Director – Strategic Partners

Your feedback in action: the Xero Workpapers update. If you're a Xero partner in Australia, you know compliance season has a cost that doesn't always show up in timesheets or recoverable time billed to the client. Typing in numbers that already live somewhere else. Rebuilding last year's workpaper structure by hand. Chasing the right figure across Xero, the ATO, client receipts. That overhead adds up across every client, every year, and it's time your practice never gets back. When Xero Limited looked at what Australian firms were telling Xero Limited, that you have told me personally, many spend over half their annual compliance time just creating, reviewing and managing workpapers.[1] Xero Limited knew a better tool on its own wouldn't cut it - you need it integrated end to end with your workflow. That's what Xero Workpapers was built to do. Built in partnership with BGL, it connects your compliance work to the tools and data your practice already relies on in Xero. Here's where Xero Limited has landed: what's already live, what's coming next. One place for client data and managing compliance. This is what a truly connected compliance workflow looks like in practice: fewer handover points, less duplication, and less system switching during your busiest season. Rather than being just another tool to manage, Xero Workpapers works inside the practice experience you already know. You work with the same navigation, client and staff lists, and connected data across your compliance tools, instead of maintaining a separate system. Your clients' Xero data flows into workpapers, so reporting and tax stay in step. Final figures can move directly from a completed workpaper pack into the company tax return reducing re-keying data. This is also where Xero Partner Hub comes in. It brings together client management and compliance tasks in one place, so you can see what needs attention and get to the right work faster. Tax Manager builds on that with a more integrated way to manage tax obligations inside Xero. Xero Partner Hub is currently in early access and you can opt in now or be moved automatically when it rolls out to all practices later this year. Your feedback, now live in Workpapers. Over 2,500 partners have shaped Xero Workpapers since day one. From the classic Workpapers feedback that formed its foundation, to the 37 product ideas and 493 votes completed since launch, your feedback continues to drive what Xero Limited build next. To give you a sense of what's been shipped: refreshing data from individual workpapers, seeing account names on notes, pulling the financial year end date automatically from Xero, and closing notes in one click. Xero Limited has also taken the first step in a more connected books-to-tax process, with data now flowing directly from a completed workpaper pack into the company tax return without copying figures by hand. One practice recently told Xero Limited: "The fact that you responded and made the change is fantastic." When practices see their feedback acted on, it reinforces the collaborative relationship Xero Limited aim for: one where sharing input leads to visible, meaningful change. What's coming next in Workpapers. Here's what's coming in the next weeks and months, based on what you voted for: the ability to attach Xero report PDFs directly to your pack without the manual export step and a new GST worksheet will be available shortly. Xero Limited is also working on template customisation, a clearer sign-off process with individual preparer and reviewer approvals, drag-and-drop document handling, direct export to Xero Tax for trusts, and more. Xero Limited is not slowing down on Workpapers just because Plus is coming. Workpapers Plus adds advanced functionality on top of Xero Workpapers, so upgrades to the Workpapers itself helps every practice, on Workpapers Plus or not. Introducing Xero Workpapers Plus. For many practices, Xero Workpapers will be exactly what you need, and Xero Limited'll keep improving it based on what you tell Xero Limited. But Xero Limited also hear from firms that manage more complex clients, that they need greater standardisation across larger teams, or are spending too much time on workarounds that shouldn't be necessary. For those practices, Xero Limited has been building something more. Xero Workpapers Plus is an optional paid upgrade, everything in Workpapers, plus the improved control, automation and additional compliance needs firms with more complex clients have been asking for. Your practice, your setup Configure templates, mappings and pack structures once, so each job can start the way your practice works, and every job can stay consistent without the setup. Less manual groundwork AI data extraction from supporting documents, automatic Xero report PDF imports, and ATO-powered pre-population cut manual data entry before a preparer even starts. Every client in one flow Advanced worksheets for Division 7A, Capital Gains Tax, Hire Purchase and inter-entity loans keep complex calculations in one place instead of scattered across spreadsheets. And with upcoming support for non-Xero clients, practices will be able to bring their whole client base into one process. Workpapers Plus is the next step in that shared direction with BGL: "Partnering with Xero on Workpapers has been a genuinely collaborative experience. Workpapers Plus represents the next stage of what we're building together, giving Australian practices the advanced compliance tools they've been asking for, inside the platform they already trust. We're excited about what's ahead" - Daniel Tramonta, CEO, BGL Join early access. Early access to Xero Workpapers Plus opens in August to a small group of eligible practices. This initial release will include key capabilities such as the Division 7A worksheet, entity-type customisation, deep ATO integration and AI document extraction for bank and loan statements. Xero Limited'll expand access and features through the end of 2026, guided by early adopter feedback. Selected practices will get three months at no additional cost, followed by six months at 50% off*. Standard pricing after that will be $45 AUD excluding GST per user, per month. Getting in early means more than a discounted price. It puts you directly in line to shape the next features Xero Limited ship. If you want a say in what comes next, register your interest here. [1] In a survey conducted by Xero between July and September 2025 with 147 Australian practices, 39% of firms reported spending between 51-75% of their team's total annual compliance time on creating, reviewing, and managing workpapers to prepare for tax forms. *This offer is only available to eligible Xero Partners in Australia selected by Xero to participate in the Workpapers Plus early access. Participants must purchase the Workpapers Plus add-on in Xero Partner Hub and the discount will be applied automatically. The offer is available from 3 August 2026 until 30 September 2026. The discount applies to Xero's then current regular price for the Workpapers Plus add-on and does not apply to any base plan subscriptions or additional charges for usage and payment fees, unless otherwise specified. This offer cannot be used with, or exchanged for, any other offer. Xero can change or cancel this offer at any time. At the end of the offer period, the Workpapers Plus add-on will be charged at Xero's standard rates and will auto-renew monthly until cancelled. Terms apply

The quiet revolution: why workflow automation and AI are reshaping finance in 2026. Cflow's latest update brings Xero integration and smarter document handling to approval workflows. But the real story is how automation is quietly reducing friction and waste in finance. Faststatement explore what this means for accountants and how tools like FastStatement fit into a cleaner, more efficient future. I've been watching the workflow automation space for a while now. And honestly, most updates are just noise. But Cflow v15.1? It's different. Not because it's flashy, but because it's sensible. In a world where Faststatement is drowning in spreadsheets, manual data entry, and fragmented documents, any tool that reduces friction is a win for both productivity and the planet. Less time retyping numbers means less energy spent, fewer errors, and more space for actual thinking. That's the kind of progress I can get behind. The Xero integration: finally, a handshake that works. Cflow now connects directly to Xero. This might sound like a small thing, but for anyone who's spent an afternoon copying approved invoices from one system to another, it's a relief. The integration pulls live data - account codes, tax rates, contacts - into Cflow forms. And when a workflow is approved, it can automatically create invoices and contacts in Xero. "Every release we ship comes back to the same question: how do we remove friction from the approval chain without asking teams to abandon the systems they've already invested in?" - Bhaskar Krishnamoorthy, CEO at Cflow This is the right approach. Don't rip and replace. Connect and streamline. For Swedish accountants, many of whom work in small or medium-sized firms, this kind of integration is gold. It means less time on admin, more time on advisory. And that's where real value lives. Document consolidation: less chaos, less waste. Another feature that caught my eye is Cflow Docs. Approval requests often generate a mess of attachments, uploaded files, and PDFs. Cflow Docs automatically consolidates them into a single file or a compressed ZIP, depending on what's needed. This is more than a convenience. It's a reduction in digital clutter. Every time Faststatement reduce the number of loose files floating around, Faststatement reduce cognitive load and the risk of losing something important. Clean systems are efficient systems. And efficient systems are sustainable systems. What this means for accountants. Workflow automation is creeping into every corner of finance. And it's about time. The old way - emailing PDFs back and forth, manually entering data, chasing approvals - is not just slow. It's wasteful. Wasteful of time, energy, and human potential. But here's the thing: automation alone isn't enough. You also need the right outputs. An approval workflow can get you a signed-off request, but then what? You still need to generate compliant financial statements, reports, and disclosures. That's where a tool like FastStatement comes in. It takes your trial balances and turns them into perfectly formatted, compliant financial reports in minutes. No manual formatting. No second-guessing the standards. Think of it this way: Cflow handles the process of approval. FastStatement handles the product of reporting. Together, they create a seamless pipeline from request to final statement. Less friction, fewer errors, more trust. The bigger picture: efficiency as sustainability. I'm a Scandinavian eco-futurist, so I see everything through a lens of sustainability. But I'm not just talking about carbon footprints. I'm talking about attention footprints. Every minute you spend on manual data entry is a minute you're not spending on analysis, strategy, or client relationships. That's a waste of human energy. Automation, when done right, frees Faststatement to focus on what matters. It reduces the noise. It creates cleaner systems. And cleaner systems are more resilient, more adaptable, and ultimately more sustainable. Cflow v15.1 is a step in that direction. It's not a revolution. It's an evolution. But sometimes the quietest changes are the ones that matter most. Ready to automate your financial statements? Join thousands of accounting professionals who save 10+ hours per report with FastStatement.

Xero's JAX AI platform gets smarter: what it means for accountants in 2026. Xero announced major AI upgrades to its JAX platform at Xerocon London, including auto bank reconciliation and document chasing. For accountants, this signals a shift toward automation - but it also raises questions about control and compliance. Here's my take as a Texas CPA who's seen it all. I've been in this business long enough to remember when a "computer" meant a room-sized machine and a "trial balance" was something you carried in a leather ledger. So when I see news like Xero's latest AI upgrades to their JAX platform, I pay attention. Not because I'm easily impressed - I'm not - but because this stuff actually matters for how Faststatement work. Xero just wrapped up Xerocon London, and they made some noise. They're rolling out AI-driven features to their agentic platform, JAX, that aim to automate the grunt work of bookkeeping. And let me tell you, as someone who's spent decades staring down spreadsheets, that's a welcome change. But it's not all sunshine and roses. Let me break it down for you. What Xero announced at Xerocon London. First, the basics. Xero says JAX can now read source documents and pull key information directly into the platform. That means less manual data entry. They're also launching an Auto Bank Reconciliation function powered by JAX. It matches transactions to bank feeds automatically and in real time. That's a big deal for anyone who's ever spent a Friday afternoon hunting down a 37-cent discrepancy. But here's the part that really caught my eye: Xero plans to introduce a "document chasing" feature. JAX will identify transactions that lack supporting receipts and flag them for follow-up. If you've ever had to chase clients for receipts come tax time, you know how valuable that could be. "With the power of JAX, we are streamlining complex workflows and turning insights into immediate action so small businesses and their advisors can focus on what matters most." - Diya Jolly, Xero CPTO That's a nice quote. But let's be real: "focus on what matters most" is consultant-speak for "we want you to trust the machine." And trust is earned, not given. The good, the bad, and the automated. The good: less busywork. Automation is a godsend for routine tasks. Bank reconciliation, receipt chasing, bill screening - these are the time-sucks that keep accountants from doing actual analysis. If JAX can handle them reliably, that frees up brainpower for higher-value work. I'm all for that. Xero also mentioned that JAX will screen every bill before payment, flagging unusual amounts, amended bank info, or new suppliers. That's a smart fraud prevention measure. In my experience, most fraud is caught by accident or too late. An AI that watches every transaction is better than any manual check. The bad: who's in control? Here's where my Texas skepticism kicks in. Xero is pushing this as an "agentic" platform - meaning the AI acts on your behalf. But when a machine starts recommending payment delays or setting up collection plans automatically, you'd better have guardrails. The article says JAX can "build preventative measures" like recommending delays to non-essential bills. That's fine if you're a small business owner who trusts the algorithm. But as an accountant, I need to understand the logic behind those decisions. I need to override them when necessary. Xero also signed a multi-year deal with Anthropic's Claude AI back in March. That's a smart move - Claude is solid. But it also means your data is flowing through a third-party AI model. For some clients, that's a compliance headache. For others, it's a dealbreaker. What this means for accountants in 2026. Look, I'm not saying run for the hills. I'm saying be smart. Xero's JAX upgrades are a step forward, but they're not a replacement for professional judgment. The firms that thrive will be the ones that use these tools to augment their work, not abdicate it. And that's where a tool like FastStatement comes in. Faststatement built FastStatement for accountants who want AI to handle the heavy lifting of financial statement generation - without losing control. Upload your trial balances, and its AI produces compliant, perfectly formatted reports in minutes. No black box. No mystery decisions. Just clean, auditable output that you can review and sign off on. Xero is making moves. They now serve five million customers globally, and they're adding corporation tax capabilities directly into the platform later this year. They're also introducing Xero Ultra for enterprise-grade reporting. That's competition for the big players. But for the average accounting firm - especially the small and mid-size shops I work with - the key is integration. You don't need a whole new ecosystem. You need tools that plug into what you already use and make you faster without making you nervous. My bottom line. AI in accounting isn't coming. It's here. Xero's JAX updates prove that. But don't let the hype blind you. Automation is a tool, not a savior. Use it to eliminate drudgery, but keep your hands on the wheel. If you're ready to automate financial statement generation without sacrificing quality or control, give FastStatement a look. Faststatement is built for accountants who want the benefits of AI without the headaches. Ready to automate your financial statements? Join thousands of accounting professionals who save 10+ hours per report with FastStatement.