Tech news: Xero's looking for Beautiful Businesses

August 25, 2023 11:28 AM

Xero opens submissions for inaugural Beautiful Business Fund; OnBoard launches AI assistant feature; and other news from the accounting technology arena.

Xero opens submissions for inaugural Beautiful Business Fund

Small business platform Xero has opened applications for its inaugural Xero Beautiful Business Fund, designed to celebrate small businesses, empower success and accelerate their growth. The initiative is now open for submissions from Xero small business customers across several countries, with more than $460,000 in funding available to support the future aspirations of small businesses globally. To be eligible, a business must:

Be located in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, Canada (excluding Quebec), South Africa, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore or Australia;
Have between 0 to 50 employees;
Be a paying Xero subscriber (either directly or via a Xero accounting or bookkeeping partner) at the time of entry and at the time of announcement of the winners, which will take place in November 2023;
Be operating on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis; and
Complete and submit the full application, including a short form, and upload a 90 second pitch video. This can be done by either the business owner or a designated employee.

Xero has created this initiative to shine a spotlight on four categories, including sustainability innovation, seamless technology integration, community enrichment and upskilling endeavors. There is no cap on how many a business can enter. Submissions will close on Oct. 6, 2023, and winners will be announced in November.

OnBoard launches AI assistant feature

Alexandr Vasilyev - stock.adobe.

OnBoard, a cloud-based board portals provider intended for board governance operations, launched OnBoard Intelligent Assistant, a set of artificial intelligence governance capabilities to help boards and organizations identify hidden opportunities and mitigate risks. OnBoard Intelligent Assistant capabilities offer contextually aware AI insights and board information based on each organization's unique regulatory profile. For example, a director serving a public company board with articles of incorporation in Delaware can query the tool and receive responses that consider the unique profile of that regulatory environment, including director duties and obligations, risk analysis, compliance requirements and more. Intelligent Assistant's modeling and generative responses can also be used for summarization of each board's materials, presentations, policies, minutes, agendas and more. Administrators can also use granular controls to restrict access and compartmentalize information on a user-by-user or group-by-group basis for sensitive board materials such as executive compensation committee reports. Now in a limited beta, OnBoard Intelligent Assistant is available to customers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. Visit onboardmeetings.com/board-portal/intelligent-assistant to learn more.

Baker Tilly announces Innovation Lab, Innovation Ignite program

Baker Tilly

Top 15 firm Baker Tilly launched an Innovation Lab initiative and Innovation Ignite program. The Innovation Lab, located in the firm's Madison, Wisconsin office, serves as a dedicated space for collaboration, creativity and ideation. The facility is set up to maximize inspiration for both in-person and virtual attendees via artwork, comfortable seating and floor-to-ceiling windows, paired with tech that streamlines idea sharing. The Innovation Lab plays host to the Innovation Ignite program, which launched in May, with an inaugural cohort of early-career professionals. Innovation Ignite aims to equip Baker Tilly's professionals with essential skills in creative problem solving, analysis and design thinking. Through workshops and mentorship by both firm leaders and external innovation experts, participants are challenged to apply their skills to real-world challenges while building cross-functional relationships. These challenges encompass enhancing firm culture, harnessing the power of AI and elevating client experiences.

Thales announces launch of Thales payShield Cloud HSM

Kittipong Jirasukhanont/phonlamaiphoto - stock.adobe.com

Technology and security provider Thales introduced Thales payShield Cloud HSM, a subscription-based digital payments security service built on its payShield 10K Payment Hardware Security Module (HSM) technology to help customers accelerate the adoption of cloud-based payments infrastructure. The payShield Cloud HSM service can be used in hybrid deployments, enabling existing customers to move applications to the cloud while avoiding disruption to their on-premises HSM infrastructure. The service supports payment brands such as American Express, Discover, JCB, Mastercard, UnionPay and Visa.

Justworks introduces international contractor payment feature

Anton Balazh/Fotolia

Small business software provider Justworks released an International Contractor Payments solution to help small businesses attract and retain contractors outside of the U.S. Justworks PEO customers can now manage their international contractor payments in the same tool as their domestic contractors and employees. Further, customers will see currency exchange rates for every transaction, and customers can pay people in 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the U.K, with more coming soon. Justworks also said that, to further support international workforces, a native Employer of Record platform is in the works and set to debut later this year.

MyWorkpapers introduces GL functionality

MyWorkpapers, a workflow and productivity solution designed for accountants, now has general ledger functionality. Importing general ledger data will initially be available through CSV import, with additional integrations being added in the future. The information can then be used to check and validate data and see if discrepancies exist, thus permitting all of the transactional work for the financial year of the engagement to be done in one place. A permanent history is retained by the accounting firm, which can help in situations where clients, or the practice itself, choose to move accounting or bookkeeping systems. The company has plans to fully intend to develop the general ledger feature in order to open up further opportunities for firms to utilize data analytics, industry benchmarking, risk assessment and other functionality.

Partnerships and integrations

Tax and compliance solutions company Sovos announced a collaboration agreement with professional services firm KPMG in Canada, an extension of Sovos' strategic alliance with KPMG in the U.S., established last year. Collaboration with KPMG in Canada will provide Sovos clients with access to a comprehensive suite of tax compliance solutions, including tax determination, reporting and exemption certificate management. Additionally, KPMG in Canada will leverage Sovos' tax technology and provide its clients with enhanced tax compliance services, including automated content supporting the combination of GST/HST/QST/PST rates and rules applying across Canada as well as VAT coverage across the world; consolidated data for tax calculation within a single system and leveraging certified adapters for Oracle and other ERP, ecommerce and purchasing systems. … Digital economy tax solutions provider TaxBit is now fully integrated with Kraken, the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with daily trading volume of $333 million. Kraken accounts can now be fully integrated within the TaxBit Accounting Suite. This allows tax and corporate accounting teams to aggregate data from their Kraken account, categorize and prepare data for reconciliation, sync transactions with the general ledger and reporting via API, and help remain GAAP and IFRS compliant. … Avalara, a tax compliance solutions provider, announced that Mast General Store is leveraging its integration with retail software provider Celerant to solve for tax requirements triggered by omnichannel retail sales. Mast General Store, a family-owned retailer selling general goods and outdoor apparel, turned to Avalara AvaTax and Avalara Returns, to address economic nexus requirements in 14 states and filing tax returns for 11 states. All of Mast General Store's website sales are processed through AvaTax, so even if it's selling into a state where it currently doesn't meet the economic nexus threshold, the business can forecast upcoming obligations as sales increase and potentially trigger nexus in other states. …Arvo Tech, an employment tax credit access platform, is now the exclusive employment tax credit provider for Gusto, an integrated platform that automates company payroll, benefits and HR. With the combination of Arvo and Gusto, businesses can leverage automation built into the payroll platform to access underutilized tax credits. … Katana Technologies, a provider of inventory software solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, announced its integration with Intuit QuickBooks, enabling businesses to connect their inventory and accounting operations to the cloud while tracking omnichannel order fulfillment and production in real time.

Awards and honors

Wolters Kluwer Finance, Risk and Regulatory Reporting has secured Category Leader positions in all four categories of the recently published ALM (Asset Liability Management) Market Update and Vendor Landscape report published by Chartis Research. The company has captured category leadership status in the RiskTech Quadrant for ALM Technology Solutions and the RiskTech Quadrant for FTP Technology Solutions. It has also secured the status in the RiskTech Quadrant for LRM Solutions and the RiskTech Quadrant for Capital and Balance Sheet Optimization Solutions. The criteria for measuring the performance of solutions and securing category leadership positions includes various metrics including, the quality of data management, integration capabilities, customer satisfaction and market penetration. Wolters Kluwer Corporate Performance & ESG also has captured a Stevie Award in the 20th Annual International Business Awards. … Inc. magazine revealed that LeaseQuery is included on the 2023 Inc. 5000, its annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The Inc. 5000 class of 2023 represents companies that have driven rapid revenue growth while navigating inflationary pressure, the rising costs of capital and hiring challenges.

Other news

Translucent,an accounting platform for multi-entity and multinational businesses , has raised a £5 million seed round co-led by Chalfen Ventures and LocalGlobe. This follows a £2.7 million pre-seed round less than six months ago, bringing its total investment to £7.7 million. … Corporate performance management solutions provider OneStream Software is hosting its annual Splash European User Conference and Partner Summit in Berlin from September 19-21 with in-person and virtual attendance options. Event highlights include keynote sessions with OneStream leadership and British Touring Car Championship racer Nic Hamilton; workshops, breakout sessions and drop-in demos to provide interactive learning and valuable insights across the OneStream platform and Solution Exchange; and a Women in Finance event featuring three industry experts who will share their experiences and insights on how women can break through the barriers in the finance industry. … UHY Consulting has attained Payment Card Industry Forensic Investigator (PCI PFI) certification. With the PCI PFI certification, UHY Consulting is now authorized to conduct post-breach investigations, offering customers the peace of mind of knowing they have a PCI PFI-certified partner to turn to in times of need. UHY Consulting was assisted in its PCI PFI Program application by Grobstein Teeple LLP, a UHY affiliate company specializing in providing accounting and consulting services in a variety of areas, including cybersecurity.