How iziwork Italy streamlined cash collection & gained visibility
iziwork is the digital employment agency revolutionizing the temporary work and recruitment market by reinventing the work experience, with the support of technology. Paying workers' salaries every month, their business model thrives on timely client payments since their clients' invoices are typically due 60-90 days later.
Filippo Tomasi
Finance Director
17
finance team hours saved per month
50%
of follow-up emails automated
+10%
better email open rate on collection emails vs. industry standard
Mission statement
iziwork is a JobTech startup that leverages technological innovation to improve the work experience and access to jobs for everyone.
FTEs
600
Industry
HR Tech
Offices
Milan, Paris
Stack integrated with Upflow:
In-house accounting system
Challenges before Upflow
Before working with Upflow, iziwork Italy faced a number of challenges:
Manual invoice sorting and organization
Managing a high volume of invoices from a large, fragmented client base proved chaotic. Sorting invoices manually and trying to organize their cash collection efforts was a significant time drain for iziwork Italy’s team.
Inconsistent cash collection process and results
Without automation, it was difficult to ensure consistent follow-up and prioritize overdue invoices. This impacted iziwork Italy's ability to maintain a healthy cash flow.
Limited visibility and analytics
iziwork Italy lacked robust reporting and analytics, making it difficult to identify trends and optimize collection strategies.
Why Upflow?
Scalable solution for multiple countries: Upflow was initially chosen by the global iziwork entity based in France, and then rolled out to Filippo Tomasi (Finance Director) and the team at iziwork Italy. Having a separate organization set up within Upflow helped the team at iziwork Italy manage processes that are unique to the Italian market independently.
Easy integration and automation: Upflow seamlessly integrated with iziwork Italy's existing systems and automated invoice uploading and organization, saving significant time. Filippo notes, “It’s a ready-to-use product. Our integration took one week, just to see how our invoicing is done, where to find the information and how then to automatically take the information out of the invoice and organize it. And then that's it. After just one or two tests we were immediately able to start using it.”
It’s a ready-to-use product. Our integration took one week.
Results with Upflow
iziwork Italy have achieved some impressive results through Upflow:
1. Effortless organization
Prior to Upflow, iziwork Italy faced the challenge of manually sorting and entering data for a high volume of invoices from a large client base. As Filippo explains, "Upflow is able to sort the invoices, organize them and register the main data...So customer amount due, invoice date, due date...And we very rarely need to manually link the document to the customer.”
Overall, Upflow has helped increase data accuracy by eliminating manual work and human error, while also freeing up the iziwork Italy team’s time for other crucial tasks, such as client communication and relationship building.
2. Empowering teams with multi-user access and visibility
iziwork Italy leverages Upflow's ability to assign different access levels to various team members based on their roles. With pricing not dependent on the number of users, the team at iziwork Italy have been able to make Upflow a business-wide tool, onboarding business-facing teams into their cash collection mission.
Filippo says, "In Upflow I can give my account managers access to only the customers that they manage. And those that are responsible for a geographical area can have visibility into all the customers in that area." This granular access control ensures that the right people have the information they need, without bombarding everyone with irrelevant data.
3. Automated workflows and reminders keep collections on track
Maintaining consistent follow-up on outstanding invoices was a challenge for iziwork Italy before Upflow. Upflow's fully customizable automated workflows ensure timely reminders are sent to clients based on predefined schedules. iziwork Italy now automates 50% of the collection emails they send via Upflow - meaning they both save time and reserve half of the actions to be performed manually with a more personal touch. This saves them an estimated 17 hours per month. That’s a half-day per week their team have got back!
The automation Upflow empowers has ensured that no invoice falls through the cracks. On top of that, it’s automation that feels personal. iziwork Italy recently achieved an automated email open rate of 40% for their collection emails, which is an excellent performance when compared to the industry standard of 30%.
I can give my account managers access to only the customers that they manage. And those that are responsible for a geographical area can have visibility into all the customers in that area.
Iziwork's favorite Upflow feature: Customer Portal
Filippo highlights the Upflow Customer Portal as a game-changer, emphasizing its role in providing great customer service and a smooth payment experience.
"My favorite Upflow feature…it's the customer portal. It's very easy, very user-friendly. And we have found it very useful. We've received some good feedback about it from our customers."
Upflow Customer Portal: Transforming customer service and payments
Upflow's Customer Portal has enabled iziwork Italy to:
Offer a branded self-service experience: iziwork Italy use the portal to provide their clients with a real-time, 24/7 view of their invoice history, including past payments, current overdues, and downloadable copies of invoices. This level of transparency has fostered trust and reduced the need for manual inquiries.
Simplify Payments: iziwork Italy have been able to introduce a variety of modern payment options directly within the portal, giving their customers the flexibility to choose their preferred method.
Improve communication and reduce disputes: The portal has streamlined communication by allowing customers to set expected payment dates ahead of time, and easily dispute invoices if needed. This fosters a collaborative approach to resolving any outstanding issues.
Filippo summarizes the value by saying: “Sometimes our customers write to us and say, ‘can you prepare me an email where you update me about the situation, what I have to pay when?’ Now, instead of losing, time from our side and also from their side, you just send them the link of the customer portal and this task is automatically done, so it's very, very easy”.
In essence, the Upflow Customer Portal is an extension of your brand, empowering you to deliver exceptional customer service while streamlining your payment collection process.
By offering a user-friendly self-service experience and diverse payment options, you can create a win-win situation for both your business and your customers.
My favorite Upflow feature…it's the customer portal. It's very user-friendly. And we have found it very useful. We've received some good feedback about it from our customers.
In summary: Upflow’s impact on iziwork’s business
Upflow has significantly impacted the way iziwork Italy approaches cash collection:
Scalable solution: Upflow easily accommodated iziwork's international operations.
Effortless integration & automation: Upflow seamlessly integrated with iziwork's existing systems, automating invoice processing and saving significant time. Upflow was up and running within a week.
Empowered teams & improved visibility: Upflow's multi-user access with tiered permissions granted visibility to relevant team members and streamlined communication. This allowed iziwork to onboard more staff into collection efforts without additional cost.
Automated workflows & boosted efficiency: Upflow's automated workflows ensured timely reminders and freed up 17 hours per month of manual work for collections. Additionally, iziwork achieved a 40% open rate on automated collection emails, exceeding industry standards by 10%.
Finance Teams
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