No company wants to be paid more slowly. no one wants to park his financial operations with a larger company. And no one wants to pay more fees for banking and financial products.
However, that is the situation for many small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are found. Their business ecosystem is often limited to what they know and what they think they can afford to expand. PYMNTS Intelligence found that only 5% of the largest SMBs have digitized their payments processes, despite recognizing the value of doing so.
BILLwhich processes more than 1% of US GDP on behalf of small businesses, has made the expansion of this ecosystem part of its essential mission. Digitizing and expanding the SME ecosystem represents a totally new opportunity for financial technology companies to improve how do they manage your financial operations, Mary Kay Bowmansaid Karen Webster, executive vice president of payments and financial services at BILL.
“We like to talk about our financial operations as a platform,” he said. “And it’s not just the softwareis also the services that surround it. and if You have that platform, it can be used. across all of your trusted partners. When I think about bringing a level of customer empathy to this ongoing effort to deliver optimal results technology and financial services and services for small businesses, it’s really about saying, butYeah “If we don’t make it better for them, they would have to do it themselves.”
Part of Bowman and BILL’s challenge lies in the diverse nature of the small business sector. With approximately 33 million small businesses in the U.S., there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Not all small businesses are the same and it is a mistake to see them as a single segment with obvious differences at a firmographic and psychographic level, he stated.
The BILLET approach
BILL’s focus is on providing software that can digitize various financial documents, from invoices and quotes to contracts and purchase orders. This digital-first strategy aims to make the transition from paper-based processes more attractive and efficient for SMEs.
“We’re looking at the software side to make those things that were paper-based, digital,” Bowman said. “And then how do we connect the payment or the movement of money also with the preferred and more digitally optimized payment method?”
A key aspect of BILL’s approach is the integration of software and payment processing. Combining these elements, The company aims to streamline the transition from paper-based systems to digital processes. This integration allows for more optimized and preferred payment methods, improving cash flow management for SMEs. The platform also facilitates better visibility and transparency between SMEs and their accountants.
“Accountants are some of small businesses’ most trusted partners, but they don’t live in small businesses every day,” Bowman said. “So we can provide great visibility, great transparency and great speed between the accounting partner and the SME.”
The evolution of BILL
As the SME financial trading platform evolves, BILL is focusing in simplifying processes while maintaining strict regulatory compliance.
“we are regulated in all 50 states,” Bowman said. “And that is one of the reasons why SMEs can really trust us. And that extends not only to SMEs. themselves, but also to its commercial partners, the banks that They work with them and their accountants.”
considering that many SMEs accounts receivable they are tied In addition to ad hoc payments, which are unpredictable and non-recurring, paper payments can create friction when SMEs try to convert those receivables into cash. SME owners can be busy, juggling multiple roles at once and indeed They have a reputation for being feisty entrepreneurs, he said.
technology as tool, aimed at helping them manage their businesses more skillfully, There may be a change, and BILL’s roadmap is to help turn paper into what Bowman called “digital assets.”
The issue has multiple threads, he said, adding that SMBs have some influence (but not extensive) in getting larger buyers to stop using checks. The availability of platforms like BILL to “receive” analog payments on one side of the transaction and digitize them. for the benefit of the SME helps smooth cash flows.
“We are moving from one standard to another, from paper to digital,” he said.
Beyond simply modernizing accounts payable and accounts departments, however, “there are all these things in between that didn’t start digitally or somehow became manual or paper-based along the way,” he said. “…We are solving obstacles in the transition process, moving companies towards a digitalized future that is efficient and lower cost, with greater cash flows.”
The platform model also helps to forge B2B ecosystems, as the firm has done associations with accounting and banking partners of SMEsBowman said..
“We have built our systems ‘together’ with those players in mind, instead of trying to put them together after the fact,” he said.
Interconnection alleviates the technical push for SMBs by converting their systems to what accountants and banks want to “see” from those small business customers.she said.
“We can provide some of that backbone with our payment software and services,” Bowman said.
Forging that interconnection for SMBs is a natural fit for Bowman, widely known as an innovator in the payments industry, having worked on payments strategies and platforms at Amazon, Visa and Square, to name just a few of the heavyweights in technology and digital transformations. .
Looking forwardBILL’s mission is clearBowman said.. The company brings “the benefits of next-generation, next-generation financial and payment services, from intelligence to technology, to small businesses so that that they can prosper.”
By By addressing common pain points such as slow payments, high fees and complex management processes, BILL aims to transform the financial landscape of SMEs, allowing them to focus on growth and innovation rather than administrative tasks.she said.
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