The Syft Analytics team has a packed international events schedule this year, and our time at Xerocon London and New Orleans have been huge hits! Xerocon is an unforgettable experience, with unique venues, the opportunity to connect with long-time Syft clients and curious first-timers, build relationships with Xero staff, and bond as a team over the enthusiasm accountants and bookkeepers have for Syft.

Syft was given a tremendous shout-out on the Xerocon London main stage by Michael Green, General Manager of UK/EMEA Partnerships at Xero. Michael mentioned that “Syft has gone from strength to strength... serving businesses from Birmingham to Brisbane to Brunei” and “becoming a critical part of many businesses’ tech stacks.” In New Orleans, an attendee remarked that Syft's transaction-level reporting is "changing lives." At both events, our co-founders presented the Future of Reporting and unveiled Live View, an interactive reporting feature to give accountants and their clients a truly collaborative space to improve their business, which attendees loved.

Matt, Gareth, Swantje, Teegan, Duran and Caitlin ready at the London stand.

In London, despite the July heatwave, Xerocon was a chance to meet clients in-person at the unique Tobacco Dock, built in 1812 to house precious cargo from the Americas, and a hop, skip and a jump from Tower Bridge. In New Orleans, the Syft team had outstanding conversations with American accounting and bookkeeping professionals at the Ernest N. Moral Convention Center, the sixth-largest exhibition venue in the United States, 1.1 million square feet in size!

Throughout both events the Xero team were fantastic, helping the Syft team with whatever we needed and always offering useful advice. We look forward to seeing them again at Xerocon Sydney.

The New Orleans team! Van, Ale, Kessia, Ele and Mitch are all smiles on Day 1.

We’re taking a varied team to every Xerocon, consisting of co-founders, software engineers, account managers, and salespeople, for two reasons. Firstly, for any question you might have about Syft, we’ve got the right person for you to ask. Are you curious to meet the Chartered Accountants and Certified Financial Planners who had the idea five years ago to build an accessible financial reporting software in a tiny shared office space in Johannesburg, South Africa? Our co-founders are at the Syft stand. Do you have an intricate question about the way Syft integrates with your accounting software? We’ve brought Syft’s incredible engineers. Perhaps you want some ideas about how to get that tricky client to pay more for your expertise. Chat to an account manager. Are you excited by the possibilities of transaction-level data in your reports? Our friendly and knowledgeable account executives can show you how this works.

The second reason Syft sends an inter-departmental team to Xerocon is that we want our entire staff to get the opportunity to speak to clients. Without the global community of accountants and bookkeepers who use Syft, we’d have no one to develop features for. Getting feedback from the end-users of Syft is vital for developing and improving a useful, relevant and innovative app.

Syft’s giveaways have been a huge hit so far, and we’re thrilled to give the Xerocon attendees something more exciting than the usual expo fare of plastic pens and branded stress balls. We want to bring memorable, proudly South African merch that sums up our local passion for gatherings and friendship, to be enjoyed after Xerocon is over. We brought barbecue spice tins from local company Funky Ouma, who specialize in delicious, beautifully packaged cooking salts and spices, perfect for braais (the South African word for “barbecue”).

Syft's proudly South African giveaways!

Syft also handed out limited edition t-shirts, wearable souvenirs for accountants to remember their time at Xerocon. It's similar to grabbing a band t-shirt at a music festival, and Xerocon feels very much like its affectionate nickname, "Glastonbury for accountants": prioritizing which stages to go to, grabbing piping hot snacks at food stands dotted around the venue, meeting up with friends and making new ones while bonding over how good the keynote speaker was and the perils of underestimating good walking shoes.

Syft Analytics will be finishing our Xerocon spree in sunny Sydney this September, and will be back in the US for Quickbooks Connect in December. We look forward to seeing you there.