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Our experienced team can help you build and maintain efficient Xero-based financial systems. A personal approach to simplifying your business.

We offer software consulting, training and access to our portfolio of outsource contract bookkeepers to keep your business systems running smoothly. Bookkeeping, Xero, WorkflowMax, Payroll, Financial software.

30/10/2026

Along with the pricing changes from 1 October, Xero is also removing its Multi-Entity Discounts.

If you've got more than one entity under the same Xero login, you've been getting a discount on the lower-priced subscription. That's all stopping.

If you run more than one business entity, it's worth checking what this means for your monthly Xero costs, so it doesn't catch you out on a future invoice.

The good news is that we're not stopping our multi-entity discounts. They're staying right where they are.

It's also a good time to make sure you're on the right Xero plan. Plans can drift out of step with how a business actually runs, and it's easy to be missing out on savings you didn't know about.

Contact us if you'd like to know more about how we might improve your business systems. We can provide a review of your Xero subscription and recommendations for your consideration if that's required. Or maybe your team just needs some extra training to run your existing systems more efficiently. Sometimes the systems you've already got are better than you might think!

29/10/2026

If you can click it, you can automate it.

Every time Xero changes its pricing or plan names, we update the repeating invoice templates for every client whose Xero subscription we manage. That's hundreds of templates, and the timing has to be spot on. Update one too early and a client pays the new price a month before they should.

This year we did it differently. We worked with an experienced AI consultant and used Claude to build a process that does three things. It reads every repeating invoice in Xero. It applies one simple rule: a line only gets the new price when its billing period starts on or after Xero's change date. Then it gives us a plain list of what's ready now, what has to wait and what needs a person to decide.

Then we hit a wall. Xero's API wouldn't let us edit a repeating invoice, only delete it. So the AI opened Xero in a browser and made the change on screen, just like we would. Then it checked what Xero actually saved.

The best part is that nothing changed until a person had seen the list and said yes.

This isn't really about Xero price changes. It's about the fiddly, repetitive admin every business carries. Read the full story on our blog: https://www.livingbusiness.co.nz/blog/if-you-can-click-it-you-can-automate-it-right-guide

If you'd like to know what this could look like for your business, contact us. Sometimes the systems you've already got are better than you might think.

27/10/2026

We've all got that one job on the list. It isn't hard. It just needs an afternoon nobody has.

Helen had one sitting in HubSpot for a while. She knew a few things could be better, but sorting them properly meant learning more about HubSpot than she had time for. So when she lost track of something in there one morning, she handed the job to Claude.

First, Claude found the four records she'd lost, sitting somewhere she wasn't looking. Then it told her that her plan to fix things was wrong, explained what to build instead, and they built it together. Next, Helen photographed three pages of a handwritten list of 75 businesses. Claude matched them against 3,000 records and flagged every near-miss for her to approve before anything changed.

Seventy-one records updated. An hour, start to finish.

The part we keep coming back to is that neither could have done it alone. Helen knows her clients. Claude knows the structure. AI can do an extraordinary amount, but it still needs someone who knows what "right" looks like. Without that, it can head confidently in the wrong direction.

We bring that same thinking to Xero Systems Consulting and AI management for our clients.

Read Helen's full story: https://www.livingbusiness.co.nz/blog/2hrs-monday

23/10/2026

Books in a muddle? Meet Tina. She's one of our Xero and accounts superstars: fast, efficient and a pleasure to work with. Tina also knows Fergus and payroll inside out. Her space is limited, but she sometimes has room for ongoing bookkeeping contracts. Get in touch at www.livingbusiness.co.nz or 027 600 5794 if you'd like to know more.

21/10/2026

Only about one in ten of the Xero files we look after have Automatic Bank Reconciliation switched on. We think that number should be much higher.

We understand why people turn it off. It codes something wrong, or it gets a regular supplier right one week and wrong the next. Fixing its mistakes feels slower than doing the bank rec yourself, so it gets switched off after a fortnight.

But Xero's own figures, shared through our Xero Partner support contact, show that around 95% of people who stick with it for at least a month decide it's worth keeping.

The feature is still in beta, and it learns from your corrections. Think of it like a new bookkeeper. You wouldn't give up on them in week one. You'd correct them, and they'd get to know your business.

It isn't set-and-forget, though. The work shifts from reconciling to reviewing, and for GST-registered businesses that review still matters.

Our suggestion is to pick one bank account, switch it on, and review everything it does for four weeks before you decide.

Read the full blog:https://www.livingbusiness.co.nz/blog/xero-auto-reconciliation

If you'd like a hand working out whether your file is a good candidate, or your team could use some Xero training and help, get in touch. Sometimes the systems you've already got are better than you might think!

20/10/2026

If you run payroll through Xero, there's a change coming that you can't skip.

Xero is changing how leave is calculated in Payroll. If your business is still on the old method, you'll need to switch before 16 February 2027. If you don't, your pay runs will stop until the switch is done. That's not where anyone wants to be on a pay day.

The good news is that for most businesses it's a quick fix. Xero has a conversion tool that does the heavy lifting, and plenty of people will get through it without any fuss.

But payroll can be a bit more tangled than the standard set-up. Maybe you've had a go and got stuck. Maybe you're not sure the tool will suit the way you run your payroll. Either is completely fine, and it's much better to find out now than in February.

Contact us if you'd like to know more about how we might improve your business systems. We can provide a review and recommendations for your consideration if that's required, or maybe your team just needs some extra training to run your existing systems more efficiently. Sometimes the systems you've already got are better than you might think!

Give us a call on 027 600 5794 or email [email protected].

14/10/2026

In case you missed it... - https://mailchi.mp/7404a220dcbf/clarity-in-numbers-and-more-4225955

14/10/2026

Fixed pricing sounds neat, but so much of our work now involves change, and change is hard to predict. That's why we still charge hourly. You see the work, and you keep the savings when things get faster. Read why: https://www.livingbusiness.co.nz/blog/why-weve-deliberately-resisted-fixed-pricing

12/10/2026

Handing a family business to the next generation takes more than paperwork — it takes trust. We've supported one client through exactly that, with clear reporting and modernised systems that gave everyone confidence to move forward.

Watch here: https://youtube.com/shorts/gFQAIGOlh7w?feature=share

08/10/2026

Xero's price changes are rolling out right now. If you're not sure whether you're still on the best plan, it's worth a quick check. As a Xero Platinum Partner, we sometimes have savings on subscriptions we can pass on too. Get in touch if you'd like an independent, no-obligation review of your Xero subscription.

Address

25 Oriental Parade
Tauranga
3118

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+64276005794

Website

https://www.livingbusiness.co.nz/contact-us/

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