Xero Sustainability
by Xero 29/04/2026
by Xero 29/04/2026
This article was contributed by Xero.
Xero operates sustainably, respecting the planet, and supporting our communities and our people to thrive
We’re committed to acting with integrity and authenticity and to be transparent about what we do and how we do it. Fundamental to our culture is that our people believe in our purpose which is to make life better for small businesses, their advisors and communities around the world. The power of this purpose cannot be overstated. It provides a unifying energy that brings our people, our partners and our customers together to do their best work, and collectively we achieve great things. 65% of our people consider sustainability so important that they’d consider leaving Xero if we didn’t live our sustainability commitments through our actions, and more than three quarters of our people were attracted to working at Xero because of our commitment to sustainability. At Xero, we think about sustainability in terms of four pillars: – The Xero Way: Being a responsible business wherever we operate – Our people: Creating a workplace where top talent has a sense of belonging and can do the best work of their lives – Our partners and communities: Amplifying our positive impact by providing sustainability solutions for our customers – Our environment: Minimising our environmental footprint and growimg our business as the climate changes Key milestones – Since FY20, we have been certified carbon neutral by the Australian Government’s Climate Active program and offset 100% of our carbon emissions with nature-positive investments, including in biodiversity conservation. – In FY22, we set climate targets aligned with climate science across our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. – In FY23, we launched the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, which provides grants for small businesses to take the next step in innovating for sustainability, connecting with community, or investing in upskilling and technology – In FY24 we partnered with Sumday and Greenly to bring high-quality carbon accounting solutions to Xero customers around the world What’s next? As a SaaS business, with a carbon footprint heavily weighted towards Scope 3 (98%+), we’re exploring new and innovative ways to invest in decarbonising our supply chain and our key sources of Scope 3 emissions.
Xero’s environmental sustainability program, Net Zero @ Xero, represents our journey towards net-zero* carbon emissions by 2050. Xero has offset 100% of its carbon emissions since FY19 and has been certified carbon neutral by the Australian Government’s Climate Active program since FY20. *Emissions reduced to a point where fewer than 10 percent of total emissions require abatement through offsets as defined by the Science Based Targets initiative Net-Zero guidance. Xero will work towards achieving these targets by focusing on the areas of increased renewable energy uptake, being more strategic about business travel, and switching to more sustainable catering wherever possible.
To maximise our impact through our supply chain, we’re continually looking at ways to make more sustainable purchasing decisions in our everyday work. We’ve developed our Supplier Code in line with global principles, including the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It sets out the minimum standards that we expect of our suppliers in areas such as modern slavery, labour and human rights, bribery and corruption. Our approach to supplier due diligence is determined by the level of risk the relationship and procurement engagement is subject to. Detailed supplier assessments are a new control we have started to implement in FY24 to better understand suppliers’ performance and management of ESG issues. Since 2019, our Annual Reports are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accredited and are printed with vegetable inks. Our major vendor, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is committed to running its business in the most environmentally friendly way possible and achieving 100% renewable energy usage for its global infrastructure by 2025. We’re also working with AWS to determine how we can optimise infrastructure utilisation.
We’re committed to connecting our customers with the most relevant, scalable resources and support models to help them operate in an environmentally conscious way. Several of our Xero app partners are helping small businesses operate more sustainably. They offer a range of capabilities such as carbon measurement and management. For example, Xero’s global partnership with Sumday, the advisor-first carbon accounting platform, helps accountants and bookkeepers globally to manage their own and their clients’ carbon accounting. Learn more at the Xero App Store.
Part of managing our sustainability at Xero is supporting small businesses to become more sustainable and helping them operate in socially and environmentally responsible ways. Of the small businesses surveyed by Xero, 68% told us they wanted to become more sustainable but needed help achieving this. Xero’s small business sustainability hub includes helpful information and resources from across the globe to help our small business customers and partners to achieve their sustainability goals.
At Xero, we create an environment where people want to work in our team and love what they do. Xero’s culture and the way in which we live our values every day are something for which we are widely known, and we’ve been recognised in multiple countries as one of the best places to work. We provide our people with the freedom to shape their career and do the best work of their lives. Xero actively supports diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace. We recognise that a diverse workforce is a strength that enables businesses, including ours, to better understand and serve customers, attract top talent and innovate successfully. In 2021 we formally launched our global Employee Resource Group (ERG) program to provide an opportunity to foster a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace aligned with our mission, values, goals, business practices, and objectives. Focusing on gender diversity has always been a priority for us as we’re keen to get more women into the tech sector, ensure we have good female representation across our management levels, and remove any roadblocks to gender equality in all aspects of life at Xero. We know this drives better business outcomes not only for Xero but for our small business partners and customers. We regularly track our diversity data for internal monitoring and accountability. As part of this work, we conduct an annual organisation-wide pay equity review at Xero and communicate results to employees.
We are continually improving our recycling methods. We already: – recycle paper, glass, hard plastic, aluminium and tin cans and cardboard – undertake composting where these services are available in leased offices – have eliminated the use of bottled water in all offices – endeavour to source all paper for printing from FSC/PEFC sources – use paper hand towels and toilet paper from recycled FSC/PEFC sources where we have direct control of supplies – procure recycling services for printer toner cartridges, batteries and electronic waste – return leased IT equipment (principally laptops) at the end of its life – recycle non-leased IT equipment (printers, screens etc) where possible via certified e-waste companies As part of our Net Zero @ Xero program, our initiatives and employee commitment to waste minimisation and recycling saw Xero achieve a 52.7% diversion of waste from landfill in FY24*. * FY24 waste diversion and recycling has been calculated using an extrapolation of activity data from the 10 months of the financial year (1 April to 31 January). This number will be amended in the FY25 Annual Report using the full financial year activity data.
From FY24 baseline
Share of suppliers defined as a proportion of total emissions
From FY24 baseline
Emissions reduced to a point where fewer than 10 percent of total emissions require abatement through offsets as defined by the Science Based Targets initiative Net-Zero guidance.
Report – Sustainability
Certificate – Membership
Report – Carbon
Report – Governance
