Xero, the provider of online accounting software, announced that it has integrated payroll into its cloud-based accounting platform, to provide an efficient and affordable solution to accounting professionals and small businesses.

Payroll in Xero offers a single accounting and payroll solution for automatic updates of general ledger, tax calculations, and tax alerts/filings, as well as providing employees easy access to their payroll information.

With fiscal years ending in December, Payroll in Xero arrives at the right time to migrate from legacy systems like Intuit (News - Alert) QuickBooks to cloud-based solutions.

"Simply put, Payroll in Xero is an absolute game changer to the efficiency of my firm, saving our practice 45 hours a week, easily. Bringing together the two formerly disparate systems of accounting and payroll allows for the most efficient collaboration possible between accountants and small businesses, eliminating struggles of the past," states Steve Chaney, CPA, Managing Partner, Chaney & Associates.

"With Xero, I don't have to worry about mundane tasks like importing and exporting data. Instead, I can focus on the fun stuff: face-to-face meetings, being a strategic resource and helping my clients become the businesses they set out to be," Chaney adds.

Payroll in Xero, seamlessly integrates into the larger accounting platform so data is automatically uploaded into the general ledger eliminating the need for manual data entry. Accountants and payroll professionals can view data relevant to them while employee's can only view their individual payroll data.

Other Payroll in Xero features include, simplified electronic tax filing/payments which is auto-populated, filed and paid electronically. The Xero's employee portal allows submission of timesheets, access to pay stubs and the ability to apply for time off. The ABC's of API- Payroll in Xero includes an API to connect to other key business systems such as timesheets, employee scheduling, HR management and costing solutions.

"At Xero we're perfectionists. Payroll in Xero has been a feature years in the making, as we aimed to create a feature made exactly the way accountants wants it. We've listened closely to our customers and we are beyond words excited to offer this new feature to help them meet their business demands," comments Stuart McLeod, VP of Global Payroll, Xero.

 "In addition to developing efficiency improvements, we aimed to time the release in December, as the month is widely viewed as the optimal time of year to upgrade systems, which usually entails migrating from legacy desktop systems to cloud-based solutions," McLeod continued.

"Following our recent funding round of $150 million, Xero is continuing to double down on product and development. Payroll in Xero sets the new industry standard and frankly, it's one of our biggest product updates ever," says Jamie Sutherland, President, Xero U.S. "In 2014 and beyond, we look forward to creating additional efficiency-improving features that aid customers trying to climb out of the quicksand that is QuickBooks."

Edited by Ryan Sartor