Welcome aboard to Xero’s new Head of Bookkeeping….Mel Power

It is fantastic to be able to finally welcome Mel Power as my counterpart at Xero as the new Head of Bookkeeping. It is going to be awesome to work alongside Mel as we continue to help businesses and their advisers leverage the digital disruption currently benefiting our industry as well as be a voice of Xero as it continues to build it’s industry leadership position.

Be sure to speak with both of us at the October Roadshows !

Read what Mel had to say about her appointment.

And here is the Xero media release 

And here is what I had to say about my new role 🙂

The Xero journey begins….

It has been three weeks since I officially started the appointment as Xero’s Head of Accounting in Australia and almost a month since the announcement at Xerocon and so far so good ! It certainly is a change from my work as a director of EFS and it is impossible to compare the two. And life is certainly different ! Lots of travel already and plenty more to come over the next few months !

And this is one reason I haven’t posted in a while ! I have been extremely busy.

It is an exciting time for me and also a challenge as I go through a period of absorbing massive amounts of information. And I have hit the ground running providing the desired industry based experience and feedback needed to ensure Xero continues to deliver the class leading online solution.

I published a blog on the Xero site following my first few weeks as I was just amazed at the buzz in the organisation. It was really inspiring.

With the announcement of Xero’s new Head of Bookkeeping due on Monday there will be another great appointment to the Xero team and it will be exciting to work alongside this person to help lead an industry through this period of digital disruption.

As I settle into my new routine, working both roles for Xero and EFS I’ll find more time to check in and post my thoughts and opinions ! So stay tuned as it is going to be an amazing journey ! 🙂

 

 

Xerocon 2014 – It just gets better !

Well Xerocon 2014 has come and gone and yet again the annual Xero event has left a permanent mark on the accounting industry for all the right reasons. And with 1300 people attending (partners, exhibitors and Xero staff) it has to be one of the biggest technology based conferences in Australasia.

This year was all about industry leadership, building great partnerships, increased connectivity through the Xero API and last but not least continuing the disruption through innovation all while having a damn good time.

Personally, it was a remarkable event as I was announced as the new Head of Accounting of Xero Australia, part of the senior leadership team here in Oz. Performing the role alongside that of my role as a director at EFS Strategic, I am the voice of Xero and the Xero Partners to the rest of the industry (& the world). I am also the voice of the Xero Partners back into Xero.

Twitter Announcement

The changes coming to both the accounting platform and practice management platforms were all well received and continue the Xero commitment to ensuring all new features are designed to do it better in as many ways as possible than it has been done before.

The missing piece to the puzzle remains a full tax suite for accounting practitioners. The BAS and Company Forms now in Xero Practice Manager have worked well, but there is no doubt practitioners need to see the entire suite and they need to see it soon. That was the key piece of feedback I received as I canvassed the Add-On Exhibitor floor during the event.

The Awards Dinner was once again a huge event. Playing in the band for the second year, seeing close to 600+ people pack the dance floor for a solid two hour set was just mind blowing !

This year saw a brand new set of award winners (except for Receipt Bank..congratulations on another award guys !). This just proves what I said last year that as Xero continues to grow, there are more excellent partners and more excellent Add-Ons joining the Xero family who are going out there and doing great things for the industry and for our clients. Add these new partners and Add-Ons to the early adopters who continue to drive the changes and you have a very powerful group of professionals re-defining the accounting and bookkeeping industry.

And that is why I am so humbled and honoured to now be leading this group in my new role. And I got off to a good start judging by this tweet…

Tweet

So it has been a fantastic event yet again and one I will remember for a very long time.

Be sure to check out the Xero blog where I will be posting regularly in the capacity of my new role as well as continuing to check back here as I continue to share my thoughts and opinions.

The Final Xerocon Q&A with the company's leaders :-) You may recognise the guy second from the right.... The Final Xerocon Q&A with the company’s leaders 🙂 You may recognise the guy sitting on the far right….