From XU Magazine, 
Issue 20

Xero’s Cloud Connectivity is the Starting Point for Advisory

Xero allows financial professionals to leverage tech to increase value to clients in a number of ways – while saving or maximizing time and compliance work are perks of cloud-connectivity, the king of value is advisory work…
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:

Cloud-connectivity in itself is wonderful, but at best the limited time savings are a means to an end. No one is moving to the cloud because they see a markedly better ROI on annual compliance work – it simply isn’t there. We strive for cloud connectivity because we’re trying – individually and collectively – to move toward the ‘ideal’ in client-professional relationships and that’s advisory.

A tight app-stack revolving around Xero frees your time for the work that can really move the needle for your clients – leveraging existing data and human relationships to grow an advisory practice but please note that advisory is hard work. It’s uncomfortable for many practitioners. It’s also advertised a lot but seldom followed through on, and it doesn’t happen overnight, nor mindlessly. Here’s how to grow the advisory side of your practice:

While your first inclination to attract ‘easy’ business by offering a service to your existing clients who are really struggling with cash flow, the challenge is to narrow the criteria for your first advisory cohort by looking objectively at criteria that defines the ‘idea’ cash flow client. Take a fresh look at your client list and select clients based on the following success criteria. These are the clients with whom you'll have a mutually satisfying and valuable engagement:

  • Are solidly onboarded to Xero
  • Gross 1M+ in annual revenue
  • Would benefit from a weekly touchpoint around cash flow advisory

From there, perform an internal audit to check for the following flags of cash flow challenges and list who’s facing these challenges:

  • Disordered or aging AP/AR
  • Bank overdrafts and bank fees
  • Credit card usage
  • Line of credit usage
  • Shareholder loans or investments

List in hand, call clients to your office for a discussion around these red flags and discuss how cash flow advisory can help. Set a new engagement that covers cash flow advisory for an additional service fee; touchpoints should be brief and weekly.

Why leave it there?

To find out more about DryRun

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.