XU Biweekly - Issue 73 - 10th February 2024 by XU Magazine

Saturday 10th February 2024 | No. 73

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The independent user news source for accounting apps and their ecosystems

Airwallex and McLaren Racing pen multi-year partnership to modernize global payment operations and support the Formula 1 Team

IRWALLEX, A LEADING GLOBAL PAYMENTS AND FINANCIAL PLATFORM FOR MODERN BUSINESSES, TODAY ANNOUNCED A MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MCLAREN FORMULA 1 TEAM, ONE OF THE SPORT’S MOST ICONIC BRANDS. As an Official Partner, Airwallex will support McLaren’s global financial operations through its treasury management and cross-border pay-outs and settlement product suite. This partnership between Airwallex and McLaren will help ignite the fintech giant’s growth trajectory as it continues to scale globally.

Specifically, McLaren will use Airwallex to optimise its supply chain payments for all Grands Prix. McLaren’s existing payments infrastructure limits payment to suppliers, such as hotel and event space providers, to a singular currency account based in the UK, resulting in high foreign exchange (FX) charges, slow transfer time and additional SWIFT fees. Airwallex’s financial technology will unlock multi-currency payment options for McLaren, providing the company the ability to hold core currencies and exchange them with speed and ease at any point while reducing the amount of SWIFT fees that may be payable by lever-

aging Airwallex's extensive global proprietary payment rail network. As part of this partnership, Airwallex will also provide technology to support the launch and ongoing operation of McLaren’s digital partner merchandise platform - further enhancing their multi-currency collection capabilities and allowing them to offer a broad range of global and local payment options. Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, said “In the competitive world of Formula 1, efficiency and performance are crucial both on and off the track. We are delighted to have Airwallex on board

and use their innovative and trusted payment solutions to support our team’s financial operations.” Jack Zhang, CEO and Co-Founder of Airwallex, said “There are very few brands that match McLaren’s heritage and global appeal. Like McLaren, Airwallex is constantly innovating to move faster and with greater precision – with a product that unites people around the world. Our partnership will play a key role in supporting our global expansion, and we look forward to working with the McLaren team in 2024 and beyond to support our mutual growth.”

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Xero Awards 2024 finalists

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR FINALISTS.

Our judges were blown away by the volume and calibre of applications for this year’s awards, and we want to thank all those who entered. Accountant and Bookkeeper Awards Small Firm of the Year • Ellacott Morris • James Scott • Kinder Accountants • LJM Bookkeeping • Pennyhills Mid-size Firm of the Year • Ad Valorem Group • DNA Accountants

• MAP • Thorne Widgery

Large Firm of the Year • Cottons Group • Lovewell Blake • Shorts Innovative Partner of the Year • Ecommerce Accountants • Prevail Accountancy • Thorne Widgery Bookkeeping Partner of the Year • Accountability Edinburgh • Arden Bookkeeping • Celtic Bookkeeping & Accountancy Services

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XBert, the AI-powered work The Access Group reinforces commitment to Aussie accountants intelligence tool for Accountants and Bookkeepers, launches in the UK with ChangeGPS acquisition

HE ACCESS GROUP ("ACCESS") TODAY ANNOUNCED THAT IT HAS ACQUIRED CHANGEGPS, AN AWARD-WINNING COMPLIANCE AND ADVISORY SOFTWARE COMPANY PROVIDING INNOVATIVE TAX PLANNING AND COMPLIANCE- SPECIFIC TOOLS, PLANS, TEMPLATES AND RESOURCES FOR ACCOUNTING FIRMS. Founded in 2016, Australian-based ChangeGPS was awarded the Xero Practice App of the Year in 2022 for its frontline accounting software to support Australia’s 14,000 accounting firms to help drive profitable growth

for both their firms and their clients. The combination of ChangeGPS software with Access’ leading Accounting Tech assets including APS, Fathom, Handisoft and Elite will enable Access customers to maximise their and their clients’ potential with a streamlined suite of accounting tools. Kerry Agiasotis, President of The Access Group Asia Pacific commented: "I am excited to welcome ChangeGPS’ employees, customers and partners to The Access Group, which we see as further strengthening

our proposition to Accounting firms. The acquisition of ChangeGPS is another step towards realising our vision of advancing the capabilities of accounting firms in Australia and New Zealand to help them drive profitable and sustainable growth for their firms and clients.” "ChangeGPS marks the fourth acquisition of ANZ based Accounting Technology companies in the last 3 years, reinforcing our commitment towards helping accounting firms maximise growth opportunities presented by new technologies."

BERT, THE FUTURE LEADING AI-POWERED SOFTWARE FOR BOOKKEEPING AND ACCOUNTING TEAMS, IS NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK. XBert helps bookkeepers and accountants work faster and smarter, thanks to its unique features that monitor data integrity, automate workflows, provide analytics and insights, and offer a white-labelled client portal. XBert’s co-founder, Troy Brown, said: “We are thrilled to launch XBert in the UK, one of the largest and most competitive markets for bookkeeping and account-

ing services. We believe that XBert can help UK bookkeepers and accountants streamline their processes, improve their data quality, and enhance their client relationships. XBert is more than just a software, it’s a partner and that is why we have started building an amazing team in the UK to support our customers locally.” XBert integrates with Xero, Quickbooks and Employment Hero, using advanced AI to detect errors, inconsistencies, and financial risks in the data. Firms can also create custom alerts to be pro-active and not reactive when it comes to advising

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clients. Check out all the 5 star reviews on the Xero app marketplace. XBert alerts users to potential issues and suggests actions to resolve them, ensuring data quality and compliance. In the past year alone XBert’s AI has assessed over 11 million bank statement lines and more than 19 million transactions. This has resulted in resolving over $1billion of tax risk across their clients.Along with this the system also automates the daily workflow processes of bookkeeping and accounting firms, allowing them to manage their team, clients, tasks, and deadlines with ease.

Updates

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Quoter Product Update: February 2024 New: Five-Year Forecasting & Enhanced Report Commentary Flexibility

EFORE WE GET TO THE GOODIES, I WANT TO THANK THE QUOTER DEVELOPMENT TEAM. OUR TEAM IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR DIFFERENT SQUADS, AND I WORK CLOSELY WITH ALL OF THEM. WE DO WEEKLY CHECK-INS AND CONNECT ON A DAILY BASIS TO TACKLE CHALLENGES TOGETHER. EVERYONE ON OUR TEAM COMMUNICATES SO WELL AND BRINGS GOOD SUGGESTIONS TO THE TABLE. IT’S AMAZING TO GET TO WORK WITH SUCH GREAT DEVELOPERS. Another shout-out for this month is to Morgan at HaloPSA! More on that below…

Vendor Collaboration: Quoter + HaloPSA When vendors work together to benefit mutual Partners, pretty exciting things happen. Here’s the story: If you’re a HaloPSA Partner, you know they’re very agile and responsive to their Partners’ needs. So when a mutual partner

XU BIWEEKLY - No. 73 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 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. © XU Magazine Ltd 2014-2024. 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.

approached HaloPSA to request a Quoter integration, they got to work.

That was about a year ago. Some months later, we collaborated with HaloPSA to invest in enhancing the integration. We struck up a dynamic relationship with Morgan and his development team at HaloPSA, and in January this year, we released a substantial update that will bring a ton of value to our mutual partners. What’s unique about this integration is that Quoter handles the pull activities, pulling information from HaloPSA (“user” details, organization, address, existing opportunities for that user in HaloPSA) onto the quote, while HaloPSA is handling everything happening inside of its platform. It was truly a collaborative effort to bring these enhancements to our mutual Partners. If you were using the Quoter + HaloPSA integration before, check out the updated integration specs to see what you can do now.

ATHOM'S NEWEST FORECASTING FEATURE ALLOWS YOU TO EXTEND YOUR FORECAST UP TO FIVE YEARS, WITH ALL YOUR EXISTING RULES AND ASSUMPTIONS SEAMLESSLY CARRIED FORWARD. LEARN HOW THIS CAN CATER TO YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS AND INVESTOR REQUIREMENTS. At Fathom, our customers are the core of our growth. We serve over 75,000 businesses worldwide and the feedback and insights they provide help guide our product development. Thanks to our customers for the input you've had on this latest feature release!

Extend your forecast to five years Applying for a bank loan? Presenting your business plan to potential investors? Or do you simply want to forecast further into the future?

the option to extend your Fathom forecast.

By default, you can forecast the current financial year plus three years, but many banks and investors ask for five years of forecast data. You now have the option to extend your Fathom forecast so you can forecast the current financial year plus five years. If you extend your forecast, all the rules and assumptions you currently have set up will automatically be carried forward into the future for your main forecast and scenarios. You can then use all of Fathom’s forecasting features, like microforecasts, in the additional forecast years.

Multi-level lists in reporting Bullet points and numbered lists help break up blocks of text and commentary in reports.

In response to our customers’ needs and requests, Fathom’s developers have added

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Sharesight product Teamgate Release Novo Announces Novo Payroll For updates – February 2024 Notes: January 2024 Small Businesses, Powered By Check

HIS MONTH SAW US WRAP UP OUR EXPOSURE REPORT PROJECT WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF EXPOSURE REPORT DOWNLOADS AND SOME OTHER FINAL TWEAKS TO THE REPORT. IN ADDITION, WORK CONTINUES ON OUR NEW HOLDINGS PAGE AND WE ARE CURRENTLY ON TRACK TO SEE THIS INITIAL PHASE OF WORK COMPLETED BY THE END OF MARCH. We continue to stay focused on the onboarding experience of new customers, and introducing CSV and trade confirmation support to more global brokers.

New functionality / enhancements • Introduced some additional functionality to our new (beta) holdings page, including: • Linking through to bulk confirmations for a holding • New styling and badges on the trades and income section • Added DRP configuration to the edit holding section • Plus a number of other small changes as we close in on the end of this redesign and technology upgrade to the holdings page. • Addressed some usability issues by increasing our default 13px font to 14px across the entire product

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HAT’S NEW ON TEAMGATE: JANUARY 2024

Key Feature Releases:

TGD-1093: Workflow Automation • Summary: Workflows will enable Teamgate users to build efficiency through creating automated actions when specific triggers are met. • BETA Release Date: 18 December 2023 (10% of Growth/Enterprise users) • Wider Release Date: 16 February January 2024 (Teams and Growth users, per our new subscription plans). • Support Documentation • Video Walk-through • Customer Feedback Form

January Bug Fixes: The following bug fixes were deployed during the month of January 2024: • TGD-1143 – PDF cannot be added to email template • TGD-1156 – Can’t upload logo to the Billing module • TGD-1157 – System is reloading itself on leads module • TGD-1164 – Cannot connect G Calendar

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OVO, THE POWERFULLY SIMPLE® FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS PLATFORM FOR SMALL BUSINESSES, TODAY ANNOUNCED NOVO PAYROLL.

Working with Check, the leading payroll infrastructure company that pioneered the ability for platforms to embed payroll into their products, Novo has launched a payroll solution that is fully integrated into Novo’s platform of small business banking, budgeting, and working capital solutions, enabling small businesses to manage their finances from a single platform. “Traditional small business payroll solutions consist of standalone applications characterized by high fees, burdensome cash-on-hand requirements, and either clunky or non-existent integrations between payroll and business bank accounts,” said Michael Rangel, founder and CEO of Novo. “In collaboration with Check,

we built a payroll solution that simplifies and speeds up the process of paying small business employees." Novo leveraged Check’s embedded payroll API to build Novo Payroll. With coverage in all 50 states, Novo Payroll streamlines the entire payroll process, from calculating wages to facilitating direct deposits and managing tax withholdings. This provides businesses with a comprehensive payroll solution that not only reduces administrative burdens but also ensures accuracy and compliance with regulatory standards. Novo has conducted a beta of Novo Payroll, and will make the product available to Novo’s more than 200,000 small business customers in the coming weeks. Key features of Novo Payroll include: • Affordable, flat-rate pricing

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News

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Saturday 10th February 2024

Addressing AML Head-On: Firmcheck Responds to the ICAEW's Call for Compliance Excellence

N THE WAKE OF THE ICAEW'S EMPHASIS ON ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING (AML) COMPLIANCE DURING PRACTICE ASSURANCE REVIEWS IN 2023, FIRMCHECK IS STANDING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH ACCOUNTING FIRMS NAVIGATING THE COMPLEXITIES OF REGULATORY SCRUTINY.

Key Highlights from ICAEW's 2023 Practice Assurance Monitoring Report: In its 2023 Practice Assurance Monitoring Report, the ICAEW has underscored AML compliance as a paramount area of focus. A staggering 545 firms out of those reviewed exhibited at least one finding of non-compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLRs). This trend highlights the critical need for accounting firms to improve their AML practices. The report also sheds light on the significant weaknesses identified, with almost 40% of the 45 reports considered by the ICAEW Practice Assurance Committee in 2022 relating to non-compliance with the MLRs. This signifies the gravity of the issue and the urgency for firms to address AML vulnerabilities. In contrast, other issues like the use of the title "chartered accountant" when ineligible

and significant breaches of clients' money regulations were secondary concerns, reinforcing the pivotal role of AML compliance in the eyes of regulators.

ICAEW's Expanded On-Site Reviews: In response to the escalating importance of AML compliance, the ICAEW has expanded its on-site reviews to delve deeper into crucial aspects. These include: • Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO): Assessing the pivotal role of the MLRO to ensure robust AML oversight. • Firm-Wide Risk Assessments: A critical examination of firm-wide risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential AML risks. • Sanctions Compliance: A detailed examination of compliance with sanctions regulations, ensuring firms navigate clear of legal pitfalls. • Prohibitions on Provision of Accountancy Services to Russia: Heightened vigilance in compliance with prohibitions related to accountancy services in the context of geopolitical considerations. • Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs): A meticulous review of SARs to enhance reporting accuracy and effectiveness.

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Top 20 NZX trades by Sharesight users – January 2024 W ELCOME TO THE JANUARY 2024 EDITION OF SHARESIGHT’S MONTHLY NZX TRADING SNAPSHOT, WHERE WE LOOK AT THE TOP 20 TRADES SHARESIGHT USERS MADE ON THE NZX DURING THE MONTH.

In this 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 has been named as an

ELCOME TO THE JANUARY 2024 EDITION OF SHARESIGHT’S MONTHLY USA TRADING SNAPSHOT, WHERE WE LOOK AT SHARESIGHT USERS’ TOP 20 TRADES IN US STOCKS ON THE NASDAQ, NYSE AND NYSE AMERICAN MARKET (AMEX) OVER THE MONTH.

the tech, EV, semiconductor, aerospace and e-commerce sectors.

In this snapshot, buy and sell trades were led by Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), which saw its share price plummet following a disappointing Q4 earnings report. The top trades were followed by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), which started 2024 in a rare decline not seen since 1982. It was a tech-dominated month overall, with 13 of the top 20 stocks belonging to

• Tesla shares drop amid Red sea delays, growing labour costs and price cuts • Chinese rival BYD overtakes Tesla’s EV sales in Q4 2023 • Share price drops as Tesla’s Q4 revenue and earnings miss expectations

Let’s look at the news behind some of the key stocks in this month’s snapshot:

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)

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Let’s look at the news behind the key stocks in this month’s snapshot:

Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) Keep reading

Chaser and Zapier: automate receivables & save time effortlessly HASER NOW CONNECTS WITH ZAPIER SO YOU CAN AUTOMATE THE TRANSFER OF DATA BETWEEN CHASER AND OTHER SYSTEMS, SUCH AS ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE, ERPS, OR ONLINE SPREADSHEETS. BUSINESSES CAN SEAMLESSLY TRANSFER DATA VIA ZAPIER, BETWEEN CHASER AND THEIR CHOSEN SYSTEM, TO START MANAGING THEIR ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES AUTOMATICALLY AND REDUCING BAD DEBTS.

Top 20 trades in US stocks by Sharesight users – January 2024 W

NZX “stock to watch” this year. Trades were followed by Air NZ (NZX: AIR), which was voted “world’s safest airline” for 2024. It was an ETF-heavy month overall, with 15 of the top 20 trades belonging to ETFs.

What is Zapier? Zapier is an innovative online tool that connects your favorite apps and automates workflows, making it easier to manage tasks without needing technical skills. Essentially, it acts as a bridge between different software, enabling them to communicate and work together seamlessly. End-users can create custom workflows that use triggers from one platform to action a particular step in a second platform. For example, you could use Zapier to connect your website CMS to Gmail, and receive a Gmail notification whenever someone submits a form on your website. Now, Chaser is one of the 6,000+ applications available to connect your systems to via Zapier. So you can automate the data transfer of crucial credit control information, such as new customers, new invoices, or

payments made, directly from your chosen platform to Chaser.

Why connect Chaser to Zapier: Letting businesses reduce late payments automatically Chaser built this connection to Zapier to open up the software to more businesses that are using different systems and tools across the globe. Following the release of ChaseImport, which allows data connection to Chaser via CSV, and ChaserAPI, which allows connection to Chaser via custom-built integrations, Zapier was the next step in ensuring any business can automate their credit management with Chaser. By allowing businesses to connect their systems to Chaser via Zapier, they can now automate receivables tasks, sync data, and save time effortlessly - regardless of the systems they are using. Users can send polite, personalized reminders automatically and optimize their credit management with a suite of cutting-edge tools and insights.

Benefits of Chaser and Zapier Automatically chase debtors with polite, personalized reminders: Businesses can reduce manual work by managing debtor chasing automatically.

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Saturday 10th February 2024

We’re retiring the classic version of Xero invoicing W

Hedgeflows Earns TMI Award For Innovation In Treasury Management Solutions

E’VE HAD TWO VERSIONS OF OUR INVOICING FEATURE FOR A WHILE NOW — CLASSIC INVOICING AND NEW INVOICING. THE NEW VERSION IS BUILT ON THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY AND FEATURES TIME-SAVING TOOLS THAT MAKE IT EASIER TO CUSTOMISE YOUR INVOICES AND SIMPLIFY THE WAY YOU GET PAID.

Our teams have big plans to add even more value to the new version of invoicing in the future, including features that we know are important to you. To do this, they need to focus their attention on new invoicing, rather than maintaining the older version that is now outdated. That’s why we’re retiring the classic version of invoicing on 2 September 2024 at 9am NZT. In some time zones, this will mean that classic invoicing will not be available from 1 September 2024. You’ll have access to classic invoicing until it’s retired. It’s really easy to make the switch. Just click the ‘switch to new version’ button in classic invoicing. All your settings and invoice templates will carry over to the new version.

We’re keeping some favourite classic features We encourage you to switch to the new version now, as that’s where all the latest value and new features will live.

But we know there are many features in classic invoicing that are important to you. That’s why we’ve built them into the new version. Here are some of our favourites: • Copy information to a new invoice so you can save time generating invoices for your customers • Add previously invoiced items to your invoice with one click • Select products and services to add to your invoice, you can also add new items direct from the invoice screen • Keyboard shortcuts allow you to easily add dates, make calculations and navigate through invoice creation • Record payment on an invoice, including applying any credit a customer has available

And here are just some of the features that will be arriving in new invoicing before the classic version is retired: • Attach files from Xero’s file library to your invoice • Copy information from invoices to other documents like quotes • Record overpayments against invoices so that credit can be applied to future invoices • View detailed history and notes like invoice number, contact email, and amount to keep an audit trail of changes made, when and by who

E, AT HEDGEFLOWS ARE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT OUR DEDICATION TO INNOVATION AND EXCELLENCE HAS BEEN RECOGNISED WITH THE PRESTIGIOUS TMI AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN TREASURY MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS.

TMI AWARDS The TMI Awards for Innovation serve as a beacon of excellence in the treasury profession, celebrating organisations that push the boundaries of innovation and deliver exceptional value to their clients. For over two decades, these awards have been a benchmark for excellence, and we are honoured to be among the recipients.

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HE WORLD’S LARGEST BUSINESS SHOW RETURNS TO LA IN 2024. IT’S TAKING PLACE ON THE 9TH & 10TH OF OCTOBER 2024 AT THE LA CONVENTION CENTER WITH CO-LOCATED SHOW B2B MARKETING EXPO US IN CONJUNCTION WITH SALES INNOVATION EXPO. This edition of The Business Show will host an audience of 9,000 SMEs and startups, providing all the help and guidance you need to start or grow your business. 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.

WHAT IT MEANS TO HEDGEFLOWS Our co-founder, Alex Axentiev, expressed gratitude for this recognition, highlighting our team's unwavering dedication to supporting smaller businesses in navigating the complexities of international trade. This award is a testament to our relentless pursuit of innovation and our commitment to driving positive change within the industry. One of the key reasons behind this accolade is our tireless efforts in developing a treasury management software solution tailored specifically to the unique needs and challenges faced by smaller businesses engaged in cross-border trade.

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Xero formalises commitment Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting announces to military veterans by signing a new collaboration in Australia to provide Armed Forces Covenant accounting firms content through the BOMA digital marketing platform I W OLTERS KLUWER TAX & ACCOUNTING ASIA PACIFIC A LEADING PROVIDER OF EXPERT SOLUTIONS THAT COMBINE DEEP DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE AND LOCAL EXPERTISE WITH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES TO HELP TAX, ACCOUNTING, AUDIT, AND FINANCE PROFESSIONALS MAKE CRITICAL DECISIONS EVERY DAY TODAY, ANNOUNCED ITS NEW COLLABORATION WITH BOMA.

Together, Wolters Kluwer and BOMA will deliver a toolkit that allows firms to provide real-time business advisory and accounting marketing content to their respective clients. The Wolters Kluwer CCH iQ research library will now be available on BOMA’s marketing platform, specifically designed for accountants and bookkeepers. The Wolters Kluwer award-winning CCH iQ premium library scales from small firms to multinational businesses. It supports accounting firms, bookkeeping professionals and their clients by highlighting issues that may affect their business and giving them a head start on actionable topics. The trusted content, written by CCH Tax experts, differentiates accounting firms as they access deep industry insights and thought leadership — helping to create business mentoring opportunities for their clients and to grow their business as well. As an industry resource, the CCH iQ platform has built a reputation for delivering

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exceptional outcomes for accountants. It offers a seamless integration of resources to help professionals in the tax, accounting, audit, finance and legal sectors make critical and superior decisions.

BOMA is tailor-made for accountants to reduce the time, cost and complexity challenges of their own digital marketing. Subscribers have access to expertly written content in a practical toolkit with ready-to-share everyday formats, such as emails or social media. The ‘mix and match’ capabilities of the BOMA platform allows subscribers to combine premium library content from Wolters Kluwer with in-house content from BOMA, together with their own content in newsletters, social posts and website blogs. “This is an inspiring collaboration for busy accountants and bookkeepers. Combining the actionable, event-based insights of CCH iQ with BOMA’s easy to use digital marketing toolkit makes it easier for accounting firms to deliver value and create business development and revenue opportunities. It’s a win-win for nurturing clients and driving business growth,” said Izzy Silva, Managing Director, Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting, Asia Pacific. “Over the last couple of years, staying on top of legislative changes and actionable events has proven to be particularly challenging.”

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'M PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT XERO HAS SIGNED THE ARMED FORCES COVENANT, FORMALISING ITS COMMITMENT TO SUPPORTING MILITARY VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN THE WORKFORCE.

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or have served in the UK Armed Forces, and their families, are treated fairly. Xero’s Veterans Employee Resource Group (ERG) marked the signing by hosting an event in our London office this week. We heard from Xero’s Managing Director UK & EMEA, Alex von Schirmeister, and Head of Digital Strategy for Defence Digital, Brigadier Mike Morton, as well as Ed Morgan and David Lenehan from Google. Alex kicked off proceedings with some compelling insights from his Diversity & Inclusion journey along with the power that diversity can bring to Xero. He recognised that the diversity of experience gained through solving complex problems in high stress environments could be an invaluable asset for teams at Xero to have as they tackle the challenges they have in front of them. Brigadier Morton echoed Alex’s comments on creating an environment where diversity can thrive and feel it belongs as the “right thing to do”, while outlining the importance of defence in the challenging geo-political landscape that Britain operates in. He emphasised the depth of talent coming out of Armed Forces, with greater digital skills than ever before, that companies can take advantage of, with committing to the Armed Forc-

es Covenant being that first step.

The event was rounded off by Ed and David from Google, both of who were Veterans of the Royal Corps of Signals but who’ve since forged successful careers in technology since leaving the Armed Forces. They highlighted the qualities that veterans could bring to civilian tech companies, such as diversity of thought, thriving in high pressure environments, versatility and teamwork. David Lenehan said, “It was great to support Xero at this event and have a chance to showcase Google’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant.” To accompany our signing of the covenant, Xero has made several pledges including: • Promote Xero as an Armed Forces-friendly organisation • Proactively encourage the recruitment of ex-service personnel and Reservists by creating a network of veterans who would be interested in joining Xero • Supporting and and maintaining an Armed Forces Employee Resource Group (ERG) across Xero; ensuring that veterans, reservists, spouses and partners and all those with a connection to the Armed Forces have the opportunity to participate in activities and contribute to our Covenant • By attending both external events and hosting company-specific insight days and workshops

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10 XU Biweekly | No. 73

Features

Saturday 10th February 2024

XU Magazine sits down with Chaser CEO Sonia Dorais

IND THE FULL INTERVIEW IN ISSUE 37 OF XU MAGAZINE.

Chaser has released a number of innovative features over the past year, what’s the overall mission? Chaser’s mission is to give SMEs worldwide the confidence that they will get paid for their work, help them reduce late payments, save time, and improve cash flow in an efficient and friendly way. With the increased availability of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, Chaser has been able to offer SMEs cutting-edge technology to further improve their chances of receiving timely payments from customers. Chaser's recent success includes the development and implementation of AI features. Could you delve into how these features cater to the needs of credit and collections teams? 50% of businesses spend 4 or more hours every week on their receivables tasks. This time goes to tasks like working out which custom-

ers to chase, when, and how often. In total businesses waste a predicted 56.4 million hours per year on these types of tasks, according to QuickBooks. The introduction of these AI features helps credit and collections teams significantly cut down the time they spend on these time-consuming tasks. Currently, they include Recommended chasing times, Payer ratings, and a Late payment predictor. Can you tell me about how you recommend chasing times using AI? ecommended chasing times analyse data on thousands of B2B payments to suggest a custom, optimal time and day to send customer payment reminders to increase the chance of payment. This new feature uses AI to let SMEs reach customers exactly when they’re most likely to pay, automatically.

collections efforts, they can use newly-released Payer ratings. Payer ratings use data on customers’ previous payment behaviour and compare trends seen across Chaser, assigning every payer an AI-generated ‘rating’. Ratings are ‘Good’/‘Average’/ ‘Bad’ and predict how likely a customer is to pay their future invoices on time. This lets SMEs who are often strapped for time see at a glance how their customers are paying, prioritise effectively, optimise their follow-up approach for different payer groups, and instantly see who their problem payers are. What insights can SMEs gain from the Late payment predictor?

How do AI-generated Payer ratings help your users?

The Late payment predictor gives instant AI-generated predictions on how likely an invoice is to be paid late, assigning a percentage score out of 100. This gives SME finance teams instant visibility on whether to expect cash on time, problem accounts they should prioritise, and whether to pursue collections.

To help businesses decide how to prioritise their

All of these features are designed to make life eas-

ier for credit and collections teams, improve decision-making, and help them to save time and minimise late payments. How has the implementation of AI in accounts receivables impacted financial processes for businesses? AI has had a tremendous impact on streamlining rules-based financial processes for businesses. For example, the use of machine learning algorithms can streamline tasks like loan processing and reduce risk by up to 40%. Big data analysis can help identify patterns for more accurate market predictions or fraud detection.

Ultimately, the use of AI helps finance teams run their processes more efficiently, and condense large amounts of data to help them make more informed decisions that can improve their businesses' financial outcomes. In the context of accounts receivables, for example, we have also seen these benefits play out. We know that users who send their re-

minders at Recommended chasing times, using Chaser’s new AI feature, are getting paid on average 3 days faster than those who don’t utilise this technology within Chaser. Chaser has successfully helped businesses collect over $5 billion this year. Can you share some key strategies that contributed to this impressive achievement and set Chaser apart in the industry? Chaser is thrilled to have helped businesses collect $5 billion through the software in 2023, and this target was reached more than 3 months earlier than expected.

One of the key functionalities that have contributed to achieving this goal is SMS payment reminders. This lets users increase their chances of payment by sending a text message reminder to their customers’ phones. With the inclusion of payment links, SMS payment reminders give users’ customers the convenience of being able to pay invoices instantly from their phone. By using a combination of email and SMS payment reminders, SMEs have

increased their chance of getting paid within a week of their invoice due date by 56%. Although we have reached the $5 billion goal, Chaser’s mission remains the same; to support SMEs worldwide to get paid in an efficient and friendly way so that they improve cash flow. What key innovations are you looking to invest in across the next three years? Chaser is continuing to find ways to remove the manual work, stress, and uncertainty that comes with accounts receivables management. We are carefully researching which tasks and processes receivables teams spend the most time on, and are finding ways to use newly available technology to improve decision-making and automate these tasks. Ultimately, the innovations in our roadmap across the next three years aim to let finance teams move away from manual, repetitive work, aid decision-making, and let them spend more time focusing on supporting their business growth.

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12 XU Biweekly | No. 73

Features

Saturday 10th February 2024

Parlez-vous français? Dispelling GDPR and

outsourcing myths

By Vipul Sheth ACA CTA, Founder and Managing Director, AdvanceTrack

HERE ARE A FEW MYTHS CIRCULATING IN THE ACCOUNTS OUTSOURCING INDUSTRY ABOUT WHAT IS REQUIRED TO MAKE OUTSOURCING LEGAL FROM A GDPR PERSPECTIVE. CHIEF AMONG THESE IS THE IDEA THAT IF SOMEONE IS ACCESSING YOUR SERVERS FROM INDIA THEN THIS, ON ITS OWN, IS GDPR COMPLIANT.

CHECKING IN WITH FIRMCHECK

LUS A CONVERSATION WITH KEVIN LORD, THEIR GENERAL MANAGER OF THE UK

Can you share the origins of Firmcheck, its journey so far and how things are going in the UK market since the launch 6 weeks ago? Firmcheck was born in the misty mountains of Wellington, New Zealand, from a company called Connectworks. We created a software product to solve the pain points of company secretarial and trust management activities for Accounting and Law firms in New Zealand. This proved to be a successful company for the last 8 years. Over the last 3 years, our customers started to ask for a solution to manage their AML requirements. We built this into the Connectworks product, and it is currently being used today. Hamish Edwards, a co-founder of Xero and an integral part of Connectworks, wanted to see if our product would solve the pain points of different geographical markets

outside New Zealand. From that moment, we initiated intensive research focusing on the UK. We quickly found that most accounting firms were satisfied with their company secretarial needs, but they were screaming out for an AML solution that tried to cover the full spectrum of activities a firm needs to do to be compliant.

Over the last 12 months specifically, the team in New Zealand put a lot of sweat and tears into creating a product we believed would be the leading AML solution in the UK. We were lucky that our New Zealand AML product was already comprehensive, but we wanted to launch from a strong foundation. We listened to the accounting firms, talked to bodies and institutions, and created a space where we feel we take care of the stress and pain of AML for firms today — from education to software. And we’re only just beginning. We launched at Accountex Manchester, and the response to our brand and product has exceeded

expectations. As Xero did in the early days, we will continue to listen and develop to the needs of the market — which is exactly what we’re doing with our Firmcheck customers today. We’re looking forward to the journey ahead, building a comprehensive, yet simple AML management system alongside our customers. Firmcheck is a product that has come out of NZ, and you’ve done a lot of research in a number of markets, are there any specific challenges or themes that have emerged during your journey? As we just touched on, AML compliance is just generally a challenge for firms. It’s not a value add, it takes time, it adds complexity, but it's just something you have to do. No matter how big or small the firm was that we spoke to during our research, there was a common theme that kept cropping up: “AML is a necessary evil and it keeps me up at night.”

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Without other measures in place this is actually illegal, and you can get into a lot of trouble with the ICO as a result. The ICO makes it quite clear that this is the case – they say that a restricted transfer takes place if “you are initiating and agreeing to send personal data, or make it accessible, to a receiver who is located in a country outside the UK” – note the part marked in bold. To make this worse, you may not be aware that most accounting firms handle ‘special category’ personal data – such as healthcare invoices, records of union fees paid, or political/religious donations. So, if your outsourcer experiences a data breach and your controls are inadequate, you have a big problem.

So, what do you need to make sure its in place? • Firstly, there needs to be appropriate risk assessment of and contracts in place with the overseas legal entity. • Secondly, your client engagement letter needs to reflect the possibility of transfer. • Finally, the data being transferred needs to be treated securely, both on

your network and on the network of anyone accessing it. At AdvanceTrack we work with a top legal firm to ensure that we have the correct contractual measures in place. You contract with our UK legal entity, and we handle the transfer to India. We have also made considerable investment in security measures and controls around use of personal information and have been assessed on this by numerous top accounting firms. Additionally, we are certified by BSI against ISO27001:2022 on information security and ISO27701/BS10012 on personal information management.

Our standards: • ISO 9001 Quality Management • ISO 27001:2022 Information Security Management • BSI 10012 Personal Information Management System • ISO 22301 Business Continuity • ISO 27701 Personal Information Security An external auditor from the British Standards Institute (BSI) spends several days with us each year. The auditor goes through all our procedures, risks and controls to make sure we do what we say we do. We currently have five standards (see below) and, whether security, privacy, quality or continuity, they are all risk-assessed. We identify risks, and then evaluate them in terms of impact on confidentiality, integrity of information and availability of information. We then look to minimise

the chance of those risks occurring. Then we implement controls, and look at the residual risk: is there anything else we can do? Those controls could be as simple as making sure laptops have anti-virus on them – or as complex as managing redundant data centres or updating our business continuity plan.

Externally audited The external auditor reviews all our controls – reviewing whether we follow them. They’ll take samples and we then demonstrate how we follow things through, including taking action to fix any issues that have arisen. AdvanceTrack gives data protection the investment in time and resources that it needs. As a result, we are not the cheapest in the market, but you need to ask yourself how much it is worth for you to sleep soundly at night!

FAQ: What are the traits of a ‘typical practice’ working with AdvanceTrack? Our latest FAQ looks at the typical qualities and attitudes that pervade the firms we typically work with at AdvanceTrack. Technology and culture: We see that firms are proficient with technology. More importantly, there is usually a culture that is open to change – to adopt new processes and workflow – and, by definition, this means the embedding of new technology. When a practice begins working with us then there are inevitably some changes in how the work is undertaken and tracked

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FinTech News

14 XU Biweekly | No. 73

PayPal Ventures Invests in Mesh

NVESTMENT WAS MADE USING PAYPAL USD, PAYPAL'S U.S. DOLLAR DENOMINATED STABLECOIN.

Mesh, the modern embedded finance solution that makes digital asset transfers and account aggregation seamless, today announced an investment from PayPal Ventures. This investment helps to reinforce Mesh's position as a leading player in embedded finance and highlights PayPal's commitment to fostering innovation in the digital payments landscape. PayPal Ventures' investment was made almost entirely in PayPal USD (PYUSD), an Ethereum-based stablecoin that is 100% backed by U.S. dollars, short-term U.S. treasuries

and similar cash equivalents. This marks the first time that PYUSD has been used as the funding instrument for a PayPal Ventures investment since it was launched by PayPal in August 2023. The PYUSD funds were transferred on chain using Mesh's Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The investment comes on the heels of Mesh's $22 million Series A funding round, backed by new investors including Money Forward, Inc., Galaxy, and Samsung Next. Mesh empowers businesses to integrate seamless and secure crypto transfers and payments directly into their existing platforms, eliminating the need for users to switch between platforms.

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upgrades debt Preparing for Kriya facility to power £1 the Future billion in Payments

HE FOLLOWING MESSAGE WAS SHARED WITH PAYPAL EMPLOYEES TODAY BY PRESIDENT & CEO ALEX CHRISS:

Team, In our last Global All Hands, I shared that to build a growth organization and unlock our true potential, we need to be honest about how we can improve. During the last few months, I have spent as much time as possible with as many of you as possible to learn about our company's great strengths, as well as where we need to move faster, where we need to change, and what we need to do to instill a culture of innovation that returns our company to the true position of strength it deserves. While I have been encouraged by the innovation our team is delivering, we must execute faster and ensure we are focused on solving our customers' most critical needs and problems.

over next 2 years

RIYA RAISES NEW £50M FUNDING FACILITY WITH LONG-STANDING PARTNER, VIOLA CREDIT, TO ACCELERATE ENTERPRISE GROWTH. Kriya, the B2B payments fintech, today announces that it has secured a new £50 million debt facility from a long-standing debt partner, Viola Credit. This will allow the fintech to power over £1 billion of B2B Payments over the next 24 months. With this facility, Kriya intends to double down on its PayNow and PayLater embedded credit and payments offering for B2B retailers and marketplaces. The new funding allows Kriya to power online checkouts and offline orders, offering features like Pay in 30 or 60 days, or split payments over several months.

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Worldpay Begins PayPal and Venmo Unveil Supporting Celsius Creditors with Crypto Operating as Six New Innovations to Distributions Independent Company Revolutionize Commerce

ORLDPAY, LLC, (THE “COMPANY”), A GLOBAL INDUSTRY LEADER IN PAYMENTS TECHNOLOGY AND SOLUTIONS, ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT IT HAS CLOSED UPON ITS PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED SALE AND WILL NOW OPERATE AS AN INDEPENDENT COMPANY.

The Company will be overseen by leading private equity firm GTCR, with a 55% majority ownership interest, while FIS® (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology, will retain a 45% ownership interest. In conjunction with the closing of the sale, Charles Drucker has resumed his former role as CEO and will work to optimize performance and accelerate growth. As an independent company, Worldpay is committed to bringing greater levels of value, innovation and service to clients.

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OMPANY INTRODUCES REIMAGINED CHECKOUT AND GUEST CHECKOUT EXPERIENCES, NEW ADVANCED OFFERS PLATFORM FOR MERCHANTS, AND NEW CONSUMER APP TO EARN CASH BACK AND GIVE CUSTOMERS MORE REASONS TO SHOP WITH PAYPAL. NEW VENMO ENHANCEMENTS ENABLE LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES TO BE DISCOVERED AND GROW.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) today announced six new innovations the company is piloting and bringing to market this year to revolutionize commerce through artificial intelligence (AI) driven personalization for both merchants and consumers. During the PayPal First Look keynote, Alex Chriss, President and CEO, introduced: a completely new PayPal checkout experience that radically speeds up check out for consumers and helps merchants con-

vert transactions like never before; Fastlane by PayPal, a dramatically faster and smarter guest checkout experience; Smart Receipts, giving customers AI-personalized recommendations from merchants to keep them coming back; the PayPal advanced offers platform so merchants can provide relevant, personalized, real-time offers to consumers and drive more sales; a reinvented PayPal consumer app giving shoppers new ways to earn cash back and more reasons to use PayPal; and, Venmo’s enhanced business profiles, so small businesses can find and engage new customers, and grow their businesses. “PayPal is on a mission to revolutionize commerce, globally, and today we are starting the next chapter,”

TARTING TODAY, U.S.-BASED CELSIUS CREDITORS CAN ACCESS THEIR CRYPTOCURRENCY DISTRIBUTIONS THROUGH PAYPAL AND VENMO, TWO TRUSTED PAYMENTS BRANDS THAT PROVIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY SERVICES TO OUR CONSUMERS. Celsius creditors can login to PayPal (click here for PayPal) or Venmo (click here for Venmo using your mobile device), enter their unique claim codes provided by Celsius , and follow the onscreen instructions to receive their distributions of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Here are the steps for U.S.based Celsius creditors to receive cryptocurrency distributions from Celsius via PayPal or Venmo:

said Alex Chriss, President and CEO, PayPal.

1. Login to PayPal or Venmo using your current credentials or create a PayPal or Venmo account.

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Rebecca Marriott has Starling Bank announced as first sponsor of the Greater been appointed as Tide's Manchester bike hire scheme first Chief Risk Officer

E'RE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT REBECCA MARRIOTT HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS TIDE'S FIRST CHIEF RISK OFFICER (CRO). Since joining in 2018, Rebecca has worked diligently to build Tide’s risk and compliance function to support our rapidly growing business in the UK and India.

says: “From the early days of Tide, we have always believed that a successful business has to be built on solid risk & compliance foundations. Rebecca has been instrumental to establishing strong oversight across a range of risk classes.

In her newly-created position as CRO, Rebecca will step up support for our international expansion by ensuring the highest standards of oversight and accountability.

“Appointing her as Tide’s first CRO will support our growth, ensuring we can scale oversight across new products, geographies and licenses. Rebecca combines member empathy and business acumen with deep expertise in risk and compliance. I look forward to her continuing to play a pivotal role in our success.”

Our CEO Dr. Oliver Prill

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Saturday 10th February 2024

TARLING BANK IS THE FIRST SPONSOR OF THE GREATER MANCHESTER BIKE HIRE SCHEME. THE PARTNERSHIP IS THE BIGGEST COMMERCIAL SPONSORSHIP DEAL IN TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER’S HISTORY.

Starling Bank, which already employs 3,200 people in London, Cardiff and Southampton, recently chose Manchester as the home for its northern expansion owing to the city’s pool of fintech talent, and its status as the UK’s Top Digital Tech City.

The cycle hire fleet will adopt a new name, Starling Bank Bikes, with bikes bearing the new branding set to hit the streets of Manchester, Trafford and Salford from February.

The digital bank’s new office in St Peter’s Square will house more than 1,000 new roles in the North.

The sponsorship is a significant endorsement for the Bee Network, Greater Manchester’s ambition to deliver a fully-integrated, London-style transport system.

The sponsorship deal is the latest sustainability initiative from the bank, which doesn’t have branches, doesn’t invest in fossil fuels, and offsets its carbon emissions.

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