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Xero Partners generate and retain a significant portion of Xero's subscription revenue, yet currently receive the same support pathway as general end-users.

Recent changes to support have introduced an AI chatbot as the mandatory first step for lodging cases. While this may be helpful for users seeking guidance or support articles, it creates substantial inefficiencies for experienced bookkeeping and accounting professionals who have already completed their own investigation.

For certified Xero Partners, support requests are rarely "how do I do this?" questions. They are typically:

• Product defects
• Reporting discrepancies
• Compliance concerns
• Data integrity issues
• Payroll and superannuation exceptions
• Escalations impacting multiple clients
• Matters requiring investigation rather than help articles

When a Partner submits a support case, they've often already:
• Reviewed Xero Central articles
• Tested the issue
• Investigated audit trails
• Gathered screenshots
• Identified reproduction steps
• Assessed accounting and compliance impacts

The current process requires:
1. Explaining the issue to an AI chatbot.
2. Having the chatbot rewrite the issue.
3. Opening the newly created support case.
4. Re-entering missing information.
5. Uploading attachments separately.
6. Receiving generic troubleshooting articles from a Xero support agent, despite already providing evidence the articles do not resolve the issue.

I propose a solution of creating a dedicated Partner Support pathway available to Xero-certified partners, features could include:

Direct Case Lodgement:
Allow Partners to create support cases directly without mandatory AI chatbot triage.

Full Case Authoring:
Allow Partners to write the support request in their own words so issue details, accounting context, and technical findings are not summarised or altered.

Partner Priority Routing:
Route Partner cases directly to experienced support specialists trained in accounting, payroll, reporting and platform investigations.

Intelligent Escalation:
Issues identified as bugs, compliance risks, reporting inaccuracies or data integrity concerns should be triaged directly to the relevant specialist teams without requiring multiple rounds of generic troubleshooting and redirects to post them as Product Ideas.

Acknowledgement of Partner Status:
Recognise that Xero Partners support hundreds of mutual clients and often identify product issues affecting a broader customer base.

Why This Matters:
The value of Partner support extends far beyond a single organisation. When a bookkeeping or accounting practice raises an issue, the impact often extends across dozens or hundreds of clients.

For example:
• A reporting change that removes a key compliance field can affect year-end reporting for hundreds of businesses.
• A payment processing defect can impact customer confidence and revenue collection.
• Payroll and superannuation reporting issues can create compliance risks across multiple client files.

These issues require investigation, not links to help articles.

Partners are not asking for preferential treatment. They are asking for an efficient pathway to engage with Xero when a genuine product, reporting, compliance or platform issue has already been identified.

A dedicated Partner Support experience would improve:
• Resolution times
• Product quality feedback
• Identification of platform defects
• Partner satisfaction
• Client retention
• Trust between Xero and its partner network

Given the critical role Xero Partners play in attracting, supporting and retaining Xero subscribers, a support model designed specifically for experienced accounting professionals would provide significant value for both Partners and Xero.