Author, Stuart Moody (Tait Walker)
I’ve just returned from the Xero roadshow in Leeds and I’m totally convinced this is the right product for so many of our clients.
I’ve never been anywhere where I felt so much positivity in one room, clear testimony to the company’s recent accolade as the “Worlds most innovative growth company” awarded by Forbes.
The story of Xero is one of hyper growth and the company are now attracting high calibre internal staff who can obviously see the potential of cloud based accounting packages. Currently there are 3800 certified Xero users of which I am but one. Clearly the growth potential of Xero who now have 50k customers in the SME market is a mere fraction of the UK’s total SME market place which I am led to believe stands at a staggering 5 million entities.
What sets this company apart from the others is that we, as business partners are treated as part of the innovation cycle. We are listened to at just such events as today’s roadshow and I can’t help think that these events are a means not just to get us on board and raise the Xero profile but equally and more importantly where we as the user can influence enhancements to an already brilliant product.
A staggering third of all website hits come from mobile and tablet devices so it’s no wonder our end users now demand a shift away from desktop applications towards cloud based products. An example was given of sitting on the beach reconciling your bank… Is this really what we want? Clearly there is a demand for on the move accounting and the need for information at our fingertips.
Apparently 40% of new Xero customers are coming from businesses that have no existing computerised accounting system. This statistic sounds the death knell of paper bag accounting which can only be a good thing. But conversely the 60% who are switching to Xero must be a worrying statistic for established players in the market.
So what is it that makes Xero so appealing? It’s easy, friendly, cheap, clear and simple to name many superlatives. Your accountant is on hand to assist (24/7!!!???) and is always on the same page with live data and the same software version. If someone had told me 15 years ago as I studied for my ACA that accounting would be described as beautiful, I would have laughed… But this is beautiful accounting. Reporting is clean and easily manipulated, it can show what we want, what the client wants and if it looks better with a picture, we can do that as well.
As I boarded the train back to Newcastle after a satisfying day, it was a great comfort to look at my phone and find two new leads both with the same thread…..”I hear you do Xero, please can you call me.”
Tait Walker are Silver Xero partners and we would be delighted to take your business into the cloud.
