Would You Hand Your Client's Card to an AI?

Ryan Pearcy is joined by Lara Manton of LJ Bookkeeping and Robbie from Forbes Mazars for a run through the accounting tech news that actually matters this month, with plenty of disagreement along the way. The big one close to home: The Loop has acquired the Early Adopters Hub, the community that vets new accounting tech and puts it in front of real firms before launch. Ryan has been involved since the start, and the panel gets into why that objective, critical feedback saves founders from building the wrong thing, and what it means for firms wanting to try new tools without going first alone. Then to the news everyone was waiting for. Xero is raising UK prices again from September. Ignite and Grow go up £2 a month, Comprehensive and Ultimate £5, and the discount for running multiple organisations under one bill is going away. The team debate whether the back-end development finally justifies it, and at what point firms start asking where they go from here. The one that got heated: Visa and OpenAI opening the door to AI agents making real purchases. Robbie is part petrified, part intrigued, Lara wants to know who carries the can when an agent buys the wrong thing, and Ryan makes the case for agents drafting payments that a human still approves. Ryan also runs through April, May and June's Xero App Store additions in one go, from Lemon Booking and Juice to AI reporting tools like Aleph and Sterling, plus 445, which came through the Early Adopters Hub. Also covered: Engager's new relationship types and filed job status, FYI's Automation Import Wizard, Briefcase adding paperwork and bank statement chasing, and Gusto's oddly out-of-lane AI agents for winning clients. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and what's on the agenda 03:13 The Loop acquires the Early Adopters Hub 08:37 Xero raises UK prices again from September 15:30 Xero App Store: April, May and June's new apps 20:38 AI agents can now make purchases (Visa and OpenAI) 25:25 Engager adds relationship types 28:16 FYI launches its Automation Import Wizard 32:30 Briefcase adds paperwork and bank statement chasing 35:50 Gusto's out-of-lane AI agents for firms 39:20 Wrap-up: The Loop Awards and Accountex North