Today at its Xerocon South conference in Brisbane, Xero unveiled its chatbot – codenamed Hey Xero – which will provide small businesses and their advisors with a new way to access the Xero ecosystem and their accounting data.

Available later this year, Hey Xero will have the capability to connect small businesses who use Facebook Messenger into the wider Xero ecosystem.

Using Hey Xero, businesses will be able to access the Xero Advisor Directory and be recommended a suitable accountant or bookkeeper in their area. Xero subscribers will also be able to discover new apps in the Xero ecosystem and query their latest financial data, such as who owes them money or when their next bill is due.

Rod Drury, Xero’s CEO, said in a press release: “Connecting the more than 50 million small businesses on Facebook Messenger with accountants is a huge opportunity for our industry. We’re opening up access to accounting software, solutions and advisors to help millions of small businesses be more productive and get the advice they need to grow and create jobs.”

Developed on Amazon Web Services, Hey Xero will enable small businesses to talk to their accounting system without leaving Facebook to better understand their business.

Xero is also working to make the tools available to other messaging platforms such as Slack and Apple iOS in the future, enabling Xero subscribers and new customers to access their accounting dashboard from their platform or device of choice.