How Accounting Firms Send Xero Reports to Google Chat

How Accounting Firms Send Xero Reports to Google Chat

Small business clients forget to check their numbers

You do the books for a dozen small businesses. Half of them never log into Xero. They call you at quarter-end asking "how are we doing?" and you scramble to put together a summary.

Most of these businesses run on Google Workspace. Their team is in Google Chat all day. If you put a P&L chart in front of them every month, they stop being surprised by the numbers. And you stop getting those panicked calls.

Here's the setup:

1. Connect Xero as a source
2. Create a Pulse with P&L summary, cash position, and accounts payable
3. Set Google Chat as the destination
4. Schedule monthly delivery on the 5th (after the prior month closes)

Think about a 20-person construction company on Google Workspace. The owner checks Google Chat between job sites. A monthly financial snapshot in a Space called "Financial Updates" gives them the picture without opening Xero or waiting for your email.

Use a Space, not a DM. The owner, the office manager, and the project leads should all see the same numbers. Shared visibility prevents the game of telephone that happens when one person forwards a PDF.

What the client sees

The 5th of the month. A P&L chart for the prior month appears in the Space.

"March revenue was $184,000, down 6% from February. Materials costs rose to 38% of revenue, up from 34%, mostly from the lumber price increase on the Riverside project. Cash on hand is $67,200. Accounts payable total $41,500 with $12,000 due in the next 7 days."

The owner reads this at 7am before heading to a job site. They know cash is tight. They know payables are coming due. They can plan without calling you.

When they do have questions, they reply in the Space. "Can we push the $12k payment?" Now you're advising, not reporting. That's a better use of everyone's time.

What to do next

Monthly is the right cadence for financial reporting. Some firms add a weekly cash position Pulse for clients with tight cash flow. That's a single number on a simple chart, delivered every Monday.

Keep P&L and cash position as separate Pulses. They tell different stories and the client reads them at different moments.

Start with your most engaged client. Once they see it, they'll tell you it's useful. Then roll it out to the rest.

Set up Xero reporting in Google Chat