How Karver reduced its DSO by 10 days through consistent payment reminders

Founded in 2004, Karver manufactures deck hardware for all types of sailing boats (racing yachts, leisure yachts and super yachts). Since 2021, Karver has been using LeanPay to optimise its collections processes.

We met Bruno Vandome, Administrative and Financial Director, and Mélanie Bourdon, Sales Support Assistant, who shared their experience and the concrete impact of LeanPay on their organisation.

Before LeanPay

Reminders targeted only at specific customers due to lack of time

100 % manual reminder process

One full week spent each month on follow-ups

DSO: 60 days

Overdue invoices: 12 - 13 % of revenue

With LeanPay

Systematic reminders for every overdue customer

Reminders automatically prepared by LeanPay

Only a day and a half needed for follow-ups

DSO: 50 days

Overdue invoices: 6 % of revenue

A manual, irregular and time-consuming reminder process

Karver serves a diverse customer base of racers, professional networks, riggers, sailmakers and skippers. The company operates mainly internationally, with 70 % of its revenue generated from exports.

Payment terms vary by customer: most have 30-day terms, while some foreign distributors benefit from 60 days. The invoicing process is managed via the ERP Cegid PMI Manufacturing, which generates invoices once the delivery note is issued. The documents are then sent to customers by email.

Before using LeanPay, the follow-up process was entirely manual.

“Every week, we went through the bank payments to check which invoices had been settled. Then we exported an aging balance from the ERP to identify the remaining ones,” explains Mélanie Bourdon.

This process was time-consuming and tedious. Information was scattered between the ERP, email inboxes and spreadsheets. Each reminder had to be written individually.

“It was quite time-consuming,” confirms Bruno Vandome. “We followed up whenever we had time. At best once a month, but sometimes it was hard to keep up,” adds Mélanie Bourdon.

Due to lack of time, it was impossible to follow up with every overdue customer.

“We tried to be selective: we only chased those who were very late or owed large amounts,” she explains.

To streamline collections and improve cash flow, Karver began looking for a suitable tool.

“I compared several options. It was important that the software could connect with our ERP. We also needed multilingual reminders, as many of our customers are based abroad,” says Bruno Vandome.

LeanPay, an accounts receivable software tailored to Karver’s needs

With LeanPay, data is automatically extracted from the general ledger exported from the ERP.

Bruno Vandome mainly uses the dashboard for a consolidated view. “The overview with the aging balance, DSO, major invoices and monthly cash inflows is extremely useful,” he notes.

Mélanie Bourdon, who handles customer reminders, has configured different reminder scenarios for French and international customers.

“We have several reminder levels. For France, four steps (two emails followed by two letters). For English, just two emails.”

She describes her daily use: “I still use the ERP aging balance to monitor customers. I check each name in LeanPay to ensure data consistency, review the reminder email and click send.”

Reminders are sent directly from their email addresses, with sales reps copied in.

“It’s also helpful to see if the customer received and opened the message,” adds Bruno Vandome.

Occasionally, they also use other features such as online payment links, dispute tracking and litigation files.

Their next goals in LeanPay are credit risk management and automation. As long-time Creditsafe users, they plan to connect both tools to automatically pull in credit scores and credit limits. They also aim to automate pre-due date notifications and the first reminder for French customers.

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Time savings and a 10-day DSO reduction

For over three years, Mélanie Bourdon and Bruno Vandome have used LeanPay daily and the benefits are clear.

Operationally, the time saved is significant. “It saved my life! What used to take a full week now takes barely a day and a half!” says Mélanie Bourdon enthusiastically.

She also noticed that consistency in reminders directly impacts results. For example, when she returned from maternity leave last September, their DSO stood at 60 days. “I got straight back into customer reminders from October to December, and the DSO fell to 50 days.”

The amount of overdue invoices has also decreased.

“We used to have more than 250 000 €, around 12 - 13 % of turnover. Now we’re down to 6 %. It’s consistency that makes the difference,” she explains.

The intuitive design of LeanPay helps maintain that rhythm. “If Mélanie is on holiday, someone else can easily take over. The emails are pre-written, and they just need to click send. It’s intuitive, even for someone who isn’t tech-savvy,” says Bruno Vandome.

Finally, regular reminders have improved Karver’s professional image. “Following up more often gives us a better image, a more serious one,” he concludes.

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