Practice Management for Accounting Firms that use Xero

A stalwart practice in Pukekohe, Hunter Withers has been delivering accounting and business advisory services to a wide range of clients, locally and across New Zealand, for over four decades. In April 2025, after juggling an internal spreadsheet and struggling with another provider in an attempt to streamline workflow for their team of 15+, Director Brigette Fulton and Senior Accountant Sarah Slater - while researching alternative tools - settled on Link to manage their firm’s capacity and workflow. “What stood out with Link? We were looking for a tool that could simplify our capacity planning, give us forward visibility, and integrate seamlessly with all of our existing systems,” Sarah shares. Adopting Link was quick and simple. Sarah mentions, “Our onboarding experience was very smooth. The Link team were knowledgeable, responsive, and the process was really easy. They were very helpful with all of our ongoing questions, and they made sure we were comfortable and knew what we were doing before going live with the platform.” Delving deeper on some of the core issues the firm experienced prior to adopting Link, Brigette details, “With our previous provider, there was low visibility across the firm’s future capacity, hindering our ability to plan ahead. We were using a manual spreadsheet to record incoming work…we were making constant status updates on the spreadsheet as work was allocated to our team, which we then updated again and again…our staff had no real ‘one system approach’ where they could gain insight into their work coming in the months ahead". ”Link eliminates the hassle of messy workflow spreadsheets by integrating with Xero Practice Manager, providing direct insight to a practice’s capacity, down to an individual team member level, while simultaneously streamlining workflow processes and driving faster job turnaround". Brigette elaborates further on the benefits Hunter Wither’s has seen, “Since working with Link, our day-to-day operations are incredibly less stressful. We have a great capacity-planning system with Link, and our team finds the system simple and easy to navigate". ”Link not only measures capacity - through intuitive, team-specific viewpoints, Link delivers insights tailored to each individual and their role, removing workflow friction commonly experienced in accounting practices". Brigette continues, “Our team members now know exactly what work lies ahead of them, reducing uncertainty. And with the added ability to timesheet in the platform, Link is a fantastic one-stop shop for managing our firm’s capacity.”

Unlocking Team Capacity and Performance at Arcus Advisory Arcus Advisory, a family-owned accounting and advisory firm on the South Coast of New South Wales, supports a diverse mix of individuals, SMEs and not-for-profit organisations. As the practice grew, Directors Thomas and Terri Gamble realised their existing systems were no longer giving them the visibility needed to manage workload and delivery timeframes confidently. Terri recalls, “We had no oversight of staff capacity, which led to some staff being over capacity, and others under-resourced. This meant we were getting behind with work and running into delayed lodgements.” This led Arcus Advisory to adopt Link in August 2025, seeking a solution that would integrate directly with Xero Practice Manager. Terri explains, “We were looking for a platform that worked seamlessly with XPM… What stood out about Link was how easy it was to implement. It works perfectly with XPM - there’s no double entry of data required.” As XPM was their central system, the transition was smooth and purposeful. “It was also a good exercise to tidy up our XPM data to ensure we had a clean transition,” Terri notes. She adds that “the Link team were extremely knowledgeable and helped us get the best out of the platform, providing expert support with XPM and detailed training for our wider team.” Since adopting Link, Arcus Advisory has gained the clarity it was missing. Terri shares that “End of month has definitely become more manageable…Allocating work has become easier,” with real-time capacity insights now guiding daily decisions. “We can quickly see where every team member is up to, which allows us to allocate work to the best person for the job at any given time.” Link’s depth of reporting has also strengthened performance management. Terri explains, “we can now see each team member’s individual KPIs and easily identify high achievers in our business as well as areas for improvement,” and highlights how early insights prompted important conversations, ultimately improving the firm’s accuracy and recoverability: “We were able to identify much earlier than before we had Link, an instance wherein a team member was incorrectly allocating their work, which drove a discussion around whether a re-scope of the work was required…the consistent insights delivered by Link have been extremely valuable and assist us greatly with job pricing.” Looking ahead, Terri sees Link as a vital part of how the firm delivers for clients. “With Link, it’s easy and quick to see where a job is up to at any time, which means I can provide clear completion dates and support much happier clients.”

Alberta, Ontario: Rice & Company LLP has built a reputation for delivering high-quality accounting and advisory services while maintaining a strong commitment to operational excellence. Prior to implementing Link, the firm was navigating increasing complexity behind the scenes. Before adopting Link, the team relied heavily on a combination of XPM, internal Excel spreadsheets and a myriad of external platforms, in a failed effort to highlight and take action on areas for improvement. While XPM presented a solid foundation, it could not deliver the level of scheduling visibility the firm required and as the practice continued to grow, these disconnected systems began creating more friction than clarity. Commenting on life before Link, Partner Tyler Rice states “In one word, chaos. We had no visibility of our runway and whether we had the team resources available to execute on the work we agreed to deliver” Without clear forward visibility, the firm found itself operating reactively rather than proactively. There was limited insight into future workload, no accurate measurement of the team’s capacity, and no reliable way to confidently plan for growth while maintaining operational control. When describing their journey towards working with Link, Tyler highlights “The experience and knowledge conveyed by the team from Link gave us complete confidence Link Reporting would extract precisely what we needed from XPM and more…and when we learned that Link Capacity was in development, we requested access at the earliest opportunity. The onboarding experience, while naturally involving a learning curve, exceeded expectations. “Like any system implementation, there was a process and learning curve involved, but the attention afforded by the Link team far exceeded our expectations”. With Link in place, the shift in day-to-day operations has been significant. Tyler describes the shift: “Team scheduling, client onboarding, and overall visibility of team and client deliverables have shifted from catching to pitching.” Instead of reacting to incoming work, Rice & Company LLP now operates with a structured and effective approach, confident they have the capacity to deliver on their client’s work. With strategic workflow and accurate team capacity measured in Link, Rice & Company has been able to scale their growth 3x since implementing Link whilst maintaining operational integrity. Commenting on the firm’s deliverables, Tyler cements “Our organisation’s growth, scheduling visibility, and client and team satisfaction can all be attributed to working with Link.” For Rice & Company LLP, Link continues to provide the clarity, structure, and confidence required to support sustainable growth, taking their operation from chaotic to a future-ready practice.

A stalwart practice in Pukekohe, Hunter Withers has been delivering accounting and business advisory services to a wide range of clients, locally and across New Zealand, for over four decades. In April 2025, after juggling an internal spreadsheet and struggling with another provider in an attempt to streamline workflow for their team of 15+, Director Brigette Fulton and Senior Accountant Sarah Slater - while researching alternative tools - settled on Link to manage their firm’s capacity and workflow. “What stood out with Link? We were looking for a tool that could simplify our capacity planning, give us forward visibility, and integrate seamlessly with all of our existing systems,” Sarah shares. Adopting Link was quick and simple. Sarah mentions, “Our onboarding experience was very smooth. The Link team were knowledgeable, responsive, and the process was really easy. They were very helpful with all of our ongoing questions, and they made sure we were comfortable and knew what we were doing before going live with the platform.” Delving deeper on some of the core issues the firm experienced prior to adopting Link, Brigette details, “With our previous provider, there was low visibility across the firm’s future capacity, hindering our ability to plan ahead. We were using a manual spreadsheet to record incoming work…we were making constant status updates on the spreadsheet as work was allocated to our team, which we then updated again and again…our staff had no real ‘one system approach’ where they could gain insight into their work coming in the months ahead". ”Link eliminates the hassle of messy workflow spreadsheets by integrating with Xero Practice Manager, providing direct insight to a practice’s capacity, down to an individual team member level, while simultaneously streamlining workflow processes and driving faster job turnaround". Brigette elaborates further on the benefits Hunter Wither’s has seen, “Since working with Link, our day-to-day operations are incredibly less stressful. We have a great capacity-planning system with Link, and our team finds the system simple and easy to navigate". ”Link not only measures capacity - through intuitive, team-specific viewpoints, Link delivers insights tailored to each individual and their role, removing workflow friction commonly experienced in accounting practices". Brigette continues, “Our team members now know exactly what work lies ahead of them, reducing uncertainty. And with the added ability to timesheet in the platform, Link is a fantastic one-stop shop for managing our firm’s capacity.”