Xero wants to use AI to help your SMB solve all its accounting woes

Someone using calculator on smartphone near dollar banknotes.

(Image credit: Karolina Grabowska from Pexels)

Xero has announced plans to use AI to help transform accounting for small businesses by removing some of the barriers and making it easier for less savvy business owners to nail their figures.

Central to the announcement is ‘Just Ask Xero’ (JAX), which unsurprisingly uses generative AI to help both business owners and their advisors when it comes to completing accounting tasks.

In order to extend the reach of its AI, Xero has announced plans to use conversational interfaces across the likes of mobile, email and WhatsApp.

Xero hopes AI will empower SMBs to do their accounting

The company’s platform aims to automate some of the more repetitive accounting tasks, helping to improve efficiency and give business owners some time back to spend where it matters.

Speaking about previous revolutions to SMB accounting – specifically cloud accounting and automation – Xero CPO Diya Jolly reckons that generative AI is the next big thing: “We’re embracing this new wave of tech innovation responsibly, with our customers at the heart of what we do, as we deliver on our vision to be the most trusted and insightful small business platform.”

Like other tools that we have become familiar with, Xero’s JAX is set to have a conversational interface with natural language processing. Some key areas where it could help include generating invoices, editing quotes, and paying bills.

Because of contextuality, JAX also promises to deliver personalized insights such as cash flow projections.

To coincide with the news, Xero has appointed an SVP for Data & Science (Eitan Sharon) and an SVP for Product - Direct, Growth, and AI products (Akankshu Dhawan).

The promising recruitment news, which comes during a storm of redundancies across the tech industry, hopefully underscores Xero’s commitment to supporting both its own people and customers amid an AI revolution.

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With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!