Overview of Link

Firms rarely lose a job’s margin at the pricing stage. They lose it in the gap between the job being created and anyone noticing it has over-run, which in most firms is after the work is finished and the WIP is sitting there. This 15-minute walkthrough follows one job all the way through, from the moment it is created in Xero Partner Hub to the moment it is invoiced, and shows where each decision actually gets made.

Video Overview

The job is created in Xero Partner Hub (0:40)
A job is created from a template against a client, with a budget, a category and a due date, and the template brings its tasks with it. Jobs are created in XPH, not in Link, so a firm’s existing job setup carries straight across.

Syncing into Link (1:40)
Running a sync brings the new job and its tasks into Link, where they appear as unallocated work. Nothing is allocated yet, which is the point: allocation is a separate decision from job creation.

Allocating the whole job in one pass (2:40)
Every task on the job is selected at once and given an assignee, allocated hours and a staggered set of due dates, then published back to Xero Partner Hub. Each person’s remaining capacity for that month shows beside the row as the hours are set, so an unrealistic plan is visible while you are making it rather than afterwards.

Capacity across the practice (5:20)
Capacity is built from expected hours, leave taken, available hours, target capacity and target billable, and can be read for an individual, a team or the whole practice by month. It updates as work is allocated and as time is entered against it.

One person’s workflow (6:40)
The allocated work lands on a team member’s own list, grouped by month, with the hours and due date on every row and the list in whatever order they intend to work it.

Moving the job through its states (8:00)
The task moves through the firm’s own states, from To Do through Info Collection, Workpapers, In Review, Prep Drafts, Client Signing and Finalisation. Where two people are on the same job, both rows move independently and the practice view shows them together.

Time entered where the work is (8:20)
Time is entered against the task from the workflow screen, and it writes back to the job’s timesheet in Xero Partner Hub. Actual time and remaining time against the allocation update as it goes, so remaining budget is live rather than retrospective.

The conversation on the job (9:40)
Review comments, questions and attachments sit on the job itself, so the back and forth about a missing workpaper is visible to whoever picks the job up next.

Invoicing (13:40)
With the work completed, the job is invoiced in Xero Partner Hub against the budget, with actual time and costs visible alongside the quoted amount. The task moves to a To Invoice state and leaves the team’s workflow.

The difference between a job that makes its budget and one that does not is almost never a decision made at invoicing. It is a decision made in the first ten minutes after the job is created, and again every week while the work is moving.