BILL Says Financial Operations Platform Helps Businesses Navigate Uncertain Environment

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are adopting financial operations platforms to improve their visibility and control of cash flow as they deal with an uncertain economic environment, BILL CEO René Lacerte said Thursday (Aug. 22).

Speaking during the company’s quarterly earnings call, Lacerte said BILL, a financial operations platform for SMBs, is growing its own business by helping SMBs manage theirs.

“This scale is a direct reflection of the incredible value delivered to SMBs through our products and services,” Lacerte said, pointing to BILL’s latest results. “We turn the financial back-office complexity that drains SMBs of time and money into simple automated tools that provide visibility and control. We empower SMBs to run better businesses.”

During the fiscal year ended June 30, BILL saw its total revenue rise 22% and the number of businesses on its platform increase from 461,000 to 474,600, according to a presentation released in conjunction with the call.

SMBs are adopting a purpose-built financial operations platform to replace paper-based processes, automate financial operations, make and receive payments, manage budgets and cash flow, and gain insight, visibility and control, according to the presentation.

This platform helps them gain visibility into cash flow and real-time financial status so that they can more easily make informed decisions, per the presentation.

BILL continues to expand and refine its offerings to meet this need. During the past fiscal year, the company launched its integrated platform that incorporates its accounts payable (AP) and spend and expense management solutions; added a data and analytics layer to the platform to give businesses a comprehensive view of their cash flow; and leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) throughout the platform to simplify and personalize the user experience it provides, Lacerte said during the call.

“In addition, we redesigned our mobile app from the ground up to leverage our evolving platform, making sure our customers can increasingly operate their business whether in the office or on the go,” Lacerte said.

BILL also works with accounting firms to help them provide value to their clients, and with financial institutions and software companies to provide them with embedded solutions for their customers, Lacerte said.

“The core of our ecosystem strategy is about expanding our reach and serving SMBs where they want to do business,” he added.