Xero recognised for its exemplary performance and valuable contributions in shaping new trends across Asia-Pacific in its 2021 Best Practices Awards

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SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 9 June 2021 - Xero, the global small business platform, has been named the 2021 Asia-Pacific small and medium enterprise (SME) Accounting Software Vendor of the Year by global research and consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan in its 2021 Best Practices Awards. The awards celebrate best-in-class companies that have accomplished innovative or disruptive breakthroughs in their industries and continually demonstrate excellence.

Winners were selected based on their performance against three key strategic imperatives: disruptive technologies, transformative mega trends and new business models. Successful companies overcame the challenges posed by these imperatives and leveraged them to drive innovation and growth. Winners were also assessed against criteria including leadership focus, brand equity, financial performance, dedication to continued innovation and addressing customers' unmet needs.

Krishna Baidya, Director of ICT Practice at Frost & Sullivan commented: "Xero's cloud-based accounting software platform provides SMEs with a comprehensive solution to handle their accounting functions and have real-time access to their financial data. The platform's global business network addresses the segment's needs beyond pure accounting, providing access to critical business apps and bank feeds. By bringing together all financial information in a simple and easy-to-navigate space, Xero empowers SMEs to make smarter and faster decisions."

In its Best Practices report, Frost & Sullivan also commended Xero's commitment to helping SMEs work with their closest allies: accountants and bookkeepers. "Whether it is doing taxes, understanding finances, or making plans to grow, Xero brings all of the necessary data and information together in one place so that small businesses and their advisors can collaborate and speak the same language. This close partnership with accountants and bookkeepers is driving Xero's subscription growth while benefiting small business customers," the report stated.

Xero was further recognised for leading the way in creating visionary scenarios through the mega trends shaping long term sustainable growth and driving a culture of innovation through the adoption of cloud accounting solutions and creating a thriving ecosystem. The report cited Xero's work embedding Hubdoc's machine learning technology into its platform to help small businesses process bills and receipts faster. Together, with the addition of duplicate detection, one of the most commonly asked for features from customers, Xero Expenses with Hubdoc can ensure small businesses and their consultants will spend less time on manual data entry activities and fewer hours spent gathering and handling bills, expenses, and other documents each month so that they can concentrate on helping businesses expand.

"Xero's focus on innovation to enhance customer value is evidenced by its facilitation of an open platform with more than 1000 apps in the marketplace, recent acquisitions of invoice lending platforms, and deep strategic partnerships with payment service providers. The company's robust financial performance is commensurate with its growing user base and global footprint, all of which are a testament to its ambition in building global scale and innovation," added Baidya.

Kevin Fitzgerald, Managing Director Asia, Xero, said, "We are humbled to have been honoured by Frost & Sullivan as its Asia Pacific SME Accounting Software Vendor of the Year. The award is a testament to Xero's hard work and ongoing commitment to the SME ecosystem and community in Asia Pacific. We are focused on our commitment to be the most insightful and trusted small business platform and make lives better for SMEs throughout the region."

Frost & Sullivan follows its proprietary, measurement-based methodology combined with extensive research, in-depth interviews, analysis, and benchmarking to shortlist deserving companies in each category. The selection process utilises real-time performance indicators such as market share, revenue growth, customer acquisition, product/service value, and technology innovation, and the winners represent the best of the best in Asia-Pacific.

About Xero

Xero is a cloud-based accounting software platform for small businesses with over 2.7 million subscribers globally. Through Xero, small business owners and their advisors have access to real-time financial data any time, anywhere and on any device. Xero offers an ecosystem of over 1,000 third-party apps and 300 plus connections to banks and other financial partners. In 2020 and 2021, Xero was included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index and in 2020, Xero was recognised by IDC MarketScape as a leader in its worldwide SaaS and cloud-enabled small business finance and accounting applications vendor assessment.

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About Frost & Sullivan

For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success.