How Flinks Cut DSO by 43% in 6 Months with Autopay and Payments by Upflow

Flinks, a leading financial data connectivity and open banking platform, wanted to take their cash collection process to a new level, to further reduce payment delays and improve their cash flow. Migrating to Payments by Upflow, from their previous payment processor, was seamless and enabled them to unify financial operations within a single system.

2X increase

in customers signed up to autopay within 2 months (March vs. January 2025) post-migration

Millions

in card payments migrated in 1 month from their former payment processor

43% DSO reduction

in 6 months (49 days in June 2024 to 28 days in December 2024, and steady thereafter)

Mission statement

Flinks enables financial institutions and fintechs to create better financial products and services with secure, reliable data connectivity and innovative open banking solutions.

FTEs

100

Industry

SaaS

Offices

Montreal, Canada

Stack integrated with Upflow:

NetSuite

Challenges before Upflow

Before migrating to Upflow’s payment processing solution (Payments by Upflow), Flinks had major issues in their payment processes, impacting efficiency, cash flow, and overall finances.

Disconnect Between AR and Payments

Accounts Receivable (AR) was managed separately from payment processing, requiring a great deal of manual effort to administer invoices, follow up on delinquent payments, and reconcile accounts. The fragmented system created inefficiency, errors, and a waste of internal resources.

Late Payments & Elevated Risk of Bad Debt

This disconnect had other implications. Since Flinks had very few customers’ payment methods on file, the majority of invoices needed to be handled by customers manually. As a result, late payments were becoming a growing issue. This raised the danger of overdue invoices turning into bad debt, which further jeopardized cash flow and financial planning. These issues delayed revenue realization and put a strain on customer relationships, with Flinks finding themselves having to chase payments quite aggressively.

"We were in a situation where we were invoicing without having saved payment terms, so payments were being delayed and we were at higher risk of bad debt. Timing is everything with collections—if it goes past 90 days, the chances of collection are much less," Virgile notes.

Outdated Payment Processing Holding Flinks Back

Flinks' prior payment processor was just that—a processor. It did not have the robust features, flexibility, and pace of innovation Flinks required to process payments effortlessly. The slow rate of innovation by the provider, its failure to keep up with Flinks' evolving expectations and the added issue of unresponsive support made it apparent Flinks needed a better solution.

We were in a situation where we were invoicing without having saved payment terms, so payments were being delayed and we were at higher risk of bad debt.

Why Flinks chose Upflow

Flinks’ shift to Upflow for payment processing was motivated by some key factors:

Bringing AR and Payments Together for Better Financial Control & Visibility: Flinks had been using Upflow for cash collection automation and analytics for a while. When they heard that Upflow was launching Payments, Virgile and the team did not want to pass up the chance to unify payment processing with their AR. Bringing AR and payments together meant Flinks could make the most of synergies and create a frictionless payment experience for their customers.
Deep Integration with NetSuite & Automated Reconciliation: Upflow’s native integration with NetSuite replaced what was previously managed across three different systems, automating reconciliation and reducing manual work. This streamlined financial operations, ensured more accurate reporting, and allowed Flinks to fully trust their data in NetSuite, maintaining it as their single source of truth.
Continuous Enhancement and Responsive Service: "What we appreciate about Upflow is that they actually listen to us regarding our requirements and continuously improve their solution," mentions Virgile. Upflow was more responsive and receptive to feedback than their prior provider, giving Virgile and the team the sense that the solution was being built and improved with their needs in mind.

What we appreciate about Upflow is that they actually listen to us regarding our requirements and continuously improve their solution.

Results with Upflow

Since adopting Payments by Upflow, Flinks has made its internal processes more efficient, automated, and transparent.

“Having it all in one place with Upflow has made our lives so much easier. The information is accurate, and it's enabled us to make more informed business decisions," Virgile adds.

Being able to migrate millions in card payments from their former payment processor to Upflow within a month spoke volumes about the ease and speed of migration.

Flinks now has 100% of their credit card payments migrated to Upflow and aren't looking back!

"The transition was flawless in the end, and we migrated a high volume of payments very swiftly," Virgile noted.

Having it all in one place with Upflow has made our lives so much easier. The information is accurate, and it's enabled us to make more informed business decisions.

Autopay helps reduce DSO

Added to that, managing AR and payments together has simplified things operationally by a long way.

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) has been reduced by 43% in just 6 months, meaning quicker payment collection, enhanced cash flow, and reduced write-offs.

One specific approach Flinks has taken to achieve this result is systematically prompting customers to save a payment method during onboarding and opt into Autopay. This strategy doubled the number of customers on Autopay in just two months—customers who now have payments automatically ‘pulled’ from their saved method on the invoice due date.

Added to that, from January to March 2025, Flinks saw a 1.8x increase in the number of unique customers that processed payments with credit cards.

With more customers paying via credit cards on Autopay, Flinks has drastically reduced the time spent on manual collections while driving a new level of revenue predictability.

Payment portal drives internal collaboration

Beyond these operational efficiencies, Upflow’s secure, white-labeled customer payment portal has enabled seamless collaboration between Flinks’ Sales and Finance teams—all out of the box, with no need for custom development. Sales teams guide customers to the portal to manage payments effortlessly, while Finance maintains control and oversight.

Because the portal is fully branded and hosted at a custom URL, the payment experience feels native and trustworthy for Flinks’ customers, reinforcing their brand at every touchpoint and making transactions smooth and secure.

Flinks' experience shows that high payment volumes can be migrated efficiently and effectively, enhancing cash flow and reducing financial complexity. For any business planning to unify payments and AR within a single system, Upflow provides the speed, reliability, and control to scale with confidence.

Finance Teams

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