Following his blog covering day one, Malcolm goes on to provide details of Thursday morning's topics in his blog of day two. Malcolm Pope and five members of our Genus team are in London this week at Xerocon 2019.
Xerocon 2019 - Day 2 Morning
After surviving the Xerocon Party Wedesday evening, Day 2 started early to attend an exclusive briefing with Doug LaBahn where he detailed the results of research completed just 3 weeks ago. This research highlighted the increasing demand for business owners to have advisers who are well versed in online accounting and doing so is saving c£6,000 in back office costs on average.
The first key note talk was hosted by the self proclaimed #1 motivational speaker, Brad Burton. Brad reaffirmed the advantages of a positive mindset and used the analogy of how using a GPS in a car has become second nature but that many business owners don’t have a GPS for their business. This reminded me of feedback our Corporate Finance team have received recently from Bullseye Car Parts and supports the current initiatives we have in our Genus team.
We then moved on to how Xero is continue to build its reputation as a fundamental platform or springboard for other applications with Nick and Ed from Xero. They highlighted how the use of APIs is allowing different applications to integrate seamlessly. They also helpfully provided a much easier way to understand what an API is using a power grid and a toaster! The number of connected applications has now grown to over 800 and although our Genus team can’t advise on all of them, we can now start to recommend our preferred ones in a more bespoke way.
Moving on to the challenges and opportunities around open banking, the increasing amount of direct bank feeds was noted and although the early movers still have an advantage. The mandated 90 day reauthentication of bank details on bank feed is something for users to look out for but there are now far greater opportunities to manage cash flow going forward. In addition to this, there is potential for a more joined-up view with other financial institutions such as pensions and investments.
A further tour of the exhibition hall followed, this time with a focus of back office software for Shorts. Obviously the £6,000 saving mentioned earlier in the morning had sparked an interest.
The final key note talk of the morning was around the changing dynamics in business, especially around the millennial business owners which now account for 38% of UK businesses. This is not just something which will effect our industry but could have a significant impact for many of our clients.
We also met the UK’s youngest Xero certified advisor who is aged just 14. I’m sure my 11 and 10 year old will be delighted when I suggest they give it a go........
Our Genus Projects Team can help you identify the best cloud accounting software for your business, please do not hesitate to get in touch to arrange your free demonstration.
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Malcolm Pope
Malcolm is an Audit & Accounts Partner at Shorts, a Chartered Accountant and registered Auditor. He heads up the Genus team and has been instrumental in developing the firm’s cloud accounting strategy and offering for clients.
View my articlesTags: Xero, GENUS Management Accounts
