Every client is different and clients don't fit in a "box", says Ontrack Bookkeeping director Di Crawford-Errington.
Her Whangarei business has won the Xero New Zealand Bookkeeping Partner of the Year Award.
The accolade was delivered at Xerocon 2017 in Melbourne earlier this month, the biggest annual accounting conference in the Asia Pacific region with more than 3000 people attending.
The Xero Bookkeeping Partner of the Year award is given to a Xero partner who makes full use of Xero to provide exceptional service to small businesses in New Zealand.
As this year's winner, Ontrack demonstrated a commitment to educating staff and clients on the best use of Xero, the judges said.
"OnTrack demonstrated a depth of understanding of the value of automation in businesses practices and the amount of time it can free up for business owners.
"They were also able to show that human intuition, support and trust is vital to ensuring peace of mind for business owners and enables them to focus on their business and families.
"This model of balancing automation with genuine support showed that Ontrack are extremely client focused and aligned with Xero's mission of helping NZ small businesses flourish," the judges said.
Ms Crawford-Errington said the amount of experience her team had was a huge benefit to clients and the business.
"Every client is different and clients don't fit in a box. We celebrate the individuality of each client and have the ability to be agile and work in a way that works for them.
"We are very client centred when looking for solutions for our clients," she said.
This year's Xerocon Awards saw nine of New Zealand's leading bookkeepers apply for the Bookkeeper of the Year Award.
Ms Crawford-Errington said she was "totally blown away" by the win.
"Last year we won the Northland Regional Award, so I was delighted to take out the national award this year.
"Being recognised as the best NZ Bookkeeping Partner is pretty special.
"It's an absolute honour to be recognised nationally for the work we do, the time spent getting and staying certified, keeping up with the ever constant changes cloud technology brings and implementing best practice for our clients."
Ms Crawford-Errington, who also holds the NZ Bookkeepers Association National Trainer of the Year 2016 title, said the accolade meant a great deal to her business.
"For us, it's not just about helping a small business with their taxes or compliance, it's about working with them on the ground floor, understanding their challenges and providing solutions to their pain points.
"We are all about enabling successful businesses to create successful economies.
"Cloud technology has provided us an opportunity to transform the way we work with businesses.
"Winning this award gives us more credibility than ever before and instills more confidence in those wanting to do business with us."
Ontrack employs five staff and has clients throughout New Zealand, most based in Northland.
Xerocon 2017 was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 13-14. The Xero awards are held on Day 2 of Xerocon, and showcase the "heroes" among Xero's accounting, bookkeeping and app partners.
Winners were judged across a number of criteria including innovation, ability to boost productivity and provide client solutions, strong marketing strategies, certification and usage of cloud technology tools to provide value to clients.
The Xero network has more than 135,000 business advisers globally. The company has over one million subscribers in more than 180 countries. Xero seamlessly integrates with more than 500 apps.
It was ranked No. 1 by Forbes as the World's Most Innovative Growth Company for two years running, while Canstar Blue rated Xero Australia's best accounting software for three consecutive years.