30th October, 2020
Issuing invoices is one thing, but receiving payment in a reasonable time is too often a different story. ezyCollect works with MYOB software to bridge the gap.
From sole traders to big business, unless you’re accepting money up front, chances are your cash flow has been impacted by late invoice payments.
Businesses have struggled with the issue of late payments since invoices began, leading many to spend significant amounts chasing debtors and further eroding revenue.
This is particularly bad for high-growth as well as struggling businesses as, without ready access to reserves, a sudden hit to cash flow can derail critical activities.
Today, new tech-led processes are shining a light on this issue, and working hard to fix it. This is being achieved by moving businesses away from paper-based invoicing and into faster, integrated online systems.
One such solution is ezyCollect, which integrates with MYOB software to present a comprehensive eInvoicing solution for a wide range of businesses.
To find out why ezyCollect and MYOB are securing more invoice payments than ever, we recently interviewed ezyCollect channel manager, Graham Bowers.
Graham’s career actually began in accounting, but he later evolved a nose for tech, getting in early in the software development game. Then, a foray into marketing and advertising led him to selling software for big tech brands like Sage and MYOB.
The following is a transcript of our discussion on ezyCollect and the future of eInvoicing.
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Can we start with ezyCollect’s story? Where has it come from and where is it going?
ezyCollect was born from necessity. AJ Singh, then managing the family’s medical supplies distribution company, nearly lost the otherwise thriving business to late payments.
Enter Raj Kuckreja, a University mate who was engaged as a Chartered Accountant for the business. Together, they started the ‘ultimate wishlist’ for the dream software that would solve the pain of late payments.
In 2014, the pair registered their new business, ezyCollect.
ezyCollect welcomed its first paying customer in 2015 and the rest is history. Today, thousands of business operators globally rely on ezyCollect to help them get paid on time.
What kind of client base does ezyCollect support? Has this changed over time?
ezyCollect clients are from a wide base of industries. The product is not industry-centric, but rather caters to businesses dealing in invoicing and credit terms, whether that be service or product. E-commerce and payment-before-delivery business do not suit the ezyCollect model, which is designed for improving collections and reducing debtor risk.
In total, ezyCollect now has more than 1200 clients and our portal handles over $1.7 billion in payments annually.
What are some of the specific challenges the ezyCollect has faced since launch?
The key challenges have been the same as any startup: funding, growth and establishing the product in the marketplace.
In February 2020, ezyCollect completed the latest round of fundraising — $7.1 million to support continued growth, product development and market penetration
Today, what are the types of services ezyCollect offers and what’s unique about this offering?
ezyCollect offers three platforms, which can operate independently or in a combined, single dashboard
Workflows — this is the collection engine, which interfaces with the accounting or ERP system to reduce overdue debt through a collection methodology that reduces overdue amounts by up to 70 percent. It also includes a payment portal to allow customers to pay easily and conveniently
Credit Insights — this module gives our customers a risk analysis of the debtors to allow them to see ongoing weaknesses in their books, based on external data, matched to their own payment history of their accounts. It also allows credit applications to be done with real data, while real-time monitoring on worrying accounts provides additional metrics to better manage the customer-on-credit base.
Simply Paid — a payment portal, linked to your ERP, to allow customers to pay their bills and for those transactions to be written back automatically to the debtors ledger
What are some of the specific challenges ezyCollect and its clients have faced this year and how are you working to alleviate them?
The largest challenge in 2020 has of course been the pandemic. Many businesses were starved of cash and ezyCollect became a critical tool.
ezyCollect assisted many businesses sign on in March through June via the Business Support Program (BSP), which allowed businesses to sign up at no charge and no risk to use the product during these times in order to more easily collect cash.
Once the BSP finished, most customers continued to use the paid service as they could see the value it added to their cash flow
The major challenge our clients continue to face are recessionary pressures which impact cash flow, so ezyCollect will always be a critical tool in this space.
What are specific challenges businesses currently face that ezyCollect and MYOB solve in tandem?
The biggest challenge that most businesses always face, especially in the small-to-medium business space is usually cash flow, and as an integrated add-on to MYOB software, ezyCollect can assist with that and in many cases alleviate it.
A secondary issue MYOB and ezyCollect solve together, are the problems that arise from inadequate or outdated processes in accounts management, which can further complicate debtor management. Using an accounting or ERP software like MYOB in combination with ezyCollect means you have all the right information in the right place.
Our partnership with MYOB provides a unique opportunity to bring awareness of these solutions to both business decision makers as well as their accounting and bookkeeping advisors.
What does the future of this space look like?
The space is very positive, with ezyCollect integrated with all of the MYOB product line and will continue to improve and grow with the functionality of the MYOB product.
ezyCollect already has intelligence in terms of payments, automated workflows and write-back of information, and will continue to use the accounting system or ERP as the source of truth.
We will also continue to use data in increasingly innovative ways, such as providing enhanced credit information to give customers more insight into their debtors, so they have more confidence in getting paid on time.
Learn about how ezyCollect and MYOB can help you solve your cash flow woes by getting paid faster.