Published on the 03/09/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
Cloud based accounting software upstart Xero has broken through the 200,000 customer barrier marking what chief executive Rod Drury refers to as the “end of the beginning”…
Listed software business Xero last week said that it was one year away from delivering a full accounting engine including tax capabilities that would allow businesses to switch entirely to the cloud. The seven-year-old New Zealand-based company which has delivered cloud-based accounting tools for small and medium businesses has also spawned a growing ecosystem of applications which work with the platform – 270 at last count according to CEO Rod Drury – and is now working with Microsoft and other leading software vendors to ensure data in Xero can be easily transferred to other applications.
The company has recently broken through the 200,000 customer barrier and in Australia claims to have 75,000 paying customer numbers – up from 51,000 at the end of March.
Drury last week also claimed Xero was achieving a current annualised run rate of $64 million on the back of strong growth over the last 12 months. Last year the company achieved revenues of $39 million (although the company has yet to record a profit) and Drury forecast 80-100 percent growth again this year along with plans to add 300 more staff to the current 507-person headcount.
The company held a major user group meeting in Sydney last week, attracting 800-plus delegates and 53 companies exhibiting technologies which are complementary to the Xero system.
A range of additional functions are being developed for Xero including new tax solutions. The company’s first Australian tax applications were launched last month. “By Q2 next year companies will be able to turn off their server-based tax systems,” said Drury.
“With the new tax and practice management system there will be an even more compelling case for the cloud,” he added.
Drury also foreshadowed tighter integration between online banking and online accounting which he described as “peas in a pod”. He said that in the future it should be possible for accountants to issue payment instructions directly out of an accounting system and into a “holding area” in internet banking where they could be accessed and verified by the business owner who could then action the payments directly.
