Liston Newton hits 98.7% direct debit adoption by automating Xero subscription billing

Before Rechargly, Liston Newton managed Xero subscription billing through Ignition, spreadsheets, and manual updates across client proposals.

With a 50-person team and a six-figure annual spend on Xero subscriptions, keeping billing accurate had become increasingly difficult. Price changes, client upgrades, and manual processes led to missed charges and inconsistent billing.

Since implementing Rechargly and Practice Connect, the firm has automated subscription billing, introduced direct debit for clients, and centralised cost tracking. The team has reduced admin time by 50% and achieved 98.7% client adoption of direct debit.

The result is a more accurate, scalable billing system with improved cash flow and reduced operational overhead.

At-a-glance stats

• Firm size: 50 team members
• Location: South Melbourne, Australia (with teams in India and the Philippines)
• Client type: SMEs requiring full-service accounting, advisory, and financial services
• Core systems: Xero, Xero Practice Manager, Practice Connect
• Key outcome: Automated subscription billing and transitioned clients to direct debit
• Efficiency gain: 50% reduction in admin time managing subscriptions

Before: What life looked like pre-change

Context

Liston Newton Advisory is a South Melbourne–based accounting and advisory firm with offices across Australia and a distributed team across multiple regions.

The firm provides a full suite of services, including accounting, tax, advisory, financial planning, and lending. As the business scaled, so did the complexity of managing software subscriptions on behalf of clients.

Old workflow

Subscription billing was managed through Ignition and supported by spreadsheets. The process typically involved:

• Monitoring Xero subscription invoices
• Manually updating pricing in client proposals
• Tracking annual subscriptions in spreadsheets
• Reconciling charges manually
• Communicating pricing changes to clients

Each price change required updates across multiple systems.

Where the process broke down

Manual proposal updates created bottlenecks

Every time Xero updated pricing, the team had to:

• Open each client proposal in Ignition
• Update subscription pricing manually
• Ensure the changes were reflected correctly

“Before Rechargly came into the picture, I would have to manually go into the system and update each service.” — Darriel Mendoza, HR Manager, Liston Newton

This process was time-consuming and difficult to maintain at scale.

Missed charges and pricing gaps

Because updates relied on manual input:

• Price increases were sometimes not applied
• Client upgrades or downgrades were missed
• Billing did not always reflect actual subscription costs

“There was a point where there was a Xero price increase but we didn’t have time to update the pricing, so we lost a couple of hundreds.” — Darriel Mendoza, HR Manager, Liston Newton

Spreadsheet tracking introduced errors

Annual subscriptions were tracked in spreadsheets using formulas such as VLOOKUP.

This created issues when:

• Client details changed
• Subscriptions were cancelled or updated
• Data consistency broke across systems

“When a client changed their organisation name, I couldn’t run my VLOOKUP.” — Darriel Mendoza, HR Manager, Liston Newton

This made reconciliation slow and unreliable.

The trigger

As subscription volume and complexity increased, it became clear that the existing process was not sustainable. Manual updates, spreadsheet reliance, and missed charges were creating inefficiencies and impacting revenue.

The firm needed a system that could automate billing, ensure accuracy, and integrate with existing workflows.

During: How the firm made the change

Implementation

Rechargly was introduced following a structured review process led by the firm’s leadership team.

The rollout focused on:

• Automating subscription billing
• Integrating with Xero and XPM
• Removing reliance on spreadsheets

“We didn’t want to make a decision based on what we heard. We needed to do our due diligence.” — Darriel Mendoza, HR Manager, Liston Newton

Automating subscription billing

Rechargly replaced Ignition for managing subscriptions.

• Pricing updates are now handled automatically
• Subscription charges reflect real-time changes
• Manual proposal edits are no longer required

“With Rechargly, that’s already automated in the background. That’s what we like most about it.” — Darriel Mendoza, HR Manager, Liston Newton

The firm also shifted to issuing separate subscription invoices instead of bundling them into engagements.

Integration with Practice Connect and XPM

Practice Connect was introduced alongside Rechargly to improve cost visibility.

• Subscription costs are pushed into Xero Practice Manager
• WIP reflects both time and software costs
• Client profitability can be tracked accurately

This removed the need for spreadsheet-based tracking.

Improving client billing and payments

Rechargly enabled a shift towards direct debit billing.

• Clients are billed automatically
• Payments are collected consistently
• Pricing updates are reflected without manual communication

This improved both cash flow and client experience.

The new playbook

The updated workflow is structured and automated:

• Subscription charges are captured from Xero
• Pricing updates are applied automatically
• Costs are synced into XPM via Practice Connect
• Clients are billed via direct debit

The process no longer relies on manual proposal updates or spreadsheets.

After: Results + proof

What changed (Before to After)

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Day-to-day impact

The team no longer needs to manually update proposals or reconcile subscription changes. Instead, billing runs automatically in the background, with pricing updates applied in real time and costs tracked within XPM. Admin workload has reduced significantly, and the process is more reliable and consistent.

Business impact

The improvements have delivered both operational and financial benefits:

• 50% reduction in admin time
• 98.7% of clients moved to direct debit
• Reduced revenue loss from missed pricing updates
• Improved accuracy across subscription billing

The firm now has a scalable system that supports continued growth.

Bottom line

Liston Newton replaced a manual, spreadsheet-driven billing process with an automated and integrated system. By combining Rechargly with Practice Connect, the firm improved billing accuracy, reduced admin time, and introduced a more consistent payment experience while gaining full visibility into subscription costs and client profitability.