Lightyear's Top Takeaways from Xerocon Sydney 2022 

 It’s been three weeks since #Xerocon Sydney, where over 3,000 Aussie, Kiwi and Asia-based accounting, bookkeeping and app partners came together to get inspired, learn and reunite as a community after three long years.

This year’s lineup saw some incredible speakers, including Kemi Nekvapil, one of Australia's leading credentialled coaches for female executives and entrepreneurs. Also featured were Adam Goodes, AFL Player, Rachael Powell, Xero’s Chief Customer Officer, Anna Curzon, Xero’s Chief Product Officer, and so many more. 

Now that we’ve had time to digest and reflect, we'd like to share some of our key insights from the show:

Harnessing change to drive innovation

Throughout this year's Xerocon, the focus was on purpose, partnership and continuing to drive innovation. 

From new enhancements to take the complexity out of time-intensive financial activities to updates that make the business of doing the books more intuitive, connected and faster than ever before. Xero’s community of over 70 app partners proved they are committed to innovation with a focus on making life better for small businesses, their advisors, and communities around the world.

Opportunities for accountants and bookkeepers

There are three macro trends shaping the industry: Sustainability, the Evolving Workforce and Digitalisation. Practices must adapt if they want to succeed. As businesses continue to embrace technology and streamline workflows, there are many opportunities for practices to expand their services within each of these macro trends.

Sustainability
Prioritising sustainability can help to reduce your carbon footprint, attract and retain staff, as well as give clients another reason to choose you as their advisor. Sustainability services for clients include:

• Sustainability audits: An all-round assessment of a client’s operations for opportunities for improvement, including energy suppliers, consumables etc
• Supply chain assessments: A review of a client’s top suppliers to see if there are less expensive and more environmentally friendly options
• Carbon measurement, management, offsetting, auditing and certification: Where you can use business data to identify opportunities for more sustainable decisions and operations
• Active Transport policy support: Helping your clients to develop employee benefits like subsidised public transport, and providing end-of-trip facilities not only benefits the planet but can also help increase employee engagement
  
  

Evolving Workforce 

Implementing technology such as Xero Payroll, Xero Expenses, Xero Me, and the new Planday beta helps employers to tackle workforce challenges and makes it easier to manage their employees. This also enables employers to be able to create an empowering and positive work experience, helping them to attract and retain talent in an increasingly competitive environment.

Digitalisation 

Embracing the shift to digital can not only set you apart from your competitors but can also free up more time for consultancy and advisory services to help your clients solve their business challenges. The more you digitalise your practice, the more proficient and productive your practice will become, meaning you will be able to grow your client base and spend more time building trust and long-lasting relationships.

The hidden costs of Accounts Payables 

Lightyear co-founder and president, Roger Gregg had the opportunity to discuss the hidden costs of Accounts Payables. This is one of the many areas where digitalisation provides immediate and noticeable changes for businesses.

“You won’t see AP as a line-item on the P&L, but the hidden cost of AP is there - in desks, wages, over-charging, duplicate payments & missed opportunities for early settlement discount.” 

Roger highlighted that the top 4 ‘hidden’ costs of AP include PO Matching, data entry into POS & Inventory Software, Supplier Statement Reconciliation and Price Checking.

Automation eliminates these costly tasks, giving your staff more time to get on with their real jobs and saving businesses up to 80% in both time and costs.

Xero’s latest Product Innovations

Hearing Xero’s product innovations and updates are always a highlight at Xerocon. This year's announcements were no exception with innovations such as; 

• New tools to simplify people processes with the launch of Xero Payroll
• Planday beta 
• New capabilities in the Xero Me app
• And one of Xero’s most highly requested features, Payroll History

Check out the full list of product enhancements here

Community 

For us, Xerocon is much more than what happens on the main stage or in breakout sessions. It’s about conversations, real-life stories and being around like-minded people. We've loved connecting with friends, both old and new, including those from Tickstar, Mazars AU, Prosperity Advisers Group, The CFO Solution, CA Group, Chaser, and so many more.

Finally, we want to send a big thank you to everyone who came to visit the Lightyear Stand at Xerocon Sydney. We loved every minute of it and look forward to hearing from you soon.

The countdown is ON for #Xerocon Sydney 2023!