The app stack every Aussie small business owner needs in FY25

The tax-time crunch is wrapping up, meaning the new financial year is here. And whether you're looking to avoid the same end- of-financial-year stress next year, or streamline your operations - every small business can benefit from starting the new financial year with the right apps in their app stack.

What's an app stack?

An app stack is another name for the set of apps that you use to run your business. Using a combination of apps that connect with Xero means that data can flow easily between systems, allowing you to streamline workflows and run your business more efficiently.

We've rounded up some of the apps used and reviewed by small businesses around Australia and the world, covering particular areas of your business, so you can kickstart the new financial year.

Apps for expense management

Keeping your accounts payable and accounts receivable in check is a non-negotiable for any business, but it can quickly become time-consuming. Make light work of balanced books with apps to manage your bills and expenses.

• Dext Prepare: Streamline your expense capture with Dext Prepare. Auto-capture and categorise invoices, receipts and bills and digitise them into readable text before syncing everything to your Xero account, eliminating double-entry.
• ApprovalMax: Build robust and efficient financial controls across both your accounts payable and receivable with ApprovalMax. Import bills straight to Xero and set up automated workflows to speed up the approval process, slashing the need for email follow-ups to get the green light.

Apps for employee management

Managing employees is one of the most complex aspects of small business ownership. From shift schedules and leave entitlements to payroll and superannuation, smart employee management apps can help you keep on top of the requirements while boosting productivity.

• Deputy: Whether you're running a small team or an entire franchise, Deputy syncs easily with Xero to take the stress out of managing your team. Simplify shiftwork, time tracking and labour compliance with optimised staffing levels and drag-and-drop scheduling. Deputy helps you to reduce staff costs and increase profitability by reducing overtime expenses and minimising scheduling errors, and makes pay runs quick work with direct timesheet exports.

Apps for job and project management

Handling multiple projects and clients at once takes a smooth-running operation. That's where apps work to help keep each project moving and ensure you can account for every hour and tool spent on the job.

For construction and trades:

• ServiceM8: Streamline your job management end-to-end with ServiceM8. Create and send custom quotes on the go, manage staff schedules with live appointment updates, and raise invoices in Xero in seconds.
• Tradify: No matter your trade, manage every job in one tool with Tradify. Send custom quotes, schedule available staff, and update job reports from the field. Slash admin time with a sync to Xero that sends invoices and updates accounts with payments for you.

For professional services businesses:

• Projectworks: Handle all aspects of your professional service business with Projectworks. Understand your resource availability, ensure accurate time tracking with start-stop work timers, manage rates per project, and raise all invoices and reimbursable expenses in Xero.
• ROLL: Manage your client workflows with ROLL. Capture leads, project tasks and costings and create invoices in ROLL or Xero with a two-way sync so you can focus on the work at hand.

Apps for sales

Offering more ways to pay and selling through multiple channels can become a juggling act, but it doesn't have to be. Keep your sales data streamlined with intuitive apps that allow you to grow your business and bring in more customers while making light work of sales reconciliation.

• A2X: Automate your ecommerce accounting from major ecommerce platforms with A2X. Automatically sync sales from Amazon, Ebay, Etsy and more back to your Xero account as invoices to be automatically reconciled for you, for accurate bookkeeping quickly.
• Shopify: Reconcile sales directly from your online store with the Shopify integration by Xero. Automatically sync daily summaries of sales orders for each payment gateway to Xero for simple reconciliation every day.
• Square: Take payments any way you want and sync sales quickly with Square. Allow payments in store, online, or straight from a Xero-generated invoice. Make reconciliation easy with daily Square transactions summarised and imported to Xero.

Apps for reporting

Equip your business with powerful apps that help deliver clear and up-to-date financial information to you so you can feel confident about your business's position at all times.

• Syft: Get more insight into your business with Syft. Build dashboards, reports and forecasts and export them for stakeholders. Understand multi-entity performance with unlimited entity consolidation and don't miss a cent with a deep integration to your Xero account.
• G-Accon: Leverage the flexibility of Google Sheets reporting with G-Accon. Quickly set up automated imports of your financial data from Xero to Google Sheets or Google Data Studio to ensure your reporting data is up-to-date and reliable.

Kickstart your new financial year with the right apps to work smarter

Make this financial year your best year yet with Xero-integrated apps that are trusted and reviewed by small business owners just like you. Explore apps that automate, streamline and empower your business, so you can focus less on admin and more on what matters. Explore the Xero App Store and our guide to building an app stack to kickstart the FY25 year.

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