Melbourne is well-known for its famed laneways and arcades, splashed with vibrant graffiti art, lush botanical gardens and a thriving business district. The city is also renowned for its distinct blend of contemporary and Victorian architecture and buildings, and is the base for over five hundred thousand SMBs who drive the small business economy.

Now, Melbourne is the new home for the team at BlueRock who have acquired Xero’s WorkflowMax brand and kicked off grand plans to take their new software to new places and spaces. With investment to boot, they are building a new product to truly scale the solution globally and offer an even richer job management capability. Leveraging the best in breed technology, with a top-notch customer service and same pricing promise - there’s lots of reasons for you to find out more…

XU: We recently caught up with BlueRock’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Lalor for a candid interview to understand a bit more about why they love WorkflowMax so much that they want to build a similar product!

Peter is an experienced Director, CEO and Chairman with a demonstrated history of working with entrepreneurial businesses and helping SMBs run successful, profitable operations. With a huge passion for technology and thinking differently, he’s also started and scaled multiple businesses himself and plans to take the new WorkflowMax by BlueRock to the world. Fast.‍

Can you tell us about BlueRock?

PL: With three thriving offices based in Melbourne, Australia, we were founded in 2008 and quickly became known as a disruptive startup. BlueRock is a business for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. We’re a growing team of business and technology experts who all work together to get the best outcomes for business owners. We know that business is tough, which is why we act as tech savvy advisors, and bring together lawyers, finance brokers, digital specialists, insurance brokers, financial planners, business advisory, consultants and systems and software development experts...basically everyone a business needs on their team to make life easier.

BlueRock has grown quickly to become an international business, recognised on Top 100 lists and as a ‘Best Place to Work’ company for many years. We love what we do, and we understand how to attract and retain the best talent and clients. We also place great importance on giving back to the community and, through our Be BlueRock Foundation and certification as a B Corporation, we strive to have a positive impact on the world.

We live by this mantra: Do things you love with people you care about and good things happen.‍

XU: Why did BlueRock acquire the WorkflowMax brand?

PL: As a tech-led advisory business, BlueRock is always looking for ways to improve the lives of SMB owners through technology and innovation. Xero’s WorkflowMax has been a solution that has ticked so many boxes for business owners including our own.

When we heard the news about Xero’s plans to retire the current product, we were eager to jump in and take over the reins and build a new product from the ground up (to be known as WorkflowMax by BlueRock). BlueRock plans to keep all the great features, functionality and pricing that customers already know and love.

Ryan Kagan, Founder of BlueRock Digital and his team have been implementing WorkflowMax, and designing/building custom integrations to the product for over 8 years.

‍“We’ve seen first-hand the value the product delivers and the popularity of this job management solution across many industries and business types. There’s still a real niche in the market for serving customers with a fully featured, affordable, cost effective job management solution.”‍

We’ve always been passionate about WorkflowMax and the benefits it brings SMB owners and we believe there is so much potential to build on the great foundations Xero has set with this product. We’re excited to build a new job management software solution, which we’re aiming to be familiar and similar (if not better), in terms of functionality, to meet evolving market and customer demands. And as a business ourselves, we’re focusing more and more on the development of tech and AI products that will support our SMB clients and advisors. The WorkflowMax by BlueRock product will be a fantastic addition to our offering and provide an even better experience for customers.‍

XU: What is the roadmap for WorkflowMax by BlueRock - what can customers expect?

PL: WorkflowMax by BlueRock is being designed with customer needs at the forefront. Since Xero’s announcement, we’ve talked to thousands of customers and taken on all the feedback to make sure what we are building will be even more efficient and easier to use than ever before. With the launch of WorkflowMax by BlueRock, we’ll be including the same features customers know and love, particularly when it comes to detailed quoting, managing jobs and costs, tracking time, and invoicing. We’re bringing our decades-long experience working with SMBs on how to efficiently run jobs for profit optimisation. The experience may be slightly different to what WorkflowMax was – but we know customers will feel right at home, saving time with an improved and more intuitive layout.

In the new product launching officially in February 2024 customers and partners will experience some new stuff too:

• Leveraging of Xero’s API to build a really comprehensive connection between the two systems
• Access to a brand new WorkflowMax by BlueRock open API with some exciting new app integrations
• We’re overhauling the reporting feature to provide better reporting and visualisation
• Refining the user interface and experience across the board
• …AND adding a pause on the timer! (that’s been one of the most “asked for improvements of all time”)
• A free migration service will be available for customers wanting to make the switch

The team is completely customer obsessed and committed to building a user-centric product with continuous investment in product development now and into the future. We look forward to sharing our further plans and roadmap for post launch which includes a number of new features, product optimisations and some AI surprises, just to name a few. If customers and partners have not yet had the chance to add their feature requests they can do so here in the new Product ideas/feature request forum.

For customers who want to make the move over to WorkflowMax by BlueRock by 1 April 2024, we are offering 50% off the subscription price for 3 months*. We understand that there may be some momentary disruption to their businesses and we want to make the move as painless as possible to help customers to onboard to their new home for job management. There will be a free migration tool/wizard for customers and partners to transfer data over to the new system.‍

XU: How will WorkflowMax by BlueRock integrate with Xero or other accounting platforms and apps moving forward?

PL: As I mentioned, the new integration with Xero is core to what we are building and we have future aspirations to drive further integrations into other accounting systems to be truly customer-led. The interest from the ecosystem community has been overwhelming, so customers can expect a number of new options when it comes to integrating their business operations/job financial management software with other products they love like CRMs, document management, BI reporting tools, task management and more. We’re working with Bryan Williams from Hockey Stick Advisory to make sure we design, build and create a platform community that really drives value for everyone who is part of it.‍

XU: Can you discuss the details of the brand acquisition and what it means for WorkflowMax’s existing customers?

PL: BlueRock has been one of the thousands of customers using WorkflowMax over the years, experiencing first-hand the value it offers to SMB owners. We want customers to feel right at home with us.

We also think this is the perfect time for customers to review their business processes and look at their needs (for not just now) but into the future to make sure the solution they choose is the right one that can accelerate their growth and potential. Of course, we hope that choice is WorkflowMax by BlueRock!

As part of the brand acquisition, Xero will continue to use the WorkflowMax brand and manage existing customer subscriptions until the WorkflowMax product is retired in June 2024.

‍XU: What role will the accounting and bookkeeping community play in WorkflowMax by BlueRock’s future growth and success?

PL: We see the relationship with the accounting and bookkeeping community integral to our success. Advisors have a unique lens into the world of small business and they help drive the performance and potential in the daily operations of a business through their advisory work.

We plan to launch a new and improved certified advisor program to help advisors be even more successful through the use of data. One of the key improvements we are launching in the initial release is an overhaul of the reporting feature, allowing for even more data insights with an easier interface, giving advisors the ability to visualise data to highlight the most important insights that count. With even greater API connectivity, there’ll be more capacity to integrate with a deeper connected tech stack.

Leveraging the data that sits inside the WorkflowMax by BlueRock operational data set provides a significant opportunity for advisors to better consult and help businesses understand their potential, where to invest their time, and be more productive and profitable.‍

XU: How will BlueRock’s own expertise and resources help WorkflowMax by BlueRock expand its reach and customer base?

PL: From a design and development standpoint, we are not only bringing a world class engineering experience to this product, but we’re bringing a more robust, scalable and user friendly solution to market by using our internal expertise. We know first hand what drives performance in job management and we’ll be injecting our smarts, the combined wealth of experience we have in business advisory and software development/ implementations to help every small business solve their business problems and get more leverage out of their operations.‍

XU: What kind of values and culture will the new WorkflowMax by BlueRock business instill in its people and customers?

PL: Brace yourself, because this is the incredibly thrilling part! We’re revolutionising the game by acquiring the trusted WorkflowMax brand and fusing it with the very best of BlueRock’s values. The result, we hope will be a new generation of passionate advocates propelling WorkflowMax by BlueRock as the leading job financial management solution. We’re dedicated to offering our customers more than just an app; we want them to experience peace of mind, regain control of their business operations, and empower their teams to achieve productivity, profitability, and excellence. We hope many customers and partners will join us on this journey, one we plan to fill with meaning, injecting joy, excitement and fun at every turn.‍

XU: What are the key dates and what should customers and partners do now?

PL: For any WorkflowMax customers and partners wishing to move across to the new solution here are the key dates and next steps to take:‍

December - January 2024 Free beta access for select WorkflowMax customers.‍

February - June 2024 - Live launch of the new WorkflowMax by BlueRock product being fully operational and available for all customers directly through the website or via the Xero app store.‍

June 2024 - Xero retires WorkflowMax‍

All WorkflowMax customers wishing to join our WorkflowMax by BlueRock community will need to migrate by 26 June 2024.‍

Get in touch‍

Jump over to the new website and register your interest to keep updated with our progress. Customers won’t automatically be migrated, so it’s important you understand the steps you need to take.

Watch a WorkflowMax by BlueRock information webinar

Join the Facebook group just for Partners.

Many of the implementation partner community are happy to continue to provide advice and support for customers through the transition. Reach out to them if you’d like help with a system audit / health check or if you have unique implementation needs.