Sales tax automation
Delivered automated sales-tax filing with Singapore's tax authority by driving customer discovery for a brand-new team, increasing new subscriptions by 120%.
Xero launched GST automation in Singapore to close a broken filing experience. Customers had to leave the product to file with the government, re-enter data by hand, and guess at submission states that never confirmed. Trust eroded with every filing. The work was triggered by a new government filing API with strict certification deadlines. If we missed it, Xero would be forced out of the market.
- Product
- Xero
- My role
- Lead Designer
- Impact
- 75% decrease in submission time
120% increase in new subscriptions
Challenge
This was a net-new team building for a market we didn't yet understand. Filing happened outside Xero, in government systems we had no visibility into, so we didn't know how Singaporean customers actually worked. We had to design a compliant, trustworthy filing experience without a clear picture of the behaviour we were designing for.
Discovery
Through research, workflow mapping, and usability testing, several clear patterns emerged.
Manual re-entry
Re-entering data into government systems was the largest source of filing errors and frustration.
Missing status
States like "Draft" and "Finalised" did not reflect real submission progress, which eroded confidence.
Governmental authority
Users consistently trusted government confirmation more than in-app acknowledgements.
Filing roles
Owners, accountants, and split preparer/filer teams each demanded a different authentication model.
Solution
I designed a GST flow that let customers submit directly to the government from inside Xero, removing the manual re-entry behind most filing errors. Submission states were reworked to reflect real progress, replacing the old "Draft" and "Finalised" labels that didn't. Confirmation surfaced through direct links to the government portal, since research showed users trusted government confirmation over in-app messages. Filing roles for owners, accountants, and firm preparers were each handled through the right authentication path.
Validation
I led moderated usability testing with accountants and small businesses, facilitated live stakeholder watch sessions to align product and engineering, and ran a closed beta with real customer accounts. During beta we caught a critical authentication issue that blocked accountants from filing on behalf of their clients. Left unresolved, no beta participant could have filed and launch would have slipped. Fixing it enabled every participant to file successfully before launch.
Business impact
The work resulted in a 120% increase in new subscriptions in Singapore and an average revenue per user of $35. It significantly improved trust in Xero for end-to-end tax compliance and established a scalable foundation for future government integrations.