Xerocon 2019 : Rawcliffe's Roundup
This year’s Xerocon (held November 13th - 14th) was another fantastic event and despite not having the super announcements of 2018 such as Xero’s acquisition of Instafile, there was still a lot of interesting news & product updates worth noting.
Xero Tax
One of the first talks at Xerocon 2019 was about developments to Xero Tax. Back in July we joined a small number of practices nationwide who are Beta testing Xero’s latest software release for this tax filing solution.
Xero Tax is a fully integrated tax preparation workflow and the new features will include single sign-on with Xero, integration with Fixed Asset Register, document styling and electronic signatures, offering practices a simple workflow. Advisors will also no longer need to rely on manual data imports with transactional checking of underlying bookkeeping data.
At that stage Xero Tax was just focusing on accounts production and corporation tax filing for FRS 105 micro entities. At this year’s Xerocon it was announced that further beta testing was underway that extended Xero Tax to small companies using the FRS102 1A reduced disclosure regime as their required format for statutory accounts.
Rawcliffe’s were recently signed up for this trial and look forward to being one of only a small number of UK accountants putting the new software through its paces.
Other Xerocon 2019 Product Announcements...
Further pilot schemes announced that caught our attention were f Cashflow and Business Snapshot.
Cashflow is a short-term feature giving businesses a 30-day view of their business health. It’s designed to help decision making with regards to payments and bills that will impact on the cash-flow of the business.
There is also a new Cashflow Advisory Badge that was also announced, and since her return from Xerocon, has already been completed by one of our Xero Champions, Lisa Walters.
Business Snapshot is an addition to the Xero suite that will allow users to view a dashboard with key business performance metrics such as income, expenses, profits, cash and balance sheet etc.
Excited by yet more new products to try, Team Rawcliffe requested to trial both the pilots mentioned above at Xerocon and we’ll let you know if we were accepted for the betas.
Payment Integrations
It was also announced at Xerocon that businesses will be able to manage bill payments through Xero as an additional feature via TransferWise:
We think there’s a better, more efficient way to pay bills. That’s why we’ve launched Pay with TransferWise – a leading and trusted international payments provider. Together, we’ve created a seamless process that makes it simple to pay and reconcile multiple bills through Xero.
Payment details are first submitted through Xero and sent on to TransferWise. The payment needs to be funded from the business’s bank account and then will be processed to the suppliers’ bank accounts by TransferWise.
It’s likely to be rolled out in the early part of 2020 as an add-on to Xero subscriptions. To use it Xero users must set up a TransferWise account which acts as a clearing account for the payments. TransferWise have a selection of payments tiers based on the number of bills you pay each month.
Other Smaller Xero Updates
These include:
a new mileage tracker in Xero Expenses that automatically calculates fuel and mileage expenses to reimburse staff.
the customisation of reports in Xero
the integration of fixed asset register into Xero Tax
new quotes functionality within Xero Projects
Apps that caught our eye at Xerocon 2019
App partners everywhere you look at Xerocon, so here’s some that grabbed our attention;
Inventory Software
Cin 7 “….a true end-to-end supply chain management solution for medium sized enterprises looking to sell to more people in more places, without adding the burden of manual processes, with the information they need to make purchasing and inventory decisions.”
Dear Systems “With DEAR Inventory, you’ll be equipped with instant visibility into stock levels and order statuses, for up-to-the-minute knowledge of your inventory.”
Follow this link to see a comparison of the two together including pricing, features, security and more.
Faster payments
“Stripe is the best software platform for running an internet business. We handle billions of dollars every year for forward-thinking businesses around the world.”
“Once you’re set up, pay-outs arrive in your bank account on a 7-day rolling basis. Or you can opt to receive pay-outs weekly or monthly.”
A Good Do
The legendary Xerocon party did not disappoint with this year’s theme being The Fairground. Our jaws dropped when we entered, as it was essentially an indoor festival. There were street food vendors everywhere serving a vast selection of sweets and savouries. Beer and wine were served from full sized double-decker buses that had seating areas on the top decks.
In addition to the live folk band on one side of the venue and the DJ over on the other, there was so much entertainment to keep you busy including a merry-go-round, bumper cars, karaoke, swings, photo-booths inside vintage cars and a glorious helter-skelter sitting pride of place in the centre.
An unfortunate incident occurred which included a 30 minute wait for a glittery facial embellishment, only for me to be left looking like an NFL player. (In fairness to the artist I did request something that was not on the menu.) Other than that, a magical evening was had by all!
Here's our photos from the Xerocon 2019 party!
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