This past Thursday, I traveled to London, Ontario for my first Xero Roadshow for accountants and bookkeepers. I really wasn’t sure what to expect other than what was presented in the provided agenda. When I arrived at the conference center there were two sharp looking Xero Mini Coopers in the parking lot. It was an awesome atmosphere and the discussions focused on the future of the Xero platform, Canadian product updates and demonstrations of various features.

This was also the first time I was able to meet my account manager and other Xero leaders in person. Previously, I had only phone and email conversations. I had a great conversation prior to the conference starting which could lead to some huge benefits in scaling my practice. As well, I was able to talk with a software vendor that was in the process of solving an issue where I could process CRA remittances for my clients. I also learned a couple new tricks with respect to reports in Xero HQ.

Xero is very focused on keeping the human element alive and well for accountants to be a trusted advisor. By automating data entry, this allows me to be a trusted advisor with respect to tax compliance and other strategies. The Xero platform allows accountants to work closer with their clients as all accounting records are stored on a remote server. This is very crucial as 50% of small businesses in Canada do not make it to their fifth birthday, but businesses on the Xero platform with a trusted advisor have an 80% chance of surviving (These statistics were all provided by Xero).