How Side reduced overdue invoices from 75% to 25% with Upflow
When Gregory joined Side he realized that with Upflow he finally had the tool he had been dreaming of as an AR expert for 15 years. After only a few months, to the relief of his C-level , he had completely turned the company’s cash flow around.
Grégory Labery
Billing Specialist
796h
Saved per year*
DSO/2
From 64 to <30*
From 75%
To 25% overdue invoices*
*after 18 months.
Before Upflow
Since Upflow
75% overdue payments
25% overdue payments
40% wire transfer payments
17% wire transfer payments
114 hours a month spent on payment reminders
57 hours a month on follow-up
Chasing only on large outstanding amounts
100% success rate at cash collection
Mission statement
Side is the platform to simplify interim work. We create a new hiring experience for both companies and candidates: more reliable, simpler and more humane.
FTEs
51-200
Industry
HRtech
HQ location
Paris, France
Stack integrated with Upflow:
Quickbooks -> Netsuite & Stripe
Dividing Side’s DSO by two with the proper cash collection workflows
In early 2020, when Grégory joined, the DSO was more than twice what it was supposed to be. It was up to 64 days when the objective was 30 and 75% of the invoice were overdue.
Grégory did not have the time to chase after amounts lower than €5,000. There were too many unpaid invoices and he had no choice but to prioritize exclusively on large invoices. That’s how Side ended up with almost 5% of write-offs: they just couldn’t collect it all. In many cases, the cash collection battle was over before it even started.
Now “with Upflow, I can now easily handle invoices from €1 to €1m thanks to the cash collection workflows I designed. Our DSO is invariably below 30 days, 75% of our invoices are now paid before the due date and we no longer have to perform write-offs anymore.”
Our cash flow improved spectacularly! With Upflow, we gave ourselves the best chance of collecting our cash.
Building customer trust via Upflow to improve Side’s payment mix
One of Grégory’s goals was to significantly improve Side’s payment mix. When he joined, more than 70% of the payments were wire transfers. This meant that they had very little control over when they received payments. They partially mitigated this thanks to a factor. The rest was 28% via direct debit and 2% by card.
Side’s customer relations drastically improved thanks to Upflow: customers trust Side much more than before. The communications sent via Upflow helped them convert progressively to more predictable payment options.
By June 2022, only 16% of payments were still processed via wire transfer, while direct debit represented 73% of the payments.
For our founders, cash was a primary concern. Either you can pay the workers, or you close up shop.
From a reactive day-to-day cash collection to a proactive strategy
Before Grégory set up Upflow to mirror Side’s needs, cash collection was an extremely time-consuming and ineffective process. ”I was drowning under reminders, emails, calls. I could not prioritize at all.” At the time, 100% of the finance team's then 450 monthly tasks were done manually.
“Today, not only does Upflow help me prioritize my tasks, but I spend 50% less time on cash collection. I used to spend all this time only working reactively, now, I work proactively. It’s been a huge game changer!”
In June 2022, only 14% of the team’s 900 actions are manual.
With regards to reporting to the accounting team, “I used to spend a week every quarter trying to find specific pieces of information they needed in our over-complicated Excel file. Now it takes me a day tops!”
In my 15 years in AR, Upflow is by far the best and most comprehensive tool I’ve used. There is clearly a before and an after.
From shooting in the dark to a highly informed cash collection strategy
Without Upflow, you can only focus on the big amounts, because the data is all over the place and you don’t know what to do or where to start, says Grégory. “With Upflow, you know instantly what to do every day. In the morning, I open my emails, my calendar, and my Upflow.”
It’s also about the key metrics. Grégory and the Finance team, can finally know at a glance: how much money is out; what their DSO is; how much they collected; or which accounts are at risk.
Before Upflow, Grégory used to spend 1.5 hours preparing for customer calls, gathering information from multiple sources: Excel spreadsheets, the CRM, the bank. Now, he loves that he can see it all in one central location on Upflow’s account timeline.
Grégory's take on AR
Devise cash collection workflows adapted to your different types of customers. with Upflow, we can analyze and segment our customers and invoices into tailor-fitted workflows.
Make sure you have the right contact. At Side, Having the proper point of contact is a decisive step during customer onboarding.
Your customers are not necessarily bad payers. Paying invoices can be a hassle. So make it easy for them. That’s why we use Upflow.
Finance Teams
Say goodbye to Excel, revolutionise your collection processes. Get control of your cash flow.