News

Dairy Women’s Network, an organisation of impact that supports people and farming businesses in the dairy industry, is announcing a partnership with Figured and Xero who together offer an integrated Software-as-a-Service (Saas) cloud financial management solution for the agri sector.

The agreement will see Dairy Women’s Network, Figured and Xero work together to educate, inspire and support DWN members in using smart financial management software, and the benefits the software can offer in terms of  efficiency and profitability.

“We’re pleased to formalise this partnership with Figured and Xero after working with them on many events already,” said DWN Chief Executive Jules Benton. “With the rise of on-farm technology, we know our members will get a lot of value from their combined knowledge around smart financial management and data-driven decision making.” 

An estimated 50% of New Zealand farmers are using Figured and Xero to help drive improvements in productivity, profitability, and sustainability, with financial data flowing in automatically from Xero’s accounting software. 

Figured General Manager John Gibson said of the agreement: “This collaboration is a natural extension of our ongoing support for the dairy sector. Around 50% of New Zealand’s dairy farms are now on Figured. But there are still so many more that could benefit from a clearer picture of their farm’s financial health. With all challenges dairy farmers face, from environmental planning to skill shortages, we want to make it easy for everyone to access accurate farm data, to see their options and more confidently plan for the future.”

The Xero and Figured software solution can help farmers respond to changes in the global market and the prices of key agricultural commodities such as feed and fertiliser. It can also help them to predict the long-term financial impacts of decisions around succession, machinery or land purchases, as well as track livestock and dairy production.

“The partnership between Xero, Figured and Dairy Women’s Network is a reflection of our joint commitment to the dairy sector, most importantly empowering members to be both business leaders in farming and advocates of wellbeing. We know that often a lot of the bookkeeping and financial management sit with women in farming, and that this can be a major source of stress. That’s where our joint training and support comes in. As well as free access to mental health support for users with our Xero Assistance Programme” says Cam Anderson, Head of Strategic Verticals and Partnerships, Xero. (link)

One of the first events members will be able to enjoy will be the Xero and Figured two day Tech Expo on November 2-3 2021, to introduce attendees to the different software and technology available and how they can improve the business of farming. The aim is to empower DWN member farmers to better understand how integrated technology can simplify administration and future proof their business.

Quote from female dairy farmers – 

Roseanne Megaw from Canterbury:

“We recently made the transition to using Xero and Figured about a year ago and we’ve found the process really straightforward. We love the way they work together; it makes the whole twentieth of the month and GST returns really smooth. The main benefit we’ve found is the time it’s given back to us. I used to have to print things off to reconcile but now I’m spending a lot less time at the computer.”

 Myfanwy Alexander from North Otago::

“I’m just starting out using Figured but Xero has been absolutely fabulous. I’ve used other cash manager type software in the past but Xero is definitely a lot more streamlined and it makes it easy to send out an invoice. I get a very accurate live idea of my finances; I’m not waiting to get information from the accountant but I can get that information myself and I can make some decisions based on that pretty quickly.”

ENDS

Videos demonstrating the power of the Figured and Xero technology platform is available (here) and (here)

Photo: Supplied: Xero Head of Strategic Verticals and Partnerships Cam Anderson, Figured General Manager John Gibson, and Dairy Women’s Network Chief Executive Jules Benton.

Media contacts

Figured
John Gibson
General Manager
Mob: +64 21 193 7033
E: john.gibson@figured.com

 Xero 
Natalie Benning
Head of Communications – NZ
Mob: +64 21 026 19604
E: natalie.benning@xero.com 

Dairy Women’s Network
Zellara Holden
Partnership Relationship, Marketing and Communications Director
Mob: +64 21 1 77 0300
E: zellara.holden@dwn.org.nz