Who says Accountants can’t have fun! Last week – Xerocon 2019 was held in beautiful San Diego. With over 1000 people in attendance, it was the perfect opportunity to interact with peers, learn about enhancements to Xero, and gain insight into some of the ecosystem partners.

On our way to Xerocon, Lisa Gilreath and I made a quick stop in Denver to meet with the Denver team. Acuity hosted a brunch for the team, and we had a wonderful time! Giving people the flexibility to be remote is great, but it’s important to hold team events to provide opportunities to connect.

Xero had some fascinating speakers in their lineup such as Shawn Kanungo, Kelly McGonigal, Maysoon Zayid and members of the Xero team. Shawn Kanungo had great tips on how to embrace technology and automation. Kelly McGonigal discussed stress management in detail and gave great suggestions on how to combat stress. Maysoon Zayid’s story was inspiring to see how she has overcome challenges to get to fulfill her dreams.

Matthew May, COO of Acuity, was asked to present at Xerocon. He had a riveting session discussing blockchain and cryptocurrency. It was a fun and interesting session – those that attended learned the new meaning of devil’s lettuce.

Xero had some announcements on the product side as well. They announced a deeper partnership with Stripe which entails a new Stripe feed and makes reconciling deposits much easier. They also announced the ability to collect payments through the Stripe terminal from a phone. Soon to come will be the ability to have customers set up recurring invoices. The app marketplace has been revamped to help small businesses and accountants find the perfect solutions. Tax mapping will now be offered in Xero for Schedules C and E, S Corp, C Corp, and Partnerships to help streamline the tax process. Xero reiterated its commitment to work with accounting partners.

Shawn Kanungo summed Xerocon up perfectly – “They’ve turned an accounting event into a rock concert.” Not only were the days fun but the nights were even more exciting! We look forward to strengthening our partnership with Xero!