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Community, Cashflow & Self Care: Xerocon London 19

16th Dec 2019
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Community, Cashflow & Self Care: My Top Three Takeaways from XeroCon London 2019

This year’s London Xerocon was bursting with 3,000 attendees. Over two days, members of the Xero community exchanged ideas and dove into the new game-changing accounting technology that’s coming in 2020. Let’s expand on a few key takeaways from the event.

Communities of purpose

After announcing this year’s theme, “Communities of Purpose” Xero CEO, Steve Vamos, reiterated this idea of sticking together during his keynote speech at the outset of the conference. 

For Steve, “our community is at the forefront of change going on in the accounting and bookkeeping industry. And that’s important because in times of uncertainty we can feel a lack of control. The only way I know we can get through this is to connect and care for others facing similar challenges.”

Technology is spurring a shift in how we work and think. Change is hard, which is why the process needs to be as comfortable as possible. Xero’s common ground approach through these transformative times is exactly what we need. 

A holistic approach to customer care 

Continuing along the lines of this year’s theme, Gary Turner, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Xero, explored the importance of customer-centricity in 2020. The challenge for many accounting and bookkeeping firms is creating enough time to keep our clients and staff front of mind. 

By automating data collection, integrating software like Xero and platforms like Receipt Bank and Fluidly opens up extra time - time that can be spent focusing on client needs beyond the numbers and nurturing the team to adapt to shifting expectations. 

This year at Hayward Wright, we introduced some key initiatives that addressed customer and staff care.

Number one out the gate is the growing trend of accountants and their fear of client interaction. This issue drove investment into more staff development by introducing gentle presentation and networking training.

Our second focus was on refining key methods for client feedback. 

We have two main sources of feedback: an automated email system and a more personal approach. 

In both formats, we aim to understand what a client values in us and which areas require improvement. The key is in promoting cultural change and understanding that any type of feedback has value. It's not a witch-hunt against a member of staff. Rather, it’s an opportunity for growth - both individually and as a practice.

Personally, I use my free time to both chat with clients and get under the skin of their business while maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

The importance of wellbeing

According to a whitepaper by ICAEW, 76% of accountants and bookkeepers say work has had a negative impact on their lives in the past year. Statistics like these prove that as an industry, there’s a lot more we could be doing to improve.

Jen Surtees, Xero’s UK Director of People Experience, hosted a wellbeing panel at Xerocon to discuss ways to boost self-care at work and at home. 

My team regularly reviews how we can elevate wellbeing within the practice. For instance, this year alone we implemented flexitime and introduced a benefits portal. This includes discounts for leisure activities such as spa days and a free training portal to support personal development.

Regarding technology’s contribution to wellbeing, cloud accounting has helped accountants and bookkeepers in several ways.

The flexibility of allowing staff to work from anywhere has made a huge difference. They no longer have to worry about the impact of a boiler breaking or childcare has on their performance. If they need to, they can work from home. 

Time-saving is another benefit of modern technology. With more time we’ve been able to have team days out and host events that include both employees and their partners. 

Cashflow is King?

To say we’re in the middle of a cashflow resurgence isn’t completely accurate. It never went away; it remains at the heart of every business, no matter the size. With a large number of UK-based SMEs struggling to stay cashflow positive, Xero responded with two new stellar solutions. 

They introduced their “Business Snapshot feature,” which provides small businesses visibility over business health using a few key measures. Their other debut was “Short-term cash flow”: a feature that visually projects your bank balance 30 days into the future. 

Experience shows, time and time again, that cashflow is king. If you get it down to a science, it makes the rest of running your business a breeze. 

Many cashflow issues can be smoothed out with proper management. The key is creating enough buffer time to put out a cash-flow ember before it becomes a wildfire one week before payday. 

That’s where cloud technology comes in. As the technology matures, the focus increasingly moves towards adding collaboration tools like Receipt Bank that first, provide data in close to real-time; and second, predict cash-flow issues before they arise. 

There you have it. Much like every other year, the Xerocon event lent a positivity that travelled back to the Hayward Wright office with us. Here’s to next year! 

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