The Loop

Less talk. More Build. Join our inaugural hackathon for accounting practitioners. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀? Every practice has workflows no app will ship and possibly not big enough to be stand alone businesses in their own right. Loop Labs is a half-day hackathon for accountants in practice, held in conjunction with Xero. You bring the workflow. We bring the tools and a room full of people who do the job. And hopefully you leave with something working on your own Xero data. No code experience required. Just come armed with problems you’ve been meaning to fix, and half a day to fix it. This event is exclusively for accountants in practice and accounting firms only, the guest list will be vetted beforehand. If you're interested in joining, 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝟱𝟬 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀. We'll ask you for some information about your firm ahead of time to ensure the day is efficient for you. First up: General Ledger Workflows. 18 November 2026, London. There are two more events to follow, one in another location and one a deeper dive into adjacent work streams. Register interest by clicking here and we'll be in touch.

Fishbowl has bought Repfabric , and the first thing every customer wants to know after an acquisition is whether the product they rely on is about to be folded into something else. Kendrick Hair answered it on the pod without hedging. The brand stays. The standalone offering stays. The connections Repfabric already has to competing systems stay open too. Ripping out working software to force a customer onto your own stack is the easiest short term revenue in enterprise software and the fastest way to lose the renewal after it. Repfabric has spent a decade on manufacturers, reps and distributors. Commissions, territories, how a quote actually gets worked in the field. Fishbowl handles what happens once the order lands. If your client runs stock and a sales team, which half of that is currently held together by a spreadsheet?

Joiin 's last update came with a slide deck that showed exactly what they had built and where it was useful. It was lovely. This time there is nothing like it. That is the bit vendors keep missing. You can ship great product and still leave people to work out how it fits their week. Then the update gets missed. Not because it is bad, but because nobody has the time to imagine it into their own workflow. Hoping the next quarterly release gets some of that love back.

And to round the week off, we're saying a final hurrah to the marketing/marketer of the year. It's a tough gig to make accounting, tax and the technology behind it engaging, educational, easy to digest and somewhat enticing. So it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge some of the players doing a great job. Our 2026 finalists are well deserving because they serve us with relevant and intelligent content. Who are they? Glad you asked: Callum Macrae Tax Ready by Workiro James Wright FCCA ✅ Top Trumps by Ask the Accountant Podcast Network Andy Oury of Oury Clark We cannot wait for you to learn more about them all. They're a very cool bunch. If you haven't already booked your ticket, we'll post a link in the comments!

Some call them Hall of Famers, some call them bada**es, we call them a Deity. This because they direct and shape the substance of the accounting eco-system. They're brave enough to challenge the status quo, but humble enough to celebrate the wins of others and move the accounting world forward. And they are not new to this. So it's about time we recognised them. The Loop brings to you the shortlisted finalists for Deity of the Year: Phil Hobden - the movie mogul and super connector Jonathan Gaunt - the tech innovator and funniest meme maker Lucy Cohen - the unstoppable force for good and everyone's favourite ride or die Sumit Agarwal ACA ACMA - the self-made entrepreneur with charisma for days Congratulations to you all. We are proud to support this award. If you want to hear more about why these people, then follow us for more updates. But as they're Deity-worthy - we're certain you'll all know why!

This shortlist showcases the intersection of raw talent and product-market fit when it all comes good. We're so excited to announce the Newcomers of the Year 2026. Well done to all those nominated, there's been a ground swell of newcomers this past 2 years. The shortlisted finalists are making waves in their respective lanes - we cannot wait to see who the winner is... Accounting Flow Ltd Briefcase Hey Monika Meshed Sodium Software If you haven't heard of these newcomers, then you'll be hearing more from them ahead of the awards. Stay in the loop with us and come along to the main event on the 14th of September in Manchester. This award made possible by Accountex - we'll be at AccountEx North on the 15th with a few sore heads... worth it!