How I Stacked It
Every finance stack tells a story. How I Stacked It looks inside the tools, workflows and decisions real finance leaders use to build better, more scalable finance teams.
Migrate My Accounts brings together a group of Xero Migration Specialists who transfer historical data from any accounting system into Xero. As Founder, Florentina Sandu implements robust internal controls to ensure data accuracy and quality.
"The more migrations we complete, the clearer it becomes which apps clients actually need once they're on Xero. My go-to stack has evolved around that. I've become more selective about what I recommend too: if Xero can handle something well internally, I don't see a reason to add another app unless the client has a more complex process or there's a genuine gap. It's less about having lots of apps and more about recommending the right one when there's an actual problem to solve."
Here are the top apps Florentina recommends.
The Stack
Xero for General Ledger
Xero is where every migration lands, the single platform we trust to rebuild financial data with accuracy and consistency. Its scalability and seamless integrations make it the perfect foundation for clients ready to grow. It's also doing more internally, so where its own features meet a client's needs, that's often where I recommend they start before adding another app.
Mayday for Intercompany
If you're running a group of companies, sorting out intercompany charges can be a nightmare. That's why Mayday is usually one of the first tools we introduce after migration. It automates the process, saving finance teams hours of manual work. It's still one of my go-to recommendations for multi-entity clients because it solves a problem we see regularly.
Joiin for Consolidation
Month-end reporting shouldn't mean wrestling with 100 Excel tabs. With Joiin, everything's in one place, making consolidations easy and freeing up your team for more important work. It's so easy to use, our clients' finance teams love it. It's still my go-to for group reporting and consolidation, particularly now it also offers Excel integration.
G-Accon for Reporting
Some of our clients live in Google Sheets, and we totally get it. G-Accon makes Xero and Google Sheets work together like a dream, bringing in live data, automating reports, and giving our clients way more flexibility than Xero's standard reports. It's probably my most-used app now, both during migrations and for clients that need monthly management reporting, so it's become an increasingly important recommendation in my stack.
ApprovalMax for Purchase Approvals
For clients that need more control over purchasing and payments, ApprovalMax adds structured approval workflows around Xero. It helps make sure the right people approve bills, purchase orders and payments before they move forward, without slowing the finance team down.
Dext for Data Capture
Dext takes the manual work out of getting receipts, invoices and other financial documents into Xero. It captures the information we need from source documents, helping clients keep their records accurate and up to date without spending hours entering data by hand. It's still a strong option for clients that need document capture and want to reduce manual entry. For those without advanced requirements, though, I'm increasingly seeing businesses use Xero's own document recognition features instead.
Unleashed for Inventory & Manufacturing
For clients managing stock or manufacturing processes, Unleashed adds the inventory functionality they need while Xero remains at the heart of the finance stack. It's one of my go-to recommendations for manufacturing and inventory-heavy clients: Xero remains the accounting system while Unleashed handles the more complex stock and manufacturing side.
Fishbowl for Inventory & Manufacturing
Fishbowl is another option I recommend for manufacturing and inventory-heavy businesses. It's important to have alternatives in this area because manufacturing processes can vary so much from one client to another, and one inventory system definitely doesn't fit everyone.
Lightyear for Accounts Payable
I still recommend Lightyear where it fits, particularly for clients with more advanced AP requirements. For businesses with simpler needs, Xero's internal features are increasingly enough, so it's about matching the solution to the complexity of the client's processes.
Make.com for Automation
Make.com has become a go-to when there's a gap between Xero and another system. I've used it for things like multiple payroll journals across groups and batch invoices that need posting into Xero where the client's CRM doesn't have the integration they need. It gives us another option when the integration a client needs simply isn't there.
Claude for Problem Solving & Analysis
Claude is becoming a useful tool for clients, particularly businesses and charities working through budgets and monthly management reporting analysis. In my own work, I use it as a second pair of eyes for migration challenges, researching unfamiliar systems, troubleshooting data or formulas, and exploring ideas for automations between different systems. Claude helps me work through problems more efficiently and get to the right questions and potential solutions faster.
ChatGPT for Problem Solving & Analysis
ChatGPT is another useful tool that is used in a similar way to Claude, for clients, particularly businesses and charities working through budgets and monthly management reporting analysis. In my own work, I use it as a second pair of eyes for migration challenges, researching unfamiliar systems, troubleshooting data or formulas, and exploring ideas for automations between different systems. Claude helps me work through problems more efficiently and get to the right questions and potential solutions faster.
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