XU Biweekly - Issue 12 - 23rd August 2021

Monday 23 August 2021 | No. 12

XU Biweekly The independent news source for Xero users, by Xero users

Accounting software with a purpose.

WIN 2 VIP TICKETS FOR THE ANTHONY JOSHUA VS OLEKSANDR USYK FIGHT COURTESY OF REVOLUT R

EVOLUT AND 2X HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, ANTHONY JOSHUA, ARE GIVING YOU THE CHANCE TO WIN 2 VIP FLOOR SEAT TICKETS TO WATCH THE FIGHT OF THE YEAR, ANTHONY JOSHUA VS OLEKSANDR USYK IN LONDON ON 25TH SEPTEMBER 2021.

"It’s great to add FuseSign to the BGL Ecosystem" said Ron Lesh, BGL’s Managing Director.“FuseSign creates a seamless workflow for BGL clients so that all company, trust, individual andSMSF documents can be digitally signed, speeding up the compliance process and reducingsigning times to minutes rather than days for the price of a stamp.

Melissa Voss, Co-Founder and Head of Clients and Partners at FuseWorks, said: “We're thrilledwith this partnership and to be able to offer BGL clients with our Digital Signing tool straight fromtheir platform.

I am passionate about automation and helping Accountants to simplify theday-to-day, removing inefficiencies through the power of automation so they can focus on morehuman tasks, and that is exactly what FuseSign does, it gives your clients a better experiencewith your brand, saves your business time and money, and it empowers your team to focus on tasks they really enjoy.”

Made for accountants by accountants, FuseSign is an affordable, intuitive and easy to useDigital Signature tool and can be used for all company, trust, individual and SMSF documentsprepared by CAS 360, Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360. Recent legislative changeshave now made it possible to sign more document types digitally than ever before. TheFuseSign process in BGL applications provides a seamless workflow for clients. And recentevaluations of digital signing solutions have proven documents are signed quicker, easier andwith much less friction when digital solutions are used.

BGL currently has over 350 partners in our Ecosystem and it is great to be able to addFuseSign to the list.

Here’s how to enter the competition: Complete these steps: • Follow both @revolutapp and @anthonyjoshua on Instagram • Like Anthony Joshua’s post on @anthonyjoshua about the Light Up the Fight Experience from your Instagram account • Comment on the post from your Instagram account telling us why you want to attend the fight - the most creative response will win (subject to our Light Up the Fight Experience terms and conditions) • Tag the friend you would take with you in your comment on the post • Buy a glow-in-the-dark Anthony Joshua card through the Revolut app, if you don’t have one already You must be a Revolut customer to enter. For our eligible Revolut Ltd customers, this promotion will...

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Introducing GoCardless’ new Customer Hub...

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E WANT TO EMPOWER OUR CUSTOMERS TO BECOME GOCARDLESS EXPERTS, TO BE ABLE TO TROUBLESHOOT ANY ISSUES OR QUERIES AT THE DROP OF A HAT, AND WE WANT TO PROVIDE THEM WITH CONTINUOUS VALUE FROM ACROSS THE GO-

CARDLESS ECOSYSTEM. That’s why we've been working behind the scenes to create a brand new Customer Hub that maximises the value of our platform and offers customers longterm success with GoCardless.

So, why now?

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GL CORPORATE SOLUTIONS, AUSTRALIA'S LEADING SUPPLIER OF SMSF ADMINISTRATION, ASIC CORPORATECOMPLIANCE AND INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO SOLUTIONS, IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE CAS 360, SIMPLE FUND 360AND SIMPLE INVEST 360 ARE NOW INTEGRATED WITH DIGITAL SIGNING TOOL FUSESIGN BY FUSEWORKS.

We launched our first self service offering back in 2016 with the introduction of our Support Centre and quickly learnt that many of our customers favoured this method of getting their queries answered.

(It even led to us...

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Accounting software with a purpose.

AM's Investing in Ireland

Monday 23 August 2021

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Page 12

New Apps & Updates

2 XU Biweekly | No. 12

Monday 23 August 2021

THE CLARITY ROADMAP (AKA FUTUREMAP) 2021/22

What’s New at Paycove

NEW XERO CONNECTED APPS!

DEALERLOGIC

By Aynsley Damery

Y

OU’RE IN LUCK! PAYCOVE HAS UNLEASHED SOME NEW FEATURES. STAYING UP TO DATE IS IMPORTANT, SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ALWAYS HAVE ALL THE FEATURES YOU NEED TO PROPERLY RUN YOUR BUSINESS. ALTHOUGH THERE IS NOT A PLETHORA OF NEW FEATURES, THE ONES WE HAVE RELEASED HAVE A HUGE IMPACT.

A

T CLARITY WE LIKE TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY. AND RATHER THAN SHARING A TRADITIONAL CLARITY ROADMAP [WHICH IS SUBJECT TO CONSTANT CHANGE; DUE TO CUSTOMER FEEDBACK, DEVELOPMENT TIMESCALES, CHANGING PRIORITIES, MARKET UPDATES ETC], WE THOUGHT WE WOULD CREATE A CLARITY FUTUREMAP INSTEAD.

Wire Transfer through Stripe We’ve always had a working relationship with Stripe, but wire transfers take it to a whole new level. Your customers can wire their payments to a “virtual account number” within Stripe, so you’ll never have to give your actual account numbers to clients. This helps keep the payments secure, and gives you some peace of mind. Keep in mind that wire transfers can take a bit longer than a credit card payment...

As a community-focused company, it’s vital that our Members fully understand the many developments we hope to implement over the next 12 months.

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XU BIWEEKLY - No. 12 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 Director of Strategic Partnerships: Alex Newson Communications Manager: Bethany Fulks Editorial Assistant: Kacey Wright 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 2014-2021.

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: 12 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 0BP, 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.

Introducing the Clarity 2021/22 FutureMap

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE: CHART ENHANCEMENTS

U

NDERSTANDING YOUR DATA AND COMMUNICATING IT CLEARLY TO YOUR KEY STAKEHOLDERS IS CRUCIAL IN MAKING IMPACTFUL DECISIONS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION. OUR PRODUCT TEAM IS CONTINUALLY WORKING ON ENHANCING CHARTING FUNCTIONALITY WITHIN CHARGIFY BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE. WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE NEW CHART SETTINGS, ADDITIONAL DATA HANDLING, AND SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO HEATMAPS.

Chart Settings We have added additional settings options to our charts, so you can further customize how your data is presented. The settings available will depend on the visualization type that has been selected.

• Legend - You now have the ability to turn the legend on and off as well as deciding its placement on the chart.

• Grids - The vertical and horizontal grids can now be turned on and off.

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AccountancyManager invests in its Irish users

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S THE LEADING ONBOARDING AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SERVICE IN IRELAND, ACCOUNTANCYMANAGER HAS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THEIR PLANS TO INCREASE FOCUS ON THESE CUSTOMERS. As the accounting industry works a little differently in Ireland, AccountancyManager will be investing in their Irish customisation to include the Euro currency and Irish specific deadline dates.

Azupay Launches Real-time Payment Solution for Small businesses, First of its Kind to Integrate with Xero

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E ARE ELATED TO ANNOUNCE OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH XERO. PAYID POWERED BY AZUPAY IS THE FIRST REAL-TIME PAYMENT OPTION USING AUSTRALIA’S NEW PAYMENTS PLATFORM AND UNIQUE PAYIDS. SMALL BUSINESSES CAN NOW RECEIVE PAYMENT IN SECONDS, SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVING CASH FLOW AT A CRITICAL TIME FOR AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES. Azupay today announced the launch of PayID powered by Azupay – the first real-time payment option on Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP) to integrate with Xero.

Small businesses using Xero can now display a PayID on their invoices and receive payment in seconds, significantly improving cash flow at a critical time for Australian businesses.

Azupay uses the NPP to enable businesses to accept payments in real-time, without the need for their customers to enter card details, BSB and account numbers or a separate password every time a payment is made PayID, powered by Azupay is the first example of the NPP being used as part of a largescale accounting solution and will transform how businesses get paid.

Azupay CEO John Murphy said “PayID Powered by Azupay marks a turning point in B2B and B2C payments in Australia. Australian businesses can use _PayID powered

by Azupay _to help accelerate cash flow and at the same time reduce their payment processing costs.

This is a huge win for Australian small businesses, many of whom are struggling in the current climate.” Ian Boyd, Director of...

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JOIINS Q2 2021, IN NUMBERS:

By Kate

T

HROUGHOUT Q2 2021, WE’VE CONTINUED TO SHOW EXTREMELY POSITIVE GROWTH IN ALL AREAS OF OUR BUSINESS.

Let’s take a closer look:

T

HIS SPECIAL-EDITION WEBINAR INTRODUCES SOME OF THE EXCITING NEW FEATURES MAKING THE FYI PLATFORM EVEN MORE ROBUST AND BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY IN FYI PRACTICES, THANKS TO NEW TOOLS TO HELP MANAGE YOUR EMAIL INBOX, AND NEW FUNCTIONALITY FOR AUTOMATED PROCESSES. We’ve even lifted the lid on our product roadmap to give you a look into some of the most exciting new features on the horizon – Workflow Jobs, Custom User Roles and Capacity Planning.

• Our customer experience team has welcomed new users from all corners of the world, including India, Canada and Panama and we’ve seen a 379.5% increase in year on year growth.

• Our new webinar sessions have been a huge success. We’ve seen a 60% increase in demos of our financial consolidation and reporting software, more than ever before.

• With more than 100,000 Joiin reports run between April-June 2021, we’ve smashed our user growth targets.

• Our development team has delivered no fewer than 46 new features – all based on requests and feedback from our users.

We are continually doing work to improve FYI’s feature-set related to email management, because it’s a fundamental area in which FYI can save you time.

You will soon be able to use the ‘My Partner’ toggle in the Documents...

We were also delighted to have welcomed Paul Shipway as our Commercial Director. Paul brings a hands-on approach to sales, marketing, customer experience, team development, and training, as we continue to build and grow with our app partners Xero, QuickBooks and Sage.

With another promising quarter under...

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1. New tools to help manage your email inbox

AU - DEALERlogic looks after every aspect of your dealership, letting you get on with running a successful business. Suited for independent dealers of all shapes and sizes, whether you sell cars, motorcycles, campervans, trucks or farm equipment. Manage, track and report on all aspects of your dealership.

FLUENCCY AU, CA, IE, NZ, UK & US - Fluenccy helps businesses take control of their foreign currency invoices and get a better, more consistent rate.

Powerful foreign currency planning tools to help you grow your business. Get your Currency Score and make better currency decisions.

CRASHZONE AU & NZ - An estimating system for smash repairers in Australia & New Zealand.

The Xero integration allows invoices generated in Crashzone to be exported to your Xero Organisation.

Fast and simple to use, write quotes, add images, create tax & excess invoices, email and print your quotes with no manual entry.

MODANO GLOBAL - The ultimate financial modelling, forecasting, scenario analysis, and dashboard reporting tool, empowering businesses and advisors to make better decisions. Modano gives you a single financial model which live links® to Xero and automatically rolls forward each month, providing real time insights.

CRASHZONE AU & NZ - An estimating system for smash repairers in Australia & New Zealand.

The Xero integration allows invoices generated in Crashzone to be exported to your Xero Organisation.

Fast and simple to use, write quotes, add images, create tax & excess invoices, email and print your quotes with no manual entry.

FINESS DATA AU, CA, IE, NZ, SG, UK & US - Leverage the power of Excel and Xero to connect and consolidate multiple organisations, create financial forecasts and compelling reports in just a few clicks, without sacrificing your audit trail. Refresh your financial data to update your models, papers & analysis.

News

4 XU Biweekly | No. 12

Use Xero Login to Sign In or Sign Up for Calxa

NEW XERO CONNECTED APPS!

B.SMART SG - A one stop platform for SMEs to manage and forecast cash flow in order to avoid running out of cash, plan scenarios and raise funds with speed and certainty. The platform syncs with your Xero account and automatically provides real-time and smart insights

Monday 23 August 2021

Cape, next-gen Spend Management platform taps Xero for their first Board Advisor Cape gears up for product launch with new board advisor

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APE, THE SPEND MANAGEMENT PLATFORM BUILT FOR MODERN FINANCE TEAMS ANNOUNCED A NEW LEADERSHIP APPOINTMENT TODAY WITH XERO’S LUIS SANCHEZ JOINING AS THEIR FIRST BOARD ADVISOR.

U

MADE.SIMPLR UK - A cloud-based software that helps R&D providers maximize resources and expand their business through process automation. Eliminates the need for manual claim processing which can be complicated & time-consuming. Add value to R&D providers as well as their clients.

SING THE XERO LOGIN TO SIGN IN OR SIGN UP FOR CALXA IS AN EFFICIENT WAY TO OPERATE. SINGLE SIGN ON IS THE TECHNICAL TERM FOR BEING ABLE TO SIGN IN TO ONE APP WITH CREDENTIALS FROM ANOTHER. Calxa has been integrating with Xero since 2011. So much has changed since those early days. Now the Calxa app is online, providing smooth interactions with our customer’s Xero accounts. If you are of a more cautious nature, you may have a few questions.

How does that work?

Should I use it?

We’ll explain how that works. Also, how you can now use your Xero Software Login...

ACCA AND XERO EXTEND PARTNERSHIP TO FUTURE-PROOF SINGAPORE’S NEXT-GENERATION OF ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS ACCA students and members will gain access to the Xero advisor certification e-learning programme to enhance qualifications and develop in-demand digital skills

X

ERO, THE GLOBAL SMALL BUSINESS PLATFORM AND THE ASSOCIATION OFCHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANTS (ACCA), THE GLOBAL BODY FOR PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANTS, HAVE EXTENDED THEIR PARTNERSHIP TO HELP FUTURE-PROOF SINGAPORE’S NEXT-GENERATION OF ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS. The partnership will continue to support ACCA Singapore members and students in strengthening their digital expertise to meet accounting industry standards of the future, increasing employability and professional mobility in today’s digital-first world.

From August 2021, ACCA students and members in Singapore will be able to access Xero’s e-learning programme to attain Xero advisor certification. The interactive online course consists of six hours of learning modules, focusing on digital literacy and cloud accounting. Upon completion, students will be proficient in all core features of Xero, from setting up to bank reconciliation to reporting, and certified to advise their clients.

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The appointment further bolsters the team's SME Banking and Alternative Finance experience with deep cloud accounting expertise to support the strategic direction of Cape’s product offering.

The neobank will be launching their Corporate Card with continuous accounting capabilities to help support finance managers, bookkeepers, and accountants carry out real time activities. This will allow their customers to balance out the peaks and troughs in workloads caused by needing to manage cash flow positions and business expenses on a day-to-day basis.

New advisory board member Luis Sanchez is a recognised commercial leader in the Cloud...

By Trent Mclaren

D

IVIPAY HAS OFFICIALLY WELCOMED OVER 100 MEMBERS TO THE DIVIPAY PARTNER COMMUNITY!

After their hard work and commitment, the DiviPay team are celebrating a great milestone this week having achieved the hundred mark for their Partner Community.

Partnering with DiviPay lets them help your clients take back control with priority support, and their Partner Community is a great place to discuss and talk about all things DiviPay, Accounting & Bookkeeping best practice.

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Six things you need to know about securing your business with multi-factor authentication

By Craig Walker

FIGURED AND XERO ANNOUNCED AS “AGTECH FINANCE SOLUTION OF THE YEAR”

BY AGTECH BREAKTHROUGH AWARDS

By Damon Anderson

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CCORDING TO FIGURES FROM THE UK GOVERNMENT, 39% OF BUSINESSES HAVE EXPERIENCED A CYBER SECURITY BREACH IN THE LAST YEAR. The effects of a cyber attack can be devastating, posing not only a risk to your business, but also to your brand – and it’s set to grow as we operate in an increasingly online world.

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Xero and Figured bring breakthrough farm financial management software solution to agriculture sector

X

ERO CONNECT APP FIGURED, THE FARM FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND XERO, THE SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNTING PLATFORM, TODAY ANNOUNCED THEY HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS JOINT WINNERS OF THE “AGTECH FINANCE SOLUTION OF THE YEAR” AWARD IN THE 2021 AGTECH BREAKTHROUGH AWARDS.

A

ROUND 15 YEARS AGO, I SAT DOWN AT MY DINING ROOM TABLE IN WELLINGTON AND BEGAN WRITING THE FIRST LINES OF CODE FOR A START-UP THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY BECOME XERO. In recognition of that anniversary, I’ve been reflecting on those early days, and how a simple idea to transform bank reconciliation changed the game for accounting and helped build the global small business platform you see today.

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Find out more AS OUR OPERATIONS MANAGER.

By Jesse

T

HIS WEEK WE’RE PLEASED TO REPORT THAT JOE AHMAD HAS JOINED THE EMERSION LEADERSHIP TEAM

A leader of strategy, operations, and innovation teams for the last decade, Joe previously led the operational excellence team at Momentum Energy and the strategy team at Telstra, where he was responsible for large scale transformation programs.

Joe brings to Emersion a keen interest in the opportunities that data analytics, automation, digitisation, and AI can provide to...

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By Glen Foster

B

ETWEEN APRIL AND MAY 2021, WE SPOKE TO MORE THAN 500 PRACTITIONERS, FROM ACCOUNTING AND BOOKKEEPING FIRMS OF ALL SIZES, FROM SOLE PRACTITIONERS TO VERY LARGE PRACTICES (50+ EMPLOYEES).

The study paints a picture of an...

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Accounting integrations

Features Scaling with Xero and AutoEntry XERO'S SOUTH AFRICA ROADSHOW 2021 W 6 XU Biweekly | No. 12

Monday 23 August 2021

HILST WE'RE STILL UNABLE TO MEET IN PERSON, XERO WILL BE BRINING ANOTHER SHOW TO US DIGITALLY ON THE 24TH - 26TH AUGUST, WITH THE SOUTH AFRICA REMOTE SHOW 2021.

The show will cover many topics such as how to achieve the best mindset and skill sets you need for success, as well as how to use the right toolsn to help accelerate your business.

There will be two mornings especially for the accounting and advisory community, and another dedicated to the growing small business community.

By Tom Port

H

OW ARMSTRONG WATSON, A PLATINUM XERO PARTNER, USED AUTOENTRY AND XERO TO HELP THEM SCALE...

Sooner or later, businesses will always learn the benefits of keeping up with technology and the perils of falling behind. And that was especially the case over the past 12 months.

Companies with a trained, up to date workforce, a strong remote working infrastructure and up to date technology weathered the covid storm much more assuredly than their competitors.

In fact, some organizations, like Armstrong Watson, have flourished in recent months, enjoying healthy scaling without compromising on their offerings to their clients. Armstrong Watson’s clients vary in just about every way, from size to industry and beyond. So the accounting and financial services company has to cater to different needs and levels of comfort with accounting technology.

To scale, and to cater to this broad base, Armstrong Watson has to be agile.

Building Out - Choosing the Software This story begins about 5 years ago, with Armstrong Watson overhauling their systems.

“In the first instance efficiency is working with as few systems as possible,” says Richard Woolgar, Head of Management Systems for Armstrong Watson. “We decided some years back that we wanted to improve our internal systems. Our existing software providers were proving intransient in some issues we wanted to address.”

“So we thought let’s look at the whole

system. At that point, for about 10 years we’d been using Xero for a bank of clients and it was scalable. In fact, it was scalable for any type of client - from one-man-bands to audit level companies, so we took the decision to move onto that platform for all of our accounts – either client or internal use are on there to some degree.”

“Once you’ve moved it all to Xero, the next question is how to get the data into Xero better. And the first point of that, years back, was when we started using AutoEntry.”

“It was a game changer in its time. It was great for us, especially for end of year accounts. That’s how our relationship started.”

For The Accountants & Advisors This year we will be getting a glimpse into Xero's newest products in action. You'll learn the real power of apps and how they can help your business to succeed. We'll be joined by some of South Africa's top digital accountants to share their invaluable insights with us too.

For The Local Businesses Xero's experts will be sharing why online accounting is amazing for your business.

Hear from our guest speakers about their journey from starting out in South Africa, to achieving success.

The entire show will be hosted on Zoom, so you can access it from almost anywhere!

Register now

MinuteDock’s Guide to Surviving an 80+ Hour Work Week

AutoEntry, Xero and the Appeal of Multiple Softwares “It’s key to have that data [provided by clients],” says Richard.

“We put all of our clients onto Xero. The information is only useful if you then have bank feed and invoices fed into it. AutoEntry gives that first step of having data to act on. It gets people used to the idea of the accounts software being the starting point. So AutoEntry was the first cab off the rank.”

“New clients are given Xero and then AutoEntry. When they see how useful it is in other products and the ecosystem way of working, that opens more opportunities for advisory and system reviews and other processes and services. Clients look at everything from the ground up. It leads to a lot of fruitful conversations. People were used to using one software, but now word is out and people are getting more educated.

There are multiple softwares now.”

The value of a good OCR OCR, or Optical Character Recognition, is quite commonplace now. But Armstrong Watson were early adopters. And they believe that not every OCR is created equal.

“You need a good OCR to get up to date invoices,” says Richard. “From that point it was a no-brainer to continue our relationship [with AutoEntry]. We use it internally and externally. It has made it easier to scale.”

“We’re all working in the same software and system. You get stickier clients, word...

Find out more

By Bryce Armstrong

T

HE TEAM AT MINUTEDOCK OFFER ADVICE FOR THAT MOST DREADED OF CIRCUMSTANCES, THE DOUBLE WORK WEEK. LEARN HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE! The 80-hour working week is a thing dreaded by even the most dedicated of professionals. It is, after all, the equivalent of working two weeks within the space of one. While it certainly isn’t recommended as an ongoing, regular part of your work experience, a hard week of 80+ hours may allow you to catch up on your workload and keep the stress away from the rest of your month. It is important, when you decide to do something like this, to do it right – it would be all too easy to burnout and be unproductive for most of

HR Software for Small & Medium Businesses Streamline your HR processes and free up your time

the time or to produce subpar work. If there’s one thing you don’t want, it’s to have to backtrack later on and fix the mistakes you made while you were too tired to think straight.

First, you will want to give a lot of consideration not just to the hours you will work in the week, but also to the number of days you will work. Working a traditional five-day week will result in you having 16-hour workdays; something you might find yourself struggling to accomplish. A 6-day week comprising a total of 80 hours would be between 13 and 14 hours a day, while a 7-day week would make that more like 11 or 12 hours per day. Those numbers are much more manageable on a day-to-day basis, but have the disadvantage of cutting into your weekend, so the

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choice will be down to personal preference.

But is working 80+ hours in a week healthy? Working 80 hours a week for a short period, or intermittently, may well aid you in reducing work time stress and pressure affecting your mental state by letting you get out in front of big projects or catch up quickly when you’re behind the ball. Having said that, it’s vitally important to make sure you are getting all the physical and mental stimulus you need to keep healthy while you work a heavy week – making sure you have enough sleep to feel rested, are eating full and healthy meals, and are getting enough physical exercise – these are all important factors to consider!

Ensure you have a...

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Features

8 XU Biweekly | No. 12

Service Diversification - embracing technology to enable growth with ApprovalMax

By Helmut Heptner

D

It’s not a solo effort though; it’s about an accounting firm and their client progressing together, hand-in-hand. Success very much depends on the firm’s readiness to deliver a certain set of services – but just as much on the client’s willingness to embrace this kind of services, meaning they first need to place a demand and then incorporate such input into their business decision-making.

Growth stages of advisory Quite commonly, a comparison between Compli-

ACTUALS Practice readiness

I V E R S I F I C AT I O N OF SERVICES, IN ESSENCE, LEADS TO EVOLVING TOWARDS HIGHER VALUE ADVISORY AND BUILDING A CLOSER AND MORE MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CLIENT – A JOURNEY THAT EVERY ACCOUNTING FIRM EMBARKS ON AT SOME POINT IN TIME.

Monday 23 August 2021

What’s the future of Making Tax Digital and digital accounting?

ADVISORY

The home of XU Magazine and XU Biweekly

MTD

XU Hub COMPLIANCE

FORECASTING

How digital accounting is changing the tax landscape

is now live on Apple News!

By Chris Findlow

Client readiness

ance and Advisory will conclude that compliance is focused mainly on statutory and governmental reporting, typically quarterly or annually, which requires no knowledge of the business – as opposed to business advisory that takes a deep dive into the operations to figure out the impact certain finan-

ISSUE 27 OUT NOW!

cial transactions would have by including spending per spend category, the profitability of each product or service the client offers, etc.

In between, however, there are two more growth stages, something we call the Actuals and Forecasting.

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XU magazine

O

VER THE PAST FEW YEARS, HMRC’S ‘MAKING TAX DIGITAL’ (MTD) INITIATIVE HAS BEEN A REGULAR TOPIC IN XU MAGAZINE. BUT WITH MAKING TAX DIGITAL FOR VAT NOW UP AND RUNNING, WHAT DOES THE FUTURE ROLLOUT OF MTD LOOK LIKE? AND HOW CAN YOU ENSURE THAT YOUR FIRM IS READY? MARKETFINANCE EXPLAINS ALL. Chris Findlow, Head of Partnerships at MarketFinance, looks at the history and future of MTD and the need for a flexible digital accounting setup at the heart of your accounting firm.

We live in a digital world. Our lives and our businesses are run and managed using online tools, digital solutions and a diverse, customised set of apps in our app stacks.

And with the move to online banking, Open Banking and a growing network of fintech solutions, the financial world is ever more digital in its nature. So, why should tax be any different?

Making Tax Digital is HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) initiative to upgrade, streamline and digitise the tax system. Generally speaking, the key aims of MTD are:

XU are now a CPD Corporate Member

W

E HAVE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE CPD CERTIFICATION SERVICE TO HAVE OUR ARTICLES CPD CERTIFIED.

This means businesses and (in the near future) individual taxpayers will need to digitally record their financial transactions and submit digital tax returns. And to do this...

As you read through our sister publication, XU Magazine, any article that shows the CPD Certified logo has been approved to count towards your CPD points.

The CPD Certification Service was established in 1996 as the leading independent CPD accreditation institution operating across industry sectors to complement the Continuing Professional Development policies of professional institutes and academic bodies. The CPD Certification Service provides support, advice and recognised independent CPD accreditation compatible with global CPD principles.

We are really excited to have been able to secure this for our magazine readers as it means all approved articles can now be used towards your CPD points and building up your CPD register.

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• To make it simpler and more effective for companies and individuals to submit their tax information – and to move this process into the digital space.

• To make it easier for HMRC to access the relevant data, in a digital format – and for returns to be digitally submitted on a more frequent basis.

• To reduce errors, late returns and missing data – and by doing so increase the tax revenues coming into the Treasury.

Classifieds

XU Biweekly | No. 12

Monday 23 August 2021 9

Accountant Tools

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10 XU Biweekly | No. 12

Features

Monday 23 August 2021

FUTURE PROOFING YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

Closing the rule book on old methods – how to make advisory as natural as compliance

By Wendy Rowe

W

HILE THERE HAS BEEN A NOTABLE INCREASE IN DEMAND FOR SERVICES THAT COULD BE PACKAGED AND CHARGED AS ADVISORY SERVICES, THE SHIFT FROM COMPLIANCE TO ADVISORY HAS BEEN SLOWER THAN MANY HAVE ENVISAGED..

By Chris Dahl

T

HE IMPACTS OF THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC HAVE BEEN FAR-REACHING, BOTH FROM A CULTURAL AND BUSINESS STANDPOINT, AND SMALL BUSINESSES OWNERS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO ADAPT TO SURVIVE. The snap transition to digital last year resulted in many businesses being forced online, yet many lacked the digital skills to capitalise on the new opportunities presented.

With online transactions surging since the onset of the pandemic, small and medium businesses must ensure they keep up with the digital world in order to stay relevant. So, how can your

business do this? Here are a few tips to help future proof your business.

Offer online payments for your invoices In Australia, over 1.2 billion invoices are exchanged annually with almost 90 per cent of small and medium businesses still processing paper-based invoices. The Australian government has identified e-invoicing as a critical reform to deliver significant economic benefits for businesses and the wider Australian economy. When an e-invoice replaces a paper invoice, the businesses involved could share savings of up to $20 per invoice.

Digital payments have become the leading method of accepting funds since the pandemic. They’re simple,

easy and require no handling of physical cash or cards.

Businesses can simply add an online payment option to an invoice and even set up recurring payments to ensure invoices are paid on time. For Small and medium business owners, e-invoicing helps not only to manage cash flow, but also increase productivity with reduced administration. Adding a digital option to your payments can also speed up payments as your customers have fewer barriers to pay.

Ultimately, with most of the world now shopping and conducting business online, moving to digital payments will provide your customers with a smoother online and shopping experience and...

At Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting UK, we support customers with tools and processes that make client advisory as natural as producing a tax return. Here we share why there is such a slow shift to advisory and some practical tips to becoming an advisory practise.

Client needs have significantly evolved over the past few years. First, it was a shift to the digital age with Making Tax Digital, then uncertainty brought on by Brexit, followed by a global pandemic. Many of our customers have seen an increase in demand for their client advice, real-time information and quick access to data.

While there has been a notable increase in demand for services that could be packaged and charged as advisory services, the shift from compliance to advisory has been slower than many have envisaged.

Read more

At Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting UK, we support customers with tools and processes that make client advisory as natural as producing a tax return. Here we share why there is such a slow shift to advisory and some practical tips to becoming an advisory practise.

Tracking a growing market We conducted interviews with practices in nine countries across Europe and a common piece of feedback was that firms do not believe the shift from compliance to advisory is accelerating as fast as they envisaged.

That said, whilst many conversations with clients started with a compliance task, most ended up involving advice as well. The advisory work was on a reactive basis, responding to requests from clients.

This seems like a contradiction. How can the shift from compliance to advisory be slow when the demand is clearly there, and the environment created by recent uncertainty has primed practices to take on more clients? One consideration is that firm don’t have advisory embedded into the DNA of their business, as they have with compliance.

Put simply – they don’t have the tools or processes to support that change to advisory, nor do they have a strategy to make a start.

Tools and strategy: the keys to unlocking advisory services .

Find out more

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21 MANCHESTER CENTRAL | 20-21 SEPTEMBER 2021

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12 XU Biweekly | No. 12

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FinTech News

MONZO TOPS THE BANKING CHARTS

M

ONZO, THE APP-BASED CHALLENGER BANK, HAS RECENTLY BEEN NAMED THE BEST BANK IN GREAT BRITAIN FOR THE THIRD TIME! The title has been bestowed upon Monzo by Ipsos MORI, a global leader in market research, following a recent survey they sent out gaging peoples opinions on their banks and whether they would recommend them to family and friends.

The survey was sent out between July 2020 and June 2021 to 17,059 people, who all hold accounts at 17 of the largest personal current account providers.

Monzo ranked first place in Great Britain and Ireland for the overall service quality of their bank with 83% ofcustomers agreeing they would recommend their personal accounts to family and friends, beating the

likes of first direct, Starling Bank, Metro Bank and Nationwide.

They also came out on top for Online and Mobile Banking services in both Great Britain and Ireland again, with 88% of customers stating they would recommend it.

They were closely followed by Starling Bank, first direct, Halifax and Nationwide.

Monzo managed to land third place in Great Britain for their Overdraft services at 65%, narrowly missing out to first firect and Metro Bank.

Other participating providers of the surveyed customers were Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander UK, Tesco Bank, The Co-operative Bank, TSB, and Virgin Money.

Find out more

Monday 23 August 2021

The best way to send money from the UK to the Philippines with Revolut

By George Blew

T

HERE ARE ABOUT 200,000 FILIPINOS IN THE UK. THEY ARE A GROWING SECTOR IN THE BRITISH HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, REPRESENTING THE SECOND LARGEST GROUP OF FOREIGN NATIONALS AFTER INDIANS.

What’s the best way to send money to the Philippines?

When sending money to the Philippines, traditional banks can be expensive and slow, with high fees and transfers taking at least several days. Instead, an online money transfer provider can let you send money abroad fast and at a low cost.

That’s where we come in! With Revolut you can send money abroad fast and at a great exchange rate. We’re committed to providing our customers with the best rates when it comes to currency exchange.

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How much does it cost to send money to the Philippines?

We charge a fixed percentage fee of 0.3%, pegged to a minimum of £0.30 and a maximum of £5. You’ll also get the interbank exchange rate for your transaction.

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The image below shows how much the transaction will cost with different providers. This is accurate as of 2021, at the time of the sample.

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THE DIGITAL ACCOUNTANCY SHOW 2021 Atom bank reaches key income and traiding milestones in Q1 2022

A

TOM BANK, THE DURHAM BASED FINTECH, HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF ITS 2022 FINANCIAL YEAR PASSING SEVERAL IMPORTANT INCOME MILESTONES. THE Q1 RESULTS VINDICATE ATOM’S BUSINESS MODEL AND SUPPORT A STRONG TRAJECTORY TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE PROFITABILITY. During the 3 months April to June 2021, Atom reached £3bn of mortgage completions, passed £1bn of deposits into its Instant Saver product, grew total customer deposits 16% to £2.5bn and delivered its first month of operating profit.

Atom has placed particular emphasis on supporting SMEs as the country exits lockdown and saw strong demand for CBILS products, which drove quarterly growth of 16% in Business lending taking it to a total of £759m. Coupled with 9% growth in the bank’s residential mortgages, Atom’s income from lending is on track to support its targeted return on equity of +24%.

Margins and returns on lending remain strong. Quarter-end net interest margin is at 1.30%, up from 1.02% at the last quarter-end. Atom’s well established credentials

in the mortgage market have been further enhanced by the bank’s launch of a range of mortgages for customers with near-perfect credit.

Strong cost control and an improving credit outlook together with a one-off gain from its liquid asset portfolio have enabled Atom to record an operating profit for the month of June. With the build of the bank infrastructure complete, further asset growth will allow it to exploit its embedded cost leverage opportunity. These results further strengthen Atom’s confidence that it will be generating month-on-month operating profit later this year.

Atom’s excellent reputation amongst its customers has also endured. Atom’s customers give the bank a TrustPilot rating of 4.6 stars out of 5 and a recent survey of Atom’s business lending customers confirmed a Net Promoter Score for this key group of +88, reflecting the support Atom has provide to SMEs during lockdown and the service provided to those who need to borrow to grow their businesses.

Mark Mullen, Chief Executive Officer at Atom, said: "We have momentum - it's...

Read more

T

HE DIGITAL ACCOUNTANCY SHOW 2021 IS COMING THIS SEPTEMBER TO THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM IN LONDON, AND XU ARE AN OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNER! The show will help accountants, bookkeepers and advisors explore the the amazing apps, processes and technologies that are available to us in the UK. Accounting technologies have the power to dramatically change the face of accountancy and its future like never before, and the potential they can bring to your business or firm is immense.

Learning how to utilise and adopt these exciting new technologies is essential in todays business landscape and this years show is the first ever to truly focus on helping accountancy

firms understand thes possibilies.

The day will bring together leading technology companies, accounting industry leaders and innovators to provide a unique platform for learning, discovering, networking and inspiring.

You'll hear from some amazing speakers throughout the day on the Main Stage, Evolution Stage, Tech Academy, App Advisory Hub and the Pitch-off Stage.

Once the main show has finished, there will be the chance to relax and continue networking with other exhibitors at the Digital Accountancy Night Show.

The event is open for all, with the expo and theatres being free to attend, so register now to make sure you don't miss it!

Find out more