accounts preparation and tax filing service. Awards include ‘Bookkeeping software of the Year’ (2018) and "Best Overall Fintech Platform" (2017). Rod Drury stepped down as CEO on 31st March 2018 to be replaced by Steve Vamos but remains a non-exec director.

Xero is a professional accounting platform so for those who are not from a financial background, there will be certain features that are difficult to understand. However, they have put a lot of effort into making general bookkeeping a task anyone can do with useful FAQs and support available. The more you use Xero, the simpler it becomes and the fact it automates with Tide every two hours means the figures are always there to see. Compared with Tide, Xero has far more features and capabilities to choose from and it’s the user’s decision how many they do or do not adopt. So far, I have found reconciliation the most useful function because every transaction made is recorded and can instantly be categorised for future accounting purposes. Thanks to some clever tech, Xero send out notifications when numbers don’t add up or information has gone amiss. This is highly effective to ensure non-accountants (such as myself) have everything in order before submission towards returns or audit. Before finding Xero, I attempted to keep business accounts using spreadsheets and it was tough! Now everything is at the touch of a button and when things go wrong, I’m automatically told why + even better - given advice on how problems can be rectified. Alongside assistance from a real-life accountant, I’m looking forward to getting more acquainted with Xero as Teseteo grows. For a company with a limited budget like ours, it’s already saved time and money. The platform improves accounting skills and thankfully, makes day to day bookkeeping fun, interactive and actually quite enjoyable.

Teseteo began invoicing clients at the end of 2019 and thankfully, it was around then we started using Tide, Xero and another useful platform called AFEX. For a company such as ours making international transfers on a monthly basis - AFEX is great. It becomes even more relevant when wiring funds to somewhere like Ethiopia because banking in Africa is not as advanced. AFEX take the complexity out of global payments and sign-up is quick. Within days Teseteo were making safe and secure transactions to Ethiopia. AFEX give their customers a choice between working with an account manager or using an online platform where business activities can be managed via desktop. Every payment under ￡1,000 comes with a ￡10 charge and over that, transactions are simply charged at the current exchange rate. AFEX also integrate with platforms such as Xero to automate figures. The API (application programming interface) allows users to convert and send funds instantaneously while quickly distributing payments globally. As one of the world's largest non-bank providers of foreign exchange solutions, AFEX’s 24/7 risk-controlled solutions are useful to any company transacting in different currencies or countries. Those familiar with African banking will know what it can be like. Thanks to platforms like AFEX, new capabilities are available now that never were with traditional banks who tend to make international trades painstaking.

AFEX was founded in 1979 and offer a comprehensive range of global payment services including Wire Transfers, risk management tools and designated Client Managers. They have more than 35,000 active customers worldwide including importers and exporters, educational and financial institutions, small businesses, multinational corporations and also individuals. People can choose between handling everything themselves via the online platform/API, or, working personally with an account manager. Up until now customer service has been exemplary and I was even asked to meet them for a beer in London. Other than the obvious benefit of being able to make fast transactions to Ethiopia, AFEX’s emphasis on risk control is a great way to put partner’s minds at ease. Although often exaggerated - Africa can at times have a reputation for financial issues, corruption etc. By working with an established institution like AFEX, any concerns or worries can easily be put to rest. They are dedicated to operating in a safe, ethical, legal manner and have strict standards of compliance within the jurisdictions they operate. Even better, it’s fast! “Our clients put unwavering trust and confidence in us,” says Jan Vliestra, CEO. “Our commitment to deliver on promises is the core reason we continue to grow.”

It will be interesting to learn more about how Tide, Xero and AFEX can streamline our business. The administrative side to running a business is never fun but a necessary evil that needs to be taken care of. Thanks to Tide, every business transaction made (in or out) is logged on a ledger (through Xero) and that can be viewed by multiple parties. Also, Tide software automatically sends out invoices and even chases them up when late. Through Xero accounting, we are told when the numbers don’t add up and then advised on what changes to make. This means life is a lot easier for our accountant when it comes to annual returns (and it improves my number skills too). Finally, now we have an AFEX account – making transfers to Ethiopia has been sped up and most importantly, made more secure.