SBA Compta, created in 2013, is one of the first start ups to disrupt the accounting industry with an innovative model combining fully digital accounting and dedicated business coaches who provide multidisciplinary advice.
We spoke with Ksenia Blandin, Chief Financial Officer, about her challenges with customer reminders, the implementation of LeanPay and the results obtained.
Before LeanPay
Customer reminders fully manual
2 to 3 days per month dedicated to reminders
Accounting staff with no visibility over their customers’ outstanding amounts and dependent on internal requests
With LeanPay
Simple validation of reminders already prepared
1 hour per month to manage reminders
Accounting staff fully autonomous with a clear view of unpaid accounts for their customers
Ksenia Blandin explains that she manages several accounting firms within the SBA Compta group, including B Experts, which is also a LeanPay customer. Each entity has its own accounting and Ksenia Blandin handles customer reminders for all firms.
“I used to do reminders every month and each time it took me three days. Everything was manual. I worked from an Excel file to track overdue invoices. I copied and pasted a reminder email template, listing the outstanding balances and detailing the invoices. I added PDF invoices as attachments. It was extremely time consuming, especially when registered letters were required because I also had to go to the post office,” she recalls.
The task became so time consuming that she had to stop chasing small customers who only had one or two unpaid invoices. “Most of our clients are small businesses whose core job is driving a taxi, running a hair salon and so on. Managing their invoices is not their priority. They do not have staff to handle this. They really rely on these reminders,” she observes.
Beyond the volume and time constraints, a third issue also emerged. “Our accountants, the business coaches, had no day to day visibility over their customers’ unpaid balances. I used to send them the customer ledgers once a month so they could see which payments had been made and which were still pending,” adds Ksenia Blandin.
Given these challenges, she decided to look for an accounts receivable software to simplify and streamline the process. “I contacted two providers. Socrate Tellier showed me LeanPay. It was the first tool I looked at and it matched exactly what I needed, so I did not even compare it with the second one.”
Ksenia also asked for feedback from an accounting firm already using LeanPay. She spoke with Fabien Corneillie of CTN France, who had significantly improved his reminders process. “He told me he loved the tool. He had been using it for several months and it had helped him recover outstanding amounts. He completely convinced me,” she says.
SBA Compta and B Experts both use Cegid for accounting. The recommended integration method is accounting synchronisation via customer ledger imports into LeanPay. Ksenia Blandin explains how the onboarding and internal rollout took place.
“We started with an onboarding call. The team was extremely patient with me. At the beginning, I asked questions every day to understand how everything worked. That was important because I then needed to explain it to the rest of the team.”
She also mentions the natural resistance to change that a new tool can create. “Everyone was enthusiastic when I presented LeanPay, but the rollout was still a bit challenging because adopting something new always takes time. Each team member has access to their own customer portfolio. Today, seven out of fifteen use it. I implemented LeanPay during the fiscal period and then came the holidays, so it is happening gradually.”
“From my side, once the settings were done, everything worked perfectly. It is very comfortable to use for monitoring unpaid balances and sending reminders. Plus I only need one login to manage several companies. You can switch very easily from one to another,” she adds.
Ksenia Blandin is already planning to extend LeanPay to more SBA Compta entities and even recommend it to their SME clients who struggle with late payments.
Ksenia Blandin is enthusiastic about the tool and has nothing but praise for it. “In June and July, I sent a huge number of reminders. I received many replies from customers who had simply forgotten their invoices. I can confirm that it works extremely well. I strongly recommend it to other companies with the same challenges. And the tool is very easy to use.”
For SBA Compta, LeanPay is more than just a collections tool. “It is not only a reminder software for our customers. It is also an internal tool for our staff. They are much more autonomous. They can complete the tax package by checking the customer’s outstanding balance, reviewing the history of exchanges or any payment plan I have set. They can also view invoices directly since the PDFs are attached to entries. They do not need me anymore and that is fantastic. It really changes things for our teams.”
The initial time saving objective has clearly been met. When she used to spend two to three days per month on the process, the situation is now completely different.
“I now spend one hour per month for both companies. And that includes everything from exporting customer ledgers to sending reminders.”
Ksenia Blandin also highlights the attentiveness and responsiveness of the LeanPay team. “At LeanPay, you really listen to your customers and I appreciate that a lot. For example, one of my customers gave feedback about the reminder email. He was worried about clicking the button labelled “Pay my invoices” because he thought he would be charged immediately without seeing them first. I asked Socrate to change the wording to “View and pay my invoices”. LeanPay updated it very quickly. The tool is regularly improved with new features. The team is always attentive, responsive and highly competent.”
LeanPay provides finance teams with an accounts receivable software to eliminate late payments and collect 100% of their revenue.
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