Close your books with confidence: Introducing reconcile period in Xero

While Xero enjoys a healthy market position globally, the US, like many of us understand, is a whole different beast. The very thing that sets us apart in the global market (how we do & define what is "Bank Reconciliation"), has turned out to be a blocker in the biggest market of all.

I supported a team of designers and managed key stakeholders to help launch one of the biggest changes to Xero's Bank Rec feature since we moved to the cloud.

MY ROLE

Design Director. Provided senior design leadership, key stakeholder alignment, and executive engagement.

TEAM

2 x Senior Designers
2 x Product Managers
1 x GM of Product

KEY OUTCOMES

30% customer engagement
1238 Customers, 1516 Periods, 265 Reports
65% of Periods balanced on creation
90% of Periods closed within 1 day.

THE PROBLEM

Xero knows that, especially in our US and Canadian markets, businesses need to periodically verify the accuracy of their accounting records, particularly to support their internal month-end close process. We needed a solution that allowed users to compare their bank transactions with their accounting on a monthly basis and maintain a report of the close-out for governance purposes.

We also had to ensure this new workflow didn’t disrupt existing users’ real-time bank rec process; it had to be an optional addition that helped ensure accounting accuracy. If our users were happy using Xero’s existing bank reconciliation workflow, where they categorise and match transactions as they go, we didn’t want them to have to change a thing.

And just to make things interesting, we had only 11 months to launch one of the biggest changes to Xero’s Bank Rec feature since moving to the cloud. No biggie.

THE APPROACH: TIME TO GET OUR BETA ON

Research was needed to assess whether the new optional reconciliation step met the needs and expectations of US customers, particularly those who perform monthly or periodic reconciliations.

The goal was to gather feedback on usability, identify any pain points, validate whether the feature added value and aligned with local practices, and uncover potential risks before a full rollout, ensuring it wouldn’t introduce issues or inefficiencies into customer workflows.

Running a beta study allowed us to observe real-world use of the Reconcile Period feature, as participants worked with their own data, providing a more accurate picture.

These insights will help:

Understand beta participants’ comprehension of the Reconcile Period feature. What was their initial impression of the feature? How did they expect the feature to work? Did the feature meet those expectations? If not, why?
Discover how the Reconcile period feature has changed/impacted beta participants’ bank reconciliation process. How does this compare to their previous method?
Identify (if any) barriers to using the Reconcile period feature
Ascertain the overall value (if any) using the Reconcile period feature

Insights from this research will guide our product direction and inform gap analysis for our US market.

24 participants, 11 surveys, 7 user interviews across 2 different regions later...

FAST FINDINGS

Majority of participants found the interface clear and easy to use. They appreciated its simplicity and familiarity, mirroring traditional reconciliation methods. The logical grouping of information in the draft period allowed participants to quickly identify issues and review financial details efficiently.

Some participants identified the "Reconcile period" feature as particularly useful for complex reconciliations, especially for accounts involving credit card transactions. It was seen as a tool that simplifies and streamlines reconciliation, improving efficiency when discrepancies arise.

However, most participants wanted a more efficient and streamlined reconciliation process, with less need to navigate between screens. Reducing the need to leave the reconciliation screen to mark transactions as reconciled or add missing statement lines is considered a valuable improvement.

Most participants stated that the core job of reconciliation is to ensure that the book balance matches the statement balance. For complete confidence in reconciliation there needs to be a way to balance back to Xero. Storing the report alongside the bank statement would provide a clear record, reinforcing the confidence in the reconciliation's accuracy.

LEARNINGS & OUTCOMES

Our beta testers loved it.

QUOTES

“Xero’s new reconcile period feature is a game changer. It ensures that each period is properly locked and closed, providing peace of mind. This functionality makes it effortless to stay on top of our customers’ books and, we might add, a bit fun! It’s the kind of enjoyment accountants have when their books are closed correctly.”

"IT IS PERFECT!! This is what I have been waiting for! It is clean, intuitive and makes reconciling so much easier! I love how you kept it simple.” !"

“Don’t [change anything]. I closed seven bank accounts in 25 minutes!.

Note: Due to confidentiality, this is a snapshot based on shipped product and publicly available information. If you’d like to gain more insight into my role in this work , please get in touch, I'd love to have a chat