Xero Canada's latest Platinum Partner - Think Accounting

Varun Sehgal shares some of the journey that he and his team at Think Accounting have gone through since they first starting their journey with Xero!

About

• Practice name: Think Accounting
• Location(s): Mississauga, ON
• Year established: 2017
• Industries: E-Commerce, Startups, Professional Services, Health & Medical, and more.
• Favourite Xero product/feature: Xero’s brand itself! 

When did you start using Xero and why?

2016 – This was still somewhat early days of cloud accounting and we started noticing Xero being discussed in accounting circles on LinkedIn. A little bit of research and it intrigued us enough that we created an account and got certified. 

Xero’s human approach and fresh outlook in the otherwise “formal” world of accounting applications immediately stood out. The features, even back then, showed a glimpse of how accounting could be cool. More importantly, the promise of cloud accounting brought the lure of being able to work from anywhere and with anyone. This was a concept made popular by Tim Ferriss in early 2010s through his book – The 4 Hour Workweek. Cloud accounting showed the possibility that, if done well, a cloud accountant could truly be a location independent entrepreneur.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about cloud accounting?

That it’s easy. Or, that everything is automated to the extent that you can close your eyes and just click-click-click.

We believe that having strong accounting fundamentals is very important and should be at the core of an accounting professional. Cloud accounting and the apps within the ecosystem are only tools of the trade. As professionals, we have to know our trade well and then look to technology to make our jobs easier. But, technology is not a replacement for the fundamentals.

How does Xero differentiate from other accounting platforms? 

Xero lives up to it’s brand. The “impression” that we got from Xero back in 2016 still lives up to today. And that’s evident in every interaction we’ve had with the team at Xero, the product itself, the website, the events. Whatever Xero is doing, it’s a masterclass in how to build a brand, but more importantly, how to continue to live that brand and strengthen that brand for many years.

On Xero’s team, they’re extremely caring and show genuine interest in our firm and how we can serve our customers better.

Why is Xero right for you and your clients? 

What we like about Xero is that it is as much built for a small business owner as it is for the accountant. Features like “Discuss” within the bank feed are unique to Xero to this day. This allows for a collaborative relationship between the small business owner and Xero. Accounting software used to be a blackbox only visible to the accountant, but Xero has changed that.

Our clients love Xero’s invoicing and being able to integrate with Stripe and other payment platforms. Being able to connect Xero to several other applications allows for a better understanding of the whole operation. Xero, along with the apps in its marketplace, can (almost) serve as a full ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, which would otherwise cost an organization several times more.

How has Xero changed your practice (ie internal workflows, reporting, client collaboration etc)?

We’ve completely moved away from desktop accounting and adopted Xero for even the smallest of our clients. Xero’s ledger plan is a great entry point for year-end clients. From thereon, we look to build monthly relationships and assess how our clients can make use of features in Xero’s other plans. Also, NTR statements are very easy to prepare on Xero, which saves our team a lot of time.

Client collaboration is made easier all the way from data collection (via Hubdoc and Receipt Bank integration) to resolving queries (via Discuss feature), to sharing of reports (by publishing them within Xero) to creating more formal reporting packages (via apps like Fathom).

Xero has played a very important role in getting our team trained on the product, and Xero is always there when our team has questions or needs additional training.

What is your favourite Xero product or feature and why? 

More than any one feature, we love what Xero stands for. We believe in its core mission to help small business owners. Behind that mission, we’ve seen how Xero’s brand looks to deliver on everything – through its design, its product, its people and its communication. Features will come and go, but as long as Xero and us, as the accountant, put our customer first, it’s a win-win for all.

Which integrated apps do you find work best for the businesses you work with?

Hubdoc, Receipt Bank and Plooto are our core apps. Apart from that, we use Fathom for reporting and we recommend some industry specific applications, such as CIN7 for inventory tracking for our e-commerce clients.

Do you specialize in any specific industries? What made you interested? 

Over the last year or so, we’ve come to specialize in e-commerce accounting. The industry itself grew significantly and we saw a good intake of potential clients for e-commerce accounting services.

What does the future of accounting look like to you?

Specific to us, we are seeing many boundaries being broken. Where we used to only work with clients locally, we’re now lucky to be working with clients in most Canadian provinces, thanks to cloud accounting. This expanded our vision of what is possible with simple tools, without the old way of expanding by, for e.g. opening an office in other provinces.

The future of accounting is in many ways the future of work itself. 

• Collaborative v/s one-sided.
• Relationship driven v/s transactional.
• Proactive and timely communication driven v/s hHistorical looking.
• Driven by better data from multiple sources v/s just transactions on a bank statement.

Just like we have come to see what is possible with cloud accounting, so have small business owners - (at least the progressive ones.) This puts good pressure on us to deliver more to our customers than just tax returns. 

With the majority of the new business owners being millennials, accounting firms need to adapt to how they prefer working with their accountants and advisors. The old ways will not work anymore, at least not for long.

Any final thoughts on Xero and cloud accounting?

We’re really excited about cloud accounting and collaboration with Xero for years to come. Last couple of years have helped us lay a foundation that we hope to build on for years to come.

To wrap up tell us a little bit about yourself...

How do you spend your time outside of work hours?

I love spending time outdoors. Travelling. Reading. Learning new things. Big cricket fan. I enjoy working out and have built a small gym at home.

What’s your favourite vacation you have taken?

Our Italy trip in 2019 was our best I believe. We got to see Venice, Rome, Florence and Sorrento. My favourite part, however, was driving around Italy!

What started you on your journey to becoming an Accountant?

Back in India, my higher studies were in the field of computer science. When we moved to Canada in 2002, I went into accounting purely from a career perspective. This was soon after the dot-com crash. My dad was an accountant. We didn’t know anyone else in Canada, and Accounting became the “safe” option.

In 2016, when I was exposed to cloud accounting, it felt like I was right at the intersection of my two sweet spots – my original passion and interest in technology and computer science, and my training in the field of accounting.