"It is tailored to competing with major incumbent packages," says Jamie Sutherland, president of Xero's U.S. operations. Sutherland describes the entry as a "workflow management tool, project management and invoicing all rolled into one." It incorporates classic practice functions such as time and billing, but also offers document management. "At its very core, you can do lead management, you can convert a quote to a job," he continues

The concept is very similar to that of Office Tools Professional, which also provides online practice management application that is designed for firms that cannot afford the major products in the CPA market. Xero's Practice Manager edition is $99 per month with the five-user version priced at $149 per month. However, the company is offering partner accounting firms that sign up 20 workflow clients by the end of July the use of the product for free forever. Workflow Max tops out at 20 users.

Xero offers a mobile edition with an iPhone app that offers timesheet functionality.