The problem
At month end the day's takings are typed from the diary into your accounts. If you do that for 21 working days at 15 minutes a day, that's 315 minutes, about 5.3 hours a month.
What the AI does
Cliniko says you can sync your Cliniko financial records with Xero. Payments you record in Cliniko then appear in Xero for your bookkeeper or accountant, so you check a daily total instead of typing it. Check the connected-apps page for exactly what syncs.
A worked example
A two-practitioner osteopathy and chiropractic clinic in Cardiff already uses Cliniko at $95 (about £71) a month. It adds Xero Grow at £39 and syncs the two.
Before
15 minutes a day typing takings into the accounts: 5.3 hours a month
After
About 5 minutes a day checking the synced total: 1.8 hours a month
What it's worth
About 3.5 hours a month saved (10 minutes x 21 days), worth around £88 if bookkeeping time is worth £25 an hour. If you already use Cliniko the extra is Xero Grow at £39; buying both just for this, at about £110, would not pay back.
How to set it up
- Check Xero's pricing: Ignite is £18 but limited to 20 invoices. Whether that is enough depends on how the Cliniko sync counts invoices, so check before choosing Ignite; a bigger clinic may need Grow at £39, excluding VAT.
- Connect Cliniko to Xero from Cliniko's connected apps page and test with one day's takings.
- Agree with your bookkeeper which Xero accounts the payments should land in.
- Reconcile the first month by hand to make sure the totals match.
- Keep invoice descriptions generic and leave clinical detail in Cliniko.
What goes wrong
- Check how the sync counts against Xero's 20-invoice Ignite limit. If it creates one invoice per appointment, you will need a bigger plan.
- Invoices that carry a patient's name and treatment are health data. Keep Xero descriptions minimal.
- A sync can hide errors. Reconcile against your bank account every month.
- Cliniko charges in dollars and is stepped by practitioner count.