Our Xero Timeline
2007 heard about online Xero – asked around and no one thought it would fly
Contacted Xero – telephoned Grant Cartwright telephoned and arranged a demo – basic functionality but I was sold on the virtual idea.
Became Xero Certified 2008
Became Gold Partner 2009
Launched Training and Beyond 2009
Inaugural Xerocon – Xero Knowledge award with Donna Wylie 2009 –
read more here Xerocon 2010
December 2009 – founded NZ Bookkeepers Association with Xero as proud founding sponsor
Xerocon inaugural Training Partner of the Year 2011
Xerocon Training Partner of the Year 2012
Xerocon Bookkeeping Partner of the Year 2014
2009 / 2010 Xero Certified Trainer contracted to deliver Certification and conversion training in person nationally with a couple of trips to Sydney (thanks Sue) and globally via live webinar. What an awesome time, we started in Lyttelton crammed in around a table with dumb terminals running of a myriad of double plugs and extension cords – somehow the office fish managed to survive even though their extension cord kept tripping out due to overload.
AS soon as we could we started recording sessions using citrix.
The Ecosystem add on app era started in earnest around 2011, I was so proud to be the preferred implementation and training partner for Spotlight, Receipt Bank,Unleashed, Practice Ignition, Sharesight and WorkflowMax. A little known fact, Training and Beyond HQ was the first office in the southern hemisphere for Receipt Bank, and Training and Beyond developed and certified WorkflowMax Partners globally for the first 2 years after Gavin sold to Xero. remember the day of visiting Gavin and Chris in Ponsonby in their funky little office talking big.
It was a hugely exciting time but fearful time as well, everyone was new and had ideas of the global stage with the reality that some of add on partners software was not quite ready for the market…. “That’s a great ideas we will add it to the roadmap” was the coin of phrase. We did nationwide roadshows, we were all learning on the run in real time. “Heady stuff” Our training centre in Christchurch became the event space the south island, in fact our centre was the first registered address on Rae’s business card (did you know I was present at Rae’s job interview with Leanne Graham)
