B&S Tech Stack

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION

Trello https://trello.com/
- I think of my working life in two stages - Before Trello and After Trello :) This is by far my favourite project management tool I have ever used. Flexible, collaborative and for the most part, free.
Slack https://slack.com/
- Team messaging tool. We don't actually use this ourselves at B&S, which was a conscious decision to minimise distractions, but is an essential collaboration tool for many of our clients and partners.
Airtable https://airtable.com/
- A database like MS Access, only online, easier on the eye and much better to use.
Smart Sheets https://www.smartsheet.com/
- Once you have used this you will never go back to Google Sheets.... ever. We use this to track all of our key accounting deadlines and some of our key workflows.
Box https://www.box.com/
- We use this for all of our internal files and prefer it to Dropbox because of the advanced security features.

SECURITY

Dashlane https://www.dashlane.com/
- Password management system to help manage log-ins for your apps. This saves me at least five minutes per day.
1Password https://1password.com/
- Similar to Dashlane, a password management application.
Nord VPN https://nordvpn.com/
- The market leader for VPN technology providing secure and private internet access for you and your team. Essential for the cloud based environment that we operate in. Most anti-virus packages will also have a secure VPN bolt-on (we use Norton WiFi Security).

XERO ADD-ONS

Chaser https://chaserhq.com/
- Automate your debt collection process, enabling you to collect cash from customers faster.
Quotient https://www.quotientapp.com/
- Impress potential clients with great looking quotes; provides many more features than the native quote function within Xero.

PRODUCTIVITY

Rescue Time https://www.rescuetime.com/
- The official time keeping system for Barnes & Scott. We use this to help understand our working patterns and habits. Helps us stay focussed, productive and on track.
Toggl https://toggl.com/
- Similar to Rescue Time. I would recommend trialling both and seeing which one works for you.
Tomato Timer https://tomato-timer.com/
- For fans of the Pomodoro working methods :)

OPERATIONS

GoCardless https://gocardless.com/
- If you are a client of ours you will no doubt have used this to pay our bills. Flexible software to allow you to easily collect direct debit or one-off payments from customers. Fees of only 1% per transaction, capped at £2. Far cheaper than most of its competitors, they do however hold on to your money for a few days longer than most which can sometimes affect cash flow.
Stripe https://stripe.com/
- Payment collection service for online businesses. Can be integrated with Xero via Zapier.
Zapier https://zapier.com/
- Automate your life without learning how to write code :) We use this for integrating lots of different parts of the business, e.g. Stripe to Xero, Trello to Rescue Time, Xero to Google Sheets etc.
Wise https://wise.com/
- Reduced fees for foreign currency payments and optimal exchange rates. From the founding members of Skype, now one of UK's biggest fin-tech companies. Secure, fast and transparent. They once asked us for a quote :)
CharlieHR https://charliehr.com/
- HR software to manage your employees, including holidays, sick days and the on-boarding process. We use this internally for managing our own HR function. Free for small teams and GDPR compliant.

CONSOLIDATION AND REPORTING

Translucent https://www.translucent.io/
- Hot new product from the founders of Receipt Bank. Makes international consolidations and inter-co transaction entries much easier, but the product is still in its infancy stage and the published reporting needs a lot more development before it can be used for board reporting.
Causal - https://www.causal.app/
- Very powerful reporting software, can consolidate multiple Xero accounts, forecasting, budgeting and scenario planning. Has a steep learning curve, but well worth it for complex businesses.
Spotlight Reporting - https://www.spotlightreporting.com/
- The OG of Xero consolidation software and management reporting. Easy to use, hard to break and the reporting outputs look great. We still use it ourselves for some of our clients.
Fathom https://www.fathomhq.com/

ScaleXP - https://www.scalexp.com/
- Smart finance automation that helps with tracking deferred income, accruals, prepayments and SAAS metrics like ARR, MRR etc. A fairly new product, but very powerful if used in the right way.