Xero For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Foreword

We’re thrilled to have seen the success of the first edition of Xero For Dummies. We created Xero to help small businesses to be more productive. We figured that helping small business increase in scale is purposeful and worthwhile.

Business can be fun. For most small business owners, it’s certainly all-consuming. In our previous roles we liked building businesses; we didn’t like the drudgery of administrative jobs and working late into the night to meet a looming tax return deadline. As we talked to other business owners it became clear that we weren’t alone — for most, doing the books was the number one pain of running a small business. It’s great to hear that the number of business owners is growing, but also that they’re capturing a better lifestyle, free to work anywhere at any time.

It’s also been great to see a thriving community of accountants, bookkeepers and add-on partners all working together to make life easier for small business owners. Many bookkeepers are creating their own new businesses, helping others, in turn, grow. As the nature of work changes, small business ownership is becoming a way of working for many people around the world.

The move to the cloud is in full swing and is driving productivity across economies. We’re seeing an exciting focus on small business as a sector that creates jobs and can deal with some of the big issues, like youth employment.

The move to mobile in business has been a revelation, but it feels as if we’re still just at ...