Cloud accounting software company Xero, which officially launched in South Africa in May, has appointed Colin Timmis (pictured) as its new head of accounting in SA.
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Timmis said:
"I'm delighted to be representing Xero in South Africa. I look forward to helping more accountants realise the benefits cloud technology has to offer, while also finding out from existing Xero customers where they want to see improvements and helping the Xero team better understand the needs of industry here."
Timmis' immediate plan includes guiding Xero on localisation, providing local insight into issues that matter to South African small business owners, as well as assisting Xero in mapping out its strategy for the country. "The challenge is to ensure that a company's time and effort is spent on monitoring key business indicators, rather than spending most of their time trying to ensure their data's accuracy and completeness," he said.
Timmis has over 12 years of experience in the accounting space, including cloud accounting software implementation, development, integration and best practice. He registered as a professional accountant with SAIPA in 2004 before going on to run a traditional SME accounting practice for eight years. In 2011, he founded South Africa's first cloud accounting practice, real time accounting, and was later appointed Xero advisor in South Africa. Timmis joined BDO SA in 2015 to assist with its roll-out of Xero and other cloud innovation projects. He intends to split his focus between this and Xero.