How Hokodo Cut DSO by 75% and Increased Collections with Upflow
With Hokodo’s expansion into new markets, their team made it their top priority to implement a solution that would streamline and centralize AR management. With multiple spreadsheets for Accounts Receivable management and a decentralized collection strategy hindering the ability to scale, Hokodo turned to Upflow for the solution.
Blair Cooper
Head of Operations & Collections
20%
increase in cash collection rate, significantly boosting cash flow.
75%
decrease in DSO, improving cash flow and financial stability.
> $300k
saved in salaries for new hires that would have been needed to manage growing volumes of cash collection.
Mission statement
Hokodo was founded to make B2B trade simpler, safer and supported.
FTEs
>100
Industry
Fintech
HQ location
London, England
Stack integrated with Upflow:
In-house accounting software
Cash flow was holding Hokodo back
Before Upflow, Hokodo was facing many of the classic challenges that manual AR processes breed. The finance team was using multiple spreadsheets to manage Accounts Receivable, meaning they didn't have a central 'source-of-truth' to easily understand where each invoice stood and where to focus their efforts.
This lack of a centralized system also filtered into their cash collection strategy, with team members doing their best to follow up on unpaid invoices without a coherent and best-practice approach across the board.
All of this led to ineffective customer communications and late payments as a result. DSO was increasing, cash collection rate was lower than desired and Blair Cooper (Head of Operations & Collections at Hokodo) knew that the company's upcoming expansion into new markets was the catalyst they needed to get their AR processes sorted.
"[Before Upflow] there were a lot of Google sheets and reminders in gmail calendars, to call customers on specific days to collect payments. We faced challenges not having all the information needed to have a productive conversation [with customers]."
Solution: Advanced, Collections-Led Technology
Hokodo chose Upflow to solve these challenges and speed up cash collection. With our API and the support of our team, all their customer invoices were live in Upflow within days, ready for chasing.
Centralized Workspace: Unifying the collection process and facilitating productive customer interactions with the whole team.
Workflow Automation: Reducing manual tasks significantly, enabling the finance team to prioritize strategic actions.
Cash Flow Analytics: Enabling smarter and better informed decision making thanks to easily-accessible AR metric dashboards.
Blair and his team are highly satisfied with the solution, considering it a reliable tool that empowers Hokodo to engage with customers effectively to get paid on time. Hokodo have seen a massive 75% decrease in DSO (from 8 days to 2 days), improving cash flow and financial stability for the whole company. The cash collection rate has also increased by 20% meaning Hokodo literally has more cash in the bank every month to continue growing their business.
Added to that, Blair also noted that Upflow has brought substantial cost efficiencies to Hokodo’s cash collection operations. Without Upflow, the company would have needed to hire additional controllers to manage the growing volumes, at an estimated cost of €300,000 (USD $324,500). This money saved in salaries for new hires alone represents huge ROI for Hokodo's investment in Upflow.
We’ve increased our collection rate by 20% and achieved a DSO of 2 days! Upflow has significantly boosted our cash flow.
Getting paid on time is now the norm
In terms of standout capabilities of Upflow, Blair and the team appreciate that Upflow enables them to:
Send SMS reminders for cash collection follow up. Hokodo has sent over 1000 SMS reminders so far from inside the Upflow platform, making the most of another communication channel for speedy cash collection.
Eliminate inefficiencies related to manual work, unlocking strategic actions.
Spot actions for peak collection efficiency at a glance.
Have daily support from a dedicated and responsive CSM.
Be at the cutting-edge of AR technology, with continuous updates with new features launching weekly.
Looking ahead, Hokodo projects their business to grow significantly as they expand into new markets. Blair will continue to use Upflow to scale AR management and take advantage of Upflow’s ability to create new business entities as they enter new markets.
Finance Teams
Say goodbye to Excel, revolutionise your collection processes. Get control of your cash flow.