Blu Sky
Blu Sky is an accountancy firm with a difference. It reinvests the masses of time saved by integrating GoCardless with Xero to focus on clients’ financial wellbeing.
About
Cloud accountants
Integration
Payment type
Office locations
Payer locations
Key benefits
2 days
per month saved on payments admin.
15%
savings YoY with committed contract.
Blu Sky thinking
Accountants Blu Sky were early adopters of cloud accounting technology.
According to Jon Dudgeon, Co-Founder and CEO, this allowed them to steal a march on the competition, big and small, and corner a high-growth niche working with tech clients.
“We were able to embrace tech and act like a start-up,” said Jon. “That agility meant we could do things differently, offering all the services an accountant needs to offer, but with a more personal focus on the financial wellbeing of clients. We’re owners just like them and can empathise with the worries and challenges of running a business.”
Freedom to grow
One way Blu Sky helps alleviate clients’ worries is by charging a manageable monthly subscription for its services, rather than surprising them with an annual bill.
Initially, this facility was supported by a Direct Debit solution from a legacy payment services provider, but that eventually became a brake on the company’s growth.
Building a better business
The impact of GoCardless was immediate thanks to its seamless integration with Xero. Reconciliations are now completely automated and Blu Sky has a near-real time picture of its financial position.
“Straightaway, GoCardless saved us a tonne of time and effort,” said Jon.
We used to be a week behind in our financial reporting, all the time, and the reconciliation process took two days a month. Now, with GoCardless and Xero, our bank account is reconciled on a day-to-day basis and those two days can be reinvested in our growth. We even recommend it to our own Xero-using customers as part of our credit control product.
Today, 90% of customers pay by GoCardless – but the Blu Sky finance team wishes it was more.
“Finance wants to get everyone on GoCardless, because it's a one-size-fits-all, efficient and reliable system,” said Jon. “GoCardless also gives us greater control. Subscription fees can change month-on-month but it allows us to just go in and quickly make those changes without interfering in the customer relationship.”
Carefree credit control
There are more than business benefits to working with GoCardless. The additional visibility into payments has allowed Blu Sky to build a more responsive, easier to manage credit control cycle. This has spared Jon and his team much of the awkward work of chasing up failed payments.
“Our credit control cycle kicks in automatically because we can clearly see when payments are due,” said Jon.
Instead of a month-end process, where some payments might be several weeks overdue, it's a real-time chase. As a business owner, I worry all the time, but GoCardless saves me an enormous amount of emotional drain chasing failed payments.
Higher certainty, better value
Blu Sky recently switched from a pay-as-you-go relationship with GoCardless to a contracted agreement that provides better value and more predictable pricing over the longer term. At the time of the change, Jon took the opportunity to review the market and ensure the company’s needs were still being met.
“When I delved into it, the pros and cons from a processes point of view fell massively in favour of GoCardless,” said Jon. “Other providers’ solutions didn't stack up well. They weren't as automated and didn’t have strong relationships with Xero and our other apps — it would've been like stepping backwards six or seven years.”
With a contract now in place, the company is able to plan better for future growth and will be saving an estimated 15% YoY – so it was a no-brainer for the team.
“The committed contract means we know what we’re going to be paying for the next three years,” said Jon.
We're not going to see a steady increase in costs or have to renegotiate again in 12 months, which would just be a distraction from our goals.
More of the same, please
Reflecting on the relationship to date and where the two businesses are heading together, Jon believes that the path to bigger and better is actually paved with more of the same.
“We’re certain that the scalability of GoCardless means it will continue to play a big part in our growth,” said Jon.
“We saw such an immediate business impact from GoCardless, we trust the product and the people, and we're appreciative of the way that’s helped us grow and provide a good service to customers. We've always been about working hand in hand with clients and helping them to see what's over the next hill – we get similar value working with GoCardless.”
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