Xerocon Melbourne 2017: Why last year’s attendees will be joining us again

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With less than three months to go till our next Xerocon in Melbourne, we chatted to some of last year’s attendees from Asia to find out what they took away from the last event, and what they’re looking forward to at this year’s Xerocon in Melbourne.

Xerocon Melbourne will take place on 13 and 14 September. We’re looking forward to welcoming thousands of our accounting, bookkeeping and app partners, as well as listening to some amazing speakers from around the world.

Take advantage of our early-bird pricing and get 20% off until 30 June – get your tickets here!

Hear from these partners to get some insight into what to expect at this year’s event:

Jonathan Fryer, Thailand-based partner at Mazars

Paul Gardner, founder of Fresh Accounting

Matthew Li, founder of Nova

Elaine Lim, founder of Agere Accounting & Advisory

Samantha Sam, principal partner at CPA Connects

1. Did Xerocon give you insights that have helped you run your practice?

ML: Yes. This industry is changing very fast and we can’t always predict what developments lie ahead. Xerocon is an opportunity to be open-minded, and speak to other Xero advisors and partners to equip ourselves for whatever the future holds.

EL: Xerocon invites a myriad of speakers and experts in various industries from AI to successful cloud accountants. Last year’s speakers opened my mind and brought me up to speed on the latest technologies, industry and even how to grow my practice.

2. Did Xerocon give you new networking opportunities?

PG: It’s always great to meet other accounting firms from around the region and we’ve built lasting partnerships with people we met at last year’s event. We even hired an Australian accountant we met last year, and he moved to Hong Kong from Melbourne to join our team!

ML: We don’t have a lot of cloud accounting experts in Hong Kong, and that’s where the treasure lies at Xerocon. It’s always great to hear from Xero gurus about their experiences.

3. A big part of the Xero platform is our ecosystem. Was it useful chatting to our add-on partners?

JF: I spent a lot of time with the ecosystem partners. It’s a useful way to find new solutions I can offer my clients.

SS: Certainly. We met with a few add-on providers last year, and are now proud users of their apps!

PG: Singapore and Hong Kong can sometimes be overlooked as key markets in our industry, so it was great to spend time with existing add-on partners and meet new ones face-to-face. There are 500,000 businesses across these two Asian cities alone with English as a primary language and the event was a great opportunity to highlight the strategic opportunities in the region.

4. Did you have an opportunity to swap tips and ideas with advisors from other regions?

SS: We did, and we even learned about a new trend in bookkeeping which inspired us to create a new service for our clients called ‘lifestyle bookkeeper’.

JF: Australia and New Zealand are developed markets, so there was a lot to learn from accountants there about the sophisticated services they’re offering.

5. Do you think Xerocon gives you a competitive edge in your home market?

EL: At Xerocon, I got the scoop on new add-ons, features and insights into the direction the industry is heading. Based on this, we were able to adjust our practice quickly to be ahead of the curve.

SS: Xerocon opens up an opportunity to learn about and adopt new technologies and automation that we never would have thought were possible. Just by using Xero we’re ahead of the curve! It’s important to learn not just about Xero updates but trends in the community.

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