As a co-founder of Double Rule, I was given the privilege to attend Xerocon San Diego a week ago. Together with our team we were able to touch base on various topics, all of which are integral parts to start running a successful business.

Xerocon as a personal experience

Our company makes sure to focus on our customer experience first. This is the main reason why we highly believe on Xero. With much assurance, Xero stands out among different cloud based services because of their personal approach. They coined the term “the human ripple effect” in which there was much emphasis on Xero functioning not only as a company but as a group of individuals working together with a heart.

A couple of months ago, one of our employees passed away. He’s just a regular employee and his family needed financial help in order to pay the final medical bills and funeral expenses. By chance, the office of Xero Singapore found out about it and immediately pulled money out of their own pockets and donated to the family of our deceased employee. True enough, beyond emerging new technologies through AI & Robots, this deep personal connection is unbeatable. Empathy is something that cannot be taught nor bought. And that is what you call the human ripple effect.

Being part of the Xero ecosystem makes me feel very special. Attending these kinds of Xero events has evolved from bringing in insightful new best practices to taking time each year to humanize our personal connection and experience with our clients. Through the process of unlearning and experimentation, I believe that we’ve evolved into a better person, a better practice.

November 29, 2018 — Whenever you log into Xero lately, you might notice that there’s something new within its interface. Don’t worry folks, for there’s nothing wrong with your account, it was actually one of the few modifications made throughout Xero’s UX design.

Simple is Beautiful

The software company believes that ease of access and simplicity are the most important ingredients in making a business solution efficient and “beautiful”, which is why they added these changes to their accounting software in order to make things a lot more easier for those who are using Xero.

1. Easier Access

The all-new UX design was made in order for you to easily access everything that you need in Xero, such as Workflowmax, Xero Projects, Project Manager and more.

Imagine, with shortcuts like Workflowmax and App Marketplace now available in the menu sidebar, you don’t need to open another tab or even use separate credentials just to access the things that you need — since all of them are now included inside the menu bar of the platform.

2. Searching for Orgs?

So let’s just say for example that you are handling 10 organizations at once. Once you are finished with an organization, your next step is to type the name of the organization that you need to go through next within the search field, and type a couple of letters before the one that you’re looking for shows up in the list.

The new UX design still comes with the same semantics — only this time, you’ll need to click the Change Organisation link before you search for the orgs that you want.

3. Business and Accounting Menus

Two new menus are also added: Business and Accounting.

For the Business menu, things such as Invoices, Bills and Expense Claims are rolled inside this section, while Inventory, instead of having a separate tab, also falls inside this menu under the Products and Services option.

The Accounting menu on the other hand, contains options like Reports, Bank Accounts as well as fan-favorite tools such as Find & Recode, Chart of Accounts and many others.

Check out this article for you to see the full details of this announcement. You can also visit Xero Central to learn more about the features added to this new interface design of Xero.

November 20, 2018 — After a year, Xero returns to London for Xerocon, and much like its recent events that happened all across the globe, the show completely tore the house down as they entertain their accounting and bookkeeping attendees with lots of meaningful keynote sessions and surprise product unveilings.

Here are some of the highlights from Xerocon London 2018:

1. Faster Bank Feeds (UK)

Five of UK’s leading Fintechs (Soldo, TransferWise, Tide, Revolut, Starling) are coming together for Xero Bank Feeds API in order to give their customers a much faster experience when it comes to directly connect bank feeds, especially when it comes to managing expenses and tracking foreign exchange payments.

2. Updates to Xero Projects

The accounting software company’s flagship project platform is also getting an upgrade — as it partners with Trello in helping businesses on furtherly managing their projects on both applications.

With this new integration, users would now be able to track up time rendered as well as productivity, thus giving users a bird’s eye view of their project’s status and completion period.

A/R wise, invoicing is now also available for Xero Projects wherein users can easily create invoices whether for deposits, tasks and expenses that would sync with the user’s accounting system.

3. Improvements to Hubdoc

After Xero’s acquisition of leading data caption solution Hubdoc last July, it was now revealed at Xerocon that information on documents such as receipts, bills and other forms of accounting records from over 150 financial institutions and vendors can now be fed straight into the accounting software.

This was part of Xero’s advocacy of providing a much code-free experience as well as a streamlined approach to critical business tasks such as data entry and document management for its accounting folks.

4. A “Dashing” New Appearance

Xero dashboard is getting a new look, and it was also unveiled during Xerocon.

The accounting dashboard is one of the most important features of Xero, since it provides users with a precise look of what the status of their financials looks like in real-time.

Xero is fully aware that in order for businesses to get much quicker results, they would need to modify the appearance of the Xero dashboard and make it look a bit more intuitive — with tabs that are organized in a way that you could easily access.

5. MTD-Themed Updates

Yet one of Xero’s biggest announcements during the conference were the announcements that would focus on the upcoming UK-based initiative called MTD (Making Tax Digital) that will start on April 1, 2019.

MTD, or simply called as Making Tax Digital is one of UK government’s key programs that was designed to automate the country’s current tax system, and help individuals as well as businesses on easily processing their tax returns.

In order to comply with this new policy, Xero acquired Instafile, one of UK’s top cloud-based tax preparation solution.

With this new acquisition, users of Xero accounting software would now be able to file their tax returns directly with tax agencies such as HMRC and Companies House in just minutes, thus saving time.

Visit this article to learn more about Xero’s acquisition of Instafile.

6. What’s Up, Dexter?

Aside from the Instafile “deal”, Xerocon London 2018 also marked the imminent arrival of their new mascot named Dexter: The Digital Tax Advisor.

In partnership with Oscar-nominated pair of animators Alison Snowden and David Fine, Dexter was created in order to raise awareness on small business owners about the upcoming MTD initiative, in a form of cartoon series that explains the steps to help you become tax compliant in UK.

November 20, 2018 — After yet another successful Xerocon in London, the accounting software company had released a new wave of product releases that focuses on improving aspects such as management of expenses, sending queries, handling of projects and more.

Here is a recap of Xero releases for the month of October 2018:

• Email to Bills Pre-Populated Fields (Premium)
• Upgrades to Ask in Xero HQ
• Updates to Xero Expenses
• Xero X Trello
• Profit and Loss for Mobile (US)
• Xero Login and 2SA Implementation for Workflowmax

Email to Bills Pre-Populated Fields (Premium)

For Premium Subscribers — Be able to fully automate your A/P creation in Xero, as the Email to Bills feature now allows you to extract key information from your PDF bills and transform them into automatic draft bills inside the accounting software.

Just forward your bills, review information included within those fields and you’re ready to go!

Some of the pre-populated fields consists of the following:

• Total Amount
• Bill Date
• Due Date (If Specified)
• Supplier
• Reference

Check out this blog to learn more about emailing pdf bills into you Xero organization.

Upgrades to Ask in Xero HQ

Xero HQ’s Ask feature is getting an upgrade as it focuses on providing a much easier approach on sending questions and setting out templates for queries.

Templates for Queries

The accounting software company is fully aware that most firms are fond of using the same questions over and over again whenever they have new clients, which is why to make things easier, they’ve decided to add the ability of adding templates within the query system.

Yes, you heard it right! You can now set up your own query template, containing all the possible recurring questions that you have for your clients.

The process is simple: Just go to the Create Template option in the Template tab, then after setting up all the questions that you need, just select Save as Template along with the name and the description of the template, and it will now be available within your list of templates in Xero HQ. Visit this article from Xero Central to know more.

Bulk Selection of Clients for Queries

Advisors can now send out queries to multiple clients in one go with the help of Ask Bulk Send.

With this new feature, you don’t have to send questions one by one — all you have to do is select as many clients as you want. Once you send in your queries, each of them will be able to receive your questions and answer them accordingly in no time. Check out this article from Xero Central to know more.

Updates to Xero Expenses

For Xero Expenses, every user role can now have the ability of changing the description of the expense even after it’s submitted, and rotate receipt images based on the user’s desired view.

Xero X Trello : Effective Project Management

Also announced at Xerocon London was the collaboration between Xero Projects and project management tool Trello, wherein users would be able to track time in Xero Projects from tasks in Trello, along with the status as well as task completion period.

Profit and Loss for Mobile (US)

Users of Xero in the United States would now also be able to access a complete view of Profit and Loss — straight from the screens of their Android and iOS device. That way, you can easily get a clear view of your gains and spendings anytime, anywhere!

Xero Login and 2SA Implementation for Workflowmax

Moving forward, users of Workflowmax will now have to use their Xero account’s credentials (e.g. username and password) as well as 2SA (Two Step Authentication) in order to access the job management software — which means you don’t need to have separate accounts just to get in for both platforms. This feature will also become available in Australia starting the 4th of December.

Want to know more about the newest updates in Xero? You can check out this blog or visit Xero Central and Feature Timeline page.

History tells us that the system of payments had been evolving for some time now: From simple exchanges of goods, to the emergence of coins and bills as well as cheques and other amounts that would later come in the form of cryptocurrencies and e-wallets — it’s evolving in a sense that it has moved forward to such convenient options, that payers would never need to probe their pockets and search for their wallets, but instead just swipe their phones and click the “Pay” button.

Image credit: Xero Blog

In retrospect to these convenience that was made over the years, whenever we hear the words “business”, “money” and “payments”, these 4 questions would still come into mind:

• How Much Money Do I Have?
• Who Do I Owe?
• Who Owes Me?
• Am I Making a Profit?

Xero is fully aware of these questions, and what they wanted all throughout was for their users to quickly answer these questions and be able to pay their customers inside the platform, which is why they acquired the services of Stripe, one of the world’s leading industries in online payment processing to do the job.

In Paving the Future of Payments

During a Stripe sessions panel talk in San Francisco, Mary Buckley, Xero’s Head of Financial Partnerships for the Americas, got the chance to talk with Jeanne DeWitt, Stripe’s Head of Sales, as they discuss the relevance of this integration that would provide such positive cashflows to businesses as they end the struggle in managing unpaid invoices.

In a statement, Mary said:

“Xero’s primary focus has been to help small businesses understand how much money they have, what do they owe, what do others owe them and are they making a profit. Integrating with Stripe to help users manage payments, was a natural extension of our invoicing features to streamline the experience for business owners and their advisors.”

All along, Stripe has been living the mission of helping businesses of any size to grow with the help of today’s technology. This integration of Stripe with Xero had truly raised the standards especially in paving the future of transactional payments, as it helped most of their customers get paid in a much faster manner.

They would never have to chase their customers for payments — All they have to do is set up Stripe as their payment service option in Xero and after that, they would now be able to send out invoices and even pay from Xero using both debit/credit cards and even ACH credits. With this breakthrough, users could receive payments in a lesser span of time, and there’s no need for one to pay via online banking or cut cheques, as things can be done directly in Xero.

What Happens During the Integration? The goal of this integration between Xero and Stripe did not only focus on automating payments of transactions such as invoices and bills within the software, but it also focused in making bank statement reconciliation an easy one for customers.

The integration had allowed credit card payments to be accepted directly in Xero, as well as pay the amount straight from the accounting software with the use of their debit/credit cards. As per bank statements, Xero made it sure that users would only have to do just “one click” in order to get those statements reconciled, which is why all Stripe-related transactions within Xero are automatically matched.

Want to learn more about Xero and Stripe integration? Check out this blog and visit these articles from Xero Central for you to learn the steps in setting up your Stripe account in Xero.

September 25, 2018 — After their successful Xerocon in Brisbane, the accounting software company released yet another rundown of the latest features of Xero for the month of August.

Features included in this product release update mostly focused on improving security, management of fixed assets, payroll, activity statements as well as invoices within platforms like Xero Projects.

Here is a roundup of the latest developments for Xero as of August 2018:

• Find & Recode Upgrade
• Mandatory 2SA for Payroll (AU)
• 2SA Alternative Email Address
• Private Use Depreciation (NZ)
• Lodging Activity Statements (AU)
• Running Balance in Report
• Upgrades to Xero Projects
• Access to Invoice List (Mobile)
• App Recommendations

1. Find & Recode Upgrade

Enhancements were added to the search functionality within the Find & Recode feature, as search parameters like bank account, reference as well as invoice number are already available, thus making Find & Recode a walk in the park.

2. Mandatory 2SA for Payroll (AU)

Payroll admins and subscribers in Australia are now required to have 2SA (two-step authentication) activated for Xero Payroll, in line with the new ATO requirements when it comes to the security of taxpayer information.

Two-step authentication is designed to create extra layers of security, in which you have to enter a security code as produced by your phone’s authenticator app once you log into your Xero account.

Compulsory implementation of 2SA had already started in September 11, 2018. Be able to learn on how to setup your two-step authentication by visiting this article from Xero Central.

3. 2SA Alternative Email Address

Users can now also add an alternative email address for recovery purposes in case you already setup 2SA, but doesn’t have access to your authenticator application.

Check out this article to learn more about setting this feature in Xero.

4. Private Use Depreciation (NZ)

For NZ Partners — you would now be able to separate client assets into private and business purposes for easier tax designation of assets to the business portion, and fixed assets for private use depreciation.

5. Lodging Activity Statements (AU)

As previously mentioned at Xerocon, Xero partners — specifically BAS agents can now lodge their Business Activity Statements (BAS) with the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) with Xero’s Submit BAS function. Learn more about this feature by visiting this article.

6. Running Balance in Report

Also, account transactions report in Xero has a running balance feature which allows you to easily keep track of your accounts as well as reconciled transactions, without the need for too much hassle in calculation!

7. Upgrades to Xero Projects

For mobile users of Xero Projects, you can now create invoices straight from your device and be able to send out invoices to your customers anytime, anywhere!

Also, users of web version can now link credit notes against invoices for an accurate view of their A/R inside the platform.

8. Access to Invoice List (Mobile)

Also on mobile — improvements were also added to the app’s invoices list, in order for you to get an instant view of your list of receivables using your device.

9. App Recommendations

Xero now has an extension page inside the accounting software which would help you look for the cloud-app solution that you need. Just go to apps.xero.com and set your industry to view recommended apps, straight from the Xero app marketplace!

Want to know more about the newest updates in Xero? You can check out this blog or visit Xero Central and Feature Timeline page.

September 10, 2018 — One of the first unveilings made at Xerocon Brisbane 2018 was the announcement of Xero Bank Feeds API, a full-feature API platform that could automatically connect feeds from banks as well as other financial institutions with Xero accounting software.

Image Credit: Xero Blog

Real-Time Feeds Make a Difference

Bank feeds are considered as one of the most impressive features delivered by Xero accounting software over the past couple of years. This technology had allowed businesses to not only connect their banks with Xero and easily determine the state of their cash flow, but it also enabled them to create relevant business decisions, based on the results given by “real-time” feeds that flows automatically into Xero.

With this sudden technological breakthrough quickly turning into a business trend, even financial institutions such as banks wants to join in standardizing their workflow by applying the concept of cloud technology into their corner.

Power of Bank Feeds Redefined

The accounting software company became popular not only for its extensive family of add-on partners, but also for its direct integration with over a 180 banks and financial institutions including Wells Fargo, DBS Bank, NAB (National Australia Bank) and Barclays (UK).

Xero believes that these bank feeds play a major role within a business’ daily routine, which is why they decided to take things up a notch, and came up with more ways on how banks can securely connect with Xero in a much easier and faster manner.

API Enabling Faster Feed Connection

Xero Bank Feeds API is an open banking API (Application Programming Interface) which aims to hopefully eliminate the need for too much workaround, as this new program enables users to connect with bank feeds within a matter of minutes instead of a 10-day waiting period.

Banks would have the option to decide on how frequent they wanted those feeds to be updated, based on the needs of their customers — There’s no need for all sorts of waiting time with this one, as signing up to Xero’s direct feeds can be done in minutes instead of days, which is a great thing since it makes processing a lot more efficient for institutions that wants to deliver a much better banking experience for their clients.

Xero Bank Feeds API would soon become available, as mentioned during Xerocon.

Please stay tuned for more updates on what’s happening at Xerocon Brisbane 2018! You can also check out this blog to learn everything about Xero Bank Feeds API.

September 10, 2018 — Brisbane — Often called as the “Coachella for Accountants”, Xerocon is widely regarded as one of the grandest and most popular form of celebration made exclusively for accountants, bookkeepers, advisors and business owners alike.

This year alone, Xero already has held two successful conferences: One in Atlanta and now in Brisbane — much like its predecessor, this September’s Xerocon was no different, for it continuously showcased the magic that only Xero could pull out of its sleeve.

The pre-con, as well as Days 1 and 2 were filled with so much entertainment and surprises, as accountants and bookkeepers from all parts of the globe had experienced that magic once again! This year’s conference was deemed as one of the largest ever cloud accounting gathering in Australia, with over 3500 participants present at the event.

And as Xerocon comes to a close, we’ve prepared a list of all the major announcements and product unveilings that happened at Xerocon Brisbane 2018:

1. Files Required — This feature (in beta) was designed to help advisors in identifying as well as organizing client documents all in one place, thus avoiding the everyday hassles of chasing information.

2. Machine Learning on Invoices — Users don’t need to enter accounting codes as well as inventory items to their invoices anymore!

The concept of having this functionality through the use of machine learning had already been present during the past Xerocons in Atlanta and London — and now, this feature is set to make its debut on the invoicing module by the end of the year.

3. Email-to-Bills — This newly improved feature enables users to automatically populate purchase fields such as supplier, invoice date, invoice number, amount, reference and due date through the use of OCR (Optical Character Recognition).

Simply forward bills from any other business to your Xero billing address and it will automatically create a draft in Xero. All you have to do is enter the description and Save. This removes the need for doing manual data entry within bills, thus simplifying purchase workflow. Check out this article to learn more.

4. Xero Mobile — Upgrades were included for the Xero mobile app — from easier management of bills and invoices to intuitive displays of financial data in dashboard. Stay tuned to learn more of these exciting new features in their next release updates.

5. Xero Bank Feeds API — Also announced at Xerocon was the launch of a new bank feed API platform which will help banks and other financial institutions in connecting their bank feeds with Xero without the hassle and too much waiting time! Check out our blog to learn more.

6. Automated Bank Rules — Yes, you heard it right! Come the next 90 days and you’ll never have to click ok on those bank rules anymore 

7. Xero Projects (AU) — Users would now be able to share timesheet information within the payroll section of the platform.

8. Updates to Payroll — Aside from bulk import of employees, users would now be required to use two-step authentication for a more secure experience in using Xero Payroll starting September 11.

9. Lodging of Activity Statements (AU) — You would now be able to lodge your Business Activity Statements (BAS)with the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) directly from the accounting software through a new Submit BAS function. This new feature would hopefully change the game for taxpayers, as it reduces waiting time on lodging of returns from hours to just minutes! Visit this article to learn more.

Also, automated lodging of ETP (Employment Termination Payment) can now also be done in Xero.

10. STP in Action — Also mentioned during Xerocon was the Single Touch Payroll (STP) function which allows customers to remit payroll taxes with the ATO. The feature made its way to a selected number of customers last July 1, 2018, and would become available for all clients by December 31, 2018. Visit this website to learn more about Xero’s Single Touch Payroll feature.