From XU Magazine, 
Issue 26

Making work life easier for bookkeepers in the UK

A feature rich tool packing a punch on the fintech scene in Australia, is heading to the UK.

Troy Brown talks all things XBert and how their users are driving the roadmap...
This article originated from the Xero blog. The XU Hub is an independent news and media platform - for Xero users, by Xero users. Any content, imagery and associated links below are directly from Xero and not produced by the XU Hub.
You can find the original post here:

When you consider all the things the finance industry has come up against since the start of 2020: lockdowns and a move to working remotely, struggling businesses, the need to pivot to online solutions, stimulus packages and the management of them – it’s been tough. With all the added responsibilities, the workload for bookkeepers and accountants has increased exponentially, but the day-to-day tasks haven’t let up.

In our conversations with hundreds of bookkeepers and accountants, we discovered there are some common pain points and we at XBert could help alleviate them. It’s been our focus to work alongside the people on the ground, to ensure we’re offering a product that’s practical, intuitive and really does make work life easier.

This is where we’ve come to – but it’s just the beginning. We have an extensive development roadmap ahead of us. 

Do more, in less time

Diane McCaffrey from BYO Group has freed up hours each week using XBert.

“We love perfect, and XBert helps us do things faster and know it’s right.”

Right now, XBert is unrivalled in its AI-audit risk alerts. Our mission is to help bookkeepers have the cleanest set of books, at any given time, for smarter advice and decisions in business. When you can trust the data is accurate, you can add meaningful value to your clients and take your business to the next professional level. Bookkeepers have moved from being data entry professionals and into a more advisory role – with this evolution of the industry, technology can be a bookkeeper’s best friend. 

Using the latest in data science, AI and machine learning to analyse your accounting software, flagging any issues, inconsistencies and errors as they arise, XBert reduces your manual task load while giving piece of mind the data is accurate and up-to-date. Our unique product has over 50 XBerts (eXpert Business alERTS) integrating with a task automation tool built exclusively for bookkeepers and accountants. Our passionate users have requested 50 more that are currently in development.

The days of spending hours on managerial tasks like checking your teams work (or your own!) are gone. As Brendan Lucas of Hopscotch Accounting explained: “XBert is the gatekeeper for human error” and we couldn’t agree more. With our AI-audit trawling the data relentlessly, there is less self (or team) review needed which also means less rework. You’ll never have any nasty surprises come End of Financial Year again. 

Know what needs to be done, by when – across your whole team

The feedback we were getting was there is no app developed specifically with bookkeepers in mind. There are loads of products on the market for accountants and practice management solutions for finance firms – but nothing that nailed down on the exact processes, workflows and schedules bookkeepers deal with. So that’s where we’re focused. We know many bookkeepers are jumping in and out of many different apps to manage their daily tasks, communicate with their team and collaborate with clients. Our practice management solutions are designed to streamline that whole process so you can do as much as possible, within one system.

That starts with our task and process automation, with Templates & Client Schedules for all the regular processes within a practice. You can create Templates for all your common workflows and customise them on different schedules for differing client types. Most recently, we added the ability to attach files and photos to a Task or Client schedule and we’re also working on email integration which isn’t too far off.

XBert’s analytics and BI reports are designed to help bookkeepers add to their service offering, without a whole lot more leg work. As mentioned earlier, bookkeepers are moving from simply being data entry professionals to trusted advisors. These reports give you access to more than 50 metrics on your client’s business at the click of a button and enable you to spot trends, areas for improvement and growth to discuss with your client.

These features are revolutionising the way Australian bookkeepers work – and we know it’s going to be a game changer for those in the UK too. But that is just the beginning. Accountants love it too because now when they get the data, it’s so much cleaner. It’s also the perfect tool to have in place for the firm, especially if they in-house bookkeepers. It’s a great way to help manage and collaborate with the team, as well as streamline workflow and create efficiencies.

What our users say:

“XBert, Xero, Xeta = 3X the power of your old accounting firm! We tried XBert out on a Friday morning, and after a couple of hours moved our entire firm across - every single client. We shelved our previous project management and practice tools, and began our business anew with XBert. It is flexible, powerful and genius when it comes to managing your clients. The AI tools help keep your client files perfect, and the notifications help manage a large team of people across a massive portfolio of clients. We cannot recommend XBert enough.” - Zander De Klerk, Xeta.com.au
“We love perfect and XBert helps us do things faster and know it’s right! XBert is vital to our integrity portfolio to deliver a high standard of service and create meaningful value for clients.” - Dianne McCaffrey, BYO Group
“The efficiencies and savings allow more time for value-adding and advisory work. The Chrome extension that XBert created is an amazing tool that allows us to easily identify an issue and create a task for another team member, all whilst working within Xero.” - Liam McNamara, JacquillardMinns
“XBert eliminates that non-billable time I used to waste, and I know I’m providing the cleanest set of books. It’s a really exciting app built for professionals. With Xero and Receipt Bank, I was able to go paperless, now with XBert CONNECT, I can manage work from anywhere.”  – Michele Grisdale, Rainforest Bookkeeping


“We are now managing our month-end checklists through XBert, with the helicopter view reporting so useful for me as a partner. We are now getting our staff to use this as their daily ‘hub’, from dealing with Xero coding issues to checking which organisations have unreconciled items. - Brendan Lucas, Hopscotch Accounting

UK – we’re coming for you!

We’ve been working extremely hard behind the scenes to spread the XBert love into the UK. 

We’ve already got some users feeding into our development roadmap and it’s looking great. If you’d like to part with us, and be part of bringing one of the leading bookkeeping productivity apps into the market, please get in touch!

Why leave it there?

To find out more

Straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter for updates as they happen
We hate spam too. We NEVER sell our mailing list.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.