 |
Digi-Tools In Accrual WorldAuthor: Indi Tatla, Ryan Pearcy, John Toon
The go-to place for all things cloud accounting and digital. Find out the latest in accounting app news and exclusive interviews with cloud pioneers in the accounting industry. Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
Three MCP launches, Joiin’s Q3 deck and Briefcase v Xero
Episode 43
Sunday, 25 October, 2026
John Toon, Ryan Pearcy and Heather Smith work through a busy week of accounting tech news: assurance for AI, a run of Xero releases, three MCP launches, Joiin’s Q3 deck and a lot of Briefcase. Heather opens with the AICPA’s new service for assuring AI systems and agents. John likes the opportunity and doubts the practice: the people who build these models say they can’t fully explain them, and the work could easily end up with the Big Four. Ryan's line is that if nobody can assure AI, that’s the bigger problem. Ryan goes through Xero’s latest product updates, including bill approvals due in November. He thinks it lands on ApprovalMax’s patch, with Dext and Apron nearby. John says rules-based approvals are already behind where AI tools are going. Heather asks vendors to announce features in plain English. She’s also an active Google Gemini user, so she has views on Xero’s new Gemini connection: when it’s good it’s very good, and when it’s bad it’s horrid. Xero’s remote MCP is now generally available, and John explains what that means and what still needs a developer plan. WorkGuru’s MCP server is in beta and can write but can’t delete anything. Heather covers Digits’ Write MCP, which former Xero CTO Craig Walker says solves the locked period problem: an edit to a locked period goes into a queue for an admin to approve. The hosts make the case for proper backups now that agents can write to the ledger. John walks through Joiin’s Q3 release: forecasting out of beta with group consolidation and an Excel round trip, forecasts out to 60 months, a KPI library, a performance map, and new connections including FreeAgent and Fortnox. Fathom, they’re coming for you. Briefcase gets three stories. Ryan covers Briefcase on your phone. Heather covers payments and approvals at 25p a payment, and Ryan explains why payments are the biggest fraud risk in a business. John covers Xero pausing Briefcase’s integration soon after Briefcase launched its own ledger, and asks why Xero didn’t just buy them. Ryan closes on Dext and the idea that data quality now matters more than the ledger. Also covered: the Digi-Tools hackathon with Xero and GoCardless in London, with Alastair Barlow, Billie McLoughlin and Alexis Kingsbury. Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:14 FreeAgent 02:15 AICPA: assurance for AI 11:13 Xero: approvals are coming 18:45 Xero: Gemini joins the party 22:20 Xero: remote MCP goes live 26:56 WorkGuru: an MCP that can’t delete 29:09 SuiteFiles 30:06 Digits: Write MCP and the lock period 37:19 Joiin: the Q3 deck 42:47 Briefcase: on your phone 44:10 Briefcase: payments and approvals 48:23 Briefcase: the Xero pause 52:53 Dext: data quality over the ledger 57:05 Outro and the Digi-Tools hackathon
