Tell us about your firm.

Accountfully offers outsourced accounting, bookkeeping, CFO services, and tax strategy to creative professionals and food entrepreneurs. We help our clients leverage numbers to strategically grow and learn more about their business.

Why did you decide to use BILL?

When I asked accountants what they recommend for digital payments, they said, “BILL is the best.” We decided to use BILL instantaneously after seeing it. The all-in-one functionality for vendor management, bill approval workflow, and the ability to pay bills anywhere with an internet connection convinced us right away. We also love the email notifications. They allow our senior accountants to better manage and oversee the account and tasks being completed by staff while giving clients transparency for the approval and payments process.

How do you use BILL?

I can’t imagine life without BILL. It’s become the backbone of what we do with AR and AP for the firm and its clients. We use it every single day.

The firm requires all clients to use BILL. It’s mandatory. We’ve gotten so busy and had so much luck with BILL that we can say “thanks, no thanks” if a company doesn’t want to use it.

How would you describe the onboarding process for BILL?

It’s effortless to onboard clients because the selling point of BILL resonates: It helps you pay and get paid faster. That’s precisely what our clients want.

Accountfully staff members and clients pick up BILL quickly. It’s easy to do so since it segregates one business process away from others. We provide training and highly recommend that staff members get their BILL certifications. For clients, we hold an initial call on how we use BILL and provide training as needed throughout the engagement.

What do your clients think of BILL?

Usually new clients have a system in place and it’s broken. Or they have nothing at all. We teach them what to use and how to use it. Our clients like the power of BILL and its ability to let them review and approve bills and accept payments. Once clients are on BILL, it becomes an adopted part of their business.

Client view addition: Charleston Wine + Food, an Accountfully Client, explains how BILL is “life changing.”

Charleston Wine + Food, an Accountfully client, holds a five-day food festival each spring. Business manager Gabby Totokotsopoulos explains how Accountfully and BILL support the rapidly growing nonprofit during its busy season and as it expands into a year-round experience of more than 130 events.

How did the company manage bill payments before working with Accountfully?

When I started at Charleston Wine + Food, everything was paper. Accounting-related files had multiple paper copies and backup paper copies. We had to get signatures on the top of every bill, and printed checks had to be signed every week by two executives.

Then, Accountfully came on board. Their team consistently shares insight into our financial performance and ensures our records and processes remain accurate.

“Accountfully introduced us to BILL, and it has been life changing for our organization. ” — Gabby Totokotsopoulos, Business Manager, Charleston Wine + Food

Accountfully introduced us to BILL, and it has been life changing for our organization.

Around the festival, our expenses increase and need to be paid quickly. It isn’t unusual to have hundreds of bills during that time. One large piece of this is the reimbursements and payments for contract workers that help on-site during the festival. When we relied on paper-based processes and checks, it took too much time and effort to get these individuals paid quickly, which would be frustrating.

How has BILL improved the payments process?

Now we pay or reimburse everyone digitally through BILL. It puts power back in the vendors’ hands because they can see exactly when the bill is approved and when payment is on its way. Also, we integrate Expensify with BILL, which accelerates our ability to pay in a timely manner.

Beyond bill payments, BILL has been invaluable in three ways:

1. We undergo a yearly financial audit. When auditors call for materials, I download receipts and documents from BILL and send them over much more quickly than when we had only paper.
2. We applied for grants from the city, and BILL let us locate and send critical financial documents and invoices necessary to qualify in a few clicks.
3. Since BILL pulls money out of the bank account when payments are authorized, the board can see exactly how much cash the organization has without worrying about checks that haven’t cleared.