Introducing Xero’s app playbook series

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At Xero, we understand the power of connecting apps to unlock profit and efficiency for small business. Advising clients on the right apps to use in their business, is an area many of our accounting and bookkeeping partners are leveraging to strengthen their suite of advisory services and help their clients succeed.

Yet, while almost a third of our accounting and bookkeeping partners are actively advising clients on apps, another 52% are interested in doing so, but unsure how to get started.

That’s why we’ve just released Xero’s App Playbook series. We’re arming you with knowledge to begin your app advisory journey and feel confident recommending Xero-integrated apps to your clients. You can download the first playbook here. It shows you how you can get started on the road to success with app advisory.

Why app advisory?

As one of the business advisors that small businesses trust the most, your clients look to you for advice on ways to reach their business and financial goals. And when your clients use apps, you both reap the benefits. According to our research, practices who provide app advice grow revenue 60% faster. We also found that SMBs who use cloud apps grow revenue 30% faster.

Using the right apps also helps your clients boost efficiency and scale faster, while strengthening your value proposition as a trusted advisor. Because Xero-integrated apps share information seamlessly with Xero, the data entry is taken care of, giving you accurate and up-to-date information at your fingertips. This can dramatically strengthen the quality of your advisory services. And that’s the reason Steph Hinds, Head Ninja at Growthwise, began her app advisory journey.

“App advisory has made my job is so much easier. I now have access to the right data and that’s done wonders for the strength of my advisory services. We still let our clients know how much tax we’re saving them, but it’s not the main focus of our conversations anymore. Now it’s all about business improvement. It’s also allowed us to add a whole new service line to growthwise.”

App advisory is helping Steph’s clients see impressive results at the bottom line. But it’s the benefits that are harder to quantify that Steph finds the most rewarding.

“It’s the fact that our clients don’t have to start their paperwork at 10pm at night. Now, they can fit it in during the work day. Or they can make their kids soccer match, because they don’t need to work on their roster. That’s a lot more important to some people than a dollar figure at the bottom of a profit and loss statement,” Steph said.

Getting started with the app playbooks

The first playbook in the series is all about app advisory. Whether you’re brand new to app advisory, or have been doing it for some time, this is where we recommend you begin. The app advisory playbook takes you through the process step-by-step. This includes helping you understand the benefits of app advisory and how you can get started. There’s no one size fits all approach. So we detail three levels of app advisory. From providing app recommendations only, to full app advisory including implementation, training and ongoing support for your clients. Plus, we let you know what’s required by your practice at each level, so you can choose the one that’s right for you.

Then, you can move on to our three industry specific app playbooks. They cover trade and construction, professional services, and retail and ecommerce. They explain the most common needs and pain points for these specific industries, and match them against the features of Xero and the apps available in the Xero app marketplace, making choosing the right apps easy.

We’re continuing to add more playbooks to the series, focusing on our most popular industry verticals, so stay tuned! We hope our playbooks help set you up for success on your app advisory journey.

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