National Australia Bank (NAB) and Xero have announced a landmark partnership that will make life easier for small business owners by greatly reducing administrative burdens for customers.

For the first time, Xero’s all-cloud accounting environment will connect with NAB’s Application Programming Interface (API) to deliver new, innovative services that simplify and automate administration tasks for small businesses.

NAB Executive General Manager Digital & Direct Banking, Adam Bennett, said small businesses and their advisers — including accountants, bookkeepers, and financial advisers — could now spend less time entering data and filing paperwork, and more time on helping to grow their businesses.

“NAB customers will now be able to connect their banking information to Xero instantly and seamlessly, providing greater visibility of their cash flow in real-time and across all accounts,” Mr Bennett said.

“Small businesses will no longer have to wait up to ten days to have their bank accounts connected to their accounting software, with all of the work being done for them instantly.”

NAB is the first Australian bank with core API technology linked to Xero’s accounting cloud ecosystems. This creates a secure communication between NAB Internet Banking and Xero’s accounting dashboard, allowing small businesses to instantly connect their NAB banking products at the click of a button.

Xero Australia Managing Director, Chris Ridd, said this market–leading capability would provide small businesses with the vital information they need to easily reconcile their invoices, understand their tax obligations, and track their cashflow in Xero in real-time.

“Ever since we introduced bank feeds in Xero eight years ago, our customers have loved the ability to link their bank accounts with their online accounting software to get a better view of their cashflow,” Mr Ridd said.

“Now Xero customers who bank with National Australia Bank will get best-in-market, direct bank feeds, making it much easier to track finances and help their business’s succeed.”

NAB customers who use Xero will be able to set up their bank feeds online, receiving secure, real-time confirmation in both NAB Internet Banking and Xero. Once established, these feeds will appear the next morning and refresh daily.

The partnership will also provide opportunities for customers to benefit from market-leading services including NAB product and lending enquiries accessible within Xero.

NAB small business customers will be able to access this functionality via NAB Internet Banking from May 2015 onwards.

Xero has more than 200,000 customers in Australia and 400,000 globally, and is growing quickly as businesses realise the efficiency and improvements afforded by cloud accounting.