Progressive accounting firm FD Works formed a partnership with development agency Hatch Apps to build a system from the ground up with the philosophy that “effective accounting starts with accurate data”.‍

Helen recently sat down with Simon Williams, Finance Business Partner at FD Works to understand the how and why of Xavier...‍

What drove you to partner with us to build Xavier?‍

As a Cloud-based accounting practice we are always looking out for tools to increase the efficiency and accuracy of our work. We became frustrated that there were no tools available that could not only help automate some tasks, but also harness the power of AI and other programming techniques to give our clients the insights they needed to run a successful business. This is how Xavier was born.‍

How difficult was it rolling the app out across your team?‍

As with any tool, there takes a little bit of bedding in, but the time saving and improved quality meant it was really easy to become adopted in our team. We started out using some of the simpler features and plan to incorporate more functionality as the app continues to grow.‍

What has the impact been on your workflow up to this point?‍

Xavier has helped us give more accurate data to our clients, and also save considerable time (up to 50% on some tasks) allowing us to focus more on value added tasks - it’s a win-win for both our team and our clients.‍

What is your favourite feature of the app at the moment?‍

My favourite feature is how the app identifies when similar transactions have been posted to different account codes. This is something that would be very time consuming to do manually but the system identifies these mis-postings with ease.‍

What is the planned feature you are most looking forward to seeing in the app?‍

I am really excited about the predictive analytical side of Xavier bringing insights to us. For example, flagging where a client has recently spent more on a supplier than in the past, or notifying when we might have a cash flow issue. We see it being at the core of our business.

It is great to hear that Xavier’s toolkit is already saving time and becoming a valuable platform for accountants like FD Works. We’re constantly adding more functionality, so that value will keep growing. Xavier is open for business, and we’re looking for forward-thinking accounting teams to help us grow in the right direction.