The accountants and bookkeepers who use Xero day by day already provide more than traditional money advice. But, for some advisors, the power of product development plays a key role in staying ahead of the curve. They trial add-ons, integrations and new products to pass these insights directly onto their clients.

Here we meet Timothy Munro who runs Brisbane-based Change Accountants and Advisors. Xero goes behind his passion for new products, features and add-ons – to learn how his clients benefit from this proactive approach.

“Accountants need to be leading the way in tech,” explains Timothy who is believes in the power of technology to improve the client experience.

“We need to show clients what they can do in their own business. If accountants aren’t doing this, then what sort of other advice are they not giving their clients?”

Ahead of the curve

Recently, Timothy exercised his hands-on innovation through an early exploration of Xero HQ to directly benefits his clients.

“As a platinum partner, we were one of the beta testers for Xero HQ.

“It’s a dramatically new direction that is already working like the hub of our accounting firm. It’s where we put our clients, notifications of tax returns, BAS – everything. And it instantly gives us real-time intel on our clients – such as what industry they are in, who they bank with, and what apps they use.

“This means we can use this knowledge to give more value back to clients.”

People-focused products

Beyond this significant value-add, Timothy says the technological innovations provided through Xero pass on other tangible benefits.

“Because Xero is cloud based we have moved our entire firm to the cloud. But tech is not the main thing here, it’s the outcome for us and our clients [that Xero brings].

“Xero enables us to have more time to help mums and dads grow their business, rather than being bogged down ticking off bank transactions.”

Innovation often has a very real human need at its heart, and Timothy is more than willing to road test Xero’s products and features every step of the way – to put his clients first in line to benefit.

Roadshow in focus

Likeminded partners, accountants and bookkeepers will be able to access product learnings at any of the 24 events running across Xero Roadshow Australia 2017 nationwide, between 30 January through to 17 February.

The season has already begun. To quickly register your free spot – visit the Roadshow homepage.