Xero Blog

Every year at Xerocon London we want to surprise and delight our partners with the things we’ve been working on behind the scenes to make their lives easier. Today we unveiled 6 things we think are going to make a real difference to accountants, bookkeepers, and their clients.

1. Xero HQ

A one-stop-shop for you to advise your small business clients. It brings Practice Manager, Practice Reports, Workpapers and Tax all into one seamless solution. Not only that, it also gives you real-time information about your clients and their workflow in Xero. You will get alerted when something needs to be done, allowing you to address the areas your clients need you the most.

2. Xero Me

Small businesses have been waiting too long for companies to innovate their payroll experience, which up until now has been painful. Xero Me is our new iOS app designed to ease and automate some of the key functions that come with running a business. Small business owners and their employees can schedule time off, view payment information and more – from any device at any time.

3. Timesheets

Timesheets are yet another way we’re allowing employees and employers to communicate and work the way they want to across multiple platforms. Employees can enter their own hours, either through the Xero Me app or while at work, and then easily submit them for approval. The timesheets then get seamlessly processed by payroll passed through to payroll for the next pay-run, making it easy for employers to make sure everyone gets paid.

4. Assurance Dashboard

The Assurance Dashboard helps advisors monitor their clients’ financial data to identify errors and anomalies, helping to put controls around the integrity and accuracy of that data. This initial foray is part of a larger vision that helps advisors deliver continuous assurance, a new way of adding value by using high-integrity accounting systems to enhance reporting and decision-making. At the same time, continuous assurance helps small business with their internal controls, creating more sustainable and successful businesses.

5. Auto enrolment

We’ve built (and are building more) features inside Payroll that will automate and streamline the work associated with auto enrolment and workplace pensions. From assessing which employees should be auto enrolled, to distributing the information to the various pension funds – our vision is to automate the end-to-end. Save partner’s time, lower risks and enable them to grow their business.

6. Global partners

At Xero, we’re deeply invested in the potential of big data for small business. We know that the true value of this data, is the insights you extract from it. In an effort to provide more tools to our businesses we’re continuing to partner with world-leading companies, like Microsoft Power BI. Through Microsoft Power BI you can pair your Xero data with data from all the other systems you use, and pull out meaningful and easy to understand analysis to help you run your business better.