Exciting Updates from June’s Conferences: Highlights from Xerocon and More!
You may have seen that I have been traveling for a lot of June, attending various conferences all over the country.
Each conference has been different but with lots of exciting things on the horizon that I am happy to share with you.
Let’s start with Xerocon. This conference is held by Xero mainly for accountants and bookkeepers, and as a Xero partner, it’s a definite yes on my conference schedule.
It was held over two days, with speakers including Sue Perkins (Great British Bake Off), Jason Bradbury (The Gadget Show), and Maxine Wright (7/7 bombing survivor). The famous Xerocon After Party, with the son of Status Quo’s Rick Parfitt, Rick Parfitt Junior & his band taking centre stage, was also held. It was certainly jam-packed!
But aside from all this, it was an excellent opportunity to find out some of the new features that Xero has on the horizon, some of which I am happy to share highlights of below:
Xerocon 2024 Highlights
Payroll
Xero Payroll has long been seen as a poor relation to other software on the market, but they seem to have realized this and are introducing improved features in 2024 and beyond. They are making it easier to move current payrolls to them, add in specific employee working patterns (to accommodate flexible working and different hours, etc.), and also have the ability to manage and record holidays in one place.
Other changes include easier-to-manage pensions NI changes and a payroll manager dashboard.
Taking Payments
We all know that taking payments can be like pulling teeth!
I am pleased to announce that “Tap to Pay” will be launched on the Xero app in August 2024. This will be a game-changer for people who need to take payment from a customer at the point of order or delivery. You simply create or open the invoice in the app, choose the tap-to-pay option, and hold your device against the client’s credit card and voila!
Payment is taken immediately, and the invoice is marked as paid and reconciled. Simple!
They have also introduced a buy-now-pay-later feature that will be coming soon. I understand that this feature will let your clients add their payment details at the time of purchase, and then, on the date you choose, that payment will be made. No more forgetting to pay from the customer!
Making Payments
At the moment, you need to log into your bank and then set up payments based on your bills to pay, entering bank details, invoice numbers, amounts, etc., and then follow any approval process in your bank.
Soon, you will be able to do all this within Xero! It will be securely linked to your bank, and you can have multi-level approvals if required.
Just Ask Xero (JAX)
This is the one I am most excited about! Using the power of AI, JAX will be your own personal assistant within Xero. It will provide answers to your questions, i.e., “show me the outstanding amounts for customer x” and then provide you with further suggestions, i.e., “customer x owes you £4399 – would you like me to resend their latest invoices?”.
It’s hard to explain just how incredible this is in an email, but I promise you it’s pretty cool! The system is in Beta at the moment, and they hope to soft launch in August 2024, so watch this space.
As you can see, Xero has spent a lot of time over the last 12 months adding these great new features, and I can’t wait to use them. Once they start to launch, I will be in touch to see how these features can support your business.
In the meantime, why not get in touch if you have any questions about your Xero account, the discounts we can offer, or any of the features listed above? here
