More Best Practice XPM Setup Every Firm Should Use

In Part 1, Amy Holdsworth from Clarity Street and Ben Barker from AccountKit shared the foundations of a clean XPM setup: job structures, templates, WIP, and habits that make data reliable.

This follow-up session picked up right where that left off.

They explored how to price upfront in XPM, automate ATO work safely, and build reports that actually help you make better decisions.

This session focused on what best practice looks like once your foundations are already in place.

Here’s what they covered.

This blog is based on a recent webinar. If you’d rather watch, here’s the recording.

Using XPM for upfront pricing

When asked where most firms go wrong with upfront pricing, Amy’s answer was simple: most of them just don’t do it.

“There’s a quote function in XPM, and it works really well. You go quote, once the quote’s accepted, it automatically creates the job, and from there it’s ready to raise the invoice.”

She explained that many firms overlook this feature, often because they’re distracted by other quoting tools or simply don’t realise XPM has one built in.

The process itself is easy:

1. Create a quote in XPM.
2. Once the client agrees (usually via email), you manually mark it as accepted.
3. The quote converts into a job and prepares an invoice automatically.

The challenge, Amy said, isn’t the tech. It’s the mindset.

“Moving to upfront pricing isn’t about how hard it is to do. It’s about how comfortable you are being transparent. Accountants have been taught to think in hours. But those hourly rates were made up by someone in their infinite wisdom years ago. So why not price for value instead?”

Ben agreed that the quoting feature makes it easy to test this approach.

“Even if you don’t make money on year one, at least you’ve been paid upfront. Then use the markup feature to adjust the price next year if needed.”

Amy added that she’s seeing more firms adopt a blended model of retainers, upfront clients, and WIP-based billing, with XPM easily supporting all three.

Automating ATO jobs and reporting

When the conversation shifted to ATO automation, Amy and Ben discussed how firms can use the ATO Online Services area within XPM to clean up lodgement data and create consistency.

Amy recommended firms run the Income Tax Client Report weekly to update due dates and cross-check clients between XPM and ATO lists.

“Run it on a Friday before you leave, then check it Monday morning. It keeps your databases clean and up to date.”

She also showed how to enable automatic activity statement creation, but with a warning attached:

“It’s powerful, but use it carefully. If you turn it on, it’ll create jobs for every client with an activity statement. That can mean hundreds of jobs overnight. Test it, see how it behaves, and turn it off if it doesn’t suit your workflow.”

Alex added that the lack of a testing environment makes this a “buyer-beware” feature. Amy agreed, saying the key is communication with your team and clear expectations before you switch it on.