Xero Software in Accounting Education: Enhancing Digital Acumen and Employability

Mothelesi Charles () and Sibanda Julia ()
Additional contact information
Mothelesi Charles: University of Free State
Sibanda Julia: University of Free State

A chapter in Impacting Society Positively Through Technology in Accounting and Business Processes, 2025, pp 271-288 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This research investigates the effectiveness of Xero accounting software in enhancing digital acumen and employability within the context of South African accounting education. The study employed a multi-method approach with 839 accounting students; the research investigated how Xero accounting software impacted their digital acumen skills and job readiness. Data was collected through academic performance analysis (quantitative data) and student reflections (qualitative data). This data included students’ marks on the Xero assignment’s four phases (data migration, processing financial data, importation of financial data and extraction of financial reports). The study’s findings offer encouraging preliminary indications that Xero accounting software can contribute to the development of essential digital acumen skills and desirable graduate attributes. While the assignment presented challenges, it demonstrably achieved attainable learning goals and fostered increased student engagement. Additionally, the assignment provided valuable insights into students’ strengths and weaknesses for future attention once they have embarked on an employment opportunities search. This paper contributes to our understanding of how Xero accounting software can be utilised to foster meaningful participation and develop students’ digital acumen skills to meet the demands of the labour market.

Keywords: Accounting students; Continuous assessment; Digital acumen; Graduate attributes; Professional bodies; Xero accounting software (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-031-84885-8_14

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031848858

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-84885-8_14

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().