Michele’s the founder and director of Rainforest Bookkeeping, a staunch supporter of trades, small businesses, bookkeepers and BAS agents, and a committed mentor to business clients and peers.
Without apps like XBert and programs like Xero, Michele says there’s no way she’d still be in bookkeeping with all the data entry, mountains of paperwork and walls of filing cabinets required.
She loves being an early adopter. Rainforest Bookkeeping id a 100% cloud-based, paperless practice and a Xero Silver Partner, which is no small feat for a sole practitioner.
Michele first heard about XBert in July 2019 on social and the plans to launch the Xero add-on to business owners. When she saw what XBert could do, she knew she had to speak up and push for a version tailored to busy bookkeepers and accountants.
Michele’s goal has always been data integrity. XBert saves Michele so much time and helps her provide the cleanest set of books ever to clients. The AI audit and process automation finds issues, errors, anomalies and duplicates.
With XBert CONNECT’s task and workflow features, Michele’s been able to throw away her whiteboards and manage her practice from anywhere.
Technology, efficiency and smart processes drive Michele, and this is why she can offer such a range of services. Michele offers bookkeeping, BAS, payroll, systems and processes consultations, Xero migration, app integration, bookkeeper training and small business training.
She’s always seeking new apps that benefit her practice and therefore, her clients. However, the app has to be something very special. In other words, app solutions need to go big or go home!
Although Rainforest Bookkeeping runs on apps delivering automation and efficiency, Michele hadn’t found anything to beat her whiteboards for daily planning, managing and checking services and workflow.
She was searching for her Holy Grail - a whiteboard she could take with her at all times and access from her phone.
Many of Michele’s clients are tradies who frequently engage contractors and subcontractors. Michele would check the Australian Business Number (ABN) and GST (goods and service tax) registration status when she received the first invoice from a clients’ supplier or contractor.
There aren’t enough hours in the day to check the Australian Business Register (ABR) each time an invoice arrives. Without the checks, you won’t know if that supplier or contractor has dropped below the GST threshold or deregistered their business.
When checks aren’t done or a GST error is made, the GST paid or expense can’t be claimed, Business Activity Statement (BAS) and Taxable Annual Payment Reports are incorrect, a client could risk a tax fine or could be the victim of fraud.
XBert continually monitors the ABR, analyses Xero data hourly including the imported data from automated document readers like Hubdoc and Receipt Bank, and scans attachments in Xero to detect errors and anomalies. XBert also finds discrepancies with your Xero contact records and supplier, contractor and customer GST status, ABNs, business names and active or cancelled business registrations.
I can’t imagine not having data capture and data integrity. As my practice grows, it gets more difficult to double-check every transaction for every client.
To check out XBert, Michele initially loaded the Xero file of her husband’s hairdressing business. She immediately saw value in XBert and decided to load a client file, when she did, XBert found GST risks and a cancelled business risk.
That was it, Michele was sold and knew XBert was going to change her business. Michele wants to be as efficient as she can and hates ‘unnecessary clicks’. Before XBert, she’d have to open every client file to check if there were any issues. Now she can work by exception with XBert alerting her to possible mistakes, anomalies or things that don’t seem right.
XBert CONNECT’s AI Process Status gives Michele the in-her-pocket, take-anywhere, visual representation of her whiteboards she always wanted. At a glance, she knows what needs to be done for each client and by when, and that she can take the weekend off when her dashboard is full of green ticks.
Using XBert’s Template Tasks, Michele can create standardised templates for common workflows and ensure consistency of service across her client base. She’s currently moving away from her project management software to set up all her processes in XBert CONNECT.
XBert CONNECT’s Process Status dashboard is my take-anywhere whiteboard for practice management, and I have peace of mind that it’s all under control.
Michele would rather add value for her existing 60 clients than take on more clients. XBert’s given her the time, the data integrity and the tools to enable her to be more proactive and increase services.
Since XBert works on any device, she finally has her whiteboards in her pocket whenever she needs them.
Xero, XBert, Practice Ignition and Receipt Bank are Michele’s perfect app stack. Data integrity is everything, and she’s confident that the set of books she’s providing to clients is the cleanest they’ve seen.
Currently, Michele includes XBert on engagement letters but uses it as an internal tool to power her to deliver the best service
XBert gives her peace of mind and the efficiencies that allow her to continue doing what she loves – bookkeeping, mentorship and supporting clients to do more of what they love.
Michele appreciates XBert’s amazing speed of adaptation and responsiveness and the founders’ mission to create a solution that works for everyone - bookkeepers, accountants and business owners. She’s one of XBert’s most constructive consultants and will continue to provide feedback and suggestions for the development of new XBerts and features.
XBert’s like having an additional staff member to check our work, ensure subcontractors and supplier details are accurate, and set GST rules to avoid errors in future. TPAR will be a breeze. Welcome to the team XBert!
Michele would rather add value for her existing 60 clients than take on more clients. XBert’s given her the time, the data integrity and the tools to enable her to be more proactive and increase services.
Since XBert works on any device, she finally has her whiteboards in her pocket whenever she needs them.
Xero, XBert, Practice Ignition and Receipt Bank are Michele’s perfect app stack. Data integrity is everything, and she’s confident that the set of books she’s providing to clients is the cleanest they’ve seen.
Start with workflow only, or connect your files and reduce that manual effort.
