The difference between Hubdoc and Xero files for managing your bookkeeping and accounting records.
How to provide your records for bookkeeping?
We are often asked not only what records we need to complete bookkeeping for a business, but also how you can easily and securely provide your records to us. You can of course send us your records on paper, but in an ever-increasing digital age, this isn’t the most efficient way for every business. If you would like to go paperless, or even just less-paper, why not utilise your existing software to achieve this? With a few small changes to your internal processes, you will find this a much more efficient and sustainable way to manage your bookkeeping and accounting records.
What is Hubdoc?
Hubdoc is software used to capture accounting documents for prime entry into your Xero bookkeeping software. The types of documents you should upload into Hubdoc are supplier invoices and purchase receipts. Hubdoc is capable of holding and processing other document types, but this isn’t recommended.
How should I upload documents to Hubdoc?
There are different ways to upload documents into Hubdoc, depending on the type of document and what is most convenient at the time. You can switch between methods at any time.
The first method is a mobile app, this works well for taking pictures of purchase receipts on the go, minimising the number of lost receipts – so long as you can get in the habit of snapping the receipt before you stuff it in your pocket!
The second method is by email. Many businesses receive supplier invoices by email as attached PDFs This email can be forwarded to Hubdoc, and depending on the settings in Hubdoc, the body of the email can either be ignored or turned into an additional PDF. Some businesses even give the dedicated Hubdoc email address directly to their suppliers, with the instruction to include the Hubdoc email address when sending invoices out for payment. This captures the invoice at source, reducing admin for the business owner. If you would like an email template with your dedicated Hubdoc email address to send out to your suppliers, please let us know.
A third method is for use when you have the documents saved on a device, perhaps because you have had to download them from the supplier’s website. You can log in to Hubdoc via the website and upload using either “browse” or “drag and drop”. If the saved invoice is one invoice per PDF file, no matter how many pages the PDF has, these should be uploaded using the “Standard” option. If the saved invoices are in a multi-page PDF where each page is a separate invoice you can use the “multi-split” option instead. This is useful if you have scanned in a pile of paper invoices into a single PDF for speed, or if you have downloaded multiple invoices at once and they have been collated into a single PDF by the provider.
If you have staff or colleagues who need to be able to upload documents to Hubdoc but do not need any other access, we can provide them with an “Upload only” user login for Hubdoc. They do not need to have Xero access.
What are Xero files?
Xero files is a document storage inbox within your Xero bookkeeping software. Only Xero users with access at level “Standard” or above can access Xero files, making it a very secure storage space. You should use Xero files to share any documents with us that will be needed or helpful for the bookkeeping and accounts preparation, that you wouldn’t otherwise upload into Hubdoc. Xero files have a unique email address that you can use to forward emails with attached files with the type PDF, XLS, CSV, Jpeg or PNG. The body of the email can not always be read so please do not use this for correspondence.
A folder system can be established in Xero files to help manage the contents as the business grows over time.
Which document should I upload where?
| Document Type | Hubdoc – Mobile App | Hubdoc – Email | Hubdoc – Drag and drop (standard) | Hubdoc Drag and drop (Split) | Xero Files |
| Supplier invoice (single page) |
✔️ |
✔️ |
✔️ |
||
| Supplier invoice (Multiple pages) |
|
✔️ |
|
||
| Supplier invoices – scanned in as one PDF where each page is a different invoice |
|
✔️ |
|||
| Purchase receipt |
✔️ |
✔️ |
✔️ |
||
| Supplier Statement |
✔️ |
||||
| Bank Statement |
✔️ |
||||
| Credit Card Statement |
✔️ |
||||
| Reports from other software |
✔️ |
||||
| Sales Invoices |
✔️ |
Video support
Please visit our YouTube Channel to view a short video tour of how to access and upload your records to Hubdoc.