Many accounting firms are surprisingly hesitant to talk about sales, growth, or business development, even though it sits directly behind long-term advisory work and revenue generation - not only for their business, but also for their clients.

Perhaps it’s because these terms are easily associated with “more customers,” more compliance work, and ultimately more pressure in an already highly demanding and regulated profession.

Every year it arrives like clockwork. Around the start of May, the email lands. Xero is increasing its prices, effective 1 July. And every year, the same quiet hum of anxiety moves through accounting and bookkeeping firms across the country. 

How do we tell clients? What if they push back? Do we absorb it, pass it on, or add a margin? 

A recent episode of Between Two Ledgers (hosted by Content Snare), featuring Amy Holdsworth, returns to a theme that continues to surface across accounting firms: the persistent weight of administrative work, even in environments that are increasingly digital and “streamlined”. 

Despite ongoing investment in systems and automation, many firms still describe a similar reality. Work feels fragmented. Information moves inconsistently. Teams stay busy, but the underlying friction doesn't reduce in proportion to the tools being used. 

What the conversation highlights is that this is rarely a tech problem in isolation. It is more often a reflection of how work is structured and how information is expected to flow through a firm. 

Xero has been busy behind the scenes rolling out its new Xero Partner Hub and with it the implementation of Xero’s Tax Manager. For those of you who accessed the Beta of the Xero’s Partner Hub you may have spotted Year End Compliance Tax Forms automatically displaying against existing jobs within your XPM. These Tax Forms are marked “Ready to Start” and are displaying for each member within the group that your firm is responsible for completing their tax work. Below is a friendly rundown of what's changed and why. ​

What is Cimplico Workpapers? 

Cimplico Workpapers is a modern cloud-based workpaper solution built for medium and large accounting firms. It's one of several apps Cimplico has built for the accounting industry, and like the rest, it's designed around how things should be done, not how they've always been done. It connects directly to the tools firms already use, including Xero and FYI, and gives practices a structured, standardised approach to workpapers. 

There's a moment in almost every client meeting that accountants know well. 

Your client is mid-sentence, explaining a messy situation with a supplier or worrying about cash flow going into the next quarter, and instead of being fully present, your eyes drift down to your notepad. You're scribbling. You're abbreviating. Half-listening while your brain races to capture the last sentence before it evaporates. 

You miss the hesitation in their voice. You miss the thing they almost said but didn't. You miss the real question underneath the question. 

This is the quiet problem sitting inside accounting and bookkeeping practices right now, and almost nobody is talking about it. 

Permanent changes to how deeds can be executed and witnessed have been introduced by the Federal government and certain State governments. These changes make electronic signing more widely possible, but rules still vary depending on the jurisdiction. 

Currently, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria have passed permanent changes allowing electronic execution in certain circumstances, while South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and Northern Territory have not. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly finding its way into accounting practices. From drafting emails to automating repetitive tasks, many firms are experimenting with AI tools to improve efficiency. A newer development is the rise of “vibe coding” where users build small applications or agents using AI prompts rather than traditional coding. 
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While the technology is impressive, it raises an important question for accountants. If an AI-built application mishandles client data or causes a loss, how does that interact with professional indemnity (PI) insurance? 

Moving from a single-entity corporate structure to a multi-entity structure is a significant step in a business’s growth journey.

It is often driven by overseas expansion, corporate acquisitions, more sophisticated tax structuring (IPco and Opcos) or the build-out of a multi-site business (hotels, bars, gym clubs, and garden centres being some typical examples).
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For scale-up Technology businesses, this is often accompanied by Venture Capital fundraising activity.

Every AML session follows a familiar pattern. The presentation wraps up, the slides disappear, and then the real questions start. 

That is when the chat fills up with what people are actually concerned about. 

After running multiple AML discussions with hundreds of accounting professionals, the same themes kept surfacing for Seamlss. Most firms are not ignoring AML. They are simply unsure how to begin.