Online accounting software provider Xero (XRO) has delivered Accountant Reporting in Australia.

“The release of Report Packs in Xero means for the first time we can do both client accounting and our own reporting on a single platform. This is a big leap forward from the desktop era, when we had to pay a lot of money for our own separate software to write reports,” says Xero accounting partner Lisa Callaghan.

Xero has used the cloud to cut out the inefficiency of the old model. This a major technology shift that eliminates the duplication, data entry, sync problems and massive cost of moving and sharing files between disparate applications. There is one copy of the data and now Accountants have a far more productive way to complete compliance activities.

Up until now the accounting software industry charged both sides - with the same set of books managed in both small business desktop software and in expensive accountant software installed on premise. Delivering client and accountant features on the same platform eliminates this double dipping and will make it difficult for vendors to continue to monetize on the accountant side.