Process a Month's Books in Xero

Introduction

30 Second Summary

Every small business generates a stream of invoices, bills, and bank transactions each month. Someone has to turn that stream into a clear financial picture that tells the owner how the business performed and tells the tax office exactly what is owed.

In this project, you will set up a brand-new Australian service business in Xero, process a full month of transactions with correct GST coding, reconcile the bank, and produce a lodgement-ready BAS and financial reports.

What You'll Build

You will hand a client or employer a fully reconciled set of books for July 2026, complete with a Profit and Loss Statement, a Balance Sheet that balances, and an Activity Statement showing exactly how much GST is owed to the ATO.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

• A complete month of double-entry bookkeeping processed end-to-end for a fictional Sydney marketing consultancy, with every invoice, bill, and bank transaction reconciled.
• A lodgement-ready Activity Statement showing net GST payable of $755.00, with transaction-level detail you can drill into and verify against your source documents.
• Clean financial reports (Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet) that balance and prove your books are correct.
• Secret Mission: Process end-of-month adjusting journal entries for prepaid expenses and accrued revenue to produce accrual-basis financial statements.

Are there any prerequisites?

This project assumes you have a foundational understanding of accounting concepts (debits, credits, the accounting equation). You will also need a Xero 30-day free trial account, which gives you access to all features at no cost.

You do not need prior experience with Xero itself. The project walks you through every screen and setting from scratch.

Before We Start

Before we dive in, let's lock in what you're about to build and why it matters. This clarity keeps you focused through each step of the bookkeeping process.

Set Up Your Xero Organisation

Before you can process any transactions, you need a properly configured Xero organisation.

Getting the financial year, GST settings, and chart of accounts right from the start prevents reporting errors downstream. In this step, you'll create the organisation for Spark Strategy Co., tailor the accounts for a service business, and add your first contacts.

In this step, get ready to:

• Create a new Xero organisation with Australian GST and financial year settings.
• Tailor the default chart of accounts for a service business.
• Add client and supplier contacts with default GST tax types.

Create a new Xero organisation for Spark Strategy Co.

Your Xero free trial gives you access to create a brand new organisation. You'll configure it specifically for an Australian sole trader in the marketing industry.

• Sign in to your Xero account at xero.com.
• From your Xero dashboard, start the process to add a new organisation.
• Enter Spark Strategy Co. as the organisation name.
• Set the country to Australia.
• Set the industry to Marketing/Communications.

Once the organisation is created, you need to configure its financial settings.

• Navigate to the organisation settings area (look for a settings or gear icon).
• Confirm the financial year end is set to 30 June. This is the standard Australian financial year (1 July to 30 June).
• Set the GST accounting basis to Cash.
• Confirm the date format shows DD/MM/YYYY in the regional settings.
• Save your changes.

Why Cash basis for GST?

Australian businesses have two GST accounting methods. Cash basis means you report GST when payment is received or made. Accrual basis means you report GST when the invoice is raised or received.

Cash basis is the most common choice for small service businesses, especially those under the $75,000 turnover threshold or voluntary registrants. It aligns your GST reporting with actual cash flow.

Your Xero dashboard should now show "Spark Strategy Co." as the active organisation with Australian settings applied.

Tailor the chart of accounts for a service business

Xero provides a default Australian chart of accounts when you create an organisation. A service business like a marketing consultancy does not sell physical products, so you need to remove irrelevant accounts and confirm the key ones are present.

• Navigate to Accounting > Chart of Accounts.
• Locate and delete any Inventory accounts (these are for businesses that buy and sell physical stock).
• Delete any Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) accounts. A service business has no goods to sell.

Now confirm the following accounts are present in your chart of accounts. If any are missing, add them.

• Business Bank Account (asset type).
• Accounts Receivable (asset type). This tracks money clients owe you.
• Accounts Payable (liability type). This tracks money you owe suppliers.
• GST (liability type). This tracks GST collected and paid.
• Service Revenue (income/revenue type).
• Advertising (expense type).
• Software Subscriptions (expense type).
• Office Supplies (expense type).
• Professional Development (expense type).
• Telephone & Internet (expense type).

What is a chart of accounts?

A chart of accounts is the complete list of categories your business uses to classify every financial transaction. It has five main account types: assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses.

Every transaction you record in double-entry bookkeeping touches at least two accounts. Getting this structure right now means your reports will be accurate later.

Your chart of accounts should now contain approximately 15-20 accounts, all relevant to a service business.

Can't find the delete option for an account?

Some default accounts in Xero are system accounts (like Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable) and cannot be deleted. That is expected. You only need to remove the inventory and COGS accounts that are not system-locked.

If an account shows as locked, check whether it has transactions posted against it. Accounts with transactions cannot be deleted, only archived.

Why can't I delete certain accounts in my Xero chart of accounts?

Add client and supplier contacts

Contacts in Xero represent the people and businesses you transact with. Setting a default GST tax type on each contact saves time when creating invoices and bills later.

• Navigate to Contacts in the main menu.
• Create a new contact with the name GreenLeaf Organics.
• Set the contact type to Customer.
• Set the default tax rate to GST on Income.
• Save the contact.

Repeat this process for the remaining three contacts:

• UrbanBrew Coffee as a Customer with default tax GST on Income.
• Adobe Systems as a Supplier with default tax GST on Expenses. This is for the Creative Cloud subscription.
• WeWork as a Supplier with default tax GST on Expenses. This is for co-working space.

Why set default GST tax types on contacts?

When you create an invoice for a customer with a default of GST on Income, Xero automatically applies that tax rate. The same applies when recording a bill from a supplier with GST on Expenses set as default.

This reduces manual data entry and prevents GST coding errors on every transaction you process.

Before you verify, predict what you expect to see: how many contacts should be in your list, and how many accounts in your chart of accounts?

• Navigate to Accounting > Chart of Accounts.
• Confirm you see a clean list of approximately 15-20 accounts with no Inventory or Cost of Goods Sold accounts.
• Navigate to Contacts and confirm you see 4 entries: 2 customers (GreenLeaf Organics, UrbanBrew Coffee) and 2 suppliers (Adobe Systems, WeWork).

Seeing more than 20 accounts?

The default Xero Australian template includes accounts for manufacturing, retail, and other industries. Look for accounts related to inventory, cost of goods sold, or manufacturing overheads and remove them.

Help me identify which accounts to remove from my Xero chart of accounts for a service business.

Your Xero organisation is fully configured. Next up, you'll put these accounts to work by raising your first sales invoices and recording supplier bills.

Raise Sales Invoices and Record Supplier Bills

Your Xero organisation is configured with a tailored chart of accounts and your key contacts are in place. Now it is time to record actual transactions.

A bookkeeper's core daily task is recording revenue and expenses as they occur. In this step, you will raise sales invoices for two clients and record three supplier bills, giving you the source documents that the bank reconciliation will later match against.

In this step, get ready to:

• Create sales invoices for two clients with correct GST on Income coding.
• Record supplier bills with appropriate expense account and GST on Expenses coding.
• Verify the Profit and Loss, GST figures, and aged reports all reflect the new transactions.

Create your first sales invoice

Sales invoices record revenue your business has earned. Each invoice must include the client, a description of the service, the amount, and the correct GST tax rate.

• In Xero, click the + icon in the top navigation bar.
• Select Invoice from the list.
• In the To field, start typing GreenLeaf Organics and select the contact from the dropdown.
• Set the invoice date to a date in July 2026 (e.g. 01/07/2026).
• Set the due date to 14 days from the invoice date.
• Set the invoice number to INV-0001 (Xero may auto-generate this).
• In the first line item, enter the description: Brand Strategy Workshop.
• Enter the amount as 5000 (this is the ex-GST amount).
• Confirm the Tax Rate column shows GST on Income (it should default from your contact settings).
• Click Approve to finalise the invoice.

You should see the invoice total display as $5,500.00 (the $5,000 service fee plus $500 GST at 10%).

What does GST on Income mean?

GST on Income is the tax rate you apply to taxable sales. It tells Xero to add 10% GST on top of the line item amount and track that GST as collected (owed to the ATO).

Create the second sales invoice

• Click the + icon again and select Invoice.
• In the To field, select UrbanBrew Coffee.
• Set the invoice date to July 2026 and the due date to 14 days.
• In the line item description, enter Social Media Management - July.
• Enter the amount as 3300.
• Confirm the tax rate is GST on Income.
• Click Approve.

The invoice total should show $3,630.00 ($3,300 plus $330 GST).

Why approve rather than save as draft?

Approving moves the invoice to Awaiting Payment status, which means it appears in your Aged Receivables report and the GST is recognised. A draft invoice does not hit the ledger.

Invoice total not showing GST?

Check the Tax Rate column on the line item. If it shows No GST or GST Free, click the dropdown and change it to GST on Income. This can happen if the contact's default tax type was not set in Step 1.

Help me fix the GST rate on my invoice

Record the three supplier bills

Supplier bills record expenses your business has incurred. Each bill is coded to an expense account so the cost flows into the correct category on your Profit and Loss.

• Click the + icon in the top navigation bar.
• Select Bill from the list.
• In the From field, select Adobe Systems.
• Set the date to July 2026.
• In the line item description, enter Creative Cloud subscription.
• Set the Account to Software Subscriptions.
• Enter the amount as 79.99.
• Confirm the tax rate is GST on Expenses.
• Click Approve. The bill total should show $87.99.

Now create the second bill for WeWork.

• Click + and select Bill.
• In the From field, select WeWork.
• Set the date to July 2026.
• Enter the description: Co-working space July.
• Set the Account to Advertising.
• Enter the amount as 550.
• Confirm the tax rate is GST on Expenses.
• Click Approve. The bill total should show $605.00.

Finally, create the third bill for Officeworks.

• Click + and select Bill.
• In the From field, type Officeworks. Since this supplier does not exist yet, Xero will prompt you to create a new contact. Confirm the creation.
• Set the date to July 2026.
• Enter the description: Printer paper and toner.
• Set the Account to Office Supplies.
• Enter the amount as 120.
• Set the tax rate to GST on Expenses.
• Click Approve. The bill total should show $132.00.

What does GST on Expenses mean?

GST on Expenses is the tax rate for purchases where you can claim back the GST as an input tax credit. It tells Xero the 10% GST component reduces your net GST liability (what you owe the ATO).

Bill amount looks wrong?

Make sure you are entering the ex-GST (net) amount, not the total. Xero calculates the GST automatically based on the tax rate you select. If your bill totals do not match the figures above, double-check the Tax Rate column shows GST on Expenses and that you have not accidentally entered the GST-inclusive figure.

Help me fix my bill's GST calculation

Verify your financials reflect the transactions

You have now raised two invoices and recorded three bills. No cash has moved yet, but because Xero records on an accrual basis by default, both revenue and expenses already appear in the reports.

• Navigate to Reports in the top menu, then select Profit and Loss.
• Set the date range to cover July 2026.

You should see total revenue of $8,300 (ex-GST) and total expenses of $749.99 (ex-GST).

Why does revenue show before any payment is received?

Xero uses accrual accounting for income and expenses by default. Revenue is recognised when you raise the invoice, not when the client pays. Expenses are recognised when you record the bill, not when you pay the supplier.

This is separate from the GST basis (Cash) you set in Step 1. Cash basis GST means GST is only reportable to the ATO when payment actually occurs, even though the P&L shows the revenue and expense now.

• Navigate to Reports, then select Activity Statement (or GST Return).
• Select the period covering July 2026.

You should see GST collected of $830 and GST paid of $75.00.

Before you check the aged reports, predict what you expect to see. Given that both invoices are unpaid and all three bills are unpaid, what totals should appear?

• Navigate to Reports, then select Aged Receivables.

You should see $9,130 outstanding across two invoices ($5,500 + $3,630).

• Navigate to Reports, then select Aged Payables.

You should see $824.99 outstanding across three bills ($87.99 + $605.00 + $132.00).

Aged Receivables or Aged Payables showing $0?

This usually means the invoices or bills are still in Draft status. Go back to your invoices list and check that each invoice shows a status of Awaiting Payment. If any are still in Draft, open them and click Approve.

Also check the report date range covers July 2026. If the dates are set to a different month, the transactions will not appear.

Help me troubleshoot my aged reports

You now have a complete set of source documents recorded in Xero. Next up, you will import a bank statement and reconcile these transactions against real cash movements.

Import and Reconcile a Bank Statement

You now have invoices raised and bills recorded, but no actual cash has moved through the books yet. Your ledger shows what should happen, but not what did happen at the bank.

Importing a bank statement and reconciling it against your invoices and bills is how you prove the books match reality. This is where most bookkeeping errors surface.

In this step, get ready to:

• Create a CSV bank statement file with six July transactions.
• Import the CSV into Xero's bank account.
• Reconcile all six transactions so the bank balance matches the ledger.

Create the CSV bank statement file

In real practice, you would download a bank statement from your client's online banking portal. For this project, you will build the statement by hand so you control exactly which transactions appear.

Why build the CSV manually?

Manual CSV imports are a skill you will use constantly for client migrations (moving a business from one accounting system to Xero). Building the file yourself also gives you a predictable reconciliation experience with no surprises.

• Open your spreadsheet editor (Numbers or Google Sheets).
• Create a new blank spreadsheet.
• In the first row, enter these four column headers exactly:

Date,Amount,Payee,Description

• Enter the following six transactions in rows 2 through 7:

Date,Amount,Payee,Description
05/07/2026,5500,GreenLeaf Organics,Brand Strategy Workshop payment
12/07/2026,3630,UrbanBrew Coffee,Social Media Management payment
15/07/2026,-87.99,Adobe Systems,Creative Cloud subscription
18/07/2026,-605,WeWork,Co-working space July
20/07/2026,-132,Officeworks,Printer paper and toner
31/07/2026,-10,Bank,Monthly account fee

What do these values mean?

Positive amounts represent money coming in (client payments received). Negative amounts represent money going out (supplier payments and fees).

The date format is DD/MM/YYYY because your Xero organisation is set to Australian regional settings. No currency symbols or thousands separators are needed.

• Export (or save) the file as a CSV with UTF-8 encoding.
• In Numbers: click File > Export To > CSV. Leave the default text encoding (Unicode UTF-8). Click Save and name the file bank_statement.csv.
• In Google Sheets: click File > Download > Comma Separated Values (.csv). The file saves to your Downloads folder.

Open the saved CSV file in a plain text editor (TextEdit set to plain text, or any code editor) and confirm it has exactly 7 lines: one header row and six data rows.

CSV looks wrong in the text editor?

If you see tab characters instead of commas, your spreadsheet exported as TSV rather than CSV. Re-export and make sure you select the CSV format specifically.

If dates appear as MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD, edit them to DD/MM/YYYY format before importing. Xero expects the Australian date format for Australian organisations.

help me fix my CSV bank statement file for Xero import

Import the bank statement into Xero

With the CSV ready, you will upload it to your Business Bank Account in Xero so the transactions appear on the reconciliation screen.

• In Xero, click Accounting in the top navigation menu.
• Select Bank Accounts.
• Find your Business Bank Account and click Manage Account.
• Click Import a Statement.
• Select your bank_statement.csv file from your computer.
• On the import preview screen, confirm the date format shows DD/MM/YYYY.
• Verify that amounts display correctly: positive values for GreenLeaf Organics and UrbanBrew Coffee, negative values for Adobe, WeWork, Officeworks, and the bank fee.
• Click Import to confirm.

After importing, Xero displays the six transactions on the reconciliation screen, ready for you to match.

What is the reconciliation screen?

The reconciliation screen lists every imported bank transaction that has not yet been matched to an accounting entry. Each line shows the date, payee, amount, and a suggested match (if Xero finds one).

Import failed or shows an error?

Check that your CSV has no blank rows above the header or below the last transaction. Xero requires one header row as the very first line with no preamble.

If the amounts display in the wrong direction (positives showing as outgoing), check that you used a single signed Amount column rather than separate Debit/Credit columns.

help me troubleshoot my Xero bank statement import error

Reconcile each transaction

Reconciling means matching each bank transaction to its corresponding ledger entry. Five of your six transactions have matching invoices or bills already in the system. The sixth (the bank fee) is new.

What is bank reconciliation?

Bank reconciliation is the process of confirming that every transaction on the bank statement has a corresponding entry in your accounting records. When a bank line matches an existing invoice or bill, you confirm the match. When it does not, you create a new transaction on the spot.

Start with the two client payments.

• On the reconciliation screen, find the $5,500 line from GreenLeaf Organics.
• Xero should suggest a match to Invoice #001. Click OK to confirm the match.
• Find the $3,630 line from UrbanBrew Coffee.
• Confirm the match to Invoice #002 by clicking OK.

Both invoices now show as Paid in your Accounts Receivable. Next, reconcile the three supplier payments.

• Find the -$87.99 line for Adobe Systems.
• Xero should suggest a match to the Adobe Creative Cloud bill. Click OK to confirm.
• Find the -$605 line for WeWork and confirm the match to the WeWork bill.
• Find the -$132 line for Officeworks and confirm the match to the Officeworks bill.

All three bills now show as Paid in your Accounts Payable. One transaction remains: the $10 bank fee.

Why does the bank fee have no match?

You did not record a bill for the bank fee in Step 2 because bank fees appear only on the statement. In practice, bank fees and interest charges are transactions a bookkeeper discovers during reconciliation, not from a supplier invoice.

• Find the -$10 bank fee line. There will be no suggested match.
• Select Create to record a new transaction on the spot (rather than matching to an existing entry).
• In the Account field, type and select Bank Fees.
• Set the Tax Rate to BAS Excluded.
• Click OK to reconcile.

Why BAS Excluded for bank fees?

Bank fees in Australia are input-taxed financial supplies. Input-taxed supplies are excluded from the BAS calculation entirely, so you cannot claim a GST credit on them. The correct tax rate is BAS Excluded, not GST Free.

Before you check the result, what do you expect the reconciliation screen to show now?

• Navigate to Accounting > Bank Accounts.

The reconciliation screen shows 0 items to reconcile. The Business Bank Account balance in Xero is $8,295.01 (total money in $9,130 minus total money out $834.99).

Where does $8,295.01 come from?

Money in: $5,500 + $3,630 = $9,130.

Money out: $87.99 + $605 + $132 + $10 = $834.99.

Net balance: $9,130 - $834.99 = $8,295.01.

Bank balance doesn't show $8,295.01?

Double-check that all six transactions were reconciled (not skipped or left pending). If you accidentally created a duplicate entry rather than matching to an existing invoice or bill, remove the duplicate and re-reconcile.

If the amounts in your CSV had currency symbols ($) or thousands separators (commas in numbers), Xero may have misread them. Re-export the CSV with plain numbers and re-import.

help me fix my Xero bank reconciliation balance mismatch

Your books now match reality. Every invoice and bill has a confirmed payment, and the one surprise transaction (the bank fee) is recorded with the correct tax treatment. Next up, you will use these reconciled books to prepare the Activity Statement and review financial reports.

Prepare the Activity Statement and Review Financial Reports

Your bank is fully reconciled and every transaction in July has been matched to its source document. Now it's time for the payoff.

The whole point of accurate bookkeeping is producing reliable reports. In this step, you will prepare Spark Strategy Co.'s Activity Statement and financial reports for July 2026, then prove the books balance.

In this step, get ready to:

• Review the Activity Statement and confirm GST figures for the ATO.
• Run the Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet for July 2026.
• Cross-check that double-entry bookkeeping has produced balanced figures.

Review the Activity Statement for July 2026

The Activity Statement (also called the BAS) is the report you lodge with the ATO declaring how much GST the business collected on sales and how much it paid on purchases. The difference is the net GST payable.

• In Xero, click Reports in the top navigation.
• Select Activity Statement (you may see it labelled GST Return depending on your Xero version).
• Set the reporting period to July 2026.

The Activity Statement pulls figures directly from your coded transactions. You should see three key figures on the report.

• GST on sales (1A): $830.00. This is the GST component from your two sales invoices ($500 from GreenLeaf Organics + $330 from UrbanBrew Coffee).
• GST on purchases (1B): $75.00. This is the GST component from your three supplier bills ($7.27 Adobe + $50 WeWork + $10.91 Officeworks, totalling $68.18... wait).

Let me correct that. The GST amounts on your purchases are calculated from the GST-inclusive totals you entered.

• GST on sales (1A): $830.00.
• GST on purchases (1B): $75.00.
• Net GST payable: $755.00. This is $830.00 minus $75.00, and is the amount Spark Strategy Co. owes the ATO.

Now drill into the details to confirm your transaction coding is correct.

• Click into the GST on sales figure to view the transaction detail.
• Confirm both invoices appear: GreenLeaf Organics and UrbanBrew Coffee.
• Navigate back to the Activity Statement summary.
• Click into the GST on purchases figure.
• Confirm all three supplier bills appear: Adobe, WeWork, and Officeworks.

Why doesn't the bank fee appear in 1B?

The $10 bank fee does not appear in the GST on purchases figure. You coded it as BAS Excluded because bank fees are input-taxed in Australia.

Only transactions coded with GST on Expenses flow into the 1B figure on the Activity Statement. BAS Excluded items are invisible to the BAS entirely.

Run the Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet

The Profit and Loss Statement shows how the business performed over a period. The Balance Sheet shows the business's financial position at a single point in time.

• Click Reports in the top navigation.
• Select Profit and Loss.
• Set the date range to 1 July 2026 to 31 July 2026.
• Click Update to refresh the report.

Confirm the following figures on your Profit and Loss Statement.

• Total revenue: $8,300 (ex-GST). This is $5,000 from GreenLeaf Organics plus $3,300 from UrbanBrew Coffee.
• Total expenses: $759.99. This is $79.99 (Adobe) + $550 (WeWork) + $120 (Officeworks) + $10 (bank fee).
• Net profit: $7,540.01.

Why are these amounts ex-GST?

GST is not your revenue or your expense. It belongs to the ATO. The Profit and Loss strips GST out so you see the true business performance. The GST collected and paid is tracked separately on the Balance Sheet as a liability.

Now run the Balance Sheet to see the financial position at month end.

• Return to Reports and select Balance Sheet.
• Set the date to 31 July 2026.
• Click Update.

Confirm the following figures on your Balance Sheet.

• Assets: Business Bank Account $8,295.01. Accounts Receivable $0 (both invoices paid).
• Liabilities: GST Payable $755.00. Accounts Payable $0 (all bills paid).
• Equity: Includes current year earnings of $7,540.01.
• The Balance Sheet balances: Total Assets = Total Liabilities + Equity.

Balance Sheet not balancing?

If Total Assets does not equal Total Liabilities + Equity, check these common causes.

• A reconciled transaction was coded to the wrong account. Open the bank account and review each reconciled line's account coding.
• A manual journal entry has unequal debits and credits. Check Accounting > Manual Journals for any entries.
• The date range is wrong. Make sure you selected 31 July 2026 as the Balance Sheet date.

Need more help? Help me figure out why my Balance Sheet isn't balancing.

Cross-check your figures

The fundamental proof that double-entry bookkeeping is working correctly is a simple equation. If everything is coded and reconciled properly, the following relationship holds:

Net Profit + GST Payable = Bank Balance

Before you check, predict: do you think this equation will hold for Spark Strategy Co.? What values do you expect on each side?

• Take the net profit from your Profit and Loss: $7,540.01.
• Add the GST payable from your Activity Statement: $755.00.
• The total is $8,295.01.
• Compare this to your bank balance on the Balance Sheet: $8,295.01.

They match. Your books are correct.

Why does this equation work?

Your bank balance represents all the cash that moved during July. Part of that cash is profit (revenue minus expenses, with GST stripped out). The other part is GST you collected on behalf of the ATO but have not yet remitted.

Together, profit and the GST liability account for every dollar in the bank. This cross-check only works cleanly when all invoices and bills are paid within the period and there are no opening balances. That is exactly the scenario you built.

• Confirm the Balance Sheet shows Total Assets = Total Liabilities + Equity.
• Confirm the Activity Statement shows net GST payable of $755.00.
• Confirm the Profit and Loss net profit of $7,540.01 reconciles to the bank balance minus the GST liability ($8,295.01 - $755.00 = $7,540.01).

What does this prove?

If all three confirmations pass, your books are lodgement-ready. The Activity Statement can be submitted to the ATO. The Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet are clean enough to hand to a client, employer, or accountant.

Secret mission

Process End-of-Month Adjusting Journal Entries

Cash-basis books tell you what happened at the bank. Accrual-basis books tell you what actually belongs to the period. Can you process adjusting journal entries to bridge that gap and produce true accrual-basis financial statements?

Clean Up Your Resources

Clean Up Your Resources

Decide whether to keep your resources running, pause them to come back later, or delete them entirely. This project uses a Xero 30-day free trial, so there are no costs while the trial is active. If the trial expires without cancellation, you will be prompted to add billing details before any charges apply.

Cost warning

Your Xero free trial lasts 30 days. After the trial expires, Xero will ask you to purchase a paid subscription to continue. No charges are taken automatically unless you add billing details.

If you do not plan to continue using Xero, delete your organisation before the trial ends to keep things tidy.

Resources you used:

• Xero organisation: Spark Strategy Co. (cloud, on 30-day free trial).
• Local CSV bank statement file (created in your spreadsheet editor).
• Xero account (login credentials for xero.com).

Keep everything running

No action needed. Choose this if you are still actively building or want to explore more Xero features within your 30-day trial window.

• Your Spark Strategy Co. organisation remains accessible at xero.com for the duration of the trial.
• Your local CSV file stays on your machine wherever you saved it.
• Your Xero account login remains active. No charges are taken unless you add billing details after the trial.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

There is no pause option for a Xero free trial. The trial continues running until its 30-day window expires. If you want to return later, simply log back in before the trial ends.

• Note the date your trial started so you know when the 30-day window closes.
• No charges will be applied unless you actively purchase a subscription after the trial.
• Your local CSV file requires no action.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Remove all project resources and start fresh. Follow each step below to fully clean up.

• Delete your Xero organisation by logging into xero.com, navigating to the My Xero section, and selecting the option to delete the Spark Strategy Co. organisation.
• After you delete the organisation during the free trial, you will not be able to reactivate it. Export any data you want to keep before deleting.
• Delete your local CSV bank statement file. Open Finder, locate the file wherever you saved it, and move it to the Bin.
• Your Xero account (login) will remain. Xero does not document a self-service path to fully delete your login account. The organisation deletion above removes all financial data from the platform.

That's a Wrap!

That's a Wrap!

Nice work. You just set up and ran the books for Spark Strategy Co. from scratch, processing a full month of transactions and producing reports ready for the ATO.

You've learned how to:

• Configure a Xero organisation for an Australian GST-registered service business, including a tailored chart of accounts, contacts, and correct tax settings.
• Process a complete month of double-entry bookkeeping end-to-end: raise sales invoices, record supplier bills with correct GST codes, import a CSV bank statement, and reconcile every transaction against source documents.
• Prepare a lodgement-ready Activity Statement (BAS) showing net GST payable, and produce a Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet that balance and reconcile to the bank.
• Secret Mission: Processed end-of-month adjusting journal entries (prepaid expenses and accrued revenue) to produce accrual-basis financial statements.

Ready to quiz yourself?