Shorts at Xerocon 2024 - What we learned

Last week, five of us went to Xerocon at the Excel in London, a fantastic event that always promises some useful insights, the latest product updates and catching up with some amazing people in the industry.

We had several insightful talks – including a masterclass on embracing uncertainty with Sam Conniff, how AI is transforming the industry and an inspiring talk by Martine Wright (a 7/7 bombing survivor and Paralympian).

There is lots of food for thought and I’m looking forward to doing some product demos and updates to see what Xero addons are out there that can help our clients.

What we learned at Xerocon 2024

Here are my top product take aways from the event.

New AI tool: 'JAX' (Just Ask Xero)

Xero is launching an AI tool called ‘JAX’ (Just Ask Xero). This looks to be an exciting development that can assist clients by doing some of the day-to-day data entry, e.g. sending a WhatsApp email or prompting JAX to ask it to create an invoice for a customer ready for approval. You can also use JAX to get valuable insights in seconds, e.g. asking how long it takes clients to pay and to list those with the most extended period.

Payroll - Bulk client feature

Xero is also launching their payroll bulk client feature that allows accountants and bookkeepers to run payroll without going into the individual companies– a great way to save time when running multiple payrolls across different companies!

New Xero Practice Manager (XPM) feature

Xero is bringing in a new feature to their ‘Xero Practice Manager’ tool, which will allow accountants and bookkeepers to view key metrics and clients' financial health to identify those needing additional support or advisory services earlier.

New 'Tap to Pay' Functionality

Xero announced their new ‘tap to pay’ functionality – using their Stripe partnership to offer bank transfer options to customers via sales invoices.

New Dext features - Invoice processing

Dext (invoice processing addon)– they have now brought in features which mean that you can search for text within the bodies of documents, e.g. a registration plate number will bring up all the relevant fuel receipts; they have also brought in ‘Due date’ extraction for invoices and are bringing in mileage reporting and supplier statement reconciliation.

Updates to Fathom - Reporting and forecasting

We saw some great new features in the Fathom reporting and forecasting add-on. One relates to more data available for Aged Payables and Receivables, so you may see additional information coming into your reporting packs if you are a client of our Genus Team.

The latest from Fumopay

We caught up with Fumopay and were reminded of the great benefits; we can’t wait to get started with these (if you have high card fees and want to look at ways to reduce them or would like to explore additional ways to take payments that don’t cost per transaction - please get in touch!).

My most significant takeaway/confirmation from the whole event is that success in this industry is built on a foundation of great relationships. It is all about the people, from clients to colleagues to other accountants. I am excited about what the future brings for AI – providing efficiencies in our industry that will allow us to spend more time focussing on those relationships.