Cloud Stories | Cloud Accounting | Business Tools | Xero, Qbo, Myob | Ecosystem | Apps

AI is such a hot topic at the moment! It was great to have a conversation with some experts, to identify some practical applications and dispel some myths.  Some of the highlights from this conversion were : 

Joining me today is Darren Glanville Country Manager - UK & EMEA @ Fathom. Darren is no stranger to the accounting profession and has more than twenty years experience helping accounting practices develop digital strategies and processes to drive efficiencies and profitability. Having worked for some of the biggest software providers including Sage, CCH, and Xero, Darren now heads up the EMEA region for Fathom and is passionate about leveraging technology to drive better business outcomes. Darren is a keen rugby fan (Newcastle Falcons), a self confessed coffee-holic and tech geek, you can find Darren walking his dogs on the beach near his home in Northumberland in the early morning and most weekends. And I’d also like to share with you that I strategically partner with Fathom, and have been good friends with the team since the very early days. In this episode, we talk about . . . The future of the technology landscape?  The rise of a more strategic view of forecasting. One in three businesses is r

Joining me today is Andrey Kustarnikov, the CEO, Founder and visionary behind G-Accon. Andrey and G-Accon have been a strategic partner for many years, and they flew into Atlanta to meet me, and we spent several days together. Andret and his wife and co-founder Maria very kindly took me on a tour of Atlanta, in their Tesla - how lucky am I!!   Let me tell you about G-Accon. G-Accon is an effective tool that connects Xero, QuickBooks, Freshbooks, Sage and Work Flow Max to Google Sheets. Andrey brings over 20 years of experience in software development, microservices architecture, and cloud integration, focusing on the banking and financial sectors. His educational background includes an MBA and a Masters in Physics, which have been instrumental in building G-Accon. This software has been quite useful to its users and Andrey is interested to see what comes next for G-Accon.   Highlights of the conversation included:

Interview with Paul Dunn Chief Story-Teller at CLARITY, and Co-Founder of B1G1.  

Interview with Graeme Tennick, Chief Impact Officer of Tennick Accountants 

In this episode I speak with Paul Miller, Managing Director of Cornish Accounting Solutions.

In this episode I speak with Gareth Burton Founder of Assure UK and Progress Accountants.

In this episode I’m speaking with Mel Kettle author of Fully Connected. Everybody should strive for a meaningful and purposeful life. And if you don't know what gives you purpose over your whole life, that's completely fine. But find a reason to get out of bed tomorrow. And one of the things that I love recommending to people is go to bed thinking about something that you're going to do tomorrow. That is going to bring you joy, something that you're going to do tomorrow that is going to make you happy. And it might be a day filled with Excel spreadsheets. And my husband's an accountant. He loves Excel spreadsheets. He used to send me one every day of our financial position and I'm just like, ah, once a quarter is enough I don't share your love. But you know, maybe it's you're going out for dinner with a friend or maybe it's you're going to the beach or you know walking Chester for you. But think about what are you going to do tomorrow that's going to light you up so that you can go to bed thinking of somethin

Inspired by James Clear's book Atomic Habits, this session unpacks the impact and power of habits on our business and our client's business.  *What are Atomic Habits, and why have we heard so much about this book by James Clear?! *How do Atomic Habits Work? How Can They Help You Achieve Your Goals? *How do you develop good habits and break bad ones? *Practical examples of habits that help achieve business success. *Apps we use to help us build and track good habits Speakers Moderator: Heather Smith, Founder, ANISE Consulting Dan Osbourne Podcountant at Two Drunk Accountants, Director CATS Accounting Michele Grisdale Founder Rainforest Bookkeeping Amar Latif Co-founder MAD Wealth    Subscribe to the Accounting Apps newsletter here http://HeatherSmithAU.COM  This panel discussion was recorded at the GoCardless Buzz Labs at Sydney Accountex 2023. It is also available on the Cloud Stories podcast.  

Join Heather Smith and Nick Sinclair Founder - Humanverse Group (TOA Global & AB² Institute) as they discuss the following trends and how they impact accountants and bookkeepers. Chat GPT  Embracing innovation: Automation, AI & Technology  Oversupply of clients Undersupply of staff Diversified skill sets and micro learning Inflation Practice Transformation (and whatever that means to you) Cyber Security and Data Protection The year of No Increased interest in data analysis and business advisory Building valuable communities for clients Connect with Nick Sinclair on LinkedIn here https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicksinclair/  TOA Global https://toaglobal.com/  AB² Institute https://ab2institute.edu.au/  TOACon 2023 https://toaglobal.com/toacon/  Transform Yourself, Transform Your Business Give yourself three days to recharge. Learn from world-class keynote speakers on building meaningful relationships and winning teams; managing adversity and change; the game-changing importance of

Xero have announced that they have decided to retire WorkflowMax (WFM) on 26 June 2024. A little trip down history lane. WorkFlowMax is a project management software that was founded in 2007 by Chris Spence and Gavin George, initially developed as a job management solution for Steelcraft Engineering business owned by Gavin’s brothers. Over the years, WorkFlowMax has become a reliable project management platform utilised by businesses worldwide. In May 2012, Xero, a global accounting software provider, acquired WorkFlowMax, leading to further development and growth of the software. After almost 11 years of servicing clients, Xero recently announced that they will retire WorkFlowMax on June 26, 2024. Three takes on the same story WORKFLOWMAX BLOG https://www.workflowmax.com/blog/future-plans-for-workflowmax? XERO DEVELOPER BLOG https://devblog.xero.com/xero-to-retire-workflowmax-mid-2024-6f12f45e4be XERO BLOG https://www.xero.com/blog/2023/03/xero-announces-future-plans-workflowmax/ It’s essential to note th

Today I am joined by Peter Lalor, the CEO and Managing Director of Blue Rock - Xero Platinum Partner, and Cloud Integrator. Peter is an experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working with entrepreneurial business owners. With a passion for technology and thinking differently, he’s a Chartered Accountant and has started and scaled multiple businesses.  Blue Rock describes itself as ‘We're more than an entrepreneurial advisory firm helping businesses grow and succeed - we're a community.’  In this episode we cover

It’s quite exciting that a conference brand running in multiple overseas countries, UK, Spain and Canada has brought a conference to Australia. I hope one day to attend Spain’s Accountex conference - we all know accounting is an International language, an accounting conference in a foreign language sounds like it would really push me out of my comfort zone!   I delivered three sessions at Accountex. Ethan Cooney of Ignition said the most popular session at the conference was the panel discussion on Explore Atomic Habits I led at the GoCardless Buzz Labs. Thank you very much Emily Shurey from the Marketing team at GoCardless who made that possible, and everyone who attended the session.   In this podcast I speak with:   Alex Cumberland Agency Partner Manager at Oncord Digital Marketing Software Jeremy Rowe General Manager Innovation of the CACatalyst team at CAANZ Rob Cameron CEO at FYI the Document management and process automation solution, purpose-built for accountants. Guy Pearson CEO at Ignition online pr

Today I bring to you some huge news from the Xero ecosystem that I and many people have been waiting to hear for over 8 years.   So I shall share with you two short interviews, Sara Goepel, Chief Product Officer at  Karbon, and then Jared Baker, Managing Director APAC at Karbon and afterwards I’ll read extracts of the press release. These interviews were recorded at Sydney Accountex, and for those who attended, there was a signage at their stand about this announcement. Who spotted that???   Also In case you missed it, Karbon has recently appointed Mary Delaney based out of Chicago, as their new CEO.   I’ve been trying to coordinate an interview with Sara Goepel, for many years, and as serendipity would have it, when our paths crossed, she hinted at some huge news!   Please stay connected by subscribing to the Cloud Stories podcast.   Read more here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7046210821177159680/  https://karbonhq.com/resources/karbon-xero-integration/   Google Podcasts : https://

Last week was busy in Australia with two overlapping conferences; the Accounting and Business Expo in Melbourne and Accountex in Sydney.   In the beginning, when we realised there would be overlapping conferences, I contacted both conference organisers, letting them know my focus was on providing the best outcomes for the accounting industry. I joined the Content or Advisory Crew of both conferences.   Close to 4000 people attended ABExpo. The first session of the day, a fireside chat with the longest-serving treasurer in Australia's history Peter Costello, attracted a large crowd. Interestingly, I only knew about 5% of the vendors, and there was a jam-packed startup alley with about 20 new vendors, so it was fascinating to come across so many new solutions in the ecosystem.   During the day, I delivered two popular and educational panel sessions, which we all had a lot of fun with. I also scurried around the conference hall, eating free popcorn and pistachio gelato and finding interesting people to interview

On today's episode I’m bringing you the energy and excitement of interviews from the Xero Brisbane Roadshow. Here’s the order of who I’m talking to. I do try to introduce them at the start of each segment, but sometimes things don't go as planned. Kylie Wing CMO at Approval Max a tool for getting your bills and expenses approved and paid on time; Evan Barker General Manager at Synnch a tool for assisting with your R&D Tax Incentive; Tony Harcourt Co-Founder at WorkGuru.io a comprehensive job costing and optional stock control solution for SMB’s Corey Cacic Founder and CTO of Annature a tool for affordable eSignatures and Identity verification; Colleen Diver who is the Managing Director at Logic HQ Pty Ltd. Colleen Diver was also one of the early Xero Account Managers in QLD & NT. She was also the original founder of Diverse Business Consultants, the business featured in the Xero keynote address. As well as diverse being a play on her name Diver, she told me she named the business Diverse bec

In this episode, Digital Nomad Alex Falcon Huerta flew in from Bali to attend the Australian Newcastle Xero Roadshow Feb 23 and together we chatted with some familiar and some new Apps. We learnt about their offering, and new features and functionalities that have come out in the last year. We also asked the representative their thoughts on the insights surfaced in Xero’s State of the Industry report. Enjoy the energy of the conference, plus as a special bonus Alex unpacks a few UK flavoured tidbits! If you’ve not yet been to the roadshow, or didn’t get to speak to all the Apps, join Alex and I as we speak to :  Brendan Allan Klein Ignition James Parker Dext Steve Ayers XBert - AI Data Quality Audit & Workflow Automation Vince Schembri WOWzer Tech John Munden Business Fitness Cam Anderson Figured Farm Management Software Subscribe to the Accounting Apps newsletter here http:// HeatherSmithAU.COM  

In this episode, Tony Harcourt talks about his journey from the early days of the Xero ecosystem through to leading a Cloud Integration business where he recognised a gap in the market for a job-costing solution. Without undertaking proper job costing, businesses do not have a clear idea if they are making money on certain projects and are unable to make informed decisions. This led him to establish WorkGuru.io.    We also discuss:   The journey to selling The Rype Group. The philosophy Product is king, but sales are the kingmaker. Why this job costing solution comes with branded baby swag. Tony’s perspective on the future of the tech industry.   Subscribe to the Accounting Apps newsletter here http://HeatherSmithAU.COM   I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Tony Harcourt. I strategically partner with the team at WorkGuru.io which you can read more about at EndorsementDisclosures.com. From here, I suggest you join the Xero Mastermind group on Facebook for advanced conversations around the ecosystem. Su

Today I’m speaking with Bryan Williams, Founder of Hockey Stick Advisory. In this episode, we talk about all aspects of “Partnership” and how through his new business Bryan Williams is enabling tech companies to reach their ambitions faster: by unlocking the benefits of partnership ecosystems so they don’t have to grow alone, whilst delighting their customers every step of the way. The concept of partnerships? The benefits of partnering? How have partnerships evolved over time? The pitfalls of partnerships. The difference between an ecosystem and a partnership? Examples of how great partnerships work in the Accounting and Bookkeeping industry. How do you measure partnership efforts? Bryan also talked about the tech industry, and the trends coming through the ecosystem. He talked about  some of the progressive apps in the industry, including XBert (AI-driven data quality and workflow tools for progressive businesses using Xero) who he does ongoing work with. It’s like your accounting file is on steroids, im

Today I’m speaking with Sabby Gill, CEO of Dext  Sabby Gill was appointed as Chief Executive at Dext in October 2022. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the technology sector, spanning sales, operations, development, support and customer service. He has spent his career supporting businesses of all sizes with technology that looks to unlock their potential—both at home and in international markets, including working in the Netherlands and Dubai. Prior to joining Dext, Sabby was CEO of Thomas International, which is a leading talent assessment and psychometric provider. Prior to that Sabby was UK & Ireland Managing Director of Sage, prior to that I held senior executive leadership roles at Epicor, IGT, HP, CA Technologies, Oracle, PeopleSoft and Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). In this episode I ask Sabby Gill: You joined Dext two months ago, what attracted you to joining the Dext empire? What do you hope to achieve with Dext over the next two years? Let’s talk about community. You’ve worked alo