XU Biweekly - Issue 30 - 21 May 2022 by XU Magazine

Saturday 21 May 2022 | No. 30

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

ACQUISITION OF FUTRLI ANNOUNCED Read all about the acquisition on page 4... The past year has again highlighted the resilience of small businesses and their advisors, and the strength of our relationships with customers and partners as more people realise the benefits cloud accounting and digital tools provide. In the video below, I share the highlights from our FY22 results, joined by our CFO, Kirsty Godfrey-Billy.

Financial results

By Steve Vamos

ODAY WE ANNOUNCED XERO’S FULL YEAR FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS TO 31 MARCH 2022 (FY22). Our strong financial result reflects the benefits of Xero’s commitment to invest for the long-term to support our strategy and focus on current and future customer needs. In FY22, Xero grew operating revenue 29%, and exceeded the milestone of a billion dollars for the first time to reach $1.1 billion. We ended the financial year with 3.3 million global subscribers and 4,784 employees around the world, a 19% and 31% increase on the prior year respectively.

The quality of Xero’s performance, delivered against a backdrop of varying market conditions, is highlighted by robust software-as-a-service (SaaS) metrics:

Performance highlights FY22 (all figures are in NZD and comparisons are made against FY21) • Operating revenue increased by 29% to $1.1 billion (30% in constant currency (CC)) • Total subscribers increased by 19% to 3.3 million • Annualised monthly recurring revenue • Total subscriber lifetime value (LTV) grew by $3.3 billion or 43% to $10.9 billion (45% in CC) • Gross margin percentage increased by...

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Amaka acquires InView in a move to become a centralised SMB automation platform

MAKA, THE GLOBAL LEADER IN ACCOUNTING INTEGRATIONS, IS DOUBLING DOWN ON ITS SMB AUTOMATION OFFERING WITH THE ACQUISITION OF INVIEW. InView allows customers to manage invoices and bills directly from their calendar or Slack by integrating with all major accounting software. The added product offering complements Amaka’s existing range of integrations that connect accounting software to e-commerce, POS and e-signature platforms. “We initially began to expand beyond

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Saturday 21 May 2022

our initial range of integrations through major partnerships with the likes of DocuSign and Square to name a few,” said Pedram Afshar, CEO at Amaka. “Our goal is simple, we want to save SMBs time and money by bringing them the best automation platform globally.” Inview will maintain its brand and will now be called Inview by Amaka. “Though exponential growth was the aim, having the capacity was a different story,” said Rikki Pitt, former CEO at InView. “Dealing with Amaka has been a...

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New Apps & Updates

2 XU Biweekly | No. 30

HedgeFlows joins Xero marketplace to help SMEs trade safely and grow internationally.

HE INNOVATIVE FINTECH PLATFORM HEDGEFLOWS HAS BECOME A CERTIFIED XERO APP AHEAD OF ITS PUBLIC LAUNCH AT ACCOUNTEX 2022. The platform has a unique approach to help-

ing UK businesses trade safely and grow internationally. Founded by financial markets heavyweights, it manages the risks faced by growing businesses when they buy and sell goods or services in foreign currencies. HedgeFlows’ vision is to give SMEs the same advan-

tages that big businesses get from their large finance teams and banks when doing cross border trade. 96% of UK SMEs do not manage currency risks, according to the British Business Bank. They often cite foreign...

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New: Introducing Fathom’s integration with Google Sheets

Saturday 21 May 2022

By Anna Curzon

By David Watson

UR NEW INTEGRATION WITH GOOGLE SHEETS GIVES YOU EASY ACCESS TO YOUR OPERATIONAL DATA, AND A BETTER PICTURE OF THE WHOLE BUSINESS. Powering insights for over 60,000 businesses worldwide, Fathom is at the forefront of providing solutions that are smart, intuitive, and beautiful. Our new integration...

By Scott Ryburn

OLLOWING STRONG DEMAND FROM OUR UK USER BASE, THE KEY HIGHLIGHT FOR APRIL WAS ADDING OVER 26,000 UK LIFE AND PENSION FUNDS TO OUR EVER-EXPANDING DATASET OF INVESTMENTS. WE ALSO RELEASED VARIOUS UX AND USABILITY IMPROVEMENTS AS NOTED BELOW.

UX / Usability improvements • Extended breadcrumb navigation to the plans and payments pages • Reimplemented the broker import and CSV upload pages, improved usability and added drag and drop functionality

Find out more XU BIWEEKLY - No. 30 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

Audit Process Pilot Scheme

CEO: David Hassall Managing Editor: Wesley Cornell Director of Strategic Partnerships: Alex Newson Communications Manager: Bethany Fulks Creative Assistant: Hatty Morton 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.

D W

E’RE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT APPLE PAY IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR SOLDO USER CARDS (PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL).

Apple Pay can be used anywhere – in store, in apps, or online – that accepts contactless or Apple Pay. To take advantage of Apple Pay, log in to the web console, head to the ‘Cards’ section and select the relevant card to check if it is compatible. If your card is not compatible with Apple Pay, you can easily replace it with a new card via the web console, which will be free to do until 31 December 2022. Once you have received your new Soldo card, you can add your it to Apple Pay via the Soldo mobile app or the Apple Wallet.

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EBTOR DADDY IS MAKING IT EVEN EASIER FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESSES TO GET PAID AND GET PAID FAST. WITH THE LAUNCH OF OUR NEW PAYMENT PORTAL, DEBTOR DADDY USERS CAN NOW SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATE ‘PAY NOW’ BUTTONS AND PAYMENT LINKS INTO EMAIL AND SMS REMINDERS. A recent survey found that 45% of businesses view slow payment completion times as one of their main pain points. This is why we’ve partnered with payments experts Payrix to launch an online payment portal which can be integrated with both Debtor Daddy and Xero – making it easy for customers to pay and for businesses to reconcile. Available to all Debtor Daddy customers across Australasia, we’ve negotiated some sharp rates to further help Debtor Daddy users do business smarter.

NEW FEATURE! INSIGHTS FOR YOUR NON-CLOUD CLIENTS NOW AVAILABLE

E’VE RELEASED TWO NEW FEATURES TO OUR CAPITALISE TOOLS AND MONITOR PLATFORM. TO BETTER HELP YOU, OUR PARTNERED ACCOUNTANTS OFFER EASY AND ACCURATE INSIGHTS TO THEIR CLIENTS. HELPING YOU DEEPEN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS AND GROW OUT YOUR FIRM.

Capital Reports for non-cloud clients

Check out the new tools and insights you can get your hands on.

Our exclusive partnership with Experian has brought a huge amount of additional intelligence to your client portfolio with just a company number. We’ve now given our Capital Reports a new look giving you the ability to hide some data. Meaning you can now share just the Experian-only Capital Report with your client. You’ll have more control over your meetings and be...

1. New insights on

CCOUNTANCY OUTSOURCING SPECIALIST ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING LAUNCHES PILOT SCHEME TO SUPPORT ACCOUNTANTS DURING THE AUDIT PROCESS; FORMER ICAEW DIRECTOR PAUL SIMKINS BROUGHT IN TO PROJECT-MANAGE THE OFFERING. AdvanceTrack Outsourcing is delighted to announce the launch of a pilot scheme in advance of a new support service for the audit profession, alongside a high-profile recruit to lead the offering. The service will see AdvanceTrack support its accountancy clients to produce and process transactional documents that form part of the audit work for end-clients. Paul Simkins, formerly ICAEW quality assurance director, will work with AdvanceTrack to project-manage the offering. This will involve liaising with auditors to provide them with an optimal service. He will also assess AdvanceTrack’s team members and oversee their training and development.

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NEW XERO CONNECTED APPS! EXL CLOUD GLOBAL - Connect world class reports, dashboards and models in Excel directly with your Xero data in seconds with EXL Cloud. Save time whilst still wowing your clients.

MAYDAY RECHARGER GLOBAL - A simple solutuon for businesses with multiple entities to automate your intercompany recharges. Get all the benefits of monthly recharges for a fraction of the time it used to take.

News & Updates

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Saturday 21 May 2022

Baker Tilly RSG becomes the first BT Canada member firm to reach platinum partner By Liz Torasaki

E’RE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE BAKER TILLY RSG AS THE FIRST PLATINUM PARTNER IN THE BAKER TILLY (BT) CANADA NETWORK, ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTING NETWORKS, AND ALSO THE FIRST PLATINUM PARTNER IN THE EDMONTON REGION.

Baker Tilly RSG has nearly 40 years experience supporting communities across Alberta with expert accounting and tax services. Having joined the Baker Tilly Network earlier this year, they’ve been able to lead their firm into cloud adoption and expand into full-service cloud accounting under the Baker...

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DiviPay & Slyp Finalists in the Finnies 22

T MARKETFINANCE, WE UNDERSTAND THAT CHANGE IN WORKPLACE CULTURE DOESN’T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT, AND WE’RE COMMITTED TO BEING PART OF THAT CHANGE. THAT’S WHY WE’RE VERY PROUD TO PARTNER WITH NOT ONE, BUT TWO INCREDIBLE ORGANISATIONS: UPREACH AND WOMEN IN BANKING & FINANCE. WE’LL BE PROVIDING MENTORSHIPS, TEAMING UP FOR EVENTS AND MORE.

CCOUNTING AND BUSINESS SUPPORT, BK PLUS, HAS CHOSEN CREZCO AS THEIR MAIN PAYMENT SOLUTION.

upReach supports undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds to secure top jobs, offering a wide range of opportunities and activities to broaden their horizons. Women in Banking and Finance - UK connect members to a wide network of thought-leaders, business leaders and women at all stages of their careers. We’re very excited to be working together, so stay tuned!

Crezco initiates direct bank-to-bank payments with the same convenience as contactless card payments, but without the fees. They put out the following statement on their LinkedIn: "We're thrilled that BK Plus has chosen Crezco as their main payment solution. BK Plus have been incredibly proactive and positive about implementing innovative technological solutions to provide the right advice to their clients. Their amazing growth is testament to the level of service they provide. We look forward to helping them and their clients alleviate the past pains of payments."

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So what do they do and why do we think they’re such great to organisations to work with?

Further helping SMBs, and accountants, visualise the past, present, and future of client businesses By Hannah Dawson

The move deepens Sage’s commitment to supporting accountants with complete end to-end proposal-to-advisory services

as the industry prepares for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (MTD for ITSA). Futrli provides a critical tool for SMBs to maintain healthier cash flows to grow their business and reach their potential. Futrli’s solution is focused on helping growing businesses understand current and future cash flow, providing SMBs and accountants with

data-driven three-way forecast financials (profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow) using propriety prediction algorithms. These are based upon data-analysed historical trends, blending direct and indirect forecasting methods, using invoices, bills, journals, cash, and payment data – enabling customers...

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Divipay, the virtual card & expense management platform, has been shortlisted for 'Best Partnership of the Year' alongside Slyp, the smart reciepts app. The winners will be announced on the 23rd June in Melbourne.

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E’RE SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON THE BLACK BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION (BBPA), A NON-PROFIT, CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION FORMED IN 1983 WITH THE GOAL OF ADDRESSING EQUITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Sage announces the acquisition of Futrli SAGE (FTSE: SGE), ANNOUNCES IT HAS COMPLETED THE ACQUISITION OF FUTRLI, THE UK’S PREMIER CASH FLOW FORECASTING SOFTWARE SOLUTION FOR SMBS AND ACCOUNTANTS.

IVIPAY AND SLYP HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED AS FINALISTS IN AUSTRALIA'S MOT PRESTIGEOUS FINTECH AWARDS, FINTECH AUSTRALIA'S FINNIES 22 AWARDS.

ME PAYMENTS PLATFORM, COMMA, HAS BEEN SHORTLISTED IN THE PAYTECH AWARDS 2022 ALONGSIDE OPEN BANKING INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDER, YAPILY. The PayTech Awards offers categories for banks, financial and payment institutions, technology services, software providers, teams and individuals to enter. The pair have been shortlisted for their partnership and launch of a bulk payment service in 2021 that simplifies the complex process of bulk payments under Open Banking in the UK and across Europe. The proposition provided customers with the API connection they need to create a reliable, secure and scalable Bulk Payments feature for their clients.

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We chat with Ross Cadastre, President of BBPA, who shares their journey on advancing Black communities and the fulfilling moments that remind them of the impact they are making in developing and providing opportunity for Black communities in Canada.

Tell me about your business. What is the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) & why was it founded? BBPA is a non-profit charitable organization, and we exist to address equity and create opportunity for Black entrepreneurs or Black business people in Canada. Our mission is to advance Black communities by delivering programs that support business and professional excellence, as well as providing higher education and economic development.

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News

6 XU Biweekly | No. 30

Xero named one of the best accounting softwares for small business!

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ORBES ADVISOR RECENTLY NAMED XERO AS ONE OF THE BEST ACCOUNTING SOFTWARES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES IN 2022.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHANGES COMING TO PAYROLL FROM 1 JULY 2022 By Anthony Jones

HILE IT MAY BE LACKING THE FIREWORKS AND CHAMPAGNE OF NEW YEAR’S EVE, COME 1 JULY THE NEW FINANCIAL YEAR USHERS IN FRESH OPPORTUNITIES FOR AUSTRALIA’S SMALL BUSINESSES. ALONG WITH THE NEW CALENDAR, THERE ARE OFTEN REGULATORY CHANGES FOR YOU TO MANAGE OR IMPLEMENT. AND THIS YEAR IS NO DIFFERENT, WITH UPDATES COMING TO PAYROLL IN FY23. Starting from 1 July 2022, there are a number of government requirements that will impact how you manage payroll (including superannuation) for employees. So, what do you need to know to ensure compliance? Let’s take a closer look.

With a score of 4.4/5, Xero was one of the highest rated softwares listed. Forbes stated they picked it because it is good for those looking for accounting software with payroll capabilities, and is a great fit for those that are growing rapidly and need to track projects. "Xero is one of the most popular accounting software for small businesses. The Early plan costs $12 per month and includes basic features such as bank account reconciliation, bill and receipt capturing and short-term cash flow and business snapshot. As your small business grows, upgrade to larger plans. For $39 per month, add on Payroll with Gusto to any plan. For $34 per month, get the Growing plan. This plan doesn’t limit the number of invoices and quotes you can send, nor the number of bills you can enter. This plan offers bulk transaction reconciliation. Its Established plan comes with everything...

What changes are coming?

By Jyoti Patel

AKING TAX DIGITAL FOR INCOME TAX SELF ASSESSMENT (MTD FOR ITSA) REQUIRES THAT LANDLORDS EARNING MORE THAN £10,000 USE MTD-COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE TO KEEP RECORDS AND MAKE SUBMISSIONS TO HMRC. THE LEGISLATION WILL COME INTO EFFECT FROM APRIL 2024. THIS GUIDE LOOKS AT WHAT MTD FOR ITSA MEANS IN PRACTICE FOR LANDLORDS.

A closer look at MTD for ITSA If you’re a landlord earning £10,000 a year from property or business and property, you’ll need to sign up for MTD for ITSA. As well as residential property, the scope of MTD for ITSA includes Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL), commercial property, and non-UK property. However, if you’re a landlord and you’re registered as a limited company, you’ll need to continue sending limited company accounts and corporation tax to Companies House and HMRC. Equally, if you’re earning below the £10,000 threshold, you can continue using the old self-assessment system.

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Senta announce a new partnership with Funding Circle, the leading global provider for small business loans. By Elizabeth

By Jyoti Patel

A brand new ‘Business Funding’ workflow template provides Senta customers with an instant view of all eligible clients, and guides the application process with a series of pre-built checklists, emails and a dedicated application page.

We know that for small businesses, cash flow is key, and Funding Circle aims to support these businesses with access to fast, affordable finance. Through our partnership, Senta accountants and advisors can support their SME customers in applying for either a Funding Circle business loan, or a Government-backed loan. This makes it even simpler for small businesses to get the finance they need to take the next step on their journey, and guarantees preferential terms by removing the need for any fee taking intermediaries. Funding Circle is the UK’s number one online platform for small business lending, having supported over 120,000 businesses with more than £13 billion in finance. As an SME specialist, like many Senta accountants and advisors, their exclusive...

In this guide, we’ll look at what the government’s Making Tax Digital initiative means for your hospitality business in practical terms. We’ll also explore how the additional benefits of digitisation and cloudbased accounting software can help you run a healthier business.

A closer look at MTD for hospitality What is MTD? MTD forms part of the UK government’s plan to digitise the tax system, and make submitting your returns easier. Under MTD rules, businesses must keep digital records and submit their returns to HMRC using MTD-compatible software.

There is a threshold system in place for MTD, which means businesses must comply in stages, depending on their business type and turnover If your annual taxable turnover is £85,000 or above: You should already be submitting MTD-compliant VAT returns. From April 2019, VAT-registered businesses with an annual turnover above £85,000 started keeping digital records and submitting VAT returns using MTD compatible software. If you’re VAT-registered but earn under the £85,000 threshold: You’ll be affected by the second stage of MTD for VAT, from April 2022. All VAT-registered businesses need to follow MTD rules from this date, unless they are exempt. If you run a VAT-registered business, sign up for MTD now. Under the new rules, you’ll need to keep and maintain digital records and submit VAT returns directly to HMRC using MTD-compatible software. MTD for VAT does not require you to keep any additional records than usual. But you will need to input daily totals instead of weekly or monthly ones. That doesn’t mean you need to do your accounting every day, just make sure you input daily totals when you do.

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

HE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IS NO STRANGER TO NEW CHALLENGES. FROM PANDEMIC RESTRICTIONS TO MAKING TAX DIGITAL (MTD), HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES HAVE HAD TO STAY AGILE AND ADAPT TO MANY CHANGES IN THE PAST FEW YEARS.

When do I need to comply with MTD?

This new financial year, the ATO is rolling out updates to superannuation and the annual indexation of Study or Training Loan...

E’VE TEAMED UP WITH FUNDING CIRCLE TO PROVIDE OUR ACCOUNTANTS WITH SEAMLESS ACCESS TO FINANCE OPTIONS FOR THEIR CLIENTS.

By Jyoti Patel

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Events & Webinars

Saturday 21 May 2022

UPCOMING EVENTS

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ON-DEMAND NOW

WHERE THE OPPORTUNITY LIES: XERO ROADSHOW MELBOURNE 2022 RECAP

OR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS, XERO USERS, APP PARTNERS, AND KEYNOTE SPEAKERS CAME TOGETHER IN PERSON FOR THE XERO ROADSHOWS AROUND AUSTRALIA. OUR TEAM WAS THERE FOR THE MELBOURNE ROADSHOW AND LOVED THE CHANCE TO RECONNECT IN PERSON AGAIN! With the theme of ‘opportunity’ present throughout the event, we heard from Xero’s experts on topics like tech trends and predictions, the move to digitisation, and developing dynamic processes after many lockdowns and disruptions. So what did we learn at the Xero Roadshow this year? And what opportunities do these learnings bring? In this blog post, we’ll cover some of the key themes that we took away from these talks, what they mean for the industry, and then dive into how ApprovalMax can help. Let’s dive in!

ON-DEMAND NOW

The future of financial management is digital After two years of lockdowns and adjusting to new ways of working, it’s no surprise that the most notable industry developments are those centred around tech that facilitates remote work and flexibility while improving client relationships. From growth in the industry to the reported results of those who have adopted new technologies, the last two years have seen Xero, app partners, and users alike set the groundwork for monumental growth.

Tech adoption and its impact on the finance industry

OUR ACCOUNTEX WINNER!

Throughout the day, there was a clear message for those slow to adapt to new technologies: don’t miss the opportunity that new tech brings! Early on, we heard that the most common regret from finance professionals and small business owners has been not moving fast enough to adopt new technologies that help to set up for the future (as also stated in Xero’s “State of the Industry” report). If you’re asking yourself why you should bother with adding to your Xero tech stack, just look at the numbers. In the same “State of the Industry” report, Xero found that: • 60% of respondents saved time with tech adoption • 48% said that it makes collaboration with their clients easier, and • 37% improved client relationships once they improved their Xero app stack.

IS THE WAY YOU GET PAID IMPACTING YOUR GROWTH? WATCH

Look at it this way: Xero and its partner apps are designed to make your work easier, more efficient, and forward-focused. Tools like automated approval workflows and budget checking (which you can do with ApprovalMax) help to reduce manual processes and improve efficiency. And that equals time, money, and effort! Essentially, the better your offering for clients through tech adoption and ease of use, the more you’ll make in the long run.

ON-DEMAND NOW

Why you should keep adding to your accounting tech stack in 2022 and beyond multiple audit reports in one go In case you missed it, Xero announced and highlighted several features during the roadshow – the most prominent being einvoicing and Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2:

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Features

10 XU Biweekly | No. 30

AAT HELD AIRBNB SUPERHOST INELIGIBLE FOR JOBKEEPER PAYMENT

Saturday 21 May 2022

By Heidi Maguire - Wolters Kluwer Asia-Pacific

HETHER AN ACTIVITY CONSTITUTES THE CARRYING ON OF A BUSINESS IS A QUESTION OF FACT TO BE DECIDED ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS. IN THIS CASE, THE AAT HAS HELD THAT A TAXPAYER WHO PROVIDED ROOMS FOR RENT THROUGH THE AIRBNB PLATFORM WAS NOT CARRYING ON A BUSINESS AS REQUIRED BY THE CORONAVIRUS ECONOMIC RESPONSE PACKAGE (PAYMENTS AND BENEFITS) RULES 2020 AND THUS WAS NOT ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE JOBKEEPER PAYMENTS AS A BUSINESS PARTICIPANT.

The taxpayer used the Airbnb platform to source bookings from paying guests who wished to stay in her home on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Guests did not rent out the entire house, or a self-contained part of it, but rather spare bedrooms within the house that she and her husband resided in. The property listing proved to be popular and consistently enjoyed good occupancy rates until COVID-19 struck. Figures lifted from the Airbnb platform showed the taxpayer had taken a total of 796 bookings and hosted 1637 guests, over 1034 booked nights, between 2016 when the of...

The facts

HOW TO SIMPLIFY AUDITS WITH APPROVALMAX

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Cloud finance apps are on the up The pandemic proved a cloud technology tipping point for many businesses

Preparing for an audit is a notoriously laborious procedure with a lot of things to take into account - learn how ApprovalMax can simplify it By Konstantin Bredyuk

UDITS ARE OFTEN STRESSFUL. WHETHER IT’S A MANDATORY INTERNAL CHECK OR AN EXTERNAL BODY PORING OVER YOUR COMPANY’S FINANCIAL DATA, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO GATHER VITAL INFORMATION UPON REQUEST FAST. And most probably there will be two questions asked: how does the delegation of authority work in your organisation, and who exactly approved this or that particular invoice for payment? This is where ApprovalMax will help you by showing the auditors how the organisation has defined its approval process and how it’s actually executed. A set of powerful features makes this possible: • Automated workflows recreate the delegation of authority policy • Audit reports and audit trails • Access for auditors • Built-in reporting • Workflow export Let’s dive into more detail to see how it works.

Implementing the delegation of authority policy in your workflows It’s good to have your delegation of authority in a separate document but how do you prove that it’s not just a piece of paper tucked away in a filing cabinet? If authorisations are done on paper, you need to store all that paper and have plenty of room to do so. For tracking email approvals, you have to search inboxes to collect the approval history for all approved documents. Either way, it means a lot of time and effort. With ApprovalMax, you can recreate your delegation of authority policy in an approval workflow. Then there’s no way to bypass the authorisation rules and it’s much easier for everyone involved to follow them. That aside, you’ll be able to demonstrate to auditors in a quick and efficient manner how your approval process works. You can specify an approval matrix of any complexity, set up parallel or sequential approvals, and introduce rules based on cost threshold, GL codes and tracking categories.

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By Paul Shipway - Joiin

ITH TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION A C C E L E R AT E D BY THE PANDEMIC, THE UPTAKE OF JOIIN’S CLOUD CONSOLIDATED REPORTING PLATFORM IS CURRENTLY MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN EVER. Then the pandemic hit, none of us knew what to expect. It was unchartered territory. For some business finance teams and accountancy companies, the start of lockdown presented significant challenges. Think staff unable to access office-based servers when working from home; even desktop machines being moved to people’s homes so they could access software and work. Businesses had to make big decisions daily and adapt to change quickly. Most pivoted to technology like Zoom or Teams.

Fast forward two years, and the pandemic has transformed working life, seemingly forever. A recent McKinsey study highlights that technology adoption and digitalization amongst businesses accelerated by several years during to the pandemic. What we’ve seen at Joiin presents a similar story: the uptake of cloud finance technology amongst companies is now more prevalent than ever. Our Joiin consolidated reporting app for Xero has never been more popular. We’ve seen a dramatic rise in business finance teams and accountancy advisors using our Joiin platform to do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to consolidated financial reporting. Our platform provides a shared, single source of precise data that enables our customers to run consolidated group reports quickly and easily, all in collabora-

tion with others. Moreover, they get to plug and play with different features such as off-the-shelf reports with editing options, inbuilt currency conversions when handling multi-currencies, and multi-user rights for greater collaboration.

A shared story Our story is one you’ll likely hear many times over amongst cloud software-asa-service providers. It’s one of greater technology uptake as businesses searched for solutions once office norms were shattered by the new standard of lockdowns and working from home. Successful business finance teams and accountancy advisors adopted new technology and the right technology. Tools accessed by staff at different remote working locations and ones that championed both...

XU Biweekly | No. 30

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Saturday 21 May 2022 11

FOLLOW OUR SISTER Starling Bank signs up PUBLICATION... three Lionesses for its UEFA Women’s EURO @xumagazine 2022 national @xumagazine @XU Magazine @xu_magazine

TARLING BANK HAS LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN THAT CELEBRATES WOMEN’S FOOTBALL AS PART OF ITS NATIONAL SPONSORSHIP OF THE UEFA WOMEN’S EURO 2022 TOURNAMENT. The ‘Our Time’ campaign highlights the glass ceilings that continue to be broken for the women’s game, while nodding to Starling’s mission to level the playing field for women within banking and technology. It comes as UEFA expects the tournament to be the most popular women’s sporting event in European history. Three current and former England players are fronting the campaign including Jill Scott, midfielder for Aston Villa, on loan from Manchester City; Lauren Hemp, forward at Manchester City; and Rachel Yankey, Arsenal Women Legend turned TV presenter. The...

STRIPE INTRODUCES DATA PIPELINE TO HELP USERS SYNC THEIR DATA WITH AMAZON REDSHIFT AND SNOWFLAKE DATA CLOUD

TRIPE, A FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE PLATFORM FOR BUSINESSES, TODAY ANNOUNCED THE RELEASE OF STRIPE DATA PIPELINE, A TOOL FOR STRIPE USERS WHO STORE DATA WITH AMAZON REDSHIFT OR SNOWFLAKE DATA CLOUD. Data Pipeline syncs Stripe data and reports with Amazon Redshift or Snowflake Data Cloud, where they can be queried in...

GOCARDLESS ANNOUNCES FIRST VARIABLE RECURRING PAYMENT CUSTOMER, NUDE, TO HELP BRITS SAVE FOR THEIR FIRST HOME Starling Bank doubles Cardiff headcount Read more

By Linda Yang

UDE, THE SAVINGS APP FOR FIRSTTIME BUYERS, HAS SELECTED GOCARDLESS, A GLOBAL LEADER IN DIRECT BANK PAYMENTS, TO POWER THE PAYMENTS FOR THEIR USERS TO SAVE AND INVEST FOR THEIR FIRST HOME DEPOSIT. The deal sees the up-and-coming personal finance app, which helps people reach life’s most important milestones, starting with buying a home, use the GoCardless network to move money from a saver’s bank account into their Nude Lifetime ISA. Thanks to GoCardless’ growing suite of direct bank payment options, Nude will gain access to both Direct Debit and instant, open banking payments through a single integration. In addition to using GoCardless’ Instant Bank Pay for one-off payments, Nude will be among the first businesses in the UK to use the feature for Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) as the CMA’s deadline for ‘sweeping’ comes into effect. Stephen Doherty, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Nude, said: “Nude is on a mission to make the financial industry a fairer place, starting with home ownership. Our approach is to make the home buying process easier, and to make it a more accessible experience for first-time buyers, which is why we’re excited to work with GoCardless. Its Instant Bank Pay feature has been hugely popular with our us-

ers, who see their deposit grow with every transfer. And when Variable Recurring Payments come in, they can instantly and automatically move their money from any account to their ‘first home fund’ on a regular basis. This will give them more control and a better all-around experience.” Although the CMA’s sweeping deadline is July, there are varying levels of bank readiness across the industry. This was another factor which contributed to Nude’s decision to select GoCardless as a payment provider. “We’d love to get all our users onto open banking payments. It gives them peace of mind to see their transfer appear immediately, not to mention a huge motivational boost,” said Doherty. “But we’re also aware some banks won’t be able to support VRPs right at the start. That’s why we value the ability to access both Direct Debit and open banking payments through GoCardless, ensuring all of our users can easily transfer money onto the app.” Duncan Barrigan, Chief Product Officer and Chief Growth Officer, at GoCardless, said: “We’re proud to support Nude and its aim to address the generational wealth imbalance. It has already used open banking to great effect, pulling in insights about a user’s spending and saving patterns to offer tips which cut the time it takes to reach their deposit goal. With open banking payments now in the mix, users will be...

TARLING BANK, THE DIGITAL BANK, HAS DOUBLED THE SIZE OF ITS CARDIFF OFFICE AND CREATED HUNDREDS OF NEW JOBS AS ITS GROWTH CONTINUES. 868 EMPLOYEES ARE BASED IN THE REGION, A 117% INCREASE ON THE BANK’S ORIGINAL 2020 PLEDGE TO HIRE 400. The new jobs cover a wide range of roles across the bank from Financial Crime and Engineering to Customer Service and Data Science. Starling’s Cardiff team has helped develop new capabilities for the bank, including Bills Manager, a feature to help customers pay their bills on time, and a dedicated app for its

childrens’ banking service, Kite. It was also the first to deliver personalised contactless limits in response to the limit increase in October 2021. Anne Boden, Founder and Chief Executive of Starling Bank, said: “Cardiff is a dynamic and entrepreneurial city with a rich talent pool. Our office here is important to our growth as we benefit directly from the capital’s outstanding universities and fintech expertise.” Susanna Yallop, Chief People Officer at Starling Bank, said: “We’ll keep creating new roles in the region as we continue our mission to change banking for good. We’re always on the lookout for keen technologists and customer experience agents

and hire based on attitude and aptitude.” Starling now has 1,854 employees across its four offices in Cardiff, London, Southampton and Dublin. Cardiff is its biggest base. The bank has been on a strong growth trajectory since launching in app stores in May 2017. The number of Starling accounts opened increased by 37% between April 2021 and April 2022 to reach nearly three million with Wales, Yorkshire and Scotland seeing the biggest increases. Starling continues to expand its lending, following its acquisition of specialist mortgage broker Fleet Mortgages last year. It recently...

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FinTech News

12 XU Biweekly | No. 30

Saturday 21 May 2022

Longstanding Xero director launches Libeo in the UK

FTER SEVERAL SUCCESSFUL YEARS OF OPERATION IN FRANCE AND ACROSS MAINLAND EUROPE, BUSIN E S S -T O - B U S I N E S S (B2B) PAYMENTS SPECIALIST LIBEO HAS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED IN THE UK MARKET. Libeo is a firm Europe-

an leader in digitised payments, and is now moving into a more mature market in the realm of digital transformation. With the leadership of newly appointed Glen Foster, Managing Director for the UK and Northern Europe, the move will be powered by Libeo’s competitive advantage and its innovative differentiating features.

THE MARKET FOR B2B PAYMENT SOLUTIONS IN EUROPE AND THE UK Across Europe, there is still strong reliance on offline, pen-and-paper payment methods. While B2C payments have become mostly digitised in recent years, only around 25% of

B2B invoices are filed electronically, according to Eurazeo. The UK is Europe’s most mature fintech market for consumers, both in terms of size and usage, according to the EY Global Fintech Adoption Index. However, the rate of adoption of fintech among SMEs in the UK is far lower, with 49% of UK businesses still using paper

cheques to pay suppliers. Users of B2B payment solutions have heightened expectations regarding their payment experiences. This is because of their experience as retail consumers, making them aware of the possibilities for business payments processes.

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Tide x Coconut: A partnership designed for the self-employed By Caroline Wire

AS ONE OF THE LEADING DIGITAL PLATFORMS, TIDE IS COMMITTED TO HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES SIMPLIFY THEIR BUSINESS BANKING NEEDS. TO FURTHER EMBRACE THIS MISSION, WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HAVE JOINED FORCES WITH FELLOW DIGITAL APP PROVIDER, COCONUT TO LAUNCH AN EXCITING NEW INITIATIVE AIMED TO HELP THE SELF-EMPLOYED AND ACCOUNTANTS, SAVE TIME AND MONEY WITH THEIR FINANCE ADMIN. In this article, we will introduce our partner, Coconut, meet one of its founders and explain how the new partnership has been designed with those who work for themselves at its heart.

STRIPE INTRODUCES FINANCIAL CONNECTIONS TO HELP BUSINESSES CONNECT TO THEIR CUSTOMERS’ BANK ACCOUNTS

TRIPE, A FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE PLATFORM FOR BUSINESSES, TODAY LAUNCHED STRIPE FINANCIAL CONNECTIONS, ENABLING BUSINESSES TO ESTABLISH DIRECT CONNECTIONS WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS’ BANK ACCOUNTS THAT POWER A WIDE RANGE OF FINANCIAL PROCESSES.

Firstly, let’s introduce our partner, Coconut and give some background on the services they currently provide, as well as how they align with Tide. Just like Tide, Coconut is app-focused and consists of an accounting and tax app that helps accountants to manage their sole trader clients. By securely connecting their bank accounts to Coconut through open banking, self-employed individuals can easily track their income, send invoices, categorise expenses, and work out how much tax they owe. Through the Coconut Portal, accountants can get instant access to all of their clients’ real-time accounting information, whenever they need it—so they can spend less time chasing paperwork, uncover opportunities to grow revenue, and prepare their sole trader clients for ‘Making Tax Digital & Income Tax Self Assessments’, without lots of training or process change. A significant challenge that sole traders commonly face is that they don’t often use software to manage their bookkeeping and traditional cloud accounting is more suited to limited companies. Unlike a ledger for each legal entity, which you would find with cloud accounting, Coconut’s software has been designed so that you don’t have to treat each income stream as a separate entity. Sole traders also often have transactions across a range of different accounts, e.g. business, personal or credit cards, and the Coconut app makes it easy to...

Businesses can use Financial Connections to verify accounts for payments and payouts, check balances to reduce payment failures, and cut fraud by confirming bank account ownership. Direct bank account connections have historically been nearly impossible to establish on a programmatic basis. Businesses have had to either build custom integrations with the thousands of different financial institutions where US customers maintain bank accounts, or attempt a workaround, like asking customers to type in routing and account numbers, and then confirm microdeposits a few days later. The latter is a tedious process that 40% of customers abandon along the way. Financial Connections provides an easier solution: customers simply enter their online banking credentials and select the account they’d like to link. It supports platforms, businesses, and a full spectrum of users, from NFT creators to churches. “As in-person worship returns, we’re doing everything we can to help our churches sustain themselves and the communities they serve. Stripe Financial Connections lets us quickly and easily verify bank accounts for donations. This is good for the churches we support, who can more easily accept donations, and good for their members, who can quickly link their bank accounts,” said Jeremy Ricketts, product manager at Planning Center, a software platform for churches. Bank account connections facilitate a host of multisided benefits. For businesses, linked bank accounts streamline...

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Airwallex rolls out more global payments services in Singapore with virtual business cards and card expenses launch

FTER OFFICIALLY ENTERING THE SINGAPORE MARKET IN JANUARY, LEADING GLOBAL FINTECH AIRWALLEX CONTINUES TO PROGRESSIVELY ROLL OUT KEY OFFERINGS IN ITS GLOBAL PAYMENTS SUITE WITH TODAY’S LAUNCH OF ITS AIRWALLEX BORDERLESS CARD AND INTEGRATED EXPENSE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION. Available to all Airwallex customers in Singapore today, the Airwallex Borderless Card is a virtual multi-currency Visa business debit card that enables businesses to easily make online card payments anywhere that Visa is accepted, from Singapore, to the rest of the world. Singapore-based companies can now instantly generate and issue virtual multi-currency business debit cards to promptly pay third parties, such as vendors and other online merchants, with Airwallex’s market-leading foreign exchange rates, wherever Visa cards are accepted. These virtual cards will enable Singapore businesses to transact in more than 140 currencies and expand into new markets with confidence, knowing that their payments are secure, transparent, and fast. In addition to the Borderless Card, Airwallex is also launching its Expenses solution in Singapore today. Singapore businesses will be able to streamline their expense processes with a single integrated platform to manage spending, seamlessly upload receipts for approval, reconcile expenses, and gain real-time visibility over card transactions. Airwallex and Visa first announced their global strategic partnership in February 2020, and have since...