Migration agency, professional services

One system instead of three, and a report the business can trust

They were not in trouble. Invoices went out, clients were looked after, and the business ran. What it could not do was answer one ordinary question: what has each agent billed, and what has actually been collected?

ClientA migration agency working across several agents and two locations

SizeTwo locations, several agents, multiple visa types

EngagementXero structure and setup, two custom invoice templates, a full item list with GST review, tracking categories, a financial year of historical entry, and training

The practice publishes this case study today. The agency is described by its work and never named, its locations are not placed, and no client, agent or visa file detail appears.

The situation

Where they started

The agency works across multiple visa types, with several agents handling different client matters from two locations. Xero was already in place for the general accounts, so on paper the business was on a cloud system.

Underneath that, the work was happening somewhere else. Invoices were written on Word letterheads. Reconciliation was done in Excel. Who had paid what, and which agent had handled which visa, was tracked in Access. Three systems, none of them connected to the others, and no reliable way to report on any of it.

Nothing had failed, and that is the part worth sitting with. A manual process does not announce itself. It keeps working, and it keeps whatever is wrong inside it out of sight. An invoice written in a word processor is not a system, it is a document, and the difference only becomes visible when somebody asks the file a question it cannot answer.

The challenges

What we found when we opened the file

01 Invoices written in Word Every invoice was a Word document built on a letterhead. Numbering was manual, wording drifted between the two locations, and nothing that left the office was connected to the accounting file.

02 Reconciliation living in Excel A spreadsheet was the record of who had paid. It was maintained by hand, so it was only ever as current as the last person to update it.

03 Client and agent data in Access A third system held the client and agent detail. Answering a question that crossed all three meant opening all three and trusting that they agreed.

04 No reporting by agent The business could not see what an individual agent had billed, or what had been collected against it. Working it out was a manual exercise every single time.

05 No reporting by visa type Revenue by visa type was not available either, so the practice could not see which parts of its work were carrying it and which were not.

06 Detail and summary pulling apart Every service needed its own item and its own GST treatment, but the owners did not want a profit and loss with a line for each one. The granular view and the readable view had to come from the same data.

What we did

Started with the reporting rather than the software. Before anything was built in Xero we mapped how the practice works and what the owners actually need to see.

Built two custom invoice templates, one for each location, matching the existing letterhead so clients received the document they already recognised.

Built a complete item list covering every service the agency offers, with the GST treatment set correctly on each item rather than decided again at each invoice.

Structured those items so the detail stays available for reporting while the profit and loss rolls up into two clean lines, agent fees and disbursements.

Set up tracking categories for agents and for visa types, so every invoice is tagged at the point it is created rather than sorted out afterwards.

Went back to 1 July 2025 and entered a full financial year of invoices into Xero, carrying the original invoice numbers, agent references and visa details.

Worked through every discrepancy that entry exposed with the owners, so the opening position was agreed before anything was built on top of it.

Ran training on raising invoices against the new item list, using the tracking categories correctly, and reading reports that now describe the business.

Turned on automated invoice reminders and set up statements so they send from Xero rather than being assembled by hand.

The outcome

What it changed

Where a figure is not on record, the change is described in words. No percentage is estimated and no metric is invented.

One system Invoicing, reconciliation and reporting all happen in Xero. Nothing runs in parallel in Word, Excel or Access.

One year rebuilt A full financial year of invoices entered from 1 July 2025, with the opening position agreed before the file moved forward.

Two locations Both letterheads reproduced as Xero templates, so the document a client receives is consistent and comes out of the accounting file.

By agent The practice can run a report showing what an individual agent has billed and what has been collected against it, without a spreadsheet.

By visa type Revenue is tagged by visa type as the invoice is raised, so the mix of work is visible whenever anybody asks for it.

GST reviewed Errors in the GST on the Word invoices surfaced as soon as everything sat in one place. Each was worked through with the owners before the opening position was set.

Is this you

Is this your business

None of these needs an accountant to answer. If any of them takes more than a minute, part of your accounting is living outside your accounting system.

Can you report what each person in your business has billed this quarter without opening a spreadsheet?
Do the invoices your clients receive come out of your accounting file, or out of a word processor?
If two people raise an invoice for the same service, does it carry the same wording, the same item and the same GST treatment both times?
Is the record of who has paid you held anywhere other than your accounting system?
The last time you changed a price, how many places did you have to change it?

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