Quote and invoice on your phone. Xero stays right.

Plenty of trades use Xero because their accountant asked them to, and then find that raising a quote in it from the van is nobody's idea of a good time. So the quote gets typed up later, the invoice later still, and the books catch up at the end of the month, if at all.

Adminmate is the front end for the job: the quote from your rate card, the deposit, the invoice, the chasing. When an invoice goes out, a card asks whether to post it to Xero. Say yes and it's there, once. Your accountant sees it in Xero; you never see Xero on site.

Xero and the tradesperson: what each one is for

Xero is where the money is accounted for: bank feeds, VAT returns, the year end, the figures your accountant signs off. It was built for that, and it's good at it. What it was not built for is a plumber standing in a kitchen pricing a bathroom, or an electrician sending a quote from a lay-by between jobs.

Adminmate is that end: the quote from your own prices, the deposit, the invoice with the right details on it, the reminder when it's late, the customer's page with every message on it. The two meet at one point, the invoice, and that point is one tap. You never open Xero on site, and your accountant never asks why the invoice numbers jump.

Setting up Xero, and what to check with your accountant

Connecting takes two minutes in Settings. Before the first posted invoice, three things are worth a word with whoever does your books.

• Which Xero account sales should land in, so posted invoices go where they expect.
• Your VAT treatment: registered or not, and whether your prices are on top of VAT or include it. The app asks once and prints every invoice the same way.
• Whether they'd like invoices posted as you send them, or they'd rather you post in a batch at the end of the week. Both work; the card waits for your yes either way.