Key Small Business Lessons & Trends From Xerocon South 2016 Xero accounting

This means that users are always working with completely accurate data. Many app developers are using this to streamline processes and provide insight. One particular area that has us excited is in the area of cashflow predictions, based on actual payment history. Using AI and ML software can determine actual payment historic trends for a given customer and use these instead. This can then allow the app to show some valuable insights to the business owner. Alongside this, there was some amazing insight into the technologies coming to help small businesses.

#7 Leading with respect and no triangles

Xero’s loyal followers hit Melbourne to hear from the Xero team and industry experts. The product was front and centre and it felt like a user group on steroids. With energetic greetings every few metres (did I look lost?) to the standing room only opening keynote, this event was set not to disappoint.

It’s helping businesses to get a better grasp of their finances and thus making smarter decisions, ultimately increasing their chances of success. Later on that day, author Rachel Botsman will present her own session, “The Currency of the New Economy is Trust,” which will focus on how mobile apps help foster more intimacy between people and businesses. The human element of business is something we never discount, and our goal has always been for Kounta to enable business owners to foster loyal relationships with their customers. SuiteFiles provides total document management software that helps busy professional services teams ditch the admin and simplify their workflows, so they can focus on doing work that delights their clients. At the event, attended by over 2,000 people, they showcased new product releases and some of the exciting strategic initiatives including automation and machine learning.

  • We saw from the beginning that a POS is exponentially more valuable when it plays nicely with third party accounting apps—and partnering with Xero made all too much sense.
  • JCurve Solutions (JCS) is one of the largest Australian and New Zealand solution providers of NetSuite, the global leader in cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
  • I can see now see how Xero will disrupt small business accounting by taking away a lot of the data processing through Machine Learning, freeing accountants and bookkeepers to work on other areas of their business.
  • It means, for example, that Xero will one day be able to code 9 out of 10 transactions automatically with 99% accuracy.
  • If you are actively looking for your next job, check out our Candidate Resource Centre which covers off on most things from CV writing to interview success guides.
  • In his keynote address Rod Drury, Xero CEO and Co-Founder, shared Accounting 2020 – a vision for the future of the accounting industry.

Not Every Accountant Needs to Push Apps – And That’s OK

For videos, photos, and stories, visit the Xerocon San Francisco homepage. Xero’s also compiled a selection of top #xerocon tweetsand a photo album on Flickr. It also connects to the Xero Advisor Directory and can recommend a suitable accountant or bookkeeper in their area. When you know your place in the market you don’t need to fear competition. If we are in a deal with a business comparing our “JCurve ERP” vs Xero typically one of us shouldn’t be in that deal.

” and the one-on-one approach he has taken on how they can help us grow as a business add a whole new depth to our partnership with Xero. Shaun Burke, Sales Director for Asia, has provided us with data and insights on client retainability and has been a consistent anchor for two years. They also act as a bridge connecting us to the right team members overseas, whether it be in marketing, learning or support.

key small business lessons and trends from xerocon south 2016

Whilst the speakers are keen to note that AI and ML are not in a place to totally replace humans, some of the predictively abilities that are being designed are exciting for small business owners. Having immediate access to infinite data at our finger tips is powerful and it helps us to do more and move faster. But as many of us are experiencing, if you don’t control technology, it can start to control you. It’s not just Xero that’s brining innovation into our lives of course.

key small business lessons and trends from xerocon south 2016

Xero automates high integrity accounting for small businesses

For businesses serious about unlocking their true potential it’s time to get clear on your “Why”. Why do your team get out of bed each and every day and spend their finite amount of time doing what they do? When a business understands and can clearly articulate its purpose, only then can it align its the team behind this. Many smaller eCommerce businesses can get by with their online accounting software’s out-of-the-box functionality and… To develop a high performing and innovative team in your business implement a ‘no triangles’ policy and develop a culture of “respect trumps harmony”. This can also be used to develop deeper and more productive relationships with your clients.

Australian small businesses rank Xero Number One for accounting software

As Rod Drury’s session highlighted it is incredible how much technology will be capable of thinking and doing for us in the future. The trend towards productised services in the accounting industry is only new, so it might be difficult to find a provider offering exactly what you are after. Xero allows you to run your business in real time, all the time, from anywhere with an internet connection. It enables us as your accountants to have instant and live access to your numbers and to present them to you in a clear concise format.

What becomes clear to me anytime I spend time with Xero leaders or any of the leaders of the add-on apps coming out of Australia is how fundamentally different their vision is from their US based competition. They understand that they have an amazingly large global data set that contains extremely valuable information and they intend to leverage it. They understand how managing accounting processes in cloud based-software changes the way accountants work and makes accounting automated and approachable for business owners. This allowed us to focus all our resources training on best practices in Xero. Accepting the award now, on behalf of the Futurebooks team, is a validation of the investment we have made towards being Xero brand evangelists in this part of the world and the trust we have in the people behind Xero. Rest assured, it wasn’t—even if the words “epic” and “cloud accounting” rarely appear together.

  • This means that users are always working with completely accurate data.
  • I go to these conferences and sincerely feel like Xero has come to visit us from the future.
  • This year’s Xerocon proceedings started with a ‘Uni Day’ — a selection of full-day workshops for accountants and bookkeepers, hosted by James and other senior members of the Xero team.
  • Xero growth going forward is dependent on keeping partners on side as if they leave they will take their clients with them.
  • It’s not just Xero that’s brining innovation into our lives of course.

This removes the current cumbersome process of applying a credit note, which is slow and inefficient. While the concept of ‘digital disruption’ has been causing accountants anxiety for some years, James says the conversation is starting to change. Instead of thinking about how technology is disrupting their business, accountants are now exploring the ways that technology can push their business to the next level. On 7–9 September, thousands of accounting professionals, entrepreneurs and industry leaders met and mingled at the southern hemisphere’s largest tech conference. I’ve been asked a number of times if I was allowed to “gate crash” Xerocon.

Meet the 2025 Xerocon event partners

What’s so staggering about Xero is that they’ve achieved all of this in just ten years, knocking Sage off their perch and leaving all their competitors in the cloud accounting industry watching on in awe. To their credit the developers spent considerable time working with me through the process so they fully understood what I was highlighting. They wanted to understand the implications on the business, and how it impacted workflows.

Rachel Botsman, global thought leader and author the concept of “collaborative consumption”, shared that in this age of transparency the currency of the new economy is trust. I do this so I’ve set myself the challenge of creating and following a morning routine for a month with the intention of then key small business lessons and trends from xerocon south 2016 making this a habit. So if you find that you’re an expert or a leader in a certain area, and people are always wanting to pick your brain (even if they’re a really close friend of yours), give them a task to do.

Bring on #xerocon 2012 – I’ll be back with my paperwork angels this time. There are three things that Xero do really well – build great software, build enthusiastic communities, and build industry vision. From CEO, Rod Drury’s keynote to practical sessions with community members like Growthwise, Xero are future-focused and community driven. As a Xero add-on partner and a member of the wider ecosystem, it felt great to be part of a vision that extends well beyond document management and accounting software. The room was filled to capacity – and I was right at the back – so surprised to see the empty bean bags up the front in the video! It foretold us what would happen, while embracing the beauty and order of accounting.

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