XU Biweekly - Issue 27 - 9 April 2022 by XU Magazine

Saturday 09 April 2022 | No. 27

XU Biweekly

THE PARTY IS ALMOST HERE

The independent news source for Xero users, by Xero users

XERO APPOINTS CHRIS O’NEILL AS CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER New executive role to lead growth of Xero’s small business platform and strategic development of Xero in the Americas

ERO, THE GLOBAL SMALL BUSINESS PLATFORM, TODAY ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF CHRIS O’NEILL TO THE NEWLY CREATED ROLE OF CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER, JOINING XERO’S GLOBAL EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM. Reporting to Xero CEO Steve Vamos, Chris will be responsible for the strategic direction and operational performance within Xero’s newly-created Applications & Services division, which represents part of Xero’s small business platform. The Applications & Services division comprises a number of Xero’s existing businesses, including recent acquisitions that are an increasing area of growth and strategic significance for Xero. The Applications & Services division includes Financial Services, Payroll, Planday and the Ecosystem/ Xero App Store. Chris will also lead the strategic development of Xero in the Americas - including US and Canada working closely with Xero President Americas, Tony Ward. CEO Steve Vamos commented: “The global

cloud-based small business applications software market is still in a relatively early stage of development and represents a huge opportunity. Chris brings extensive experience to help further develop and grow a number of exciting business areas within Xero.” “I look forward to Chris helping us further scale Xero’s business in the US and Canada, building on our go to market and product efforts to date; through...

AM joins Bright Software Group W E’RE DELIGHTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT ACC O U N TA N C Y M A N AG E R IS JOINING THE BRIGHT SOFTWARE GROUP (BRIGHT), PROVIDER OF THE LEADING BRIGHTPAY PAYROLL PRODUCT, RECOGNISED FOR PROVIDING AWARD-WINNING SOFTWARE TO SMES AND AC-

COUNTING FIRMS ACROSS THE UK AND IRELAND.

James Byrne, co-founder of AM, will continue as a shareholder in the combined group and remain involved with the business as an advisor to the combined Board. Kevin McCallum, CEO of AM, will become Chief Operating Officer of the new,

GL CORPORATE SOLUTIONS, AUSTRALIA'S LEADING PROVIDER OF SMSF, INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO AND COMPANY COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE, IS PROUD TO CELEBRATE THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS PIONEERING SMSF ADMINISTRATION SOLUTION, SIMPLE FUND. “This is a huge milestone and I’m extremely proud of the BGL teams’ countless achievements over this time” said Ron Lesh, BGL’s Managing Director. “Simple Fund was launched on the Windows oper-

combined group as well as continuing to manage AM, working closely with Bright CEO, Paul Byrne. James Byrne, Co-Founder and Chair of AccountancyManager, comments, “AccountancyManager recently celebrated its fifth birthday...

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ating system in April 1997, at a time when people were still learning how to browse the internet, send emails and text messages. It’s quite remarkable to think that BGL has been part of the accounting software industry for over 30 years”. BGL delivered many industry firsts within Simple Fund, including SMSF data feeds with BankLink, integration with share registries...

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New Apps & Updates

2 XU Biweekly | No. 27

Saturday 09 April 2022

Lightyear's March

New PayTools Feature Alert: Payroll Tax Manager for Xero! By Lee Kennedy

HE PAYTOOLS TEAM IS EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE’VE RELEASED A BRAND NEW FEATURE, PAYROLL TAX MANAGER – AN AUSTRALIAN PAYROLL TAX CALCULATOR, AUTOMATICALLY CALCULATING YOUR MONTHLY LIABILITY READING DIRECTLY FROM XERO. Not being able to automate payroll tax calculation has long been a pain point in Australia, leaving most to rely on homegrown, manual spreadsheets. This common bug-bear was what motivated us to bravely/foolishly take on developing a better solution for payroll tax management. Our mission at Paytools is to make payroll better by tackling some of the unloved, manual and ignored problems. So, that brings us to our latest feature for Paytools! We’re proud of...

WE'VE FOCUSED OUR PAST FEW RELEASE CYCLES ON FEATURES ENABLING YOU TO COMPLETE CORE TASKS MORE EFFICIENTLY. KEY HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: • Single-click approval/sign-off and exports to skip approval steps and export your data faster • Enhanced Conditional Approvals that cater for up to 8 people in an approvals flow. • Another round of Purchase Order enhancements...

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Read more XU BIWEEKLY - No. 27

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 2014-2022. 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.

What did we review? This quarter we have reviewed… • Changes to the professional body regulations to understand their impact on terms and conditions • The scopes and service schedules to ensure no changes to legislations have affected them

Product update: Quick start pods and branded emails

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 Creative Assistant: Hatty Morton

By Chris Gregg

HE COMPLIANCE LANDSCAPE IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING. REVIEWING THOSE CHANGES AND UNDERSTANDING HOW THEY AFFECT YOUR ENGAGEMENT LETTERS IS A HUGE TASK. AS AN OVERSUITE SUBSCRIBER, WE DO THAT FOR YOU FORMALLY ON A QUARTERLY BASIS AND AD-HOC, AS CHANGES ARISE.

By Rory Macrae

UPDATE

REDICT IS THE ONLY FORECASTING SOFTWARE THAT CREATES PREDICTIONS FROM INVOICES/BILLS, P&L, BALANCE SHEET AND HAS GOOGLE SHEETS HOTLINKS TO MAKE FORECASTING THE COMPLEX EASY.

Insights are coming Well, it's about to give you even more. These are the first releases for 2022, with further releases that will make you smile through the summer and beyond: • Cash flow analysis

performance

IVE BIG ONES THIS MONTH, SO LET’S GO! THE STORY SO FAR…

• P&L performance analysis • Balance Sheet performance analysis • Variance reporting against, budgets and scenarios • Growth trackers • Customer/supplier analysis Book directly with me to get a full sneak peek through all of these features.

1. Quick-start pods

Get a new meeting pod up-and-running in seconds. When you create a new pod, you’re presented with some new options. You can start a new pod from scratch (as before) OR you can choose a quick-start template pod. Quick-start pods template pods come with a pre-populated meeting agenda which you can edit at any time.

Accountants! Download our advisory framework Find out more

Enjoy a new dashboard experience — Global

XERO LAUNCHES BETA FOR MAKING TAX DIGITAL FOR INCOME TAX SELF ASSESSMENT

CCOUNTANTS AND BOOKKEEPERS CAN JOIN HMRC’S MTD FOR ITSA PILOT WITH XERO, DRIVING DIGITISATION AND ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH UPCOMING GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION.

I’m now excited to share some new reporting features that have just landed — as well as a few that are coming soon — that will make our reports even faster and easier to use. I can’t wait to hear what you think.

Xero is leading the charge in enabling accountants and bookkeepers to participate in HMRC’s pilot and prepare for one of the largest ever changes to the tax system, impacting 4.2 million taxpayers in the UK. By empowering advisors to digitise tax, Xero can enable them to comply with the government’s new reporting regulations while also progressing their digital journey. Launched in advance of HMRC’s pilot, this beta is one of the first HMRC-recognised software solutions available, developed by Xero alongside its personal tax and sole trader accounts production software with...

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AST YEAR, WE ANNOUNCED WE WERE RAMPING UP OUR INVESTMENT IN NEW REPORTS. THIS WORK IS ALL PART OF OUR VISION TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A CUSTOM SUITE OF REPORTS TO HELP YOU GET ANSWERS FAST, AND STREAMLINE YOUR FINANCIAL ANALYSIS.

AVING YOU TIME AND CREATING EFFICIENCIES IS THE NAME OF THE GAME THIS MONTH, WITH A RANGE OF UPDATES DESIGNED TO GET YOU BACK TO THE STUFF THAT MATTERS, FASTER. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE THE ABILITY TO TRACK TIME ON YOUR DESKTOP IN XERO PROJECTS, NAVIGATE TO YOUR FAVOURITE APPS FROM ONE PLACE WITH XERO’S APP LAUNCHER AND ENJOY A FRESH NEW LOOK ACROSS BANK RULES AND THE XERO DASHBOARD. TAKE A LOOK.

New features

Our ACA-led...

By Tory Anderson

By Anna Curzon

In the months ahead, you may notice...

NEW XERO CONNECTED APPS! CAPITALISE SA & UK - Protect and boost cash flow, strengthen and streamline your firm, grow your client accounts, supercharge your team. Unlock your advisory potential.

BOOKE.AI GLOBAL - An intelligent backoffice for accountanting firms and their clients, saving time on bookkeeping and providing useful insights by allowing collaboration help each other close the books more quickly.

News & Updates

4 XU Biweekly | No. 27

KPMG and Xero bringing bookkeeping to the cloud

DEPUTY PARTNERS WITH WAGESTREAM

E’RE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE XERO HAS ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH KPMG FINANCE PLUS TO PROVIDE A CLOUD BOOKKEEPING AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE SOLUTION FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES ACROSS CANADA.

“At KPMG Finance Plus, we recognized that many small and medium-size businesses need a way to ease their bookkeeping burden so they can focus on the growth of their business,” says Peter Gribilas, Partner at KPMG Enterprise. “Since businesses that accelerate their move to digital are better positioned in this new environment, we knew the solution had to be innovative and secure with financial information readily available...

Start-up fintech helping SMEs to save big on foreign invoices By Tony Crivelli

MES ARE ALL TOO AWARE THEY INCUR SIGNIFICANT LOSSES WHEN PAYING INTERNATIONAL INVOICES BUT NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, THEY HAVE THE TOOLS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT WITH THE RELEASE OF FLUENCCY’S INVOICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE. Last year, Australian FinTech Startup Fluenccy released Currency Score, an innovative approach to foreign currency planning for time and resource poor SMEs. Using international invoice data already sitting in Xero, Currency Score provides the world’s first global industry benchmark allowing SMEs to see how effective their currency purchasing has been in comparison to, say, a large corporation with a treasury team and a sophisticated hedging strategy. Founder, Tony Crivelli notes “SMEs knew they were losing money on most foreign...

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Feature of the month

Announcing the Xero Beautiful Business Contest Winner: Alissa Millett of Soulteria

EPUTY, THE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT APP, HAS JOINED FORCES WITH WAGESTREAM TO IMPROVE SHIFT WORKERS’ FINANCIAL WELLBEING AND HELP BUSINESSES WIN IN THE WAR FOR TALENT.

Saturday 09 April 2022

Annature joins myprosperity's Wealth Platform

ODAY, ANNATURE, THE AUSTRALIAN FOUNDED AND OWNED ESIGNING FINTECH, ANNOUNCES ITS ADDITION TO THE MYPROSPERITY CLIENT PORTAL IN RESPONSE TO GROWING DEMAND FROM ACCOUNTANTS AND FINANCIAL ADVISERS.

As the cost of living rises, new research shows the majority of UK workers (57%) are bringing money worries to work every day, and their employers are responding: 93 % of UK companies now plan to put a financial wellbeing programme in place, up from 51% a year ago. Data also now shows that businesses which tackle the problem see the significant impact - hiring people 27% faster, reducing turnover by 16% and increasing shift uptake by 26%. Wagestream is the financial wellbeing app founded with charities, designed for frontline workers and built around pay. Already available to one million people through employers like Bupa, Honest Burgers, Leon and Greene King, people use the app to track their shifts and pay each day, choose their own...

While Annature's eSigning platform is purpose built for all industries, it is trusted by accountants, financial advisors and financial institutions to support the transition to digital workflow for performance and cost efficiency benefits. This is combined with the power of myprosperity’s sleek digital portal for clients to engage and collaborate with their financial professionals. "Our view," says myprosperity founder and executive director Peter McCarthy "is that digital transformation is not a once-off phenomenon. Even before COVID-19 there was a trend towards digital collaboration between accountants and advisors with clients. Ongoing digital transformation will continue to accelerate at pace." Annature CEO and founder...

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SPOTTED ON LINKEDIN

By Ben Richmond

TOP ACCEPTING LATE PAYMENTS AND WRITING OFF BAD DEBT AS JUST ANOTHER PART OF DOING BUSINESS. Chaser Collections is a no-win, no-fee debt collection service that is available to all Chaser users. Chaser's experienced debt collectors will get your most difficult invoices paid, whilst maintaining those important customer relationships you've spent time and effort building up.

Product news Attach your invoice PDF to chasing emails (new for Microsoft Dynamics, FreeAgent and Freshbooks users). Microsoft Dynamics, FreeAgent and Freshbooks users can now attach their invoice PDFs to chasing emails.

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ARLIER THIS YEAR, WE ANNOUNCED OUR XERO BEAUTIFUL BUSINESS CONTEST, WHICH GAVE U.S. SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS THE CHANCE TO WIN A $15,000 OFFICE REFRESH BY CELEBRATED STYLIST AND INTERIOR DESIGNER, ESTEE STANLEY. Entrants were asked to submit photos or videos of their office along with a description of why their workspace deserved a makeover. This vital support helped many to survive, and even thrive. However, amidst...

The role of governance and the metaverse in responsible data use By Kendra Vant

HERE IS MUCH TALK THESE DAYS ABOUT VIRTUAL MARKETPLACES AND ‘THE METAVERSE’, SO IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT THIS WAS ONE OF THE PRIMARY TOPICS OF DISCUSSION FOR OUR THIRD XERO RESPONSIBLE DATA USE ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING, WHICH WE RECENTLY HELD VIRTUALLY. There are many opinions on the matter and just as many approaches that small businesses can take, so it was great to have an in-depth discussion with my....

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News

6 XU Biweekly | No. 27

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HOW TO LEVERAGE AUTOMATION TO AUDIT-PROOF YOUR RECORD KEEPING

SPOTTED ON LINKEDIN

By Edwine Alphonse

Chaser wins B2B Supplier of the Year at the CICM British Credit Awards

By Sonia Dorais

AM EXTREMELY PROUD TO ANNOUNCE CHASER HAS WON B2B SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR AT THE CICM BRITISH CREDIT AWARDS 2022.

OR MANY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS, THE IDEA OF AN AUDIT IS ONE THAT IS NERVE-WRACKING. COMPILING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND ENSURING THAT THEY’RE AUDIT-READY CAN TAKE WEEKS, IF NOT MONTHS, IF THERE ISN’T A SYSTEM IN PLACE TO AUTOMATE THESE PROCESSES. By introducing automation to your financial operation, you can make the audit process simple and straightforward...

This award recognises suppliers delivering innovative and effective solutions for B2B credit teams who have achieved demonstrable benefits to their clients. Judges praised Chaser's entry for allowing credit teams to automate the accounts receivables process without losing the human touch with their customers. It is Chaser's mission to help SMEs...

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Managing by exception, saving you time: how Aider helps advisors manage by exception By Alix Dougherty

N INSIGHTFUL PIECE THAT DIVES DEEPER INTO THE ACCOUNTING TERM ‘MANAGEMENT BY EXCEPTION’ (& HOW AIDER FOSTERS THIS APPROACH)

Joiin becomes an official ICAS Evolve partner

By Louise Southall

HE 2022/23 BUDGET IS A CLASSIC PRE-ELECTION DOCUMENT, SEEKING TO SETTLE AUSTRALIAN’S NERVES AROUND THE CURRENT COST OF LIVING.

If you've been reading advisory articles and keeping up with the trends in business, you've probably come across the phrase ‘management by exception’. It sounds good, doesn't it? We all want to be exceptional in our clients' eyes, but in the world of business or accounting speak, what does it mean to manage by exception? What if we told you that managing by exception is an effective and straightforward way to implement more efficiency into your advisory workflow so that you can scale your practice? We pulled together this blog to dive deeper into the definition of management by exception, explore how it can...

There are also a raft of new announcements that directly benefit small businesses and encourage investment in employee skills and business digitalisation. Looking at the Budget from a macroeconomic perspective, it is expected to be as expansionary in 2022/23 as it was in 2021/22. The projected deficit of $78.0 billion in 2022/23 is almost identical to the $79.8 billion deficit expected in 2021/22. In short, there is little difference in the Government’s impact on the economy between the year immediately after the 2020 global recession (2021/22) and the coming fiscal year. There is a risk that maintaining such an expansionary budget position, in an...

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E’RE DELIGHTED TO BE AN OFFICIAL PARTNER OF THE ICAS EVOLVE PROGRAMME, WHICH PROVIDES TAILOR-MADE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT ICAS MEMBERS.

ICAS is a global professional body for chartered accountants, also known as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Its 23,000 members and 3,700 charted accountant students form a leading business community that spans industries and time zones. Joiin’s commercial director, Paul Shipway, said: “We’re delighted to be an Evolve partner, having been attracted to the programme by ICAS’s ability to inspire, enable and support chartered accountants globally.” “As an Evolve partner, we’re now looking forward to helping ICAS members evolve as professionals, keeping them up to date technically and offering as much support and insight as we can.”

AST MONTH INFOODLE CELEBRATED 10 YEARS OF BEING IN BUSINESS: AN INCREDIBLE DECADE OF WORKING CLOSELY WITH HUNDREDS OF NONPROFITS WORLDWIDE, LEARNING ABOUT THEIR NEEDS AND CREATING A PRODUCT THAT HELPS THEM SIMPLIFY AND STREAMLINE THEIR ADMINISTRATION, SO THEY COULD FOCUS ON THEIR MISSION. In this post, we would like to share the message from our founder Richard Smith where he reflects on the lessons learned during the 10 years of running infoodle.

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

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OUT NOW: ISSUE 30

8 XU Biweekly | No. 27

Events & Webinars ACCOUNTEX LONDON RETURNS ON 11-12 MAY 2022

Saturday 09 April 2022

WATCH AN ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

XEROCON LONDON:

ANNOUNCING THE FIRST LINEUP By Ashleigh Gibson

N 20-21 JULY, 2,000 BOUNDARY PUSHING ACCOUNTANTS AND BOOKKEEPERS WILL CONGREGATE ON TOBACCO DOCK. IT’S AN UNMISSABLE EVENT FOR ANY PRACTICE LOOKING TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE. We’re really excited to share our first lineup of speakers, events and app partners who will be at Xerocon London 2022.

Meet our speakers Steve Vamos – Chief Executive Officer In a must-see opening session, Steve will kick off Xerocon London by sharing his vision for Xero as we come together to celebrate, learn and plan for what’s next. From partner stories of innovation and agility through to tales of great effort and challenge of the past two years, Steve will take you through ways in which we are creating a small business platform that puts our accountants and bookkeepers at the centre of our efforts.

Rachael Powell – Chief Customer Officer The world of accounting and bookkeeping means tight deadlines and delivering on time to your clients every day. In this session, Rachael will discuss the latest trends on customer expectations and how Xero is investing to put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to getting the support you need, long before you ever know you need it.

Visitor registration is now open By Caroline Hobden

CCOUNTEX, EUROPE’S DEFINITIVE EVENT FOR ACCOUNTANCY AND FINANCE PROFESSIONALS, RETURNS AFTER THREE YEARS. Accountex is returning to ExCeL London on the 11-12 May 2022 and we can’t wait to see the accounting and finance community back in person. The event attracts over 9,000 attendees across the two days as they look to meet 250+ global brands and cutting-edge start-ups

in the exhibition hall. Plus, there will be over 180 informative sessions about the tools, technology and ideas shaping the future of accounting in the CPD accredited education programme. Over the two days our attendees will have the opportunity to meet the teams from suppliers including Sage, TaxCalc, IRIS, Intuit QuickBooks and Xero who will be exhibiting alongside newer companies driving the accounting and finance...

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Anna Curzon – Chief Product Officer Accountants and bookkeepers have carried a heavy load in the past two years as they’ve helped small businesses navigate digital acceleration and shift business...

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Features

10 XU Biweekly | No. 27

Saturday 09 April 2022

CHALLENGES WHEN CONSOLIDATING MULTIPLE COMPANIES By Searle Goott - Flagship Reporting

SING SPREADSHEETS TO MANUALLY REPORT ON CONSOLIDATED COMPANIES IS A LONG WINDED PROCESS WITH WAY TOO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE ERRORS... Not only that but this creates a snapshot of information and to see an up to date report the whole procedure has to be repeated. Add multiple currencies, inter-company transactions and an excessive amount of organisations and the task just becomes a drain on valuable time.

How our app can

help you The clearest benefit is the time saved, by saving on average 2 days per report, with potentially lots of clients all wanting monthly reports, the cost of consolidated reporting is huge. Even then, without Flagship, you are relying on the work of humans which as everyone knows will never be perfect and eventually errors will be found in reports or at least time be spent ensuring there aren’t. Flagship does all the hard work for you, pulling figures from your accounting system and into a report for you.

Ability to edit exchange rates:

There is a risk in automating such a process that you lose the ability to tailor reports to specific requirements including the complications of exchange rates. We are proud to support almost 100 currencies to make sure wherever a company may be operating we can create reports for them. Without the need for any manual input Flagship will deal with all currency conversions for you making the once complex task remarkably simple. If custom exchange rates are desired it is easy to manually edit them to give absolute control...

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

Claim your FREE CPD Points!

THE 5 STEPS TO SOLID FINANCIAL FOUNDATIONS

Back Costing is Business Fitness New Year, New NextMinute with the release of the highly anticipated Back Costing feature.

By Emily Mason

N S U R P R I S I N G LY, THE MOST COMMON NEW YEARS RESOLUTION OF THE PAST 10 YEARS IS SELF IMPROVEMENT. APPROXIMATELY 43% OF PEOPLE SET THE NEW YEARS RESOLUTION TO LIVE HEALTHIER & LOSE WEIGHT, BUT ONLY ABOUT 8% FOLLOW THROUGH.

Every great business is built on rock-solid financial foundations. Without the right financial disciplines, a business will never fulfil its true potential. By Michael Ford - Castaway Forecasting

HERE ARE FIVE FINANCIAL DISCIPLINES THAT UNDERPIN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES AND BUILDING DEPTH IN THESE IS WHAT REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE... It should come as no surprise that I’m a fan of forecasting. You’d hope so, given I’ve devoted close to 25 years of my life to the field. But even now, after all this time, I’m still enthralled by the transformative power of a great forecasting process. Every great business, no matter the size, the geography or the industry is built on rock-solid financial foundations. Without the right financial disciplines, a business will never fulfil its true potential. And given the SME sector employs over half of the world’s working population, that matters. That matters a huge amount. The global economy needs the SME sector to be robust, vibrant and, ultimately, successful. And as we’ve all seen time and time again, solid financial foundations give these SMEs the freedom, the clarity and the cashflow to be robust, vibrant and successful. It’s a simple equation, but I think it makes

sense. And it means we as a community of accountants, advisers and entrepreneurs are perfectly placed to make a difference. So what do solid financial foundations look like? There are 5 big pieces to the puzzle: • Commercial literacy • Performance visibility • Rolling forecasting • Aligned KPIs & metrics • Insightful analysis There’s no right order to these pieces. They’re more virtuously circular than logically linear. And while there’s no doubt being strong in any one of these areas is a positive, building depth in all 5 is what really makes a difference. It might be helpful here to dig a little deeper into each of these pieces, because there’s more to them than simple slogans.

Commercial literacy Think of this as the next step beyond...

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XU MAGAZINE IS CPD CERTIFIED

They say, to lose weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise. A job site is a bit the same - 80% is labour and 20% is admin. To see success you need to finish the job, but if you cut corners on the admin, it won’t stop your success, it will just slow it down. I have learned from conversations with partners & clients that when it comes to Back Costing, people fall into one of three groups: • Not doing it • Using spreadsheets

• Have a software with a back costing feature.... Using spreadsheets to back cost is almost the same as just not doing it. Manually filling out spreadsheets can lead to human error, the time it takes is enough of an excuse not to do it, and if you don’t, who will notice? And that leaves group 3, about 8% that are effectively following through. Back Costing manually is like doing a burpee, you know it is good for you, but does anyone actually want to do them? Until now... Back Costing in NextMinute makes the exercise easier.

1) Create Jobs & Tasks from the quote

When creating a job from a quote, the system asks if you would like to create tasks too. It will create the tasks from the headings

of each section within the quote. So, if your clients work in stages and each section in their quote represents a stage, then these sections can be set up as tasks with a single click.

2) Link charges straight from Xero Whilst NextMinute can capture costs, it is not a must, however, having costs in the accounting software is. Getting your clients to enter their bills directly to Xero or MYOB using AutoEntry, Dext or Hubdoc, is an efficient process, and then being able to sync them straight to NextMinute and assigning to a job takes the process to the next level.

Fintech

XU Biweekly | No. 27

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5 WAYS THAT TECH IS CHANGING ACCOUNTING Getting your firm ready for a digital future

By Chris Findlow

IDING THE WAVE OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE HAS BEEN AN EXHILARATING JOURNEY FOR ACCOUNTANTS. SOME FIRMS HAVE QUICKLY EMBRACED THE POSSIBILITIES OF NEW TECH, AND OTHERS HAVE TAKEN A MORE SEDATE APPROACH. BUT, LIKE IT OR NOT, TECH IS NOW AN INTEGRAL PART OF BEING A MODERN ACCOUNTANT. CHRIS FINDLOW, HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS AT MARKETFINANCE, EXPLORES FIVE WAYS THAT TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED THE ACCOUNTING PROCESS... The speed of technological change in accounting has been incredibly fast and pervasive over the past decade. We’ve seen big changes in the accounting process and the efficiency of the average firm’s practice management. We’ve seen new ways to record, track and analyse financial data. And we’ve seen a significant jump in the value your firm can add for clients. All in all, the impact of tech has been profound. We’ve moved from clunky, desktop-based software applications to complete digital business systems. And these systems can manage not just the accounts, but every area of the client’s business. To put this evolution into perspective, we’ve picked out the five main advances in

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technology that have affected accounting. And how they’ve expanded your firm’s capabilities.

1) The cloud and online working Step back ten or fifteen years, and the average accounting firm was based firmly around an office-based, desktop system. Packages like Sage 50 and the original desktop version of QuickBooks were the software of choice for many practices. And then, along came cloud. The concept of working from an online system ‘in the cloud’ had been around for decades. But in the early 2000s, technology was finally fast enough and accessible enough to be used via the web. This is the point that Kashflow (2005) and Xero (2006) introduced the idea of cloud accounting. Ditching the desktop system in favour of a web-based accounting application was a bold move, but it’s now the norm for most modern firms. Cloud accounting has made it easier to: • Escape the restrictions of the office and become more mobile • Access real-time financial information around the clock • Collaborate with clients in real-time, using up-to-date numbers

Find out why every small business accounts team needs an FX risk management strategy By Simon Smallwood - WorldFirst UK

ISCOVER HOW WORLDFIRST’S DEDICATED ACCOUNTING PARTNERSHIPS TEAM CAN HELP YOU SET UP A ROBUST RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY, BENEFIT FROM FASTER INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS, AND GAIN ACCESS TO FLEXIBLE AND TRANSPARENT WORKING CAPITAL...

This example shows, that if business or clientele makes or receives payments in multiple currencies, you may require an FX risk management strategy to reduce exposure to any future instances of exchange rate volatility.

Setting the scene

All businesses looking to expand to international audiences will eventually need to hedge currency risk in FX markets. Forward contracts can help companies to eliminate volatility in their financial statements and improve their overall creditworthiness. For example, suppose a UK marketplace seller finds a supplier in the US that offers

Exchange rate volatility has contributed significantly to the losses millions of small businesses incurred during the global pandemic. To use an illustrative example, when the lockdown was announced in the UK in March 2020, shortly after the GBP/USD exchange rate fell to a 35-year low, some supplier contracts became unaffordable overnight for UK businesses trading with the US. Many firms at this time scrambled to adjust supply chains and operations to stay viable as a business. But for many, the losses associated with fluctuating exchange rates were unforeseen, and many business’s profits were negatively impacted due to them not being prepared for FX risk.

How small businesses can hedge against FX currency risk

a great deal on their e-commerce products at a specific time of the year. However, due to currency fluctuation, their prices suddenly become unprofitable for your business model. In this instance, the UK brand could use a forward contract to lock in an agreed exchange rate and simultaneously assure that their companies’ accounts are not recording a loss when the transaction is complete. There are several tools accounts teams can use to minimise FX risks to small businesses trading internationally. Here, we will run through some key examples of financial tools teams can deploy with the help of a...

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FinTech News

12 XU Biweekly | No. 27

How the Deliver Wow mission is shaping our services

By Kirsty Daniel

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Saturday 09 April 2022

The latest news from all your favourite Xero connected apps Every fortnight XU Biweekly Quarterly XU Magazine

B By Shani Ishigaki

EY, THERE. MANY OF THE UPDATES TO YOUR BUSINESS ACCOUNT THIS MONTH ARE EITHER SMALLER THINGS TINKERED WITH OR NOT QUITE READY FOR THE RED-CARPET ROLL-OUT. But just so you know, the best updates take time (as they should). And you can bet there are some big things brewing that’ll have you wondering, “Why haven’t I parted ways with my bank yet?”

New features Pay in Israeli new shekel, South African rand, Mexican peso and Turkish lira

network coverage to include Israel, South Africa, Mexico and Turkey. While there’s no getting around those pesky SWIFT fees just yet, please bear with us. We’re continuing to build the world's best local payment network, so you can bypass SWIFT altogether.

Payouts to the Middle East from HK and CN just got faster and a whole lot cheaper

EYOND GETTING IT DONE: TRUST, OWNERSHIP, RELIABILITY

So we’re making a few sizeable changes to how you can share feedback on all things Revolut.

While we’ll always work on growing our arsenal of products and giving you more control over your money, this year we decided to set an extra goal for ourselves: we want to make sure you’re really WOWed by the products and services we’re delivering.

Why is ‘Deliver WOW’ important? We truly believe we should Never Settle in what we do. That's why our focus isn’t just on solving your...

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If you live in Hong Kong or Greater China and you’ve been poking around in Transfers lately, you may have noticed we’ve added in some more local currency payment options. So the next time you send a payment to a contractor or supplier in Egypt, Bahrain or...

PAYPAL INTRODUCES NEW CASHBACK Revolut appoints APAC General Manager to CREDIT CARD TO MAKE CHECKOUT WITH PAYPAL EVEN MORE REWARDING Growth team

We extended our geographical SWIFT

R REVOLUT’S 2021 UK GENDER PAY GAP REPORT By Kirsty Daniel

ODAY WE'RE RELEASING OUR SECOND GENDER PAY GAP REPORT FOR 2021, WITH THE AIM TO PUBLICLY HOLD OURSELVES TO ACCOUNT FOR PROGRESS ON GENDER EQUALITY. What is the Gender Pay Gap? The gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women across a workforce. UK companies with 250+ employees are legally required to report annually on their gender pay gap. The report....

EVOLUT, THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL SUPERAPP WITH OVER 18 MILLION CUSTOMERS, HAS APPOINTED CHARLES DEBONNEUIL AS APAC GENERAL MANAGER AS IT CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON GROWTH IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION. Debonneuil will focus on building out Revolut’s local Growth teams and developing the business’ growth strategy, driving rapid new user acquisition in the APAC region. Prior to joining Revolut’s APAC team, Debonneuil was the President of Intrepid Group, a leading ecommerce solutions company for global brands, overseeing the growth of the company to over 300 employees across Asia. Debonneuil is also a co-founder and former Chief Marketing Officer of Lazada, a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia which was acquired by Alibaba in 2016. He oversaw the growth of the business which today...

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PayPal and Synchrony announce New Cashback Credit Card That Offers 3% Cash Back on all PayPal Purchases

AYPAL (NASDAQ: PYPL), TODAY ANNOUNCED THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW PAYPAL CASHBACK CREDIT CARD, ISSUED BY SYNCHRONY, WHICH GIVES CUSTOMERS EVEN MORE CASH BACK WHEN THEY SHOP WITH PAYPAL. With the new card, customers earn unlimited 3% cash back when paying with PayPal at checkout – online, mobile, or in-store with PayPal QR Code where eligible – and unlimited 2% cash back on all other purchases anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

By Kirsty Daniel

S GoCardless launches open banking-powered fraud prevention tool By Linda Yang

OCARDLESS, A LEADER IN DIRECT BANK PAYMENT SOLUTIONS, HAS LAUNCHED VERIFIED MANDATES IN THE UK, A FEATURE WITHIN ITS GLOBAL BANK PAY PLATFORM WHICH COMBINES THE ACCOUNT INFORMATION SERVICES (AIS) CAPABILITIES OF OPEN BANKING WITH DIRECT DEBIT TO STOP FRAUD BEFORE IT

HAPPENS. This represents a new approach to tackling the age-old issue of payment fraud, when “customers” intentionally try to receive goods or services from merchants without paying for them.

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PRING HAS FINALLY SPRUNG - THE COLD WEATHER IS ON ITS WAY OUT, THE FLOWERS ARE SPROUTING ONCE AGAIN, AND THERE’S ALL SORT OF REVOLUT UPDATES BUDDING! We’ve released a whole bunch of new updates that can help you spruce up your finances for the year ahead. Check out our latest updates to help you get more from your money:

Ukraine donations We want to thank every one of you who donated to support the Ukraine appeal. So far, our customers have pulled together over £9M, with every penny going to charities in Europe, working hard to help those affected by the war. But let’s not stop there - you can still donate by visiting your Hub and choosing Donations. We’ve also waived international transfer fees for payments to Ukraine. We’re also making it super simple for Ukrainian refugees...

The Dream Team: Pierre Cahuzac, Lead Product Manager at Revolut, on handling fast-paced products to global expansion

By Karolina Kubala

N THE REVOLUT ROCKETSHIP, THERE AREN’T MANY TEAMS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PRODUCT. THERE’S NO LIFT OFF WITHOUT THESE SUPERSTARS. FRANKLY, THERE’S NO ROCKET. Every one of our award-winning features start with our Product team, and all our future ones will too. Today we talk with Pierre Cahuzac, Lead Product Manager at Revolut, to discover more about this incredible and talented team. Hi Pierre! I know you’re super busy, so it’s great you found time to reveal some secrets about our Product Owners at Revolut. Let’s start from scratch: what is the Product Owner's scope here at Revolut? Hi, sure, it's not a...

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