TotalBooks

Getting paid on time is worth more than money

Cardiff’s TotalBooks are experts in accounts, tax, bookkeeping, virtual financial director services, and reporting. But founder and managing director Buhir Rafiq, who has been running the practice for 16 years, is quick to point out that he’s much more than an accountant.

“I’m also a husband with four children and providing for the family is ultimately the reason I’m in business,” he said.

The trauma of late payments

Getting paid wasn’t always this easy. Before GoCardless, Buhir would invoice clients at the end of each job and late payments were a constant stress.

“Chasing clients for money months after I’d done the work, knocking on the door, repeatedly ringing them up — it was all a huge headache,” he said. “This caused major cashflow issues and, honestly, it was hard not to take all that mental trauma home with me.” 

Buhir transformed his cashflow almost overnight, by integrating GoCardless with his Xero accounting platform and switching most of his clients to monthly Direct Debit. He also seriously lowered his anxiety levels.

“It takes seconds to sign clients up to GoCardless online, and with a couple of clicks I can either schedule automated monthly billing, take an up front payment, or bill them halfway through a project,” he said. “I know that money will come in, with little intervention from me. The transaction charge is far outweighed by the fact I don't worry about getting paid anymore. GoCardless has been an absolute godsend.”

Digitising and automating payments has increased visibility into his finances and had a meaningful impact on Buhir’s family life.

“GoCardless data allows me to see exactly what’s coming in, and to analyse my margins down to the individual client level,” he said. “The extra visibility and more reliable cashflow means I know when I’m in a position to book a holiday, treat the children or cover a household emergency.”

Immense time savings

Time is also money and Buhir estimates he’s claimed back hundreds of hours of payments admin.

More accurate invoicing and collections have also improved client relationships and created a slicker payments experience.

“There’s less scope for human error and no risk of me falling behind on invoicing,” said Buhir. “Overall, fewer client conversations are about money and the all-digital experience creates a great impression. There’s even an integration between GoCardless and GoProposal - our proposal and letter of engagement software. That means I can collect payment information on the spot right at the time of sign up.”

Easy implementation

Getting to this point was an easy lift on the technical side, thanks to the seamless integration between GoCardless, Xero & GoProposal.

“I’ve seen a lot of integrations with Xero and GoCardless is by far the easiest one to set-up,” said Buhir. “I did most of it myself, but when I did hit a wall the GoCardless tech team were awesome. I just rang the support line and within a few days we’d scheduled a session for them to remote-in and train me on everything I needed to know.”

Increased long-term business value

Buhir has launched a spin-off accountancy business, RX Virtual Finance, which specialises in providing virtual finance office services to high-street pharmacies. It was obvious to Buhir that GoCardless should be a part of this new venture too.

Looking ahead — way ahead, actually — Buhir believes that GoCardless will allow him to maximise the value of his eventual exit from the accounting industry.

“If I want to sell my business in the future, having nearly all of my clients on Direct Debit increases my value multiplier from 1.2 to 1.4,” he said. “Nearly 20% extra on the sale of a multimillion pound business? That’s serious money.”