Leveraging Xero’s Latest Innovations for Your Financial Success

What’s New in Xero – June 2024

Exciting updates & developments in the world of Xero were recently unveiled at Xerocon London, showcasing a range of new products and features aimed at enhancing productivity and efficiency for small businesses and their advisors. If you missed the event or need a quick summary, we’ve gathered the key announcements to keep you updated on what’s coming to Xero.

Coming Soon: Just Ask Xero (JAX)

The rise of generative AI is set to revolutionise productivity for businesses. Soon, Just Ask Xero (JAX), a generative AI-powered smart business companion, will be available in beta this August. JAX will help you and your clients run businesses more efficiently by enabling tasks like generating invoices or editing quotes with simple commands. Whether you’re using Xero, mobile apps, WhatsApp, or email, JAX will streamline your operations.

For more on how Xero is enhancing JAX’s accuracy and security, check out their blog: How GenAI-powered Just Ask Xero Will Reimagine Accounting. Additionally, Xero’s AI guides—one for accountants and bookkeepers, and one for small businesses—offer valuable tips and tricks for leveraging AI effectively.

Coming Soon: Partnership Tax

Efficiency in your practice hinges on digitising tax and accounts workflows. That’s why Xero is introducing their new partnership tax solution, coming in beta this July. This feature will help you automatically prepare partnership annual accounts and tax using Xero data, and seamlessly file partnership tax returns with HMRC. Manage all your compliance tasks in one place, eliminating the need for multiple tools.

Xero Update Coming Soon: Integrating Xero Practice Manager and Tax

The integration of Xero Tax and Xero Practice Manager (XPM) will be available in beta for UK accountants and bookkeepers. This integration will provide visibility and management of client obligations, workflows, and job tracking all in one place, enhancing your practice’s efficiency. Easily manage jobs and align them with your clients’ tax obligations.

Xero Update Coming Soon: Client Insights

Xero unveiled client insights snapshots, showcasing key client financial health metrics such as business health, profit, and expenses across your practice. Now live in beta in XPM and Xero HQ, client insights will provide the data needed to support your clients effectively, growing your advisory services by identifying clients who need timely conversations about emerging issues.

Xero Update Coming Soon: Tap to Pay on Android

According to Xero Small Business Insights, 50% of UK small businesses are paid late, costing an estimated £1.6bn in 2023. To help small businesses get paid faster, Xero will soon offer Tap to Pay on Android. This feature, available in beta this August, will enable businesses to accept payments on the spot via the Xero Accounting app, through Stripe. This new contactless payment method gives small businesses more options to accept payments.

Xero Update Coming Soon: More Ways to Pay in Xero

In addition to Tap to Pay, Xero is introducing more ways to ensure seamless payment processes:

• New payment methods with Stripe: Beyond credit and debit cards, options will soon include bank transfers and buy now, pay later.
• Single, one-time sign-up: A simpler, embedded sign-up process with Stripe.
• Complete control and customization: Easily enable or disable payment methods as needed.

New and Coming Soon: Xero Payroll Enhancements

Efficient payroll management is crucial. With 86% of accountants and bookkeepers affirming that having accounting and payroll in one place saves time, Xero is enhancing its UK payroll product. These updates will help serve various small businesses, simplify pay runs, streamline multi-client tasks, and reduce manual errors.

Payroll Manager: This new dashboard in XPM and Xero HQ provides an easy way to view payroll data across your clients. Currently in beta, it saves time by consolidating client pay runs in one view, making it easier to identify clients needing attention for upcoming pay runs.

More Payroll Functionality: Xero Payroll’s improved features cater to flexible working patterns, simplify pension setup, and allow payroll leave alignment with financial or operational periods. Small businesses can also switch to Xero Payroll anytime during the tax year with ease.

Purposeful Innovation for Your Value

Xero’s innovative strides are designed to build the most powerful accounting platform in the UK. Our thoughtful, purposeful advancements are geared to add significant value to you and your clients, now and in the future.

Let us, as your trusted accountants, guide you through these exciting changes. With our expertise and Xero’s cutting-edge features, we’re here to help you navigate and excel in all things finance. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help enhance your financial operations with the latest from Xero.

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