New Invoicing - Reduce number of steps and clicks
New invoicing has introduced more clicks, taps, steps at almost every level.
Please remove the added friction as it increases processing time.
The "new invoicing" messages are full of comments regarding where these pressure points have been added.
We are paid subscribers, and beta testing/seeking feedback is wonderful, but being forced onto an inferior model is.. suboptimal.
Hi everyone, some time on since my last update I wanted to give you more of an idea of the work we have going on to help reduce the number of steps and actions in new invoicing. Along with the changes mentioned in my last update, we've since released a change to the view of an invoice to shift details back into their own columns (similar to classic), while a small change we know it's improved visibility for some of our customers.
We also have other work in development atm that’ll further help here like a new line item grid when editing your invoice - wrapped up in this we’ll be introducing changes you’ve been asking for like the ability to create a new tracking option or account code without having to navigate away from the invoice, we’re increasing the number of items that you can view from the drop down, and we’ll be bringing back the ability to view the number of stock on hand.
As mentioned in my last post, our team is developing shortcuts for the drop down actions like Approve and Save so you have more ease of selecting the option that's best for you.
We also have some updates coming to;
- The Contact card, so you’ll be able to add more details without having to go to the contact record, like more address lines, ability to look up addresses, and entering an Attention to all items we’ve heard lots of feedback on
- Issue and Due date picking where we’ll make it quicker to simply select a calendar date and we’ll be adding more keyboard shortcuts such as the ability to enter +0 for today’s date
- Ability to drag & drop files that we’re enhancing so you’ll be able to do this anywhere on the invoice rather than a specific area
Again, thank you all for sharing and continuing to let us know the improvements that make a difference for you when working with new invoicing. We'll update you as items I've mentioned above are released.
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adrian walker commented
Since the start of September Xero switched to new invoicing, so I switched it back to classic, however it doesn't stay the way I set no no no!
Xero keeps switching it back to new invoicing and I have to switch it back again, and again and again...!
so now xero is creating more work for me by making me have to keep switching back to classic each time!!! NOT HAPPY!!!#### D O N O T C H A N G E F R O M C L A S S I C ####
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Belinda Johnson commented
Unhappy Customer - I wholeheartedly agree and have mentioned this idea on a few threads RE: New Invoicing this year to no avail. Xero continues to spruik their wares and entice new customers to sign up to become stuck in a system which is increasingly becoming less user friendly by the month...
I have commented on their Facebook posts without any response. I believe greater numbers on public forums and social media might help the cause as it would affect their bottom line. Money talks.
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Rachel Osborn commented
Please please please have Tracked Inventory put back into your new Invoicing so that we can Beta Test it before you force us all into the new invoicing which is truly not an improvement in any way and I don't know how you can feel proud of what you are doing quite frankly.
Many thanks
Rachel -
Jill Fechner commented
The attached screenshot was shown in your August Product Update (https://blog.xero.com/product-updates/whats-new-in-xero-august-2024/) This article states that this is how New Invoicing looks now.
That is not what I see. This layout looks like Classic with a few tweaks, a huge improvement. When will this be released so we can see the change to spacing and functionality.
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Nathan Woroniuk commented
The new invoicing is so terrible. It has created so many more clicks. When you try and edit the price of a line item you have to click in such a small area or else it becomes non-editable. I really wish the dev's would have tested this out first before FORCING us to use this janky new UI. The UI is buggy and they removed the "Save and Continue" editing option when working on large quotes.
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NOVOPAK Athena commented
Dear XERO
your new version of invoicing is "TOTAL" rubbish design; please give us the choice to remain in classical version
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Fiona Davidson commented
I cant right click on the contact to open in a new tab, I have to click on the contact then right click in the pop up. The pop us is great but I should still be able right click on the contact without opening the pop up.
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Fiona Davidson commented
I have now created and Off Site petition..... Petition for Xero to stop making changes...
https://chng.it/wYWMHwp9td -
Phil Pritchard commented
I DONT LIKE THE NEW INVOICING...
FIRST THING WHEN YOU ADD A NEW ITEM GO THROUGH THE STEPS OF ADDING THE ITEM THEN CLICK SAVE FOR THE NEW ITEM AND BUGGER ME DEAD YOU HAVE TO PUT THE ITEM IN THE INVOICE AGAIN..
THE OLD INV IT ADDED IT FOR YOU.. MUCH QUICKER
YOU HAE TO RE ENTER HOW IS THAT QUICKER???
AND WHEN YOU SEND SAID INVOICE YOU CLICK SEND IN THE TOP RIGHT...
YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE MOUSE ALL THE WAY TO THE BOOTOM OF THE SCREEN TO HIT SEND..
SORRY NOT QUICKER..
THATS JUST THE STARTNOT HAPPY WITH THE NEW SYSTEM
CLEARLY THE DESIGNERS DONT USE IT ON A DAILY BASES. -
Zak Labanca commented
CREDIT NOTES
If an invoice or bill has already been paid there is currently no ability to create a credit note.
You need to copy the invoice, create a credit note based on that one, un-allocate the credit note (as Xero annoyingly allocates it), then find and delete the copy invoice you had to create.
Allow us to create credit notes from bills/invoices that have already been paid. This feature has been asked for years. Its not even a feature, is fixing your poor design choices. Surely your "super amazing new invoicing" can cope with something as BASIC as this.
Start involving people who do accounting/bookkeeping for a living in your design process and do it properly the first time round.
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Nick Unwin commented
New Invoicing > Copy to Bill
Quotes > Copy Share Link
Add them to the list
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Randall Doser commented
New invoicing is a HUGE downgrade for those of us using it to enter multiple invoices from a previous period (day/week/etc.). Any change that results in more key presses or mouse clicks is a functional downgrade. Mouse clicks require you to move your hand, find the cursor and the button which takes way more time than a few key presses. That is UI design 101 people. You've made tabbing between fields harder. If I want to enter a new customer I now have to execute a mouse click instead of just a tab press. If I want to save/approve and add another, also now a mouse click. What if I want to add a payment after approval? Now a couple of mouse-clicks and dialog that is not keyboard friendly. And the new date widgets are not nearly as navigable with the keyboard as the old ones. I would challenge your designers to a race: let's both enter 5 invoices using either classic or new invoicing. Classic will beat new hands down.
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CK Ong commented
The fact that I'd have to go into my inventory balance in reports to make sure that I have enough stock to sell, instead of the old system where I can view it seamlessly when I select the quantity to key in, is such a downer.
In FMCG, the ability to see how much inventory is left on hand while keying in an invoice is a life, and time saver.
Instead of optimizing our workflow, this new invoicing system has made it much more complicated and time consuming.
Please do not change something that has been working fine just for the sake of changing.
If the devs feel that these are vital and necessary QOL upgrade, please give us the option to decide that the said "upgrades" and changes are not for us.
Also the new UI for after approval seems so much bigger and clunkier.
At the very least, have the classic invoicing available and the new one as an option if people really did want it; instead of discontinuing the classic completely.
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Caiwen Fowler commented
Agreed!
There are too many clicks to do the simplest things.
1. I want to change a due date on an invoice, now I need to click twice instead of once to "choose date"
2. I can't simply drop a file on the window to attach it, now I need to click on files first, thus also needing two steps instead of one
3. can we upload files BEFORE selecting a client, why does it have to be afterwards? this also leads to more clicking between programs
4. the billable expenses tab - in order to "add as separate items", this also needs two clicks now instead of one. There's plenty of room on the pop-up window to have them as two separate buttons. I use this function a lot and that is going to get really annoying!
5. approve and save are now needing me to scroll up the top after completing my invoice, thus not flowing nicely. I used to be able to finish my invoicing then just select approve without having to move the screen, making the overall flow of work smoother and therefore quickerI really hope these features don't transfer across to the billing section if that ever gets changed too. This will make everything I enter take twice as long and be increasingly frustrating!
I'm not one to complain, I usually go with the flow; but the fact that I've spent the time writing this means that I'm extremely annoyed by the above changes and the flow of work has well and truly been interrupted for me and I'm not happy about that.
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TJ Biddle commented
Please allow us to set the default one-click method. I *never* use the Xero email feature. I just want to click approve on the invoice; not "approve and email".
I don't even have emails in any of my xero contacts.
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Clarke Hotton commented
PLEAE DO NOT DELETE Classic Invoicing. Listen to the users below the flow of the invoice may be ok for the people who are stuck to a Mouse. But some of us use the Tab key to jump from field to field so we can work faster through multiple entry of Invoices. Avg time for 1 invoice for me in Classic is under 10 seconds. Average time per invoice in so called New and Improved is 40 seconds. That is no improvement in anyones book.
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Stan Leiko commented
Hi Kelly,
The classic Invoicing which you are planning to retire in November is much clear and requires less steps, and faster!
The new one you are introducing is slows down the process...
As paid subscribers we would like to highlight that this is disappointing..
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Pyroclassic Fires commented
We need the discount to be default as Percent. We would maybe one in 200 invoices apply a cash discount. It is taking so long and I'm chasing staff up all the time so the remember to do this. And tis is just the first day. God help us.
We need Approve not approve and email. you have to find the approve only which again takes more time.
The there's the copy to a PO feature, Where is it?
Why do you not listen XERO, we are all under the pump to get work finished and now you have foisted this on us today with no thought for the extra work required just to get to where we are in old invoicing and charge us for the privilege, joke.
You are fast becoming the elephant in the room here, and I suggest you stop your developers from deciding what's best for YOUR CUSTOMERS rather than what we require. This is a step back to the 90s when developers gave us what they thought and to **** with us if we said it doesn't work.
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Thea Williams commented
Xero needs to bring back the "Copy to" feature that the old invoicing had. We use this feature multiple times per day - where an customer invoice is raised first - once approved / paid by client we then generate a Purchase Order for the items. It was such a great feature to be able to copy the invoice line items over to a Supplier PO and remove the lines not relevant and then send off to the supplier - 30-secs to 1min max step in the ordering process!
The new invoicing doesn't allow this... WHY????
It has now added multiple additional steps to what should be such a simple process. I have to have 2 windows open, one open to the customer invoice, one with a new PO generated, then copy and paste the items one by one over, as well as entering the qty, price and tax fields.
This now adds extra time to my day... will we be compensated? Seems unreasonable our subscription price has increased substantially, yet we have now lost features crucial to our business operations.
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Megan Brown commented
Could the approve U& email button be moved to the bottom, as once you've done a 25 line invoice you have to return to the top, it's as pain.