This article marks the start of our new Scaling with Xero recap series. Over the past month, CFO Techstack hosted a five-part webinar series exploring the question every fast-growing finance team eventually asks: how far can you go on Xero?
Hereâs whatâs coming up:
- How Far Can You Go on Xero? (this weekâs article)
- Solving Inventory for Product-Based Businesses with CIN7
- Managing Multi-Entity and Month End with Mayday
- Automated Consolidated Reporting with dataSights
- Optimising Global Payments with Airwallex
We begin this week with highlights from the opening session, where leaders from Xero, Syft Analytics, RSM Australia, and Mayday tackled the core question: when do businesses really outgrow Xero, and whatâs possible if you build the right ecosystem?
When finance teams start questioning Xero
The discussion opened with Andrew Hirst, Head of Sales - Partner Success & National Accounts at Xero reflecting on why finance leaders begin to doubt whether Xero can keep up:
âBusinesses usually start with Xero because itâs easy to use, and we target small to medium businesses. But as they grow, needs change and thatâs when pain points start to surface.â
As they grow, pain points surface. Inventory is a common one:
âYou may start with really basic trading stock needs, but as you grow, those needs become more complex. Soon, Xeroâs inventory, which is quite simple, just isnât enough and thatâs when we point to the broader ecosystem.â
He explained that transaction volumes also matter:
âXero has what we call soft transaction limits, around 2,000 bank transactions, 1,000 invoices, and 1,000 bills per month. The system doesnât stop, but performance slows and reporting suffers. Thatâs when finance teams start to wonder if theyâve outgrown it.â
Laurel Millar, National Manager - Digital Advisory at RSM Australia added another angle:
âWe donât really see the limit issue anymore. The bigger drivers are multi-entity consolidation and the need for stronger financial controls. Xero just doesnât have robust controls built in, teams often assume they have to move to ERP.â
Whether itâs intercompany recharges, consolidations, or implementing delegation of authority, these gaps often lead businesses to assume an ERP is the only answer. But as Laurel noted, awareness of the ecosystem is changing that conversation.
Mitchell Piper, Account Executive APAC & Africa at Syft Analytics echoed the same from a consolidation perspective:
âAt the multi-entity level, it can feel complex to manage multiple Xero files. But the ledger itself is sound, itâs the reporting, analytics, and consolidation that need extra tools.â
Extending the life of Xero with the ecosystem
The panel agreed: Xeroâs general ledger is strong enough to scale, but other functions require augmentation. Thatâs where the app ecosystem comes in.
Andrew highlighted key areas:
- Inventory and supply chain: âCIN7 or DEAR Inventory are fantastic applications.â
- Controls and approvals: âA great program called ApprovalMax, it seems to be universally well received.â
- Payroll: âXeroâs got a hard cap of 200 employees, once you get above 200, Tanda does a great job in that world.â
Laurel shared RSMâs tested âstandard Xero stackâ:
Her caveat:
âWe always build a selection and validation phase into every project. What looks fine on paper might turn out to be a deal-breaker once the finance team actually tests it.â
Mitch described Syftâs role in making consolidation simple:
âSyft is designed to give franchisors a single view across all their entities, especially when it comes to consolidation. Another example was an NPO, we restructured their reporting output and gave them everything they needed, which kept them from moving up to ERP.â
Real-world wins on Xero
To ground the conversation, the panel shared success stories of businesses that stayed on Xero and scaled.
Andrew recalled a food group:
âAt head office, their month-end went from taking 8 or 9 days to just a few hours once they implemented consolidation tools. It was a huge change and for the first time, they had real-time visibility into performance.â
He also pointed to a property developer:
âThey had about 60 developments, with an entity for each. Allocating overheads across them had become a full-time job. When they implemented Mayday for intergroup transactions, that process was transformed. They went from five head office staff down to three, repurposing two roles. It was a massive change, not just in efficiency, but in how they analysed information.â
Laurel mentioned agriculture and healthcare groups sheâs worked with, including a macadamia farming business and a large dental group:
âWeâre working with a large macadamia farming business on entity efficiencies, and a dental group thatâs still dealing with intercompany loans going back to 2023. Moving them onto the Xero ecosystem is going to save huge amounts of time at month-end compared to their legacy system.â
For Jack Thiel, APAC Commercial Lead at Mayday, these stories are proof that ERP isnât always inevitable:
âNobody ever got fired for going to an ERP, but Iâm not convinced thatâs always the right decision. ERPs come with massive costs, multi-year rollouts, broken customisations, and a failure rate of nearly 70%.â
People vs tools
Technology enables efficiency, but Laurel reminded everyone that transformation is ultimately human:
âApps will only get you so far. Itâs people who need to understand the processes, put in new SOPs, and make change happen. Thatâs what determines success.â
Jack agreed:
âTurning month-end from nine days into hours isnât just about efficiency. It improves decision-making and frees finance leaders to step into more strategic roles.â
Whatâs next in the series
This launch session made it clear: Xero can take you further than many assume, if you know how to unlock the ecosystem. From consolidation to approvals to global payments, the tools exist. The real challenge is building the right playbook.
This was just the first step. If you missed the conversation, you can watch the full recording here.
Next up: Solving Inventory for Product-Based Businesses with CIN7. Weâll dig into scaling stock, supply chains, and product complexity.
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