I wanted to take a moment to say hello to you, and thank you for being a Xero customer! I recently stepped into the new role as Xero’s CEO, and it’s a privilege to serve all of you - our Xero team, our investors, and all the communities of which we are a part. Xero is a special company with the potential to contribute even more to your journey as small businesses, advisors and partners, and I look forward to getting started.

It’s also a deeply personal opportunity for me, as the daughter of two small business owners, and having owned multiple small businesses. My view of entrepreneurship was formed at a very young age when I helped my parents (who were doctors running their own medical practice) hand complete their general ledger and file their taxes year after year. In our small hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, I learned what operating a small business was really all about through the lens of completing our family’s income statement of revenues and expenses each year, and working as a receptionist in my parents’ office each summer. I also saw first-hand the critical role that small business plays in driving prosperous communities and economies.

Many years later, I chose to be an entrepreneur myself. In between larger executive roles at Google and StubHub, I started three companies of my own in tech (Yodlee, Joyus and theBoardlist) and found my own passion for small business building. It’s also where I first encountered Xero as a customer, when we at theBoardlist needed our first accounting system, and which we continue to (happily) use today.

From the days of handwriting entries into my father’s ledger to today’s cloud-based tools, we’ve come a long way in enabling small businesses to save time, and focus on building their businesses. But there is so much more opportunity to partner with all of you, and power your dreams and those of your customers.

To deliver on this promise, we at Xero need to operate with a small business entrepreneur’s mindset, and to do so with enhanced clarity, strength and speed. We need to do so by focusing on driving a better customer experience - whether that’s through new features, supporting you when you need it most, or bigger innovations. We will continue to listen and understand your needs as a community of entrepreneurs.

There is always room for improvement and we’d love to hear from you about how we can make Xero even better, together. Please continue to access support through Xero Central or reach out and be vocal - whether that’s through Xero Product Ideas, Community Discussions on Xero Central or you can drop me a note at CEO@xero.com or connect with our team at Xero events. You can always keep updated about what’s happening with Xero on the Xero Blog.

I’m so excited about the opportunity to lead the next chapter for Xero. We are successful because of you and on behalf of all Xeros, thank you for your loyalty and support.