How bookkeepers can automate month-end report packs for Xero clients

If you look after twenty Xero clients, month-end reporting probably means a few mornings of the same routine: open the client, run the reports, export, rename, attach, send. None of it is hard, and all of it is repetitive. Here's the manual routine and a way to cut most of it out.

The routine most bookkeepers have

Finish the reconciliation and any month-end adjustments for the client.
In Xero, go to Reports, then All reports. Open Profit and Loss, set last month with comparison columns, and check the basis. Click Update, then Export to PDF.
Repeat for the Balance Sheet and any extras the client likes, such as aged receivables or a bank summary.
Rename the files with the client name and month, and merge them if the client prefers one document.
Write the email, attach the files and send. Log it so you know it went.

At fifteen to twenty minutes a client, twenty clients is five to seven hours every month. The risks are also familiar: a pack sent with last month's file attached, a report sent to the wrong person, a client who got nothing because you were away.

Standardise first

Before you automate anything, decide what a standard pack is. Most practices end up with two or three tiers:

Basic: Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet.
Standard: add Aged Receivables Summary, Aged Payables Summary and Bank Summary.
Extended: add Budget Summary or Executive Summary for clients with budgets set up.

Having a small number of templates means you aren't making a fresh decision for every client every month. Write down which clients are on which, and which basis (cash or accrual) each one expects.

Where the time actually goes

It's rarely the exporting itself. It's the context switching: logging into each organisation, checking dates, remembering who wants what. Automating the delivery removes that, but it doesn't remove the need to close the books first, so schedule sends for after your normal cut-off, not for the 1st.

Setting it up in Reportpost

Reportpost lets one account connect several Xero organisations. Access is read-only, and you authorise each client's organisation through Xero. Then for each client:

Create a schedule and choose the reports for their pack.
Set the period, usually last month, and the number of comparison columns on the profit and loss and balance sheet.
Pick cash or accrual to match what you normally give that client.
Choose monthly, the day, the hour and the timezone. The reports are combined into one PDF, or you get one Excel sheet per report or a CSV per report.
Add the client's recipients. Each schedule has its own recipient list, so one client's report never goes near another's.
Set a subject and message in your own voice. Replies go to you.

Use Send test to mail yourself a copy and Preview to check the layout. Once a client is set up it repeats every month. When a new client joins, you add the organisation and copy the pattern you already use.

Plans for practices

The Bookkeeper plan is $39 a month for 10 Xero organisations. The Practice plan is $99 a month for 40. The Solo plan, $12 a month, covers one organisation, which suits a single business owner more than a practice. All plans have a 14-day free trial with no card required, so you can try two or three clients before committing.

What stays manual

A sensible limit on automation: it sends the standard Xero reports, and it doesn't write commentary. If a client needs a few lines on why margins dropped, you still write those, or you add a general note in the email message field. For clients who need advisory conversations, the monthly call matters far more than the attachments, and automated delivery gives you back the time to have it.

A rollout that works

Start with five clients who always get the same pack. Run their first automated month alongside your manual process and compare. After one cycle, you will know whether the dates and recipients are right, and you can move the rest across a few at a time.

See how Reportpost works