Xero (ASX:XRO) has launched "XeroForce", an invite-only artificial intelligence (AI) tool that lets small businesses and accountants build natural-language automation agents to streamline accounting workflows, connect third-party applications, and improve compliance without coding, according to a Thursday statement.

The agent is designed as an orchestration layer for accounting tasks such as month-end close, reporting, tax document management, purchase order validation, and payroll approvals, incorporating domain-specific accounting logic to ensure compliance and reliability.

The tool also supports always-on agents that operate across time-based events, provides full audit trails for traceability, and enables accountants to run bulk workflows across multiple clients.

The company's shares fell 6% in recent Thursday trade.