Consolid8 goes to Xero Cloud Accounting Conference 2015

The 13th-14th of August saw thousands of accountants, bookkeepers, tech enthusiasts and cloud advocates flock to the Melbourne Showground’s for Xero’s much-anticipated annual conference. Among the enthusiasts and advocates were Tanya, Jason and some friendly faces from the Consolid8 team. We’ve compiled their experiences in a concise overview for you to enjoy.

Xero’s vision and the way forward

Day one of the event served up a smorgasbord of advancement and development on Xero’s horizon. Tanya and the team especially enjoyed hearing from Rod Drury (Xero Founder/CEO) about the ‘emerging financial web’ and from Chris Ridd (MD Xero Australia) on Xero’s outlining new initiatives and investments from Xero aimed at better supporting small business through the accounting and bookkeeping industries.

Add-on Partners Marketplace

As real world accountants, we are always looking for new ways to integrate technology and explore innovative business systems for our clients. A ‘stand-out experience’ from the entire conference was meeting and learning about Xero’s ever-increasing add-on partners (there are now over 440 in the marketplace).

There was such a diverse range of integrations and business solutions; it was great to spend time with each exhibitor understanding how their application could benefit our clients. Spotlight, ReceiptBank and Deputy were prominent solutions that we look forward to exploring and implementing for our clients.

New Releases

Xero used the conference as a platform to unveil some very exciting new releases and developments. The three that stood out for the team were:

1. Search function – a new global search which includes the option to filter entire file or a specific section of Xero using text or number input
2. Auto invoice reminders – users can now set reminders for unpaid invoices which will be sent to clients automatically through Xero
3. Xero Me app – employees now have the ability to log in via phone to apply for leave, check their leave balance and access payslips

Highlights

When asked about the highlights, the team exclaimed “There were so many amazing experiences at the conference, it would be difficult to put into one paragraph”.

• Technology – as a passionate advocate for cloud technology, Tanya found the conference really inspiring. A highlight for her was learning about and testing all of the integrations and solutions with the add-on partners.
• Speakers – there were some phenomenal presentations from guest speakers and the Xero Australia team. A special thank you to David Koch (Australian TV Presenter) for his engaging panel presentation about start up companies and how he has embraced Xero in his own business.
• The Dancing Accountant – you heard it right! There was a very quirky delegate at the conference that had some seriously smooth moves. Take a look at the video; it’s definitely worth a watch!
• The Gala Dinner – As always, the Xerocon dinner was fantastic. Great food and great company! What a wonderful way to end two incredible, action-packed days.

All in all, Xerocon 2015 exceeded our expectations and we can’t wait for next year! You can take a look at the photo gallery to view our experience.