Adelaide fintech Apxium plots global push into big accounting firms

Apxium is a leading provider of accounts receivable automation software, along with smart payments tech and automated invoice financing to deliver a unique combination that was previously missing within the global professional services arena.

Founder and Managing Director Jeremy Coombe said that as a unique “SaaS+FinTech” innovation, Apxium brings new technology to solve problems evident in the traditional financial world for accounting firms and their clients.

“Mid to large accounting firms are too large for cloud accounting such as Xero and QuickBooks. Instead, they use Practice Management Billing software, but they don’t fully integrate with external software solutions and bank payment systems. Not only does this create inefficiencies within the firm, but it also impacts the billing experience of their clients – particularly startups faced with large accounting and advisory fees,” he said.

“We embarked on a mission to not only automate the back-office accounts receivable process for accounting firms, but also apply our tech to help remove the friction for their SME clients when paying their accounting fees.”

Pitcher Partners, a top 10 accounting firm in Australia, says in a recent testimonial that Apxium’s technology has significantly improved the firm’s collections processes over the last five years, lowering both transactional and administrative costs alongside improved accounts receivable collection performance.

Daish Malani, founder of SA-based start-up Add-Life Technologies, has experienced similar efficiencies. After receiving an invoice from Pitcher Partners, Daish was presented with flexible payment options – all provided by Apxium’s invoicing and payments tech.

“After receiving my invoice, I noticed the option to pay over multiple instalments. As a startup, being offered such a flexible payment arrangement was very helpful for our cash flow,” he said.

“It’s great to be working with another SA-based company located here at Stone & Chalk.”

Coombe said the efficiencies generated by Apxium exponentially improve for even larger accounting firms around the world who issue thousands of invoices per month to their clients. The larger the firm, the more they’re constantly chasing late payments, followed by manually receipting and reconciling these payments into their billing systems.

“Firms have a hard enough time managing their own back-office process, let alone finding ways to improve their clients’ bill payment processes,” he said.

“Apxium takes care of all that on behalf of the accounting firm. We push an invoice with a smart link straight to the mobile device of the accounting firm’s client that is secure and safe, offering a really easy and flexible experience. On the accounting firm’s side, we automatically receipt these payments and reconcile them into their billing system with no manual intervention whatsoever.”

Coombe explained how bank payment gateways merely process a payment.

“They don’t provide any automation software to also undertake the client receipting and payment reconciliation process with firms’ billing systems, which is their biggest pain point,” he said.

“This is where Apxium’s “SaaS+FinTech” solution steps in, whilst at the same time, saving firms up to 40% on the cost they pay banks to process credit card payments from their clients. Their clients benefit from the flexible payment options, all automated and funded by Apxium.”

International plans

Since closing a Series A capital raise in 2021, Apxium is now experiencing demand in the US, Canada and the UK.

“We recently onboarded several Top 100 accounting firms in these regions. This includes the prestigious U.S. accounting firm, Eide Bailly – a U.S. Top 25 firm, with over $600 million turnover and 330+ Partners operating 40 offices across 14 U.S. States,” Coombe said.

“Eide Bailly issues thousands of invoices every month. Apxium manages and automates the entire process, all the way through to processing and reconciling their payments into their billing system.

“The seamless payment experience also being felt by Eide Bailly’s clients throughout North America, who are now contacting us to consider using Apxium for their own accounts receivable and client billing experiences.

“We’re essentially removing the pain, cost and administrative burden of the firm’s back-office accounts receivable function, whilst enabling them to improve their billing relationships with their clients.”