Xero 'brings small business platform to life' with string of updates
The Xerocon conference opened in Brisbane yesterday and yes, Xero wasn't holding back on any 'new and exciting' announcements.
More than 3,500 participants crammed into the event to witness (among other things) the major new products and features from Xero intended to enable owners and their advisors to build more efficient and profitable operations.
That is a pretty big claim, but Xero says its new features will facilitate for easier collation of information from hundreds of sources, gain a single source of truth across business metrics, and manage client projects profitably.
The company is also tapping into the buzzword 'machine learning' with new capabilities for small businesses to leverage deeper insights for vital decisions.
The platform can tap into machine learning for everyday small business and then augment human ingenuity by automating repetitive tasks, ultimately reducing time spent collecting and entering data while increasing the accuracy and reliability of a business's accounting data.
Some of the new features and updates that were unveiled at Xerocon Brisbane include:
- A new files required feature that allows advisors to identify and collect client documents in one place, slashing the time spent chasing information
- A more intuitive invoicing system that taps into machine learning insights for each business
- An expansion of Xero email-to-bills to extract and automatically populate details from any email PDF bill into Xero, saving time on data entry
- The Xero app marketplace has been beefed up with a new way for advisors to get curated app recommendations for their clients
- Integration with Xero projects to allow users to share timesheet information across both features, saving time and ensuring a single source of truth
"More than a decade ago, we began building a cloud accounting platform that would revolutionise how small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers run their operations. The new products and features announced at Xerocon Brisbane show the next stage of our growth: moving from an accounting software provider into a true small business platform that helps business owners save time, gain control, and focus on growing," says Xero CEO Steve Vamos.
"These tools will also help our champion accountants and bookkeepers grow their practices, making it easier and more efficient to serve their clients, and helping them add value in entirely new ways.
