XU Biweekly - Issue 71 - 13th January 2024 by XU Magazine

Saturday 13th January 2024 | No. 71

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Chaser's software and new AI features empowered businesses to collect over $7 billion in 2023

HASER, THE LEADING GLOBAL ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE PLATFORM AND CREDITCONTROL SOLUTION HAS HELPED BUSINESSES COLLECT OVER $7 BILLION AND REDUCE THEIR DAYS SALESOUTSTANDING (DSO) BY AN AVERAGE OF 10 DAYS IN 2023, SIGNIFICANTLY COMBATING THE ISSUE OF LATEPAYMENTS. The challenge of late pay-

ments is a global concern, with 87% of businesses frequently experiencingdelays in payment (2022, Chaser). In response to this late payment problem, Chaser is committed toproviding businesses with the best tools and services to help them receive payments faster andstreamline their receivable processes. The year 2023 has been pivotal for Chaser’s innovation,highlighted by the re-

lease of several new AI features, such as:

• Late payment predictor: This feature anticipates the likelihood of late payment, empowering users to make smart, proactive decisions about credit control to ensure timely payments and protect their cash flow. This feature has helped some businesses receive payments over 20 days faster. • Recommended chasing

times: By using artificial intelligence, Recommended chasing times present Chaser users with the optimal time and day to chase customers to get invoices paid. This feature has caused an average 25% increase in the speed of payments for users. • Payer ratings: This feature analyses customers' payment behaviour over time, assigning ratings to identify good, average, or poor payers. It enables Chaser

users to tailor their credit control strategies more effectively and increase the likelihood of timely payments and has helped some businesses reduce their DSO by over 76%.

These features, alongside Chaser’s automated payment reminders, are designed to assist SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in improving and streamlining their receivable processes, ultimately speed-

ing up customer payments and improving efficiency. Traditionally, managing receivables has been a time-consuming and resource-heavy task for businesses. Research indicates that SME owners can spend up to ten hours a week chasing late payments (Intuit QuickBooks, 2023). Chaser is committed to helping SMEs remove this burden.

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Global Fintech SumUp We’re partnering with Raises €285 Million Flinks to improve your S bank feeds in Xero UMUP, THE LEADING GLOBAL FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPANY, TODAY ANNOUNCED IT RAISED 285 MILLION EURO IN FUNDING LED BY SIXTH STREET GROWTHWITH FURTHER PARTICIPATION BY BAIN CAPITAL TECH OPPORTUNITIES, FIN CAPITAL, AND LIQUIDITY GROUP. THE FUNDING WILL BE USED TO EXPAND SUMUP’S GLOBAL FOOTPRINT AND DELIVER THE TOOLS AND SERVICES THAT SMALL MERCHANTS NEED TO START, RUN, AND GROW THEIR BUSINESS.

The new funding comes after a year of accelerating momentum for SumUp, which has been operating on a positive EBITDA basis since Q4 2022 while maintaining over 30 percent topline growth year over year. The company continuously grew its EBITDA margins throughout 2023, as it real-

ised economies of scale and leveraged the platform and merchant relationships it has built over the last 11 years. SumUp recently launched in Australia, its 36th market, and has built strong partnerships with renowned brands such as JCB and Apple. SumUp CFO Hermione McKee said on the round: “Our mission is to create a world where everyone can build a thriving business. The consistent growth SumUp has shown over the past eleven years is a direct result of the success of the merchants we serve, and it would not be possible without the unwavering trust and support of the investor community." "We are excited to have Sixth Street join that community. This funding gives us additional firepower to pursue growth opportunities and accelerate products that

empower small businesses.”

SumUp provides more than 4 million businesses worldwide with affordable, easy-to-use payments products and financial services.

SumUp recently expanded its product and service suite for small merchants with the launch of a cash advance partnership with VPC in the UK, Tap to Pay on iPhone in the UK, France and the Netherlands, and SumUp One, a membership plan that bundles its most popular features for one fixed, discounted price. Nari Ansari, Managing Director at Sixth Street Growth added: “For over a decade, SumUp has consistently delivered sustained growth and boldly entered and led entirely new product categories and markets."

E KNOW THE INSIGHTS YOU GET OUT OF XERO ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THE DATA THAT GOES IN. THAT’S WHY WE’RE COMMITTED TO IMPROVING BOTH THE NUMBER AND QUALITY OF BANK FEEDS ACROSS CANADA AND THE US. IT’S SOMETHING WE PROMISED YOU WE WOULD FOCUS ON, AND WE’RE EXCITED TO SHARE THAT WE’VE MADE SOME GREAT PROGRESS.

Today, we’ve announced a new partnership with Flinks, which will give you access to more than 20 high-quality bank feeds in Xero. These include, but are not limited to, direct bank feeds with the National Bank of Canada and EQ Bank, as well as sev-

eral US-based banks.

Our friends at Flinks are as committed to championing the benefits of open banking as we are. Together, we’re excited about the opportunity to empower you and your clients to achieve your financial goals, while staying in control of your banking data. Partnerships like this are so important to our team — it means that instead of connecting to thousands of banks and other financial institutions across Canada and the US individually, we can have a small number of trusted partnerships that provide us with access to secure and reliable bank feeds. The best news? As Flinks connects to more banks with direct

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API connections, you’ll get access to those bank feeds once they’re available. This means you’ll spend less time on manual data entry and reconciliation, while having an up-to-date view of your finances. If you haven’t set up a bank feed in Xero, it’s really easy (just make sure you have online banking set up first). All you need to do is go into Xero and search the list of banks to see if they offer a bank feed. Then log into your bank account and confirm the connection. Customers have told us that using our bank feeds and reconciliation tools save them up to five and a half hours a week. So it’s a huge time saver.

Updates & News

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Call, connect, collect: Call your debtors Sharesight product directly in Chaser for simplified collections updates – January 2024

ATE PAYMENTS ARE A WIDESPREAD CHALLENGE IN THE BUSINESS WORLD, AFFECTING 87% OF BUSINESSES GLOBALLY (CHASER, 2022). PARTICULARLY FOR SMES, THIS ISSUE CAN BE DETRIMENTAL, OFTEN LEADING TO SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL INSTABILITY. IN FACT, THE FSB HAS REPORTED THAT DELAYED PAYMENTS CONTRIBUTE TO THE CLOSURE OF UP TO 50,000 UK BUSINESSES ANNUALLY.

While Chaser's platform has historically centred on email and SMS reminders - contributing to over $7.6 billion in collected payments in 2023 - the landscape of credit management is evolving. According to The Late Payment Report (2022), 61% of businesses rely on phone calls in their credit management process, as direct calls can expedite payment resolutions. Recognizing the importance of this direct approach, Chaser has innovatively integrated phone calls into its platform, offering a

XU BIWEEKLY - No. 71 Newsdesk: If you have any news or updates that you would like us to consider for inclusion in the next edition of the XU Biweekly, please email us at: newsdesk@xumagazine.com CEO: David Hassall Managing Editor: Wesley Cornell Chief Revenue Officer: Alex Newson Account & Partnership Assistant: Robyn Consterdine Creative Assistant: Aidan McGrath Advertising: advertising@xumagazine.com

seamless end-to-end solution that enriches its suite of communication tools.

This enhancement is more than just an additional feature; it's a comprehensive response to the time-consuming and resource-intensive nature of manual call scheduling and follow-up processes. Chaser's in-app phone calls are designed to perfectly complement existing functionalities, allowing users to smoothly transition from sending reminders to initiating calls, all within one unified system. This integration not only streamlines the entire receivables process but also addresses the practical and privacy concerns associated with using personal phones for business communication. With the launch of in-app phone calls, available free until June 30, 2024, Chaser continues its commitment to supporting businesses, particularly during ongoing economic challenges.

This summer the code freeze started on 18 December and lifted on 8 January. We do this to minimise the risk of critical issues being introduced to our production environments at a time when key staff are absent. However, in the week between my last product update on 7 December and our code freeze starting on 18 December we did manage to roll out a major new feature in our onboarding of new customers. We have partnered with Snaptrade to provide as seamless a process as possible for the import of both historical and ongoing trades into Sharesight. We have rolled out this new approach to Alpaca customers first, with more integrations to be rolled out in the coming months.

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© XU Magazine Ltd 2014-2023. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. XU Biweekly is published by XU Magazine Ltd (08811842), registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Office 1, Brunswick House, Brunswick Way, Liverpool, L3 4BN, United Kingdom. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. XU Magazine Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant XU Magazine Ltd a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all/any editions, including in any physical or digital format, throughout the world. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither XU Magazine Ltd nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of XU Magazine Ltd, its editors or its contributors.

Ocerra's Latest Product Update for the year 2023

E WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE OUR LATEST PRODUCT UPDATE THAT BRINGS SEVERAL HELPFUL ENHANCEMENTS TO MAKE YOUR INVOICE MANAGEMENT EVEN MORE EFFICIENT AND USER-FRIENDLY. In these releases, we're introducing a range of new features and improvements to help you optimise your accounts payable.

Holiday Schedule Please note that our team will be on a break from the 22nd of December to 8th of January for the holiday season. For any urgent queries during this period, we will keep monitoring our support portal and support email address.

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NEW integration with Lightyear records Joiin: Our group Street.co.uk makes bumper year reporting platform just lead capture seamless for retail and got bigger and better for estate agents

O ENHANCE YOUR C O N S O L I DAT E D GROUP REPORTING, OUR NEW GLOBAL SEARCH FEATURE INTEGRATES SEAMLESSLY WITH YOUR XERO TRANSACTIONS.

Here’s how Global Search works

www.xumagazine.com ‘Xero’ is a trademark of Xero Limited (New Zealand). XU Biweekly and XU Magazine is collaboratively produced by an independent group of Xero users and is not affiliated in any way with Xero. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

ECEMBER IS ALWAYS A QUIET MONTH AND THIS YEAR WAS NO EXCEPTION. WITH A MAJORITY OF STAFF AWAY ON LEAVE, WE USUALLY INTRODUCE A ‘CODE FREEZE’ PERIOD.

Saturday 13th January 2024

With your transactional data in Joiin, see everything in one place, search all your group entities and seamlessly drill down into transactions and journal entries.

Will Global Search let me manage my group’s transactions more easily within Joiin? Yes. Our powerful Global Search feature means you can search all your transactions to find individual invoices, bills, payments, etc. You can drill down into spe-

cific transactions from your search, opening these in Xero via a hyperlink.

How can I drill down into individual journal entries? From any Joiin-generated report, you can also drill down into specific journal entries, hyperlinking from your Joiin report to entries like you would in a Xero account transaction report.

What’s more… your dashboard, your way You can also drill down into your journal entries from Joiin’s customisable dashboards. These can be configured using a variety of KPI widgets, chart types and reporting filters – all of which can be moved and resized using drag and drop.

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ONEYPENNY HAS PARTNERED WITH CRM PROVIDER, STREET. CO.UK, TO STREAMLINE LEAD MANAGEMENT FOR ESTATE AGENTS ACROSS THE UK. This new addition to Moneypenny’s property offering will help agents manage the sales funnel and save time and money, as all calls can be logged directly into the Street. co.uk CRM. The integration means that all viewing and valuation leads can be recorded in one place from the outset – removing the need to double-key information and improving data accuracy, follow-up efficiency and lead reporting. The integration works with Moneypenny’s Telephone Answering and Outsourced Switchboard services. Jo Tattum, Head of Partnerships here at Moneypenny, said: “This integration brings two powerhouse businesses with the same goals together. Just like Moneypenny, Street. co.uk’s objective is to make agents’ lives easier and improve the client journey."

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business investing

ODAY, INVESTMENT PLATFORM LIGHTYEAR ANNOUNCES A RECORD YEAR OF INVESTMENT ACTIVITY ON THE PLATFORM. SEEING NEARLY 20% MONTH-ON-MONTH GROWTH IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT (AUM), THE APPETITE FOR INVESTING - DESPITE ANOTHER ROLLERCOASTER YEAR FOR THE PUBLIC MARKETS - REMAINS HIGH. In 2023, the company also increased its headcount by 45%, taking the team size to over 50 people, released 8 new products and launched in 2 new countries.

2023 was the year of cash With the GBP interest rate reaching a 15year high in September 2023 after 14 consecutive rate rises, customers across the UK looked for ways to make their money work harder with better interest rates. Lightyear saw the average UK customer portfolio made up of 26% uninvested cash over 2023, compared to 18% in 2022.

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Chaser offers free SMS chasing to reduce late payments and insolvency

LOBAL BUSINESS INSOLVENCIES ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE BY 10% IN 2024 (ALLIANZ TRADE) AND THE GLOBAL BUSINESS LANDSCAPE FACED A SIGNIFICANT SETBACK TOWARDS THE END OF 2023 WITH AN ALARMING 18% SURGE IN INSOLVENCIES IN OCTOBER 2023, AS REPORTED BY LEADING SOURCES LIKE THE GUARDIAN AND REUTERS.

In response to this trend, Chaser has unveiled a strategic initiative aimed at reshaping the way companies secure payments in

2024. One of the key components of this initiative is introduction of SMS invoice-chasing functionality back in 2022, a move set to empower businesses and address the limitations of traditional email communications. Looking ahead to the first half of 2024, Chaser will be absorbing the costs associated with sending SMS payment reminders, enabling businesses to leverage this functionality without incurring any additional expenses.

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The Business Translucent Show 2024! picks Journey

HE WORLD’S LARGEST BUSINESS SHOW EXPANDS INTO MIAMI ON THE 6TH & 7TH OF MARCH 2024. IT TAKES PLACE AT THE MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER WITH CO-LOCATED SHOWS GOING GLOBAL LIVE, WORKING FROM HOME LIVE, AND THE RETRAIN EXPO. THIS EDITION OF THE BUSINESS SHOW WILL HOST AN AUDIENCE OF 15,000 SMES AND STARTUPS, PROVIDING ALL THE HELP AND GUIDANCE YOU NEED TO START OR GROW YOUR BUSINESS.

RANSLUCENT, THE SOFTWARE THAT TURNS XERO INTO A MULTI-ENTITY ACCOUNTING SOLUTION, HAS CHOSEN JOURNEY, THE GROWTH MARKETING AGENCY FOR ACCOUNTING-TECH, AS A GLOBAL PARTNER. Translucent turns your existing accounting software into a multi-entity accounting solution.

As an entrepreneur, you will find everything you need to help you on your business journey including advice and guidance from some of the biggest names in business.

Translucent consolidates accounting data to create a single source of truth and gives you all the multi-entity apps you need – including Group Reporting, Intercompany, Bank Consolidation, Multi-Entity Search and Live Sheets.

With over 300 exhibitors showcasing all the latest products and services needed for small businesses, 150 educational seminars and masterclasses and keynotes from the US’s biggest entrepreneurs. Find endless networking opportunities with like-minded individuals and create meaningful business relationships.

Translucent was founded by Michael Wood (Co-Founder Receipt Bank, aka Dext) and is backed by prominent names from the accounting industry including Craig Walker (Co-Founder Xero & Former CTO), Gary Turner (Former MD of Xero EMEA), Guy Pearson (Co-Founder Ignition) and Jamie McDonald (Co-Founder Hubdoc).

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G-Accon’s End-of-the-Year Wins Featuring Top-Tier G2 Awards W ITH THIS YEAR ALMOST COMING TO AN END, WE’RE PROUD TO SHARE OUR G2 WINS FROM THE LATEST WINTER REPORTS. FROM TOPNOTCH BADGES TO INCREDIBLE CUSTOMER REVIEWS, READ ON FOR HIGHLIGHTS OF G-ACCON’S IMPRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2023 – IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE!

several categories such as Mid-Market Best Results, Mid-Market Best Est. ROI, Mid-Market Most Implementable, and Mid-Market Fastest Implementation. In this article, we’re honoring how our team of professionals has made this achievement possible by ensuring G-Accon’s next release is even better than the last.

G-Accon has recently been awarded 25 badges across several Financial Reporting categories for the G2 Winter 2024 Reports, including:

Also, we want to give a great shoutout to our user community lauding us for our excellent product quality.

• Financial Analysis (11), • Budgeting and Forecasting (11), • Cash Flow Management (2), • and Google Workspace for Finance (1).

With these recognitions in hand, we’re humbled and eager to continue supporting your business financial analysis throughout 2024.

Additionally, we have secured first place in

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Saturday 13th January 2024

Plooto bolsters executive team with seasoned fintech leaders from PayPal and Xero

HE STRATEGIC RISK AND PARTNERSHIPS HIRES WILL BUILD ON PLOOTO'S 2023 MOMENTUM AND SUPERCHARGE MARKET EXPANSION IN 2024 TO FURTHER SUPPORT GROWING BUSINESSES. Plooto, a leading payment automation solution for small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs), welcomes fintech leaders Carol Haverty and Esther Krabbe Silveira to its executive team. Bringing extensive experience with major financial services companies, they join Tamar Kassoff, previously of Varo Bank, who was hired earlier this year as VP of Growth Marketing. Together, they contribute to Plooto's ongoing commitment to customer-centric product innovation and market expansion.

nerships with over fifteen years of big tech and fintech experience at companies including eBay, PayPal, and most recently Xero, where she led North American partnerships. Carol’s extensive knowledge of the fintech partnerships landscape is poised to propel Plooto to new heights in the rapidly evolving payments industry as they expand their ecosystem to help more businesses gain control of their cash management. “I’m thrilled to join a team delivering an all-in-one accounts payable and receivable platform to SMBs who have been forced to maintain antiquated systems or pay exorbitant fees for the technology until now,” says Carol Haverty.

Having recently been awarded with Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ and Technology Fast 50™ designations for a staggering 3-year 433% growth rate, Plooto plans to invest in go-to-market expansion, scaling operations, strategic partnerships, and growing its team of talented innovators to support thousands of additional businesses in 2024.

“From my personal experience, Plooto has long been a partner of choice for Xero users looking to streamline their payments workflows. We are just at the beginning of what’s possible when it comes to providing more control over cash management so that growing businesses have the power to reach their goals. I’m excited to play a role in the crucial task of connecting best-in-class operations systems so that finance teams are equipped to drive their companies forward.”

Carol Haverty joins Plooto as VP of Part-

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Sharesight users' top 20 trades on the NZX for 2023

ACH YEAR, SHARESIGHT LOOKS BACK AT THE TOP 20 BUY AND SELL TRADES MADE BY SHARESIGHT USERS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. WELCOME TO THE 2023 EDITION OF OUR ANNUAL TRADING SNAPSHOT, WHERE WE EXPLORE THE TOP TRADES USERS MADE IN STOCKS ON THE NZX THIS YEAR, PLUS THE MARKET-MOVING NEWS BEHIND SOME OF THESE STOCKS. In this yearly snapshot, trades were strongly led by Smartshares’ US 500 (NZX: USF) and NZ Top 50 (NZX: FNZ) ETFs.

In terms of individual stocks, trades were led by Infratil (NZX: IFT), which saw its share price rise steadily throughout Q2, largely remaining stable for the rest of 2023 and ending the year up almost 14% (as at the time of publishing). Trades were followed by Air New Zealand (NZX: AIR), which saw its share price peak in September, following a steep decline throughout Q4, ultimately ending the year down almost 15%.

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The Business Show - 6th & 7th of March 2024, Miami Beach Convention Center

Sharesight users' top 20 trades in ASX stocks for 2023

ACH YEAR, SHARESIGHT LOOKS BACK AT THE TOP 20 BUY AND SELL TRADES MADE BY SHARESIGHT USERS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. WELCOME TO THE 2023 EDITION OF OUR ASX SNAPSHOT, WHERE WE EXPLORE THE TOP TRADES USERS HAVE MADE IN STOCKS ON THE ASX THIS YEAR, PLUS THE MARKET-MOVING NEWS BEHIND SOME OF THESE STOCKS. This year’s top trades were largely dominated by blue chip stocks and Vanguard ETFs. Buy trades were strongly led by Vanguard’s Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), followed by the ETF provider’s MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS).

Meet our new US Xero Partner Advisory Council members

E HAVE THE PLEASURE OF WELCOMING SIX NEW MEMBERS TO OUR US XERO PARTNER ADVISORY COUNCIL (XPAC). The XPAC is made up of a diverse panel of accountants and bookkeepers who are thought leaders and pioneers in the profession, and eager to share their unique ways of thinking, case studies and past successes to inform the future.

Korbyn Gallegos, Director of Accounting, Ignite Spot Korbyn has been a critical player at Ignite Spot since 2015. He chose the accounting field because it’s consistent and concrete, and loves helping hundreds of businesses improve their accounting, reporting and technology systems.

David Rogowiec, Partner, Equivion David worked at Deloitte on the Multi-State Tax team for two years prior to starting Equivion. At Equivion, he and his co-founder have worked on all kinds of clients but have recently homed in on e-commerce clients, which pairs nicely with Xero’s framework and capabilities. As a small but growing firm, Equivion looks to provide quality support to their customers and is looking to hire its first full-time employee soon. As an XPAC member, David is eager to provide feedback on Xero products and features to better help small businesses and their advisors work together.

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In terms of individual stocks, buy trades were led by Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS), which saw its share price swing wildly throughout the year, ultimately ending the year up almost 5% (as at the time of publishing). Sell trades were led by Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS), which saw its share price peak in Q3, followed by a steep decline in Q4, ending the year down almost 12%. It was a themed year overall, with Sharesight users likely flocking to bank stocks due to their increased profitability amid 2023’s rising rate environment. At the same time, many users were opportunistic, taking advantage of price dips in mining stocks throughout the year.

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FYI IS FIVE!

HE WORLD’S LARGEST BUSINESS SHOW IS BACK FOR 2024, EXPANDING INTO THE US AND ARRIVING AT THE MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER. THE 2024 EDITION TAKES PLACE ON THE 6TH & 7TH OF MARCH AND IS SET TO BE AN UNMISSABLE EVENT WITH 300 EXHIBITORS, LIVE PANEL DEBATES, SPEED NETWORKING AND OVER 150 SEMINARS AND INTERACTIVE MASTERCLASSES COVERING EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO START OR GROW YOUR BUSINESS!

Hear from experts from some of the biggest companies in the world who will be offering you the best tips, tricks, and advice to get yourself off the ground and running

a profitable business. The Business Show hosts keynotes from thriving entrepreneurs and industry giants; you won’t get this experience anywhere else. This year, Netflix’s star of Selling Sunset and Realtor, Maya Vander, keynotes and shares her success story. You can also expect to attend sessions hosted by experts at Google, IBM, and Walmart. Make the most of this incredible opportunity to find out first-hand how to drive your organisation’s growth. The insightful seminars also cover a range of topics and industries so you will no doubt find something of relevance to your career goals and needs.

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fumopay launches its Accountant Partner Programme F UMOPAY IS EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF ITS NEW PARTNER PROGRAMME FOR ACCOUNTANTS AND BOOKKEEPERS.

an online payment option to their Xero invoices, allowing their customers to choose “Pay by Bank” and make payments using fumopay.

Helping small businesses with cash management is at the core of fumopay’s mission.

Both sides of the transaction see benefits with fumopay:

They do this by providing payment solutions to enable small businesses to collect payments from their customers instantly, online, and with just a couple of clicks using bank-to-bank technology. As a Xero-connected app, businesses can add fumopay as

The businesses receive their funds immediately, save money with no transaction fees, and save time by automatically“matching” the payment in Xero’s bank reconciliation.

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E’VE COME A LONG WAY SINCE XERO’S ‘APP TO WATCH IN 2019’, BUT EVEN THEN, WHO COULD’VE PREDICTED WE’D GET TO WHERE WE ARE? (WE DID, OF COURSE). AND THIS MONTH, WE’RE PROUDLY CELEBRATING OUR 5TH BIRTHDAY!

It takes a long time to be this ahead of the times. Since 2016, all of our ambition has been poured into one vision: to build the world’s most efficient document management and process automation engine. But to start at the start, let’s go back to 1997. While others were still grappling with fax machines, our founder Rob was rolling out his first paperless office in an accounting firm of 500 users. Back then, Rob knew his ultimate goal was to create something that made life easier for accountants, and that’s when FYI started to take shape. Rob spent the next 20 years delivering top-tier efficiency to accountants around the globe, while quietly forming FYI’s foundations. Until this day, the vision remains the same, going the extra mile and always providing accountants what they need most.

And then, everything took off. Within a month of FYI’s launch in the market, Xero marked FYI as their ‘App to Watch 2019’. And as always, they were right. Less than a year later, we’d celebrated our first 100 partners, and our first 1000 active users. Less than a year after that, we’d gone international for the first time.

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Sharesight users' top 20 trades in US stocks for 2023

ACH YEAR, SHARESIGHT LOOKS BACK AT THE TOP 20 BUY AND SELL TRADES MADE BY SHARESIGHT USERS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. WELCOME TO THE 2023 EDITION OF OUR ANNUAL TRADING SNAPSHOT, WHERE WE EXPLORE THE TOP TRADES USERS HAVE MADE IN STOCKS ON THE NASDAQ, NYSE AND AMEX THIS YEAR, PLUS THE MARKET-MOVING NEWS BEHIND SOME OF THESE STOCKS. n this annual snapshot, trades were heavily concentrated on the Nasdaq, with the majority of FAANG stocks making the top 20 trades.

The top trades were led by Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), which saw its share price skyrocket in Q2, remaining relatively stable throughout the rest of 2023 and ending the year up almost 129% (as at the time of publishing). Trades were followed by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), which saw a steep incline in its share price from Q1 to Q3, with fluctuation throughout Q4, ending the year up almost 56%. Overall, tech stocks remained popular with Sharesight users in 2023, with little change compared to the top US stocks from 2022.

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Lorem ipsum Increase accuracy by up to 99%. No contract, plus fair and reasonable monthly pricing. Integrates seamlessly with Xero and others. Automate everything: create rules for even more time saving. Get all features from day #1 at no extra cost—including unlimited companies* & users.

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8 XU Biweekly | No. 71

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Saturday 13th January 2024

How to maximise value from your app subscriptions By Brian Carolan, Product Owner, AutoEntry by Sage

OW DO YOU CONTROL SPIRALLING COSTS WHILE INCREASING EFFICIENCY? The world of business goes through cycles. Given the way the world is right now, most people might suggest we’re experiencing a doom-and-gloom cycle. But it might surprise you to learn that this is incorrect. According to research amongst just under 12,000 worldwide business leaders carried out earlier this year, 71% were confident about the success of their business. This rises to 84% when the respondents were asked to project this out to 12 months’ time. When asked what accounted for this confidence, two responses came out on top with equal weighting: a drive for increased efficiency, and quality of staff. So, it seems two paths might be considered for any business facing challenges in the current economic climate: look both to invest resource in implementing efficiency savings, as well as in the people who make it possible for you to do what

you do. There is a key difference between these two options, of course. For sole practitioners, investing in staff is a non-starter, outside of growth plans. For practices with multiple employees, investing in employees—training, recruitment, incentivisation—is a hugely rewarding process for all involved. But there’s a fiscal cost attached that might not be available at present. However, a drive for increased efficiency is accessible to practices of every size. Doing more with what you already have is very attractive—or, in some cases, a need to do more with less, thanks to spiralling costs for everything from the apps we use to the office spaces we rent. For the modern accountant, the software they use represents a significant cost. And it’s never been more necessary to eke every ounce of value from those core, integrated products that you rely upon daily. This

might even include switching if an app’s price has steeply increased in a way you can’t justify. Let’s take a deep dive into getting the most value from apps. It’s not nearly as straightforward as you might think.

Software as an employee One of the first things to examine is how you use each app that forms your technology stack. This is far from the elementary consideration it might seem. I’ve had a sneak peek at an upcoming book from Natasha Everard, which looks at surviving and thriving as a sole practitioner, and she coins the phrase “software-as-an-employee”. This plays on the industry terminology of Software-as-aService (SaaS), of course. But it’s a philosophical viewpoint that creates insight into the best ways for bookkeepers and accountants to use software. Despite widescale predictions in the industry back in the 1970s and 1980s, when the technology first became

available, accounting software did not replace accountants. In fact, demand for the accountancy profession continues to be strong, according to research. What we know from these decades of experience is that accounting apps work best when they augment human activity. They’re best when they work alongside us, and take some of the strain. This is what Natasha is hinting at. In treating software quite literally as a kind of employee, you automatically uncover the best ways for it to augment your own work. Just like with an employee, you need to think in terms of assigning the software tasks. And you need to manage the software and its tasks so that it fits with your schedule, and boosts your own personal efficiency, or that of your team.

Ad-hoc apps Compare this to how many of us instinctively use apps. We consider them only in terms of the functionality they offer, and we make use

of that functionality in an indiscriminate, as-needed way. This is like having an employee sitting in a corner of the office. They’re ready to take orders, but most of the time they’re sitting around playing Candy Crush on their phone. It’s an inefficiency that most employers wouldn’t tolerate! More than this, when using apps in an ad-hoc way, we don’t consider how long the app might take to complete a task, or whether we can bunch lots of tasks together so that the app can efficiently churn away while we do something else. Natasha points out that, each Friday, she uploads bank statements to AutoEntry so that the data is ready and waiting for her when she starts work on Monday morning. Similarly, she uploads receipts and invoices in the afternoon so that the data will be there waiting for her the next morning. (In fact, AutoEntry rarely takes more than a few hours to extract data but these are just examples of how tasks can be scheduled for around a given work pattern.)

How Natasha uses AutoEntry is just like asking an employee to process the paperwork by a given deadline, so that she can then do her own work with that data. This maximises her personal efficiency and ensures best value is received from the apps.

Deeper understanding But it goes even deeper than this. With a real-world employee, you quickly come to realise where their strengths lie: the things that they’re good at. As time goes on, you’ll get to a point where you’re making the most efficient use of them. An identical approach needs to be taken with apps. You need to ensure you read the manual, or the support website, or the training videos on YouTube. Reach out to the support team to keep abreast of what’s new in the app. Make sure you know every little thing that the software is capable of, so that you’re getting the best value.

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Features

XU Biweekly | No. 71

Saturday 13th January 2024 11

Parlez-vous français? An Inventory Success Story By Craig Scarr, Marketing Director, APAC, Fishbowl

OW FISHBOWL R E VO L U T I O N I S E D COYO’S FOOD & BEVERAGE INVENTORY NEEDS

In a fast-paced consumer goods landscape, where innovation, exceptional customer service and efficient inventory management are the cornerstones of success, COYO, the renowned coconut yoghurt brand, has thrived with the support of Fishbowl inventory management software. This partnership has revolutionized COYO’s operations, marking a remarkable journey towards efficiency, growth, and market leadership.

HOW TO PROFIT FROM YOUR ONBOARDING PROCESS By James Ashford, Author of Selling to Serve & Untapped

NBOARDING CLIENTS NEEDN’T BE A CHORE. IN FACT, IT CAN BE A LUCRATIVE PROCESS THAT’S EASY FOR YOUR WHOLE TEAM TO DELIVER.

sure the experience is exciting for them.

When we buy something, we want to enjoy it as soon as possible. Especially when it’s a big investment, like a car, for example. We can’t wait to get the keys, feel the steering wheel glide through our hands and the engine rev under our feet as we drive off into the sunset.

When you onboard them as a client, it’s their first experience of your world.

When clients sign up to invest in your services, they’re signing up to invest a huge amount of money with you... but they don’t get a shiny new object, like a car, to show for it. There’s no way to sugar-coat it; spending money on accounting services is boring. It’s your job to en-

So, how can you make them feel like they’re buying so much more than an accounting service?

Now is your time to wow them, not just when they’re a prospect, but throughout their whole onboarding journey.

The purpose of onboarding Why is onboarding such a crucial part of your relationship? Fundamentally, the purpose of onboarding is for you to get the permissions and information you need to deliver the services you agree to.

You might not get all the data you need instantly; agreements can be honed and tweaked, but you do want to provide your client with their first ‘wow’ moment as soon as possible. The wow moment will be dependent on their industry, for example, a wow moment for a construction industry client might be the first time they send an invoice off and get it paid without having to chase it up. Other vital purposes of onboarding include: • Ensuring you’re fully compliant, signing clients up with the right engagement letters and AML (Anti Money Laundering) checks • Making them feel assured they’ve made the right choice

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COYO, headquartered on the Sunshine Coast, first implemented Fishbowl during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by erratic shifts in demand and supply. Facing several business challenges that necessitated a robust inventory management solution, COYO found the answers they were seeking in the Fishbowl inventory management software solution. One of COYO’s key challenges was to move away from spreadsheets, which often resulted in stock outages or excessive stock levels. Sandra Gosling, COYO co-founder emphasized this issue, stating, “Prior to Fishbowl, COYO were having stock shortages, every one to two weeks. I can’t really remember how we functioned without Fishbowl. I do remember a lot of spreadsheets. And it was very, very difficult to see where the errors were happening. Fishbowl solved those problems for us.” Additionally, traceability for compliance was a critical factor. “Fishbowl has positively impacted the company really by centralising all of our information,” Gosling emphasized. “It’s very, very im-

portant for us. If we have an issue with the product, time is of the essence to get that information out to the market to solve the issue. And we’ve got, I think four hours, something ridiculously small like that to do that. In the system we were running prior to Fishbowl, that was a problem. Now that can be done in a quick 90 minutes.” Though the transition wasn’t without challenges, COYO received exceptional personalised support during installation and onboarding. Over time, the organisation witnessed a significant transformation.

“Fishbowl provided great support but it was hard at first. The change management piece was significant. You know, getting people to endorse and use the new system, but then all of a sudden, things started to happen and here we are!” Mrs. Gosling recalls. According to Simon Jupe, Fishbowl APAC Managing Director, “Implementation of inventory management software can be a transformative process for businesses of all sizes, but once businesses get past the initial change management piece and staff start becoming avid adopters of the new solution that’s when businesses can effectively streamline and optimise operations, reduce costs, and boost profitability.” “All of a sudden the business has real-time visibility into their inventory levels, locations, and stock movements. With information in real-time, companies can make truly informed purchasing, restocking, and order fulfillment decisions. This visibility helps prevent stockouts, overstocking, associated costs, and customer dissatisfaction.” Mr Jupe said. “Since implementing Fishbowl, COYO has expe-

rienced substantial gains in efficiency and workflow improvement,” says Mrs. Gosling. “With Fishbowl, you get instant visibility, you can trace everything back; it’s been a game changer!’” The implementation of Fishbowl has seamlessly amalgamated COYO’s various departments, fostering cohesiveness. Gosling enthused, “Fishbowl’s impact extends beyond inventory management. It has emerged as an invaluable asset to our entire organization. Sales, logistics, production, finance—we now operate as a unified whole. It has been an immense boon, not to mention the environmentally conscious shift away from mountains of paper.” Furthermore, COYO has also achieved significant improvements in cost management. Christine Buckley, Systems Accountant at COYO, explained, “You can only work out product costs based on what you know. With Fishbowl, you have the visibility to see everything and very quickly calculate individual product costs.” Moreover, Fishbowl’s audit function has provided COYO with full visibility into their operations. Christine shared her experience, stating, “Before Fishbowl, we’d write off inventory and never really know where we were at. Now with the Fishbowl audit function, we have full visibility of who’s doing what & why and we can trace everything really easily.” George Turner, COYO’s accomplished Production Manager, celebrated the astronomical gains in productivity facilitated by Fishbowl: “Fishbowl has roughly halved the time it takes to plan our week’s production, and we can achieve the production in at least half the amount of time previously required!”

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FinTech News

12 XU Biweekly | No. 71

Saturday 13th January 2024

Adds Yonder goes live with Revolut invests in future growth as revenue Expensify Budgeting To tops $1bn in 2022; expects to hit $2bn in 2023 GoCardless for Variable Help Companies Prepare For 2024 Recurring Payments R

ONDER, THE MODERN REWARDS CREDIT CARD, HAS EXTENDED ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOCARDLESS, THE BANK PAYMENT COMPANY, BY ADDING VARIABLE RECURRING PAYMENTS (VRPS) ALONGSIDE THE DIRECT DEBIT FUNCTIONALITY IT USES ALREADY.

Thanks to GoCardless’ Instant Bank Pay, Yonder cardholders, or ‘members’, can now use VRPs to instantly pay off their credit card balance. The arrangement means that Yonder can access both Direct Debit and instant, recurring open banking payments through a single provider. Not only does this make it easy to offer members more payment choice and greater control -- it also provides Yonder two options for collecting repayments, pairing a ubiquitous, tried-and-true payment

method with cutting-edge technology.

Tim Chong, co-founder and CEO at Yonder, said: “In these economic conditions, consumers want more control over their finances. VRPs are the perfect solution. Since we’ve introduced them, we’ve seen many members move from monthly to weekly or even daily repayments. The instant nature of VRPs means they can immediately free up their credit line and take full advantage of our rewards, or gain peace of mind that their balance is cleared. Simply put, VRPs allow our members to manage their repayments in the way that works for them. “We’ve used GoCardless for Direct Debit for over a year and given their expertise in bank payments, it made sense to add VRPs and offer the two together."

EVOLUT HAS RELEASED ITS ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2022.

Nik Storonsky, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “2022 was another great year for Revolut, one where we broke away from the pack of our competitors. We strengthened our financial position, grew our customer base, launched multiple new products, expanded into new markets, and bolstered our risk, compliance and governance infrastructure. Looking ahead, our focus is on continued growth across all our markets. We remain committed to our ongoing UK banking licence application in addition to bringing the Revolut app to new markets and customers around the world. We recently surpassed 35m customers globally, who together make over half a billion transactions a month, as well as launched Revolut 10, our most significant

overhaul of the design and layout of the app yet. These are great achievements, but we’re not slowing down, we aim to '10x' this, pushing towards 350m customers and beyond.” Martin Gilbert, Chairman, added: “In spite of the challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape, 2022 was an excellent year for Revolut. We made significant investments in our products, technology, risk, compliance and governance, while exercising strict cost discipline. This strategy paid off as customers used our products more than ever before, with a 71% increase in deposits and a 55% increase in customers on paid plans. I am excited and determined to build on our solid foundations and deliver for our stakeholders. We have a huge opportunity in front of us to become a primary financial services provider for customers globally, and our ambition, adaptability and innovation equips us for suc-

cess in reaching this goal.”

Highlights for the twelve months ending 31 December 2022

Accelerated growth through revenue diversification - Revolut continued to prove the strength of its diversified revenue model with further growth in its Payments, Subscriptions, and Foreign Exchange products as well as increased interest income.

OMPANIES PLANNING AHEAD FOR THE NEW YEAR CAN NOW USE EXPENSIFY TO SET BUDGETS FOR THEIR TEAMS, DEPARTMENTS, OR EMPLOYEES, AND STAY UPDATED WITH SMART NOTIFICATIONS ON SPEND PROGRESS.

Expensify, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXFY), the financial management app best known for expense management and • Group revenue grew to corporate cards, launched a over $1.1bn (£923m) in new budgeting tool to pro2022, up 45% from $786m vide admins with even more (£638m) in 2021, despite insight into company financthe market-wide drop in es. The tool lets admins set retail investing activity in budgets either monthly or crypto and equity markets annually for their companies in 2022, which Revolut’s as a whole or for individual Wealth unit had benefited teams, departments, or employees. It also notifies both from in 2021 individuals and their admins • Revenue from Cards and how much of their budget interchange increased remains throughout a given 105% in 2022 to $377m period, minimizing any sur(£306m), from $184m prises that may arise from overspending. (£149m) in 2021

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Kolleno partners with Staria, JustGiving selects Dan Schulman to Depart GoCardless Instant Bank Pay a leading tech-enabled from PayPal’s Board of for open banking payments financial services company Directors at End of Year

AYPAL TODAY ANNOUNCED THAT DAN SCHULMAN WILL DEPART FROM PAYPAL HOLDINGS, INC.’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS, EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 31, 2023. SCHULMAN SERVED AS PAYPAL’S PRESIDENT AND CEO FROM 2015 TO 2023. HE HAS SERVED ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF PAYPAL SINCE 2015. Dan Schulman said: “My tenure at PayPal has been one of the highlights of my career. With Alex Chriss and his leadership team in place, I leave the Board with full confidence that PayPal is in excellent hands for its

next chapter of growth and success. It has been a great honor to lead the PayPal community, and I look forward to seeing where Alex will take the company next.” John Donahoe, Chairman of the PayPal Board, stated: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank Dan for his outstanding leadership and commitment to PayPal. Under Dan’s vision, PayPal became a leading digital payments company that is trusted around the world. Dan established a strong foundation for PayPal’s future growth."

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OCARDLESS, THE BANK PAYMENT COMPANY, HAS EXTENDED ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH JUSTGIVING TO BECOME THE ONLINE DONATION PLATFORM’S EXCLUSIVE OPEN BANKING PAYMENT PROVIDER, REPLACING AMERICAN EXPRESS. THE MOVE WILL SEE JUSTGIVING USE BOTH THE FINTECH’S INSTANT BANK PAY FEATURE TO COLLECT INSTANT, ONEOFF GIFTS AND ITS DIRECT DEBIT CAPABILITIES FOR RECURRING DONATIONS.

JustGiving estimates that 10% of its donations already go through open banking payments -- a proportion that it wants to grow. Just-

Save up to 90% on data entry processing time Try for free

Giving does not charge a commission fee on donations to charity customers, instead relying on optional tips that donors use to cover its costs. The cost savings with Instant Bank Pay will help to sustain JustGiving’s business model and deliver more money to good causes. JustGiving also cites reduced fraud as another benefit of open banking payments, as well as fewer refunds: the immediate nature of these payments means a lower number of accidental transactions and duplicate payments.

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OLLENO, THE LEADING AR MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE IN EMEA, PARTNERED WITH STARIA, A LEADING NETSUITE AND GLOBAL FINANCIAL SERVICES PARTNER IN EUROPE. At Kolleno, our ultimate mission is to empower our customers to run their everyday operations efficiently by streamlining their financial operations with smart tools, allowing them to allocate resources strategically and concentrate their efforts on growth initiatives. Therefore, we are excited to announce our partnership with another industry leader, Staria, who shares our aim.

Staria stands out as a leading tech-enabled financial services company that offers their services across 40 countries. Offering Netsuite, International Financial, Payroll, and BI & Planning services, they have specialised knowledge that when combined with our robust features, empowers customers to effectively tackle their most complex financial needs. Together with Staria’s and Kolleno’s services, businesses will be able to run everyday operations intelligently, freeing up resources to invest in growth-driving activities.

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