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Whether you’re heading to the conference or staying at home this year, use this guide to stay connected throughout Xerocon 2017. Follow Acuity on Twitter to follow along on our journey. Ever — Rumor has it that this year’sXerocon in Austinwill become the biggest Xerocon yet, with more exhibitors and educational sessions headlining the conference. A world champion adventurer racer and NYT best-selling author, spoke on the importance of utilizing team members and leveraging their specific skills as components of an organization.
This workshop focuses on taking your practice to the cloud, completely. What it takes to transition a practice, and how to build your practice around the change that occurs when you go from ‘desktop’ to ‘cloud’. ApprovalMax ApprovalMax is an innovative cloud approval workflow system that enables spend control and optimisation for organisations of all sizes. Account Kit AccountKit is a set of cloud based tools branded to your practice colours. The app marketplace of Xero may be growing beyond 600 “ecosystem partners”, BUT interestingly the number showing up at Xerocon is diminishing, despite the rapidly growing audience. The continued ignorance of the mid-market players (e.g. NetSuite) to core SMB usability and functionality like bank feeds, makes them primed for competition from the SMB players.
Going right along with this ‘cloud’ emphasis is a third workshop offering called ‘Unleashing mobile to build your niche practice’. In my way of thinking this session combines many of the principles outlined in the two sessions I just discussed. It focuses on identification of niches that maybe right for your practice, and once identified, then provides specific solutions that work for each niche. One of the unique aspects of this session is that much of the content has been a collaborative effort between Xero and Apple. Australian Bookkeepers Network ABN provides unique support tools, resources and a network of experts enabling bookkeepers to make informed business decisions. Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services provides information technology infrastructure services to businesses in the form of web services. Rather than detail the misunderstanding in a public forum, I have spoken to the appropriate people at Xero.
Over the next few days you will find several Xero related features appearing within Insightful Accountant as I try to bring you not only what’s happening at Xerocon but the announcements from Austin that will be impacting our industry. My Wednesday and Thursday are packed with ‘press events’ and one-on-one sessions with Xero executives and product managers. In my way of thinking an Accountant, Bookkeeper or Xero Advisor should focus on 3 or 4 Apps that fit a specific type of client, for example a time tracking App and an Expense App and a Construction Management App for Small to Medium Contractors. Another example might be a Law-firm Management App and a data capture engine App to turn legal briefs into fully indexed digital data at light speed. A key factor in this process is finding those 2 or 3 apps that all of your clients need and can use. Xerocon Melbourne 2017 is playing host to the world’s most beautiful and innovative conference for cloud accounting leaders and friends. The commercial reality is the relationship with Xero and it’s ecosystem was always going to evolve as the edges and gaps that created opportunity for “add-ons” became areas of direct competition.
Utilizing artificial intelligence, structured data can now be managed without user input, essentially creating “code-free accounting”. The future of accounting is becoming easier for those without accounting backgrounds to learn and manage their financials.
— The biggest cloud accounting conference of the year will happen at the Fair Market in Austin, Texas on December 6 -7, 2017, with it’s pre-con happening at the Austin Convention Center on December 5, 2017. This year A2X exhibited at Xerocon London, in the ExCel convention centre and it blew us away! We had such positive feedback talking to over 100 UK accounting firms who go through the pain and hassle of manually accounting for their client’s Amazon sales, in spreadsheets, every month. I’ve been to quite a few Xerocon’s now, and one thing that’s always been a little under cooked were the demo stages. We know how valuable these are to partners , but it’s hard to get them right. The exhibitor hall can be a noisy place, there are keynotes & breakout sessions going on everywhere, but the demo areas can’t be hidden away or no one will find them.
Xerocon London: Highlights
The event was a great opportunity to catch up with existing partners as well as introduce Expensify to new faces. Well done to our very own Pete for taking centre stage on Day 2 for his demo! It felt pretty inspiring to be part of a community of people with the common goal of making accounting a truly holistic approach to running a business successfully. Our team really enjoyed Tim Leberecht’s keynote, which stressed preserving the human touch amongst all the automation. This is certainly in line with our own values at Expensify where we put employee morale on the top of our priorities with initiatives like our annual company-wideoffshore. Be sure that you take time to reflect on all that you have learned.
- The core product offers slick practice management, reporting and work papers with its own ecosystem providing automation of proposals and payments and much more.
- Xero has extremely good training content, and it has always been ‘up to the moment’ in terms of the product.
- , Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Business Development, Webgility.
- I get “choice”, but you could argue no one practice needs FUTRLI, Fathom and Spotlight.
- What I will say is that it is harder to have 2000+ employees on the same page, appreciating the same things and playing well with others.
- Read through the event guide beforehand, as well as peruse the Xero App Marketplace and customer reviews, to help you decide.
From the looks of it, there are some heavy hitters on the lineup! I personally cannot wait to see Marcus Lemonis from CNBC’s investment-based reality show “The Profit” talk about the power of relationship building or to have the Xero Ambassador team teach us to be cherished advisors.
Amanda was my ‘first’ Xero instructor a couple of years ago, but is a former Xero Ambassador and Xero Evangelist of the Year. In addition to all of that Amanda has a dynamic accounting practice in New Orleans, and a training company, and several other ventures in the mix. Somehow she manages to balance all of that against friends and family so well that I hope she will do some writing for Insightful Accountant in the near future on just how she accomplishes so much. Maybe if you post some ‘comments’ at the bottom of this article encouraging her to do that, I can use them as a form of cyber-arm-twisting. Xero has extremely good training content, and it has always been ‘up to the moment’ in terms of the product.
The Final Countdown .. Are You Ready For Xerocon 2017 Austin?
See the future of accounting from their perspectives as we cover machine learning, automation and the evolving role of accounting professionals. Share your story with your peers Join thousands of accountants and bookkeepers across the UK to share ideas and benchmark your business. Then let loose at the Xerocon party – trust us, you don’t want to miss this one. Learn why the world is open for small business Take a big-picture look at the world of small business, and see how a global platform can turn trading on its head.
Major investment in API’s between Xero and all partners was a theme throughout the conference. The partnership between A2X and Xero creates automated accounting for Amazon sales and fee management. The same can be said for many new Xero partners including Taxify, who automates sales tax reporting and filing, to Loft47, who created the first workflow solution for Real Estate back office accounting management. No matter what business you’re in, Xero has created a network of partners to serve your specific business’s needs. days of soaking up Xero’s new products, mingling with ecosystem partners, making new friends & seeing old faces.
CCH have focused on monetising the practice, not the clients . Xero have focused on monetising the client, not the practice (charging for client files/solutions, not the practice management offerings). Accounting firms across Australia, particularly those of any size, sold on the idea of cloud, really have had limited options as far as modern, cloud Practice Management solutions.
Of course the app ecosystem is going to be pivotal in this and we heard a lot about how important collaboration with those partners is to Xero. Notably, Drury made the point that ‘owning the stack’ is simply not on Xero’s agenda – perhaps a comment on the touted TSheets acquisition by Intuit.
This year will be jam-packed with amazing speakers, networking opportunities galore, and, of course… BBQ! Since Xerocon is being held in the barbecue capital of the world, I’ll be carrying sauce in my purse in the event of a brisket emergency. Brace yourself for some unbridled enthusiasm, because it’s the most wonderful time of the year and I am genuinely excited. I always ‘walk away’ from my 8 hours of Pre-con training with not only a better understanding of the Xero product, but all the enhancements and major changes that have taken place during the months since the last Xerocon. Over the last three years I have taken the opportunity to sit through Advisor Certification training which is always offered during the Pre-Con. I’m not so interested in the actual certification as I am in seeing all the changes and improvements in the product, and I have found this is the single best way to see them all.
Conversely, I get it, you have to start somewhere with new ecosystems. Starting with arguably the 8 most common, complementary offerings to Xero in the Practice Management space, makes sense. I get “choice”, but you could argue no one practice needs FUTRLI, Fathom and Spotlight. Three reporting tools, but one incorporations solution with NowInfinity, could be argued as incongruent. 10 years ago, when Xero started, the conditions were prime for market entry. In the interest of brevity, here are some of my thoughts on this year’s event and the direction Xero are headed. Select Accept cookies to consent to this use or Manage preferences to make your cookie choices.
The 9 partners integrated for the launch of Xero HQ Apps are Practice Ignition, Receipt Bank, FUTRLI, Fathom, Hubdoc, Spotlight Reporting, Now Infinity, SuiteFiles & BOMA. Check out this blog post for more details on what each integration does. On Wednesday morning a procession of 3000 accountants and bookkeepers rolled into the Xerocon exhibitor hall to be met by, the pounding beats of Xerocon. It looked like a festival, it sounded like a festival and everyone there made it feel the part too. The accounting profession is filled with too many people who are completely jaded. It’s incredibly refreshing to be surrounded for a few days by people who aren’t. People who dare to imagine that accounting can be fun and make a meaningful difference in the world.
New Product Releases
Multiply your returns from the conference by splitting up to attend more breakout sessions and visiting more exhibitors. Twitter especially blows up with the #xerocon hashtag, opening up a whole new way of experiencing the conference. In the time leading up to Xerocon, keep an eye on #xerocon hashtag and use it to get your own personality into the mix. Just remember to add something valuable – it’s all too easy to jump on the hype train and simply fade away.
Make the most of your partner status Xerocon is the best place to learn about upcoming Xero initiatives, technologies and offers that help our partners flourish. Get to know the people in the know Tap into insights from the Xero team and see how updates and innovations can benefit your business. Learn how Xero can make the transition to Making Tax Digital seamless for you and your clients.
Listen to speakers who’ll spark your imagination Look at things differently and challenge your thinking as speakers talk to the topics that impact our industry. You’ll hear from Xero’s leadership team including Rod Drury and Gary Turner alongside some stellar guest speakers.
With 600+ apps in the Xero Marketplace, I was always skeptical about this 35k developers number. Until recently it’s been only discussed internally, but I always questioned it. Why would we have so many developers using our platform, but not publishing apps? Well efficiency and internal tools seems to be the reason. Not everyone wants to share their secret sauce, and not all secret sauces can be productised.
an accounting conference unlike any you’ve ever been to. Outward-facing and big-picture-focused, Xerocon looks at the future of accounting and client service alike. sync data between Xero and shipping apps such as ShipStation and ShippingEasy. This is the best chance to meet Xerocon app partners and find out about all of the efficiency boosting add-ons out there. For more information check out the ‘What’s your client app stack’ breakout session at 11.15am on Day 2. Of course, tomorrow evening we will have the opening reception, and I am looking forward to seeing Amanda Aguillard who is my co-host for Insightful Accountant’s ‘The Xero Zone’ webinars.
Over the two days I met plenty of accountant/bookkeeper come developers that are using the Xero API to automate their businesses. With our XD Hax hackathon in full swing at the moment, I encouraged them to submit some of their work, but when we delved deeper it was pretty clear their tools were suitable only to their business.
For accountants and bookkeepers themselves, let’s look at the new offerings; the Xero HQ product is impressive. The core product offers slick practice management, reporting and work papers with its own ecosystem providing automation of proposals and payments and much more. Dozens of apps exhibit at Xerocon and if you don’t plan in advance which are most relevant to visit , you can easily end up wasting your time and missing out. Read through the event guide beforehand, as well as peruse the Xero App Marketplace and customer reviews, to help you decide. Xerocon is the place where various speakers from Xero, led by CEO and Founder Rod Drury, unveil the newest features available for the accounting software, and share how accountants of today can further improve their practice with the use of Xero.
