Subscription payments, built for scale

As a leading provider of cloud-based property management software, SME Professional has continually expanded its offering to evolve with the needs of letting and estate agents.

From its award-winning CRM and property management platform, to bespoke website design, digital marketing and front-end development services, it’s a true one-stop technology solution for letting professionals.

“Flexibility and connectivity is at the heart of our ethos, and that’s allowed us to grow to support agencies across the UK, including some of the country’s biggest franchises,” said Fraser Sutherland, Managing Director of SME Professional.

“That’s also why we chose GoCardless integrated with FreeAgent to manage the financial side of our growing business. GoCardless is an integral part of how we manage recurring payments across our Property Software CRM SaaS business. Together with FreeAgent, it has transformed the way we handle billing and cash flow.”

Simple, efficient and scalable

To manage recurring subscription payments, SME Professional needed a cloud accounting and payments system that would scale as the business grew.

FreeAgent enables seamless recurring invoicing, eliminating the need for manual processes, and a direct integration with GoCardless means payments are automatically collected by Direct Debit as soon as they fall due. This has transformed how SME Professional manages payments, saving time and delivering reliable cash flow.

The integration between FreeAgent and GoCardless means our financial system is simple, efficient and scalable.

“We don’t have to duplicate client details across systems, and payments come in on time, every time. We’ve saved countless hours each month that would otherwise be spent chasing invoices or reconciling payments - easily the equivalent of one full-time role in our finance team - and our team has more time to focus on supporting customers,” said Fraser.

High success rate, low involuntary churn

Beyond the time savings, the cost efficiency of Direct Debit compared to card payments has also been significant.

“Direct Debit fees are consistently lower, and our failure rates have stayed below 1%, which speaks to the reliability of GoCardless,” said Fraser.

It has also helped us avoid involuntary churn - when a customer pays by Direct Debit, we don’t lose subscriptions to expired or declined cards.

Open banking-driven innovation

SME Professional has also integrated GoCardless Bank Account Data into its client accounting platform, to power its open banking capabilities designed specifically for letting agencies.

“Bank Account Data from GoCardless enables our property management customers to directly import client account bank transactions, removing the need for manual bank export files. SME Professional then automatically allocates rent and other payments before processing landlord payments through the BACS schedule.”

Future-ready

SME Professional is now all set for continued growth and continuous innovation, and Fraser wouldn’t hesitate to recommend GoCardless to other businesses looking to future-proof their operations.

“It’s a fantastic system. The interface is simple, it saves time, and it allows businesses to scale with confidence,” he said. “In short, GoCardless has allowed us to scale smoothly without adding unnecessary admin overhead. It works quietly and effectively in the background – fully integrated with our accounting platform.”