Xero

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

“I used to volunteer at a local food distribution program. Seeing the kids we served take food to their home made me want to do something beyond just providing a basic necessity,” said Mae Anderson, Chairman of Art Outreach, a non-profit arts intermediary dedicated to supporting art practitioners as well as championing art appreciation and visual literacy in Singapore. “I wanted to spark their curiosity and help them get the same sort of education my kids benefited from.”

Art Outreach was one of the 2023 winners in the ‘Strengthening Community Connection’ category of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund. They were recognised for their work with students, local communities and artists to raise visual art literacy and appreciation in Singapore. We spoke with Mae and with Colin Wan, General Manager & Chief Creative, about the advent of Art Outreach and how the organisation works towards art education for the community, by the community.

Sparking a love for art

Art Outreach began as an organisation offering art education programmes for primary and secondary school students. “Back in 2003, the local school curriculum was challenging and focused on STEM subjects. There wasn’t a lot of emphasis on arts and humanities,” said Mae. “And that’s a shame because art can be a strong source of motivation and education.”

Mae and the team would champion art education as a way to fill this gap in the syllabus. “When we put an artwork in front of a child, we often ask them questions like, ‘What do you see?’, ‘Why do you think that or feel that way?’, ‘If this piece of art was about something that happened in Singapore at this particular time, what do you think was happening in Vietnam at the same time?’. These questions may sound simple but it helps a child think through what they’re seeing and draw connections across places, time periods and communities.”

Working with students remains a big part of the organisation, particularly through school assembly talks and the ARTLink community programme for underprivileged children. Art Outreach also works to support local artists, partnering with both young and experienced talent to reach new markets for their work. “A lot of contemporary artists here want to engage audiences as part of practising art. We offer a space for them to create and exhibit their work, as well as opportunities to learn from their peers and experts on how to grow their career as artists sustainably.”

As of this year, Art Outreach has helped 339 practitioners and reached almost 500,000 people through all their programmes.

Staying above board with Xero

With so many different programmes running throughout the year, keeping track of operations and managing finances has always been a key priority for the team. As a registered charity, Art Outreach is recognised as an Institute of a Public Character (IPC). They are required to submit an annual report and financial statements every year to maintain their status, a task that requires careful data management and one that the team takes seriously. 

“It’s because we are a charity that we need to be even more responsible for our cost-to-income ratio. We need to show our funders that they can trust us and that we will carry their ambitions alongside ours all the way to the finish line,” said Mae. “Xero has been an incredible help and allows small organisations like ours to punch above our weight.” Their effort has paid off: Art Outreach was one of four art nonprofits to win the Charity Transparency Award several times, since implementing Xero in 2019. 

“We can’t live without Xero,” said Colin, who had spearheaded the move. “Before implementing Xero, the process was tedious and time-consuming, requiring frequent trips to our bookkeepers. Now, it’s much easier to extract the information we need, especially when preparing annual reports and applying for grants.” 

Colin was the one who heard about the Xero Beautiful Business Fund and suggested Mae record their entry video. “After 20 years of pitching our charity and doing outreach, I couldn’t believe that all it took to enter was to share our message,” Mae said. “Xero made the entry process incredibly easy, which tells me that they genuinely want to empower small organisations like ours.”

Building capacity for the future

“It’s very rare to see funders who are willing to trust that a charity knows where and how to apply the funds they give thoughtfully,” said Mae. “The money we won was able to not only cover the cost for a particular new programme, but also towards unglamorous things like capacity building and overheads, allowing us to keep growing sustainably.”

That particular programme was Off the Wall, a new initiative that invited three urban street artists to transform an indoor space into an immersive exhibition. “Visitors could come and see the murals which were painted live over the course of six weeks, speak to the artists to hear about the vision behind the work, and even purchase a print of a section of the mural in support” explained Mae. “The project proved so successful that we chose to bring Off the Wall back with three new artists this year.”

Winning the fund allowed Art Outreach to launch new programmes and offset some of the costs that come from running a non-profit. But it was how they put the funds to use that made the real difference. 

“I always advocate for charities to understand how to prepare to receive funding. Running a successful charity requires both the donor and the beneficiary to come up with a programme that really drives catalytic change while adhering to sustainable business practices,” said Mae. “Ask the hard questions like ‘How do we hire the best people?’, ‘How can we take care of them?’ or ‘How do we ensure financial viability over the long term?’ These are things that all charities need to be thinking about.”

We’re thrilled to share that the Xero Beautiful Business Fund is back for 2024. Entries close on 27 August 2024 NZT.

The 2023 winners are an incredible group of small businesses and nonprofits who are passionate about solving problems and making an impact in their local communities. We’re spotlighting some of the past winners to hear more about how the fund has impacted their business and helped them achieve their goals. Read the stories of other Xero Beautiful Business Fund winners

The post How Art Outreach is drawing on the Xero Beautiful Business Fund to create new possibilities for education appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

“I kept seeing a lot of useful material getting thrown out to the landfill, construction waste mainly, things like metal, wood, plasterboard and concrete which are all reusable with a little work,” says Dan Butterfield, owner of Kiwi Skips, a New Zealand-based on-demand skip hire company committed to sustainable waste management. “Watching it all go to waste felt wrong – but it was pretty easy to fix.”

Kiwi Skips was a winner of the ‘Innovating for Sustainability’ category in the 2023 Xero Beautiful Business Fund for their work promoting zero waste management. We sat down with Dan for a chat about his journey from engineer to entrepreneur, and what he has in store for the future.

Starting from scrap

Construction waste makes up about 50% of New Zealand’s total waste, with 20% going straight to landfill. “My parents ran a scrap metal facility. It makes me a fifth-generation recycler,” said Dan. “But I’m the first to take this beyond just recycling scrap metal. My wife and I started Kiwi Skips because we wanted to do things differently, we wanted to get people thinking about what can actually be done to dispose of waste responsibly and create real change in the industry.”

At 21, Dan started an engineering company working on upcycling metals and scrap for resell, which eventually grew into engineering skip bins for his parent’s scrapyard. Those early successes also brought with them some hard lessons in the industry. “A competitor put in a big order of skip bins and then backed out. I was left with a bunch of brand new skip bins on my hands and nowhere to put them,” said Dan. “Then I thought, why not hire them out?”

Out of that encounter, Kiwi Skips was born. One of the early tools that helped Dan grow his business was Xero. “It makes managing our finances really simple,” Dan said. “The software’s flexibility is very useful for a capital-intensive business like Kiwi Skips. We offer a lot of services – renting out wheelies and skips, and now liquid waste disposal – so being able to track all the different services on one platform helps us ensure each service is profitable, which has allowed us to grow to where we are today.”

“The pivotal moment for me was getting help from people with experience, rather than trying to do everything myself. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to reach out to others who are experts in their fields.” 

Dan Butterfield, owner of Kiwi Skips

Building a foundation with the Xero Beautiful Business Fund

Six years and a lot of work later, Kiwi Skips has won multiple awards for their efforts promoting sustainable waste management in Southland, handling a range of waste types from both construction sites and households. The next step in their plan was to get their own recycling and sorting facility specialising in construction and demolition waste. This plant would process waste from Southland and sort them before packing the recyclables to be shipped out for reuse. “For too long, most of this waste has ended up in landfill, which only serves the interests of the big players,” Dan said. “We want to get people to think differently about what can be done with it, and having our own facility is a big step towards that change.”

However, a brand new plant could cost upwards of $8 million, prompting Dan to apply his convictions about waste to the task. “Building a plant the traditional way would be both expensive and labour intensive, so we wanted to find a better alternative,” explained Dan. “We thought, ‘How cool would it be to build the recycling plant from recycled materials!’”

Kiwi Skips had secured most of the equipment needed for the plant including pre-used stacking conveyors from scrap yards, industrial magnets, and even the conveyor from the old Queenstown luge, which would function as the facility’s main sorting conveyor. But they needed additional resources to turn those ambitions into reality – making them a perfect fit for the Xero Beautiful Business Fund. 

“Our accounting team, who told us about the fund, gave us the kick up the pants we needed to finally put our application through,” Dan joked. “We spent a lot of time and effort on the video application trying to tell our story. We’re serious about what we’re doing and we don’t like to do things  in a half-baked way. But we knew that if we won, the fund would help a lot of people in the community.”

Turning waste into gold

After winning a share of the fund, the team decided to put the cash into hiring architects to design the facility. “Building with used materials meant we were constantly running into design challenges at the beginning. A lot of the time, it felt like nothing lined up,” said Dan. “The Xero Beautiful Business Fund gave us the resources to get professionals onboard and paint a much more cohesive picture of the whole thing.”

The new design charts a recycling facility that is cheaper to build and operate and transforms traditional recycling into a data-driven business. “Every piece of trash we collect will be weighed, categorised and sorted, with the data summarised into a digital report,” Dan explained. “This facility will be fully automated and capable of identifying recyclable and non-recyclable waste in real time.”  

Safety measures are also being put in place. As waste fires remain a big concern for recycling facilities, Dan plans to make worker safety paramount in the new plant. “The plan includes safety precautions like a comprehensive fire and evacuation plans to prevent any accidents,” said Dan. “We want to create the best conditions possible for the people in the building.”

Kiwi Skips is still raising the funds to finish the build, but instead of the quoted $8 million, Dan thinks it’ll be possible to complete for around $1.5 million, largely due to their architects’ advice on how to best combine new and refurbished materials. 

Winning a share of the fund has also helped spread the word about Kiwi Skips and their goal to build an eco-friendly recycling plant. “People are now sitting up and going, ‘Hey, these guys are serious!’,” said Dan. “We’ve got the attention of large companies now, which is something I could only have dreamed about before. It’s been a great year for us, and I’m optimistic about our future.”

Kiwi Skips may have been born out of a cancelled order of brand new skip bins through Dan’s engineering company, but Dan credits the support from his team and industry as his biggest win. 

“The pivotal moment for me was getting help from people with experience, rather than trying to do everything myself,” Dan explained. “Sometimes the best thing you can do is to reach out to others who are experts in their fields. Don’t be afraid to ask someone who’s done it before to mentor you. Most of the time, someone’s been where you’re going, and they’re more than happy to share some advice.”

We’re thrilled to share that the Xero Beautiful Business Fund is back for 2024 and entries are officially open.

The 2023 winners are an incredible group of small businesses and nonprofits who are passionate about solving problems and making an impact in their local communities. We’re spotlighting some of the past winners to hear more about how the fund has impacted their business and helped them achieve their goals. Read stories from other Xero Beautiful Business Fund winners by visiting the blog.

The post How Kiwi Skips is shaking up New Zealand’s recycling industry appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

The first thing people ask after I attend a Xerocon event is, “Well, how was it?” It’s such a simple question, and yet if you’ve ever attended Xerocon, you’ll understand why it’s so hard to answer.

How do I describe the excitement around Xero’s latest innovations? The in-depth discussions on industry trends? The connections made while wandering the exhibition floor? The new ideas sparked while chatting to app partners? The friendships formed at the wrap party?

I usually say, “It was incredible, I loved it,” knowing that it doesn’t come close to explaining the true value that I believe this kind of event brings to our industry.

And so, as we wrap up Xerocon Nashville, pack away our cowboy hats, say farewell to new friends and fly home to all corners of the globe, I thought I’d share a few reflections on what I learned from the event, and will take with me as I dive back into the day-to-day.

We’re all here to make an impact

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, our CEO, opened Xerocon with a powerful reminder that Xero is — at its heart — a purpose-driven company. She touched on Xero’s strategy, ‘Winning on Purpose’ and how we believe there’s a huge opportunity to really help small businesses thrive, in partnership with accountants and bookkeepers.

It made me reflect on why I became an accountant in the first place — to help the small businesses that my family owned, and other entrepreneurs like them. And as I looked around the room, I could see that for all of us, the work we do isn’t just a career choice — it’s personal. 

In my own keynote, I challenged everyone to really think about what their purpose is and what brings them joy, because I believe there’s so much opportunity in this industry to make a real impact, and so many pathways to use the extraordinary skills you’ve developed.

As I go back to the daily grind, I’m going to spend more time thinking about the aspects of my own role that bring me joy (connecting with customers and listening to their needs, then feeding that back into the business) and what tasks I can perhaps automate or delegate. I encourage you to do the same.

You are at the forefront of the industry

At Xerocon, I was struck by how many small businesses across North America are served by the accountants, bookkeepers and app partners who attended Xerocon. It’s not often that you get so many cloud accounting leaders in the same room.

And these partners aren’t sticking to the status quo — they’re out there every day, innovating and empowering small businesses to take the next step. Staying one step ahead was a common theme across our sessions, too. Jordan Vos, a certified change practitioner in our Canadian team, shared some ways to get clients over the line when it comes to adopting digital tools. 

The one phrase that stood out to me was when he said “change is a personal decision.” Without a strong (and personal) “why,” then the client is unlikely to see the long-term value in the change. It’s such a great insight and one that I’m going to keep in mind as we help Xero customers continue to navigate change.

When it came to innovation, our EGM Technology Research & Advocacy, James Bergin, reminded us that, at the end of the day, technology is just a tool. Its true value lies in amplifying the work that we do and accelerating the innovation that we create. So when thinking about how to stay innovative, he challenged us all not to focus on the technology itself, but rather on what problems it can help us solve.

Understanding not only what drives true innovation, but also how to bring clients (and your team) on that journey, is a valuable skill set in any modern practice. Both of these sessions left many people in the audience madly taking notes, because the insights were both simple and profound.

It’s all about the human connection

Connecting with our accounting, bookkeeping and app partners is by far the highlight of Xerocon for me, and what I believe makes it so special. I learned so much from simply listening — to what you’re looking for in our product, the challenges you’re facing, how we can support you and what you’re excited about in the future.

The vulnerability shown by many of you in your conversations with me was inspiring. But it was also embraced by our speakers on stage. Liz Mason, one of our national ambassadors, delivered a powerful keynote on the transformation (and retransformation) of her practice into a CAS firm. 

When it comes to CAS, Liz is ahead of the game. She’s been doing it for more than 10 years, and has always encouraged advisors to embrace it at scale.

But when it comes to sharing that journey, I love how she didn’t just highlight the successes, but acknowledged the failures — the things that didn’t go well, the lessons she learned. Overall, it was an incredible success story, but it was a valuable reminder that to support each other — and the small businesses we all serve — we need to learn from each other.

It’s why I was so excited to announce that soon, we’ll be launching a mentoring program for Xero partners across the US and Canada, where you can share your strengths and learn from others in areas you want to develop. We’re really proud to play a role in continuing those important conversations, so stay tuned for more details.

Thank you for being part of our community

When Ashley Hansen Grech, our Chief Revenue Officer, was presenting the Xero Awards with me today, she noted that it’s not often accountants and bookkeepers get to celebrate their own success. Often, they are so busy celebrating the success of their clients that their hard work behind the scenes goes unnoticed. 

I’m proud that Xero is committed to supporting you — our accounting, bookkeeping and app partners — and the incredibly valuable work that you do for small businesses every day. And, I hope that Xerocon Nashville gave you an opportunity to celebrate your own success, and the success of your industry peers, as you continue to lead this industry into the future. 

Overall, my biggest reflection of Xerocon Nashville is gratitude. Thank you for taking time away from your work and family to spend it with us. Thank you for making Xero more than a place to work, but where I can feel as though I’m among friends. And if you couldn’t join us, I hope you’ll come along and be part of the magic next time.

The post Reflections from Xerocon Nashville appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

The way we pay for products and services is changing faster than ever, and as a small business owner it’s important to keep up with these shifts to meet customer expectations. 

As payment trends evolve, you need to have all the facts so that you can get paid as fast as possible. So we asked consumers, ‘How do you want to pay?’ and delved into what options small businesses were offering today as well as the administrative challenges of paying suppliers.  

We’ve shared the insights we got in our recently launched research report, I want to pay that way at  Xerocon Nashville.

We hope these insights on how different consumers prefer to pay will help you get paid faster and grow your revenue. 

Here’s what we found and what it means for you.

The payment preferences mismatch 

One of the most prevalent global findings is that there’s a mismatch between how small businesses want to be paid and how their customers prefer to pay. While a majority of consumers (86%) primarily use credit or debit cards, less than two-thirds of small businesses (68%) offer cards as a payment option. This gap is also evident in other popular methods like direct debit and bank transfers.

This mismatch highlights a crucial need for businesses to adapt and align their payment options with customer preferences.

Here are some of the other key insights we uncovered:

• Mobile payments are on the rise: Younger generations are driving the adoption of mobile payment options.
• Late payments are a business-to-business issue: Consumers generally pay on time, suggesting late payments are more common in business transactions.
• Security is paramount: Concerns about security are a major barrier to adopting new payment methods.
• Cash isn’t dead:  Cash remains popular, especially in specific industries and regions.

How you pay depends on where you pay

Payment preferences and challenges aren’t uniform across the globe. Here’s a snapshot of some regional trends:

• Australia: Cash is still important for Aussie small businesses. Nearly four in five small businesses (79%) say a sudden move to a cashless economy would have some impact on their business.
• New Zealand: Consumers favour credit and debit cards, but businesses are hesitant due to concerns about fees.
• Singapore: Younger generations of consumers are leading the shift to digital payments while more than half of small businesses in the country continue to phase out cash payments.
• United Kingdom: One in four (25%) consumers say they would visit another business that accepts more payment options if a business didn’t offer at least one of their preferred ways to pay.
• United States: Small businesses are offering newer payment methods, but consumer adoption is lagging.

The power of online payments

Offering your customers more ways to pay can help you get paid faster, and help you to maintain a healthy cash flow. So we’re making it even easier for your customers to make payments by offering more payment methods to our online invoices. You can find out more about Xero’s payment products. 

To understand these trends and what payment methods are right for you, download the report, as well as the collecting payments guide which gives you some great insights into getting started with Xero. For our UK small business customers, we also have a quick guide to getting set up with our bill payments solution. 

About the report

The research was commissioned by Xero and Sling & Stone and was conducted by Lonergan Research in accordance with the ISO 20252 standard. Lonergan Research surveyed 6,021  people aged 18+ across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore as well as 2,547 small business leaders (SBLs) across those countries. Surveys were distributed throughout those countries including both capital city and non-capital city areas. The survey was conducted online amongst members of a permission-based panel, between 15 May and 29 May 2024. After interviewing, data was weighted to the latest population estimates sourced from their respected statistics agencies.

The post New insights into how consumers are making payments appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

Running a small business in the US or Canada comes with its fair share of unique challenges. That’s why Xero has been doubling down on building out our product capabilities for the unique needs of this region. 

Today, on stage at Xerocon Nashville, I was very excited to unveil the huge number of improvements Xero has made to make things easier for small businesses and their advisors. These improvements support more streamlined accounting, enabling small businesses to save time and have greater control over their cash flow. Here’s a look at what we announced.

Our accounting solution just got better

We’ve been listening closely to your feedback and have put a significant amount of resources into adapting our software and improving the areas small businesses and accountants and bookkeepers use the most. We believe that by prioritizing the essentials, we can have the biggest impact on user experience and make them best in class. I’m excited to share our progress. Here are some of the key improvements we’ve made based on what you’ve told us is important to you:

• An enhanced bank feed experience [US & CA]: You asked us to improve the quality of bank feeds, so we’ve heavily invested in that area. Over the last 18 months, we’ve increased the number of direct bank feeds from 20 to over 700 banks in the US and Canada, making it easier to pull your data into Xero. But we’re not stopping there. Over the next year, we intend to add hundreds more direct feeds. We’ve been able to quickly grow our network through the help of large aggregator platforms like Flinks and Yodlee, which are increasingly able to provide more direct bank connections at scale.
• PDF import [US & CA]: We’ve developed a PDF statement import functionality, to provide more ways to get bank statement data into Xero from our customers’ most popular banks in the US and Canada. Simply upload your PDF bank statements directly into Xero. Xero then extracts the bank data from the PDF in an average of just 35 seconds, ready for you to review and the data before it’s imported. 
• [Coming soon] Bank reconciliation to a period [US & CA]: I’m especially excited to see this one roll out in the next couple of months as we know it’s something accountants and bookkeepers have been asking for. This feature will enable you to close out a period in Xero by matching coded transactions back to your bank statement period. You’ll be able to specify a date range and set an opening and closing balance from your bank statement. This will help you quickly spot and resolve discrepancies between bank statements and Xero entries, ensuring your financial data is always accurate and up-to-date, and you can feel more confident in the reports you create for your clients.
• [Coming soon] Improved bank feed monitoring [US & CA]: While we can’t control how often a bank is offline, you’ve told us that you want to know when a feed is down as quickly as possible. In the next few months, we’ll make it easier for you to monitor the status of bank feeds in Xero. You’ll be notified of any disruptions during bank feed set up, and can report bank feed issues directly to us with the click of a button. 
• [Coming soon] Localized charts of accounts [US]: Xero will soon offer charts of accounts tailored to specific US business types (such as C-Corp, S-Corp and LLC) directly to new users, along with an enhanced trial balance report that enables users to set custom date ranges, more closely meeting the unique needs of the US market.

These updates are just the beginning. We’re dedicated to continuously improving Xero to make it the best accounting solution for North American businesses.

Get paid faster and improve cash flow

With cash flow being top of mind for you and your clients, we’re also investing in getting paid and making payments. 

• [Coming soon] BILL beta [US]: Xero’s upcoming embedded bill payment feature, powered by BILL, will let your clients pay vendors directly within Xero using ACH transfer, credit/debit cards, or checks. This will save valuable time on administrative tasks and give small businesses greater visibility and control over cash flow.
• Get paid in more ways [US & CA]: In partnership with Stripe, Xero is equipping small businesses to offer their customers flexible payment options, including direct bank transfers (US only) and buy now, pay later choices, in addition to credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets.
• [Coming soon] Tap to Pay [US]: Early next year, in partnership with Stripe, small businesses will be able to create an invoice and accept payment on the spot using their mobile device – perfect for businesses that are out and about.
• [Coming soon] SMS invoicing [US initially/ Rolling out to further regions post-launch]: Available in beta later this year, small businesses will be able to send invoices directly to their customers’ phones, making it even easier for them to pay promptly via Apple Pay or GooglePay. 

Being able to make and collect payments without leaving Xero is a powerful tool for your clients. It gives them a complete picture of their cash flow so they can make informed decisions about their business.

Enhanced sales tax and compliance features, and powerful client insights

We’re continuing to invest in freeing up accountants and bookkeepers to focus on advisory by releasing a suite of new features, including: 

• Easy W-9 Collection [US]: Accountants and bookkeepers can now request W9 information directly from the contact page, as well as manually mark W9s as received, either one by one or in bulk. We’ve also revamped the workflow for completing W9s, making it easier for vendors to fill them in and return them faster, making 1099 preparation more seamless.
• Expanded state-based sales tax reporting [US]: You’re now able to generate sales tax reports for every state and filing period automatically. These reports are created and populated with your clients’ data for each state and filing period, giving you the data you need to file your clients’ sales tax, saving you time and reducing stress.
• [Coming soon] New client insights dashboard [US & CA] : Available soon in Xero Practice Manager and Xero HQ, the client insights dashboard will give you a snapshot of the financial health metrics and trends for all your business edition clients.

New partnership with audit and accounting platform, Caseware [CA]

We announced an exciting new integration partnership with Caseware, a global provider of cloud-enabled audit, financial reporting and data analytics solutions. This will allow our shared customers in Canada to import trial balances and general ledger data from Xero into Caseware Working Papers. 

The integration, set to launch later this year, will save clients precious time and streamline  year-end workflows. This means less manual data entry and more time for you to focus on what you do best: supporting your clients and growing your practice.

Accounting on the go with AI and mobile

Our vision is to reimagine accounting by using generative AI and mobile technology.  We shared a range of new updates to the Xero Accounting mobile app and unveiled our new GenAI smart business companion Just Ask Xero (JAX), which will enable small businesses and their advisors to complete business tasks on the go. 

Read the blog post about how AI and mobile technology will reimagine accounting to find out more.

These announcements underscore Xero’s dedication to addressing the specific needs of our customers in the US and Canada. We’re committed to providing solutions that simplify accounting, streamline compliance, and empower businesses to thrive. We’re excited about the future in the US and Canada, and look forward to continuing to support your success.

The post New features announced at Xerocon Nashville appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

“We believe that Australian music is a vital part of life and we want to help musicians make a living from their craft,” shared Kathy Wilson, co-founder of Suitcase Records. The family-run business operates out of Brisbane, Australia, and aims to support local musicians by providing a more sustainable PVC compound to produce high-quality vinyl records.

Suitcase Records was a 2023 winner in the ‘Innovating for environmental sustainability’ category of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund for their initiative, which set a new rhythm in vinyl production for musicians across Australia. We spoke with husband and wife duo Neil and Kathy Wilson to learn more about their story, how they’re putting their winnings to use, and what’s ahead for the business. 

Balancing quality sound with eco-friendly materials

Suitcase Records was founded from surprising origins. Transitioning from corporate careers, both Neil and Kathy decided to leap headfirst into entrepreneurship in midlife, selling their house to fund their venture. “We were about to turn 50, our kids were in the process of leaving home, and we decided it was time for a new adventure,” Kathy mused. 

Balancing business and a commitment to sustainability, Kathy and Neil are both committed to implementing eco-friendly practices and innovative R&D. “Neil and I want to make great music in a sustainable way,” said Kathy. “We set up the factory as sustainably as we could and we were keeping a close eye on developments in low-carbon compounds.”

They had searched for a way to make records that maintained a quality sound without generating a big impact on the environment. This started with testing a few early prototypes, but they found faults in the way they sounded. At last, they managed to balance both, finding a low-carbon PVC compound that significantly reduces CO2 emissions without compromising on sound quality. 

“When we tested the compound we are now using, we couldn’t hear the difference in sound quality but it reduced the CO2 output by 92.5% compared to standard available compounds, so we knew we were onto a winner,” they stated. “We knew this was the one we wanted, but we didn’t have the cash flow to import enough to get us started with our first major order. So when I came across the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, I never dreamt that we would actually win. But I’m so glad we said ‘Why not give it a go?’ And that’s what our submission was all about.”

Striking the right chords with the Xero Beautiful Business Fund

The application process for the Xero Beautiful Business Fund was almost a missed opportunity. “I had got stuck in my head that the video had to be a high-quality production and we needed to script it perfectly,” Kathy recalled. However, the founders opted for authenticity over perfection, submitting a heartfelt video shot just before the deadline. “I grabbed Neil late one afternoon and put the camera in front of him and said, ‘Go.’ We finished the entry in three takes.”

Winning the Xero Beautiful Business Fund gave Suitcase Record a much-needed financial boost. With their winnings, they purchased two tonnes of low-carbon PVC compound, which helped them to start offering the product commercially. The success of these first orders facilitated the purchase of a larger batch, solidifying the demand for eco-friendly records as a viable commercial product and laying the groundwork for future growth. 

“Winning the fund allowed us to move Suitcase Records right into the front of the sustainability movement within the music industry,” said Kathy. “There’s very strong demand to produce music sustainably and this prize made it possible for us to be one of the frontrunners.”

Since the win, Suitcase Records has had artists like Lime Cordiale reach out to place large orders. The band’s recent album Enough of the Sweet Talk was produced using the low-carbon PVC compound. “As a touring band, Lime Cordiale has been trying to reduce their carbon footprint. They heard about what we were doing, and their support really cemented our reputation as innovators in this industry.”

Composing a greener future

With their newfound position as leaders in sustainable music production, Suitcase Records aims to continue innovating and setting new standards in the industry. Neil and Kathy’s remarkable journey is a story about how steadfast dedication to sustainability and a passion for music can make a significant impact.

By turning the tables on traditional vinyl production methods, Suitcase Records is setting a green groove that an entire industry is listening to. Their commitment to sustainable practices, coupled with their support for Australian musicians, ensures Suitcase Records will keep spinning for generations to come.

We’re thrilled to share that the Xero Beautiful Business Fund is back for 2024 and entries are officially open.

The 2023 winners are an incredible group of small businesses and nonprofits who are passionate about solving problems and making an impact in their local communities. We’re spotlighting some of the past winners to hear more about how the fund has impacted their business and helped them achieve their goals. Read stories from other Xero Beautiful Business Fund winners by visiting the Xero blog.

The post How Suitcase Records is spinning sustainability with Xero’s Beautiful Business Fund appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

Welcome to the August edition of What’s New in Xero. This month, we’ll introduce you to some of the updates we’ve made to some favourite features, including Xero HQ, invoicing, bank reconciliation and more. These updates will help make managing your finances a breeze. Read on to find out more.  

Global: Improvements to managing clients in practice tools [Product Idea]

In Xero HQ you can now filter your client list in more ways, including on blank data to find gaps. To get the most relevant view of clients, you can combine multiple filters. For example, you can filter your list by the plans your clients are on, or even by clients that have no Xero organisation. We’ve also extended the single client record to include notes, so that notes from Xero Practice Manager are reflected in Xero HQ (and vice versa).

Global: Invoicing layout improvements [Product Idea]

Further enhancements to the layout of new invoicing include improved field placement and sizing to make better use of the screen real estate. This change makes it easier to navigate and tab through the fields. Thanks to everyone who voted for this improvement via Product Ideas here and also here.

Global: More flexibility importing and exporting your items list in inventory [Product Idea]

It’s now easier to keep your products and services catalogue up to date, with more flexibility when importing and exporting your items list. You’re now able to export your items list based on the filter you’ve applied, so you can export all items or only your active items. We’ve also increased the number of items you can import at the same time from 1000 to 6000.

AU & NZ: Input the bank statement ending balance in the Bank Rec Summary Report for easier monthly review

In the Bank Reconciliation Summary Report, Australian and New Zealand customers  can now input bank statement ending balances, to help identify any discrepancies and ensure the bank balance matches the calculated statement balance in Xero before publishing the reconciliation for the month. This will make monthly accounts reviews easier, saving you time and effort.

UK: Send eInvoices in Xero to your contacts

Previously, UK customers could only register for eInvoicing and receive eInvoices. Now, you’re also able to send eInvoices to contacts who are registered for eInvoicing.

UK: Easily view reports in UK payroll [Product Idea]

This is another update for our UK customers. You can now easily access your Payroll Activity Summary, Payroll Activity Details, and the Pay Run Journal reports through the ‘View reports’ dropdown menu on the pay runs screen. This enhancement provides you with a more user-friendly and customisable reporting experience. 

These are just some of the updates that have rolled out in Xero this month. You can check out the July edition here, and for a full list of what’s new this August, check out the release notes in Xero Central. 

The post What’s new in Xero – August 2024 appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

Managing accounts payable is a crucial part of doing business, but paying the bills can be time-consuming and inefficient. So  we’re on a mission to make it easier.

We’re excited to announce that, over the next few months, we’re making some enhancements to the way you manage bills in Xero. These updates will help small businesses to streamline their end-to-end accounts payable process, saving time and gaining efficiencies. 

These updates to bills are being rolled out gradually, so if you’re an accountant or bookkeeper, or a small business owner using Xero for more than one organisation, you may notice that one of your clients or organisations has access to one or all of these updates while another may not. 

By the end of the year, the following enhancements will be available on all business edition Xero plans.

Bill upload

Soon, you’ll be able to easily add bills to Xero by uploading a file, or by dragging and dropping a file from your desktop. Xero will create draft bills with key details entered and the source document attached for you to approve. This is a great time saver for creating multiple bills at once; however, if you prefer our existing options (Hubdoc or email to bills) these options will still be available as well.

Duplicate detection

A new duplicate detection feature means you’ll receive alerts when duplicate bills are detected, regardless of how the bill was created in Xero. This will reduce the risk of accidentally paying the same supplier twice, giving you peace of mind that your accounts payable figures are accurate.

Quick view

No more clicking through individual bills or juggling multiple tabs: quick view functionality will let you view and approve bills directly from the quick view screen. It’s a simpler, more efficient way to stay on top of your payables, especially for businesses that pay a lot of bills each month. 

We’re excited to bring you these enhancements and help you and your clients simplify the accounts payable process and save time on everyday administration tasks.

The post New features to help streamline accounts payable appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

“So many parents that we’ve talked to over the years want to shop secondhand, but they find the process time-consuming and frankly, quite overwhelming. We wanted to make it easier for them and make the sustainable choice, the easy choice,” said Nicole Boynton, co-founder of Hand Me Up, an ecommerce platform for second-hand children’s clothing that she started with co-founder Kara Livingston in San Antonio, Texas. “Our goal is to keep as many textiles out of the growing landfills as possible, one piece of kid’s clothing at a time.” 

A winner in the  ‘Innovating for environmental sustainability’ category in the 2023 Xero Beautiful Business Fund, Hand Me Up was recognised for their work helping consumers in the US have an easier way to shop second-hand and cut down on clothing waste. We connected with co-founder Nicole Boynton to discover how Hand Me Up started and how she plans to continue driving sustainability through the business.

Keeping children’s clothes out of landfill

Lifelong friends for over 20 years, Nicole and Kara quickly bonded in high school while working on projects like class fundraisers and host camps for kids. They knew from the start that they made a great team. Over the years, they’ve embarked on many journeys together, including motherhood. It was during this time they started a blog and podcast called “Simply Whole Moms.” 

“We spent three years interviewing other moms and sharing everything we could to keep their lives simple while they took care of themselves and their growing families,” Nicole shared. Through this community, they discovered the common challenge parents faced: children constantly outgrew their clothes, leaving them scrambling to purchase new items. 

The idea for Hand Me Up was born. 

Founded in 2021, Hand Me Up offers a unique ecommerce experience that makes shopping for second-hand children’s clothing more convenient and cost-effective for families. The company is also tackling the growing environmental issue of textile waste. Nicole explains, “The average American throws away 80 to 100 pounds of clothing per person per year. We can stop textiles from going into the landfill by recirculating items throughout families across the US.”

Hand Me Up’s main product,  “The Bag”, contains a mix-and-match wardrobe of either 7 or 16 preloved children’s clothing items. When customers visit the Hand Me Up website, they can choose their child’s style and size preferences. From there, the Hand Me Up team of moms assembles the mix-and-match bundle according to their preferences and ships it to them. Once the customer receives their new-to-them clothes, they can refill their bag with outgrown clothes from their children’s closets and get $10 off their next order. Hand Me Up offers both subscription and one-time purchases as well as a deals section on their site, where customers can add items like graphic t-shirts, swimsuits or fancy dresses to their order.

“The average American throws away 80 to 100 pounds of clothing per person per year. We can stop textiles from going into the landfill by recirculating items throughout families across the US.”

Nicole Boynton, Co-founder of Hand Me Up

Winning the Xero Beautiful Business Fund was a chance to do more

The pivot to Hand Me Up was a journey of growth and learning for both Nicole and Kara. “We’ve taught ourselves so many skills on this journey and continue to learn daily,” Nicole said.

Sustainability remains at the heart of Hand Me Up, but when starting the business, the team had to be selective about the investments they made. “During the early days, we used whatever packaging we could find just to get the business up and running,” Nicole said. “We used poly shipping bags from Amazon and colored tissue paper, and priced out more sustainable bag options before launch, as we just didn’t have the funds at that point to achieve this goal.” 

The Xero Beautiful Business Fund became a chance for them to do just that. 

Packaging was one area that needed a big upgrade and they felt that the sustainability category aligned well with Hand Me Up’s needs and values. “Sustainable choices are the heartbeat of our company,” Nicole explained. 

Nicole and Kara knew exactly what they would do with the funding from the Xero Beautiful Business Fund. They would finally upgrade their shipping bags to reusable branded poly bags made from recycled materials, which are recyclable in the correct facility. They would also switch the colored tissue paper used inside their bags with the more sustainable option of recycled kraft paper. 

“We had a great time applying for the fund,” Nicole recalls. “I vividly remember sitting outside one of our favorite coffee shops recording our submission video. Kara and I both truly enjoy and love sharing about our business and the impact we want to make, so getting to tell our story during the application process brought us joy.”

Advancing sustainability, one bag at a time

Hand Me Up made the transition to recyclable bags this year, thanks to the funds they won from the 2023 Xero Beautiful Business Fund.

“We did a hefty amount of research trying to decide which type of shipping bag we would order, as the model of our business includes sending one bag full of clothes to the customer along with an empty bag and pre-paid shipping label to send in hand-me-downs,” Kara shared. “We ended up choosing double-use, recyclable poly bags from noissue, which are made from recycled materials with soy-based ink. They’re branded and have two adhesive strips, so they can be used twice without any danger of breaking open because they weren’t sealed properly,” explained Kara. 

The bags can also be recycled through re-use or at an appropriate recycling facility. Nicole and Kara are thrilled to offer these new, more sustainable options to their customers. 

But this isn’t the only sustainable change the team is unboxing. The funds also helped the Hand Me Up team purchase large paper-roll holders and recycled Kraft paper to wrap the clothes that they send out. “We’re excited to continue exploring more sustainable packing options aside from the bags, like switching to fabric mailers, and stickers that are made from environmentally friendly materials, to offer an even more sustainable experience for our customers,” said Nicole. 

“Our customers tend to be big advocates for sustainability, so we’re delighted to be able to practice what we preach with the help of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund. We’re hoping to be fully sustainable and eco-friendly not too long from now, so that we can wholeheartedly live out our company’s mission and values.”  

The Xero Beautiful Business Fund is back for 2024 and entries are officially open. The 2023 winners are an incredible group of small businesses and nonprofits who are passionate about solving problems and making an impact in their local communities. We’re spotlighting some of the past winners to hear more about how the fund has impacted their business and helped them achieve their goals. Check out these stories by visiting the blog.

The post How the Xero Beautiful Business Fund helped a platform for pre-loved goods take sustainability further appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

In May, we announced changes to Xero’s plans in the UK as part of our efforts to simplify Xero’s offering. The new plans, which will launch on 12 September 2024, bundle key features such as Xero Payroll, Xero Expenses, multicurrency, Xero Analytics Plus and bill payments into some plans, making it easier to choose the best option for your business or clients.

We’re now able to share an update on our migration approach and the timing for moving customers to these new subscription plans.

Key things to note:

• For the majority of customers whose subscription plan will include the same or more features for either the same or lower price*, we’ll move you in February 2025.

• For customers that will see a price increase* as a result of the new subscription plan that we’re migrating you to, we’ll delay moving you until September 2025.
  We recognise for some customers this may be a significant price increase when moved by Xero to a new plan, and in some scenarios we’ll offer discounted pricing. We’ll share more on this with eligible customers and partners in the email we’ll send you in late September.
  

This means Xero won’t migrate some customers to the new plans by March 2025 as originally communicated.

Our migration approach and revised timing

We’ll email you in late September 2024, with the details of which plan Xero will move you to and when.  For accounting and bookkeeping partners this email will include a link to a list of subscriptions that your practice holds (note this will only include those subscriptions that will be moved). To determine which plan you’ll be moved to, we’ll look at your current plan – including any add-ons you’ve purchased – and your recent feature usage (that is, Xero Expenses and/or Xero Payroll).

You can stay on your current plan until Xero moves you, or you can choose to move yourself once the new plans launch on 12 September 2024. If you choose to move, you won’t be included in Xero’s migration. As we’ll offer discounted pricing in some scenarios of significant pricing impact, we recommend waiting until you’ve received email confirmation from us in September on how the migration applies to you or your clients before making your own decision about moving plans.

Throughout this process, you’ll always have the choice to choose a different plan to what Xero selects for you. You’ll also be able to change plans after Xero moves you if you decide another plan better meets your needs.

Summary of what to expect and timings

12 September 2024	– New plans available in the UK. – You can choose to move to a new plan at any time if you don’t want to wait for Xero to move you/your clients. However, we recommend waiting until you’ve received your email from Xero in September before making a decision
Late September 2024	– Full details on what plan/s you and you/your clients will be moved to and when will be sent via email. For accounting and bookkeeping partners a list will be available in Xero Central of your impacted clients you hold the subscriptions for, including where Xero intends to move them to
February 2025	– Xero will move customers to the new plans where there is no increase to the price*, based on the migration approach outlined above
September 2025	– Xero will move customers to new plans where it would mean paying more*, based on the migration approach outlined above

Further information for accounting and bookkeeping partners 

For your clients where you/your practice holds the subscription, only you will receive the information above directly and the migration approach email in September 2024. We’ll include a template in your September email to help you communicate the changes to your clients if you’d like to.

For your clients who hold the subscription, they will have received information about the new plans in May and will receive all information related to the new plans and migration approach listed above. 

We look forward to sharing specific details with you next month. In the meantime, you can learn more about our new small business plans or plans for accountants and bookkeepers. Or sign-up for one of our webinars for small businesses and partners. As always, please reach out to our team via Xero Central if you have any support questions.

*Compared to 12 September 2024 pricing  

The post Our updated migration approach to move UK customers to new subscription plans appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

We’re officially on the countdown for Xerocon Nashville at Music City Center over August 14 and 15. And this year, we’re proud to have filled our exhibitor floor with some of the best and most loved apps for accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners alike. 

No matter what business needs or challenges you’re looking to solve, you’ll have over 50 exhibitors to meet and talk to, and many apps from the Xero App Store to try out for yourself. Not sure where to start? Check out our guide to making the most out of our app exhibitors at Xerocon Nashville.

We’re especially proud to introduce our seven event partners for this year’s Xerocon Nashville. Read about them below, and make sure to stop by and meet them along with our other exhibitors as you explore Xerocon in Music City! 

Event Partner+

Bill

BILL for Xero is a simple bill payment solution made to eliminate double entry and piles of paperwork. BILL allows you to automate accounts payable and accounts receivable processes, while directly syncing all payment actions back to Xero for you. Make light work of expense approvals on the go with mobile device bill approvals and single-click payments, so you can save time and keep tight controls over your accounts whether you’re in the office or away.

Event Partners

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services offers scalability, security, and savings for businesses of any size including small and medium businesses, for whom remaining competitive can be daunting. Whether you begin by moving, storing and securing your data, gaining new business intelligence, or finding new ways to serve customers, Amazon Web Services can help you unlock new possibilities. 

Avalara

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes get tax compliance right, no matter where in the world they run their business. In partnership with leading ERP, accounting, ecommerce and other financial management system providers, Avalara delivers cloud-based compliance solutions for various transaction taxes, helping you simplify your international tax compliance. 

Dext

Dext provides bookkeeping automation tools that help small businesses and their advisors collect, organize and record financial transactions. Dext is made up of three products – Dext Prepare for data extraction, Dext Precision for data quality and insights, and Dext Commerce for e-commerce data management – all of which integrate with Xero. Use Dext to help achieve compliant bookkeeping and accounting services accurately and efficiently, saving you and your clients precious time.

GoCardless

GoCardless puts you in control of collecting payments directly from your customers. The GoCardless integration with Xero allows you and your customers to set up recurring and one-off payments, so payment for your invoices is collected automatically. Xero’s global data shows that invoices with an online payment service like GoCardless attached, get paid up to twice as fast as invoices to customers who don’t use online payments. Simply add GoCardless as a payment service in Xero, then apply it to an invoice or invoice template so your customers can pay your invoices online.

Gusto

Gusto is built to be the refreshingly easy way for small businesses to manage their payroll, benefits and HR – all in one platform. Designed to help you complete your pay runs in just a few clicks, Gusto seamlessly syncs your payroll transactions and financial data back to Xero, eliminating manual data entry while ensuring you maintain one unified view of your payroll costs with Xero.

Ramp

Ramp is the platform for modern finance teams, combining corporate cards with expense management and accounts payable in one solution, so you can automate your finance operations. You can quickly sync transaction code values from Xero back to Ramp for quick transaction creation, then sit back as Ramp collects receipts through SMS, email and popular apps and automatically syncs them back to Xero to be reconciled.

Get to know all the apps exhibiting at Xerocon Nashville

We can’t wait to see our incredible community of accountants and bookkeepers at Xerocon in just one week – and we especially can’t wait for you to meet and network with our amazing exhibitors who are ready to show you exciting products that will help take your practice to the next level. Check out the complete list of apps being exhibited at Xerocon Nashville and start a few free trials ahead of time so you can come along ready to meet the exhibitors of your favorite apps. See you there!

The post Introducing our 2024 Xerocon Nashville event partners appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

Most major economies have had tepid growth, at best, in recent quarters. But how are things on the ground? If you’re a small business owner and you’re thinking that things feel tougher than what national statistics seem to be saying about the broader economy, you’re not alone. The Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) data shows a lot of small businesses aren’t growing as fast as the major economic indicators suggest. 

There’s a disconnect between small business sales and national economic performance

National statistics help us understand how our economies, populations and societies are doing, which is important, but because they’re high level, they can disguise the small business story. This means they sometimes paint a picture about the state of the economy that doesn’t line up with what small businesses are experiencing. This is where XSBI can step in to reveal how things are going for small business owners, using real small business data. So what is the small business story that the XSBI data is telling us, compared with the rest of the economy? 

We compared nominal GDP growth (y/y) with XSBI sales growth (y/y) for the March quarter in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US (scroll down to see a table with the comparisons). We know from other modelling we’ve done that XSBI sales correlate to movements in GDP. These figures tell us that, for the first quarter of 2024, small business sales growth lagged behind broader economic growth in all XSBI countries except Australia, where the XSBI sales growth rate was only just higher than GDP growth. 

These statistics tell us that in four of these countries people aren’t spending their money in small businesses to the same extent as they are in larger businesses. We know that cost of living pressures mean consumers don’t have much extra to spend once they’ve paid their essential household bills. The XSBI data shows that what little extra they do have isn’t making it to small businesses.

More recent XSBI data shows the situation has become even harder for small businesses in June. Sales actually fell in June in New Zealand (-8.3% y/y), Australia (-3.5% y/y) and the UK (-5.2% y/y).  

What are small businesses doing to manage these conditions?

Queensland couple Rejoice and Adam Thomson operate two suburban cafes in Brisbane, Australia, including Dovetail on Overend. They shared with us how they’re working hard to keep customers coming through the doors. 

After ten years of operations, Rejoice and Adam have just navigated the most challenging period they’ve experienced in business. Turnover was down 15% in the month of June compared to the same time last year, consistent with the June fall in sales seen in the XSBI data for all small businesses in Australia.

“On the ground, we could see customers visiting less frequently, and many of our customers were spending significantly less when visiting, so rather than order breakfast, drinks and a dessert, they might order a coffee and a donut. At the same time, all of our expenses increased significantly,” said Adam. 

“We feel the pain of increasing costs, especially wages. Increasingly, my wife and I take on more work to help keep our wage costs down; however it takes a big toll – we’re working way too many hours and are physically drained.”

Testing new sales channels, reviewing costs and training staff

To solve these challenges, Rejoice and Adam constantly review their financial position, and look for savings wherever possible. This includes finding ways to be more efficient and less wasteful (Dovetail on Overend has almost zero waste), regularly working with suppliers to find the best deal on ingredients and services, and constantly updating prices to help cover the ongoing cost increases.

Adam and Rejoice are also looking at other sales channels and training staff to make them more productive. “We’re really focused on training all our team members to make them as productive, quality- and customer-focused as possible. In addition, we’re constantly trying to increase our online sales through our website, and working towards attracting more regular delivery customers,” said Adam. 

To do this, they’ve started routinely using paid marketing on social media to bring more customers to the cafes, who will hopefully be attracted to purchase the more profitable products they promote. 

“We are seeing good returns on this investment, and have become quite good at reaching our target audience in this way,” concludes Adam.

It’s a tough time, but you’re not alone

If you’re a small business owner, Rejoice and Adam’s story of constantly finding ways to work through the current economic environment may seem familiar. And when this lived experience doesn’t align with stories of national economic growth, you may be left wondering what’s going on and if you’re on your own.

To help you get a sense of how other small businesses are faring, check the XSBI data and reports to see what’s happening in the sector. We provide regular small business data across each country, including some regions and industries, covering metrics like sales volumes, wage increases, time taken to be paid, and jobs growth. If you’re interested in reading more about small business sector performance across Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US, check out the XSBI website.

---

Table: XSBI sales versus GDP growth (y/y% change)

March quarter 2024	XSBI sales (y/y %)	GDP (nominal, y/y%)
Australia	+3.8%	+3.5%
Canada	-4.6%	+4.1%
New Zealand	+0.5%	+4.2%
United Kingdom	+1.8%	+4.6%
United States	-1.8%	+5.8%

The post Missing out on sales? You’re not alone appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

Our annual Xero Awards is a special night for us at Xero. It gives us an opportunity to show our appreciation and admiration for the many incredible accounting, bookkeeping and app partners in our community. This year is particularly special, with the extension of the Awards programme beyond Singapore to include partners across Asia. 

This inclusion reflects the enormous impact that our partners throughout the region have in uplifting Asia’s small business community and providing them with the necessary advice and tools they need to survive and thrive. Selecting a single winner in each category was incredibly difficult from the many exceptional and inspiring submissions we received.

Together at last night’s event, we celebrated the outstanding achievements and contributions of our accounting and bookkeeping community. We’re so proud to support our partners as they work towards our shared desire for helping small businesses follow their passion and succeed.

So without further ado, please join me in congratulating our winners:

Asia Small Accounting Partner of the Year

PT Auxilium Perkasa Group from Indonesia

Asia Medium Accounting Partner of the Year

Caltrix (CAL Cloud Sdn Bhd) from Malaysia

Asia Large Accounting Partner of the Year

Chia, Ka & Partners PLT from Malaysia

Asia Advisory Partner of the Year

361 Degree Consultancy Pte Ltd from Singapore; and
Fastlane Group from Hong Kong

Asia App Partner of the Year

Syft Analytics

Thank you again to everyone who entered the awards this year. Looking forward to 2025!

The post Xero Asia Awards 2024: Congratulations to our winners! appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

Much can be said about the pros and cons of generative AI. But while we can all agree that it is widely-available and disruptive, surely we can also agree that it isn’t the first emerging technology to be available and disruptive (nor will it be the last). It’s just the one we’re focused on right now.

To start to wrap your head around the possibilities of generative AI and the broader AI technology ecosystem, it’s best to start from the ground up. When you look up the definition of technology, it is “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.” With generative AI, we see a lot of scientific knowledge being shared. However, I don’t think many have fully cracked how it can be truly practical and useful in all industries that are exploring it today.

As an example, let’s look at the biggest workhorse for the world’s economies, small business owners. While many entrepreneurs are working tirelessly on their day-to-day operations, many are also hoping to find ways to use AI to boost productivity. And while it does provide some immediate benefits today, like quickly creating basic marketing materials or speeding up responses to some customer service queries, there is so much more potential. But accessing much of that potential requires more time, resources and expertise.

Small business owners deserve the world of emerging technologies to be shaped to their needs, rather than an expectation that they figure out how to make it all work for them on their own. If you’re running a small business, you are already loaded up with myriad tasks you have just to keep the lights on. And of course, you shouldn’t have to do it all on your own.

Who can fix this?

The onus should rightfully be on those service providers in the small business ecosystem that are building the platforms and apps that business owners are using. This goes for the specialized companies like Xero, but also the likes of the consumer tech giants and platforms. We each have a part to play in the shaping process: developing the scientific knowledge of something like generative AI for its specific application for small business use cases, making sure we mold the ‘raw material’ of the technology into something that is directly useful for them. This means an open line of communication should be ever-present between us in the tech realm and our small business customers to ensure we are focused on helping with the tasks that they care about the most.

Also, knowing their key day-to-day tasks and keeping them at the forefront of the development process for AI tools is the best way to enable small business owners to be able to more easily take advantage of the technology in the everyday operations of their business, rather than its adoption being another job they have to tackle.

How do we fix this?

Tech players need to focus on finding, highlighting and amplifying the unique and valuable parts of being a small business. Coming from the tech ecosystem in New Zealand and Australia, we find our geographic distance from the rest of the world has historically enabled us to approach these sorts of challenges from a different perspective. So, that makes it a bit easier to zero in and identify the drudgery and toil tasks that small business owners would gladly outsource or eliminate if they could.

If tech leaders at all levels can take that step back and give small business owners the microphone to share what’s frustrating them, their technology solutions have a big opportunity to accelerate productivity for the small business ecosystem globally.

What does that look like?

Supercharging productivity might sound overly optimistic, but it’s certainly possible with the right approach. In speaking with accountants and bookkeepers as part of my role at Xero, I can see generative AI is already playing an increasing role in some of their workflows as they utilize it to sift through their clients’ data and generate reports quickly, for example. From assisting with preparing for in-depth forecasting meetings with clients to creating entire “fractional CFO” practices, many accountants and bookkeepers are targeting the removal of the tedium of purely manual data interpretation and finding the freedom to help embrace their role as knowledgeable financial advisors.

But they aren’t having to turn into AI experts overnight. To unlock these capabilities, accountants and bookkeepers have rightly placed expectations on the platforms they use – like Xero – to bring these capabilities to the fore. With the help of curated technology platforms and tools, accountants are bucking the common misconception of the accounting profession as a purely number-crunching role, and now have the bandwidth to provide more value and actionable insights for the business owners they support.

And this is just one example of the application of generative AI solutions for practical purposes in a particular industry.

What about the future?

The question remains: does this new technology mean that work as we know it will never be the same? Or will AI replace jobs in small businesses, or across the whole economy? We only need to look at past “revolutionary” technologies like emails, spreadsheets or smartphones to see that the former may be true, but the latter is less likely. Rather than entire jobs changing, the tasks that make up those jobs will evolve and shift.

So, generative AI is not about replacing the accountant, for example, but rather it is about providing more capability and capacity to the accounting profession to focus on higher-value advisory responsibilities. Additionally, the hard-earned trust that accountants have built with their clients won’t just go away and cannot be easily replaced by an algorithm, no matter how smart it is. Because, when the stakes are high and financial livelihoods are on the line, you want someone who is a partner to be alongside you. Someone who you can hold to account for their advice and guidance. And who is more accountable than your accountant after all?

Zooming out and looking at the wider small business landscape, the same logic applies. Having a “human in the loop” is a common discussion in the AI world, but it is table stakes. Humans won’t just be in the loop as a necessary safeguard – they will remain at the heart of every business and its value proposition. Generative AI won’t be taking the wheel away from small business owners, rather it can serve as a valuable collaborator that augments their capabilities and supercharges their productivity. until the next unforeseeable and revolutionary technology comes along to take us to the next level.

This article was originally published on TechRadar Pro on 19 July 2024.

The post Shaping AI to improve the way small business owners work appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

“The whole point of Building Up is to connect people with barriers to employment to careers in construction,” explained Marc Soberano, founder of non-profit project Building Up. “We help people break the cycle of poverty and make a life for themselves.”

Building Up was one of the 2023 recipients of funding from the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, winning the ‘Strengthening Community Connection’ for their inspiring community building work as a non-profit social contractor. We sat down with Marc Soberano to chat about the project, its mission, how he’s used his winnings from the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, and his vision for the future.

Empowerment through employment

Marc’s inspiration for Building Up stemmed from his desire to use business as a force for social good. “I studied business in school and was really interested in how a lot of the issues we face with poverty and housing are a result of how our economy works,” he shared. 

“It unfortunately often leaves people aside and creates ‘have’ and ‘have nots’,” Marc explained. “We’re never going to turn the world away from capitalism, so how do we use those same principles to bring people into a social enterprise? For example, every company has staff, but how can we be really intentional about creating a company that’s meant to support their staff more than supporting the company?”

Established in 2014 in Toronto Marc founded Building Up to channel his entrepreneurial spirit into addressing two of Canada’s most pressing crises: the labour shortage in the construction industry and rising unemployment rates.

Today, Building Up operates as both a construction company and a non-profit, connecting individuals struggling to find employment with training and careers in construction. The company bids on construction jobs like any contractor, but does it with the ultimate goal of creating rewarding careers for those who’ve historically struggled to find opportunities to work. 

“We run our business to train and employ people,” Marc said. “People work on our job sites and they get the exposure they need for future jobs. We also help them get their driver’s licence, we help them find housing, we help them work out personal situations – it’s less of a traditional job and more of a true partnership.”

Building Up’s employees hail from all sorts of backgrounds – backgrounds which often pose challenges to joining or returning to work. “We work with a lot of refugees and newcomers, as well as with people who are coming out of jail,” Marc said. This inclusive approach ensures those in greatest need of Building Up’s services can access them to start building a better future.

“The funding will support our work and help more and more people who are looking to turn their life around through a career in construction.”

Marc Soberano, founder of Building Up

Adding new levels with the Xero Beautiful Business Fund

Marc had his eyes set on expanding Building Up’s mission and reach, but capacity and funding have always been two persistent obstacles. “We receive about 3600 applications every year for 100 spots,” Marc explained. “We’re really looking to grow, and as a non-profit, it’s not like you can go and easily get some equity to think about growth.”

About 75% of Building Up’s budget comes from its operations as a non-profit. And instead of using their jobs to make money, they use them as opportunities to provide training and employment for people. “We feel the challenges of trying to run a business,” Marc shared. “Most companies focus really hard on trying to reduce staff turnover, and our whole business model is to hire people that no one else will hire because they don’t have the experience. Once they become productive, we intentionally have a hundred percent turnover.”

Well before applying for the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, Building Up had been using Xero for various aspects of their operations, from stakeholder reports to organising grants and handling overall finances. “Xero has been in the backdrop of helping manage this organisation since it started,” Marc noted. 

Marc first heard about the Xero Beautiful Business Fund through a Xero newsletter and saw it as an opportunity to advance Building Up’s vision a little further. “The process was great. We just made a quick little video and put it out into the world, and it came back that we were a winner,” Marc recalled. “The funding will support our work and help more and more people who are looking to turn their life around through a career in construction.”

Some of Building Up’s winnings from the fund have gone into launching an entirely new venture, focused on housing insulation. This required training a new crew from scratch and purchasing a new array of equipment, with the winnings offsetting these upfront costs. Beyond insulation, the winnings have also allowed Building Up to further expand its training centre and energise its broader fundraising efforts among other investors and the community.

A blueprint for the future

Building Up’s early successes have only fueled the group’s ambitions. “Our goal is to double our capacity so we can train 200 people in a couple of years from now,” Marc said.

At the same time, Marc plans to expand Building Up’s work in fostering long-term relationships with alumni. This could provide additional career security for these individuals: if they find themselves out of work between projects, they can return to Building Up to mentor new students. “We have an alumni program at Building Up, so if anybody comes across challenges finding employment later on, they can come back, work on our sites, and help mentor the next group of people,” Marc shared.

Building Up continues to build on their strong foundations, aiming to create lasting change and uplift communities. With Xero’s support, they’re able to ensure that their construction business remains focused on building better lives.

The Xero Beautiful Business Fund is back for 2024 and entries are officially open.

The 2023 winners are an incredible group of small businesses and non-profits who are passionate about solving problems and making an impact in their local communities. We’re spotlighting some of our past winners to hear more about how the fund has impacted their business and helped them achieve their goals. Check out these stories by visiting the Xero blog.

The post Constructing a brighter future for people in poverty appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

In June, we announced changes to Xero’s plans in Aotearoa New Zealand as part of our efforts to simplify our plan offering. The new plan line-up will launch on 12 September 2024 and bundles key features such as Xero Payroll, Xero Projects and Analytics Plus into some plans, making it easier to choose the best option for your business or clients.

We’re now able to share an update on our migration approach and the timing for moving customers to new subscription plans.

Key things to note:

• For the majority of customers whose new subscription plan will include the same or more features for either the same or lower price*, we’ll move you in February 2025.

• For customers that will see a price increase* as a result of the new subscription plan that we’re migrating you to, we’ll delay moving you until September 2025. 

We recognise for some customers this may be a significant price increase when moved by Xero to a new plan, and in some scenarios we’ll offer discounted pricing. We’ll share more on this with eligible customers and partners in our October emails.

This means some customers will not be migrated by Xero by March 2025 as originally communicated.

Migration approach and revised timing

We’ll email you in October 2024, with the details of which plan Xero will move you to and when.  For accounting and bookkeeping partners this email will include a link to a list of subscriptions that your practice holds. To determine which plan you’ll be moved to, we’ll look at your current plan – including any add-ons you’ve purchased – and your recent feature usage (that is, Xero Expenses and/or Xero Payroll).

You can stay on your current plan until Xero moves you, or you can choose to move. If you choose to move, you won’t be included in Xero’s migration plan. However, we recommend waiting until you’ve received email confirmation from us in October on how the migration applies to you or your clients before making your own decision about moving plans.

Throughout this process, you’ll always have the choice to choose a different plan to what Xero selects for you. You’ll also be able to change plans after Xero moves you if you decide another plan better meets your needs. 

Summary of what to expect and timings

12 September 2024	New plans available in New Zealand
October 2024	Full details on what plan/s you and you/your clients will be moved to and when, will be sent via email
February 2025	Xero will move customers to new plans where there is no increase to the price*, based on the migration approach outlined above
September 2025	Xero will move customers to new plans where it would mean paying more*, based on the migration approach outlined above

We look forward to sharing specific details with you in October. In the meantime, you can learn more about our new small business plans or plans for accountants and bookkeepers. As always, please reach out to our team via Xero Central if you have any support questions.

*compared to 12 September 2024 pricing

The post Updated migration approach to move NZ customers to new subscription plans appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

The entries are rolling in for the 2024 Xero Beautiful Business Fund and we’ve been thrilled by the response. Supporting and celebrating small businesses is at the core of our purpose and we look forward to helping another 28 organisations this year as they achieve the next level of success. 

Today, we’re excited to reveal the country and global judging panels who will help select the winners of the 2024 Xero Beautiful Business Fund. Our judges are made up of leaders across accounting, small businesses, nonprofits and some of our amazing global and local partners. 

The country judging panel will help us select four winners from each country. Each country winner will receive NZD $20,000 in funding (or local equivalent). Then four global winners will be selected from the pool of country winners. Learn about the judges along with some tips for getting started with your entry and how you can make it stand out.

A big thank you to everyone who’s entered the Xero Beautiful Business Fund so far. You have a few more weeks to get your entry in before the deadline on 27 August 2024 at 5:00pm NZT.

Australia judges

• Theo Konstantas – Sales Director, Australia, Xero 
• Kathy Wilson – Co-founder, Suitcase Records
• Natalie Lennon – Founder & Director, Two Sides Accounting
• Deep Banerji – Chief Product Officer, Deputy
• Syarna Gilmour – Senior Account Manager, Xero 

Tip: There are four funding categories with no limit on how many of them you enter. If you think you qualify for each of them, go all out. You just need to complete an entry form and upload a video for each category you wish to enter – each video must be specific to that category.

New Zealand judges

• Bridget Snelling – Country Manager, New Zealand, Xero 
• Madeleine Hakaraia de Young – Director, Māoriland Film Festival
• Jenny Rudd – Founder, Dispute Buddy
• Manoli Aerakis – Director, Malloch McClean
• Andrew Punnett – Senior Engineer, Xero

Tip: When creating your pitch video, tell us about yourself and how you got into business. We’d love to learn more about you as a business owner and your founding story.

Singapore judges

• Koren Wines – Regional Director, Asia, Xero 
• Ken Leong – Director, 361 Degree Group
• Vicky Hwang – CEO, ATLAS – Chyau Fwu Wine & Spirits 
• Lee Yee Fung – Chief Smart Technologies Officer, Singapore Business Federation 
• Matilda Chong – Onboarding Specialist, Xero 

Tip: Need inspiration for your video entry? Learn about our 2023 winners to see what other businesses are doing.

UK judges

• Kate Hayward – Country Manager, UK, Xero 
• Vangelis Kyriazis – Co-founder and CEO, Syft Analytics
• Ravi Shah – Partner, Vinod Shah & Co
• Michelle Ovens CBE – Founder, Small Business Britain
• Nabeel Nauzer – Commercial Operations Analyst, Xero

Tip: It’s important to be future-focused in your pitch video. In each category, we’re looking for businesses or organisations with a clear path forward that demonstrate how they will use the funds. We want to hear how it’s part of your long-term business strategy or goals and how the funding will help your aspirations. The more specific you are with future plans and ideas, the better!

South Africa judges

• Colin Timmis – Country Manager, South Africa, Xero
• Rushaan Toefy – Owner, Rushaan Toefy Financial Services
• Bulelani Balabala – Founder, Township Entrepreneurs Alliance
• Susan van der Valk – Partner, MGI Bass Gordon
• Sarah Minns – National Account Manager, Xero

Tip: Don’t worry, your pitch video doesn’t have to be fancy. It can be as simple as a self-recorded video on your phone. Check out some of our tips for creating your video.

US judges

• Ben Richmond – Managing Director, North America, Xero
• Claire Van Holland – Founder and Principal, CV Ledger
• Shahir Daud – Founder & Executive Producer and Shivali Gulab, Operations Director, SuvaNova
• Sarah Prevost – Founder, Mintage Labs
• Krista Simpson – Operations Specialist, Xero

Tip: In your video, keep it genuine, keep it fun and most importantly, just be yourself!

Canada judges

• Ben Richmond – Managing Director, North America, Xero
• Tony McGregor – CPA, Partner, Freelandt Caldwell Reilly LLP
• Melissa Lenos – Founder, King Business Solutions Inc
• Jeff Blundell – Director of Communications, SciMar
• Sid Bhattacharjee – Senior Product Designer, Xero

Tip: Show us how the funding will impact your business or organisation. We want to see how your business is aligned to the funding category you’ve selected. Having concrete examples in your video will help show the judges how you’ll make your mark as a winner of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund.

“As a business owner myself, I understand the challenges of wearing so many hats and experiencing the highs and lows of running a business. I’m excited to support and celebrate exceptional founders who have trusted themselves to take a leap to start something new. That’s a huge accomplishment in itself.”

Melissa Laurie, Founder & Managing Director of Oysterly and 2024 xero beautiful business fund Global judge

Global judges

We have also selected a global judging panel. Our global judges will select four global winners from the pool of country winners from around the world. Those global winners will each receive an additional NZD $50,000 in funding (or local equivalent), in addition to their funding awarded at a country level. 

• Sukhinder Singh Cassidy – CEO, Xero
• Mike Cohen – Global Head of Partnerships, Square
• Kate Dundas –  Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network Australia
• Melissa Laurie – Founder & Managing Director, Oysterly
• Lara Brennan – Partner, Advisory & Outsourcing, Forvis Mazars
• James Bergin – EGM, Technology Research & Advocacy, Xero

Melissa Laurie is the founder and managing director of Oysterly, a social video agency that specialises in creating user-generated content (UGC) for leading brands and a 2023 winner of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund in the ‘Trailblazing with technology’ category. She’s a judge this year and shares what it means to her and what she’s looking forward to seeing from the entries: “As a business owner myself, I understand the challenges of wearing so many hats and experiencing the highs and lows of running a business. I’m excited to support and celebrate exceptional founders who have trusted themselves to take a leap to start something new. That’s a huge accomplishment in itself.”

“Having been an applicant last year, I know how challenging it can be to stay within the 90-second time cap because you naturally want to share so much about your business,” Melissa adds. “I had to think carefully about how to make my message stand out. I’m looking forward to seeing how this year’s applicants tackle this challenge and clearly outline the impact they’ll make with the prize money. I also look forward to seeing their passion and understanding how the business owners intend to use the Xero Beautiful Business Fund.”

The post Meet the judges for the 2024 Xero Beautiful Business Fund appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

It feels like the magical two days that were Xerocon London just happened, and we’re already preparing to hit the road again for Xerocon Nashville this August! 

It’s the perfect time to not only meet some of the apps being exhibited at this year’s Xerocon, but hear real-life stories on how connecting apps with Xero can streamline your work and expand your possibilities. 

So, how can you prepare ahead of time to meet the app exhibitors, ask the right questions and come away empowered? We’ve got five tips to get the most out of apps heading to Xerocon Nashville. 

1. Write down you and your clients’ business needs ahead of time

Understanding the areas your business needs help in, or processes that are eating up time, is a great first step to knowing what apps will be best for your practice.

• What are your pain points?
  Look at the processes you have in place and speak with your colleagues to get feedback on areas that can be more efficient. Make a shortlist of pain points you hear repeatedly
• What are your clients’ pain points?
  Talk to your clients or refer back to previous appointments to understand what they need most, struggle with, or are repeatedly requesting. Their feedback could be solved by an app that your practice can use, or by apps that you can recommend as part of an advisory service

2. Make a shortlist and get to know the apps exhibited

Walk into Xerocon with a plan of which app exhibitors you want to speak to, so you can cross feedback and questions off your list and find your perfect solutions sooner.

• Explore the apps coming along
  Take a look at the full list of apps being exhibited at Xerocon Nashville 2024 and note down how they integrate with Xero and practices
• Make a shortlist
  Take note of the apps that may meet your business needs and have features that could solve your pain points. 
• Start some free trials ahead of Xerocon
  Many apps offer free trials, and each of the app exhibitors will include a link to their Xero App Store listing. You can connect your Xero account and start a trial in just a few clicks, allowing you to explore each app that interests you and note down features you like and questions you have – all without committing to a paid plan upfront

3. Put together your own personalized agenda

A great part of attending an event as big as Xerocon is the ability to personalise it to your priorities. You can easily scroll through each day’s sessions , and add ones you’re interested in to your own personal agenda. 

If finding the right apps to streamline some of your practice operations and offer clients more is on your priority list, you might want to add these key sessions to your agenda. 

Wednesday 14 August

• Elevate your practice’s service offering with connected apps: Learn how to harness the power of Xero App Store apps to enable you to better service your clients’ needs, from tackling tax obligations and bookkeeping to offering insightful advisory services and a custom app stack for their industry
  Add to my agenda

Thursday 15 August 

• Carbon accounting: the next frontier of compliance: Advisors are rapidly needing to help clients navigate new standards and legislation in the sustainability space. Learn how you can upskill in carbon accounting and offer a valuable service to clients
  Add to my agenda
• Deliver added value and increase efficiency with BILL Spend & Expense: Join us for an invaluable session on how you can add automated spend management to your practice offerings with BILL, featuring a sneak peek of BILL’s new sync with Xero and actionable strategies to take home
  Add to my agenda
• Xero Awards United States & Canada 2024: Meet the app exhibitors set to be announced as the Practice App of the Year and Small Business App of the Year at a special awards ceremony held during Xerocon
  Add to my agenda

DON’T MISS THE APP EXHIBITOR DEMOS: Head to the Xerocon agenda to find the dozens of live app demos happening each day. See apps in action and get a preview of new features and products.

4. Talk to the experts

Take full advantage of apps being at Xerocon by talking to their teams directly. Come along with a list of questions about their product or about recommending apps as an advisory service, so you can maximise your time with them.

Want help ahead of time with your shortlist, or with prioritising which app exhibitors you should speak to? Your Xero account manager can help walk you through the apps being exhibited and suggest the best fit for your needs. 

5. Leave Xerocon ready to take action 

Once you’ve recovered from all the action, innovation and excitement that Xerocon brings, get back to business with an action plan from all you’ve learnt about apps. 

• Write notes on your shortlisted apps
  Narrow down your shortlist to a final list of apps you loved based on the conversations you had, demos you attended, and showcases you watched. Take notes of the benefits and the answers apps gave you to refer back to later so you don’t have to remember it all during Xerocon
• Talk with your team
  Come back to your team and talk through the apps that you think could help solve the pain points your practice identified for you and your clients. This can help you quickly get your team on board and ready to incorporate apps into your everyday operations
• Recommend apps to your clients
  Met some great app exhibitors that could help some of your client’s business needs and pain points? You can get clients started with one-click app recommendations right within Xero
• Turn your trials into subscriptions
  If your free trials went well and your Xerocon conversations solved your questions, then it’s time to make it official! Go through the subscription plans for your chosen apps and pick the best plans for your practice before your trial ends so you don’t lose any functionality

Discover apps that can move your practice forward with the Xero App Store

If you want to learn more about how apps can help benefit your practice and your clients every day, explore the Xero App Store and our guide to using apps as an advisor. 

See you in Music City!

The post Five tips to make the most of app exhibitors at Xerocon Nashville appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

“After my partner and I were attacked in our home, we had a lot of questions about how to help improve the safety of our neighbourhood and  a create a sense of community where neighbours don’t hide behind high walls,” said Sheryl Ozinsky, co-founder of Oranjezicht City Farm (OZCF), a non-profit project celebrating local food, culture and community in Cape Town, South Africa. 

The Oranjezicht City Farm was one of the 2023 winners of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, winning the ‘Strengthening Community Connection’ category for their incredible work in community-building. We spoke with co-founder Sheryl Ozinsky about the creation of OZCF and her vision for the future of sustainable organic farming after winning funding from the Xero Beautiful Business Fund. 

Creating a community through good food

“[After the incident], we realised that we needed to make our community safer and more liveable. Nothing brings people together more than good food. Whether you’re a mama in the townships or someone who lives in the leafy suburbs, everyone likes to eat. So a group of us residents started a community vegetable garden on an old neglected bowling green. Neighbours came out with their kids, picked their own veggies, and met and talked to each other, and we solved issues that were a concern for us.

Then, we started a small market in 2013 next to the garden as a way of raising funds to pay for the garden’s upkeep. We didn’t have enough produce from the garden, so we reached out to other small-scale organic farmers and traders as demand grew. 

Fast forward ten years, the market is now located at the V&A Waterfront, has over 100 traders who sell everything from meat to fish and cheese, hosts over 10,000 visitors a week, and supports over 35 organic farmers. The market is the bridge that connects small-scale farmers with consumers,” Sheryl explained.

Running a farmers’ market on a large scale in a commercial environment like the V&A Waterfront can be challenging; bad weather conditions can affect the supply and discourage customers from visiting. “To compete with very strong supermarket chains – as we have in South Africa – you need to be on your entrepreneurial toes and interrogate how the business is doing from one week to the next, and year to year,” said Sheryl. “Xero has helped us enormously to keep track of our business, understand how we are performing and where we can improve. It’s helped us to avoid carrying any bad debt.”

“If you live in South Africa, there’s a level of responsibility that you carry to not only look after yourself, but to look after others as well. That’s what winning the fund is helping us to do.”

Sheryl Ozinsky, co-founder of Oranjezicht City Farm

Winning the Xero Beautiful Business Fund 

OZCF intends to widen their reach to more farmers and communities around South Africa, but capacity and funding is limited. “We wanted to help organic farmers across the country to start their own farmers markets in their communities,” explained Sheryl. 

“Last year, we worked with the Participatory Guarantee Systems South Africa (PGSSA), a body that certifies small-scale organic farmers as being PGS Organic. With the help of the Xero funding, we created an online course that guides farmers on how to set up farmers’ markets. The course, which ran once a week over four months, was completed by 300 people and we printed a guide book that was distributed to all the attendees.” 

Sheryl heard about the Xero Beautiful Business Fund from Susan van der Valk, the market’s accountant and a partner at MGI Bass Gordon.

“The entry process was simple; just film a short video and send it in. Tell your story, which also gives you the chance to stop and reflect on your journey,” says Sheryl. “It was a massive surprise to hear that we had won.”

Passing on the torch

“If you live in South Africa, there’s a level of responsibility that you carry to not only look after yourself, but to look after others as well. That’s what winning the fund is helping us to do,” said Sheryl. “We can help establish more farmers’ markets around the country, creating a pull for organic produce and encouraging communities to eat healthy food.” 

“So far, two new markets have been established this year, one in KwaZulu-Natal and another in Limpopo,” says Sheryl. 

We’re thrilled to share that the Xero Beautiful Business Fund is back for 2024 and entries are officially open.

The 2023 winners are an incredible group of small businesses and nonprofits who are passionate about solving problems and making an impact in their local communities. We’re spotlighting some of our past winners to hear more about how the fund has impacted their business and helped them achieve their goals.

The post How the Xero Beautiful Business Fund helped a sustainable farmers’ market start to sow new communities across South Africa appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that offers numerous benefits. It simplifies financial management with automated bank feeds, allowing you to save time on data entry. Create, email, and print professional invoices effortlessly. Access your finances in real time via the cloud from any device. Retain records of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities securely online. Whether you’re a small business owner or an accountant, Xero streamlines your financial processes and provides a clear view of your financial health.

This guest blog was written by the team at GoCardless.

Running a small business can mean moving between being a general manager to a customer services contact, marketing lead and, in some cases, debt collector. Without the proper processes in place, managing payments can take up too much time and even result in bigger problems.

In fact, the Office of National Statistics shared that poor cash flow is responsible for up to 90% of new businesses failing. Breaking this cycle can be tough, especially when a quarter of small business owners say they’re uncomfortable talking about money with their suppliers and customers.

The true cost of late payments

According to our research, on average, UK small businesses are paid up to 18 days late. There’s already an upfront concern about people using services or products without paying for them at all. But then there’s the additional time and resources spent pursuing those payments – small businesses spend around four hours every week chasing late payments. If the right processes aren’t in place then manual money management can become labour-intensive, draining time, money and morale. 

Chasing late payments causes avoidable stress on both the payer and payee side of the experience. Customers can feel frustrated by constant reminders to make a payment which may have failed accidentally, perhaps due to an expired card, or perhaps payment has been made but the business can’t see the funds in their account yet.

On the payee side, the inconsistent cash flow makes it hard to plan ahead or invest in essential parts of the business. Poor cash flow can have hugely detrimental effects, with 80% of small business owners unsure if they can pay their own invoices on time, and a further 89% saying the uncertainty around money coming in and out leads to increased stress and anxiety.  

Getting started in three steps

1. Using pull payments

During our recent session at Xerocon London, we emphasised that changing the way payments are collected can put businesses, rather than their customers, in control of their cash flow.

One of the simplest changes that a small business can make is switching from a ‘push’ to a ‘pull’ method. Push payments mean that the payer is in control of when and how much is paid – think of manual bank transfers, cash payments, or one-off card payments. But if a business has lots of repeat orders, such as subscription plans, then switching to a pull method means that they are pulling a pre-agreed amount of money from their customer’s account into theirs. It removes the element of the unknown and gives them greater control.

A prime example of an effective pull method is direct debit as it can be easily automated to collect a set amount on a regular basis, only needing to be set up once by the customer and then continuing to run until the end of the buying relationship.

2. Reduce manual burdens

Businesses can go one step further to eliminate manual processes. Time spent reconciling payments manually and sifting through multiple reports can be significantly reduced by switching to a payment provider that offers integration with the business’s existing accounting software.

Not all providers offer this, so due diligence is needed, but once in place it means being able to manage the end-to-end payments process in one place, just as you can through the Xero and GoCardless integration. 

3. Think online and on the go

Finally, businesses can use payment tools that can be accessed online and on the go. Small business owners needn’t be limited by having to be in a set place to manage their money. Using providers that offer digital- and cloud-based solutions, gives the added peace of mind of 24/7 accessibility.

Making it easy to get paid

Adam Cozens, co-founder at specialty coffee roasters, Perky Blenders, uses Xero and GoCardless to help run the business. With a Xero account that is “very, very busy”, having the two systems talk to each other reduces the burden of invoicing and chasing customers for payments.

“It’s not something we’ve had to worry about. The integration provides the flexibility to invoice each customer within days,” says Adam. “GoCardless automatically takes the payment on the due date, whether that’s payment on invoice, 60 days, whatever.”

Find out more about how you can make the most of GoCardless and Xero. Check out GoCardless on the Xero App Store.

The post Three simple ways to transform money management appeared first on Xero Blog.

If Xero is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.