For wearable medical robotics company Myomo, innovation literally changes lives. Their powered brace, MyoPro, restores function in arms and hands paralyzed by neuromuscular disease or injury. Kevin Cullinan, Corporate Controller and Director of Finance at Myomo, has seen firsthand the powerful impact of Myomo.
Recalls Cullinan, “We sometimes have patients visit the office to share their stories. My favorite was of a guy who had been in a motorcycle accident. Thanks to Myomo’s technology, he was finally able to hug his kid for the first time when he was 4 years old.”
Healthy financial processes have contributed to Myomo’s vision of improving lives, from its early days as a startup through its current state as a public company (MYO). Financial automation from BILL not only helps make their business run more efficiently, but also gives the company more time and flexibility to focus on their core mission.
Myomo is a long-time BILL user, having adopted the software back when they were a startup in 2009 and managing their finances with QuickBooks. Before BILL, the business was operating at a much smaller scale with a small staff. But as they grew, they needed something easier, a more comprehensive solution. Enter BILL.
Nowadays, the company is a well-established, publicly traded company with more than 100 employees and a five person Finance team.
“We process at least 100 invoices a month,” says Jennifer Willner, Accounting Specialist at Myomo. “Our payments are mostly inventory purchases and raw materials for manufacturing, plus other costs like legal, consulting, and employee out-of-pocket expenses. We also have to pay auditor exchange fees for the NYSE because we’re a public company.”
As the company expanded, they eventually outgrew QuickBooks and made the shift to Oracle NetSuite.
“The migration to NetSuite was a long time coming,” Willner says. “With BILL on board, it was a very smooth transition. I can access the old account anytime I want, if I have to find an old invoice or something like that.”
Cullinan agrees. “It was a very seamless changeover on the AP side because of BILL. We had all the information, we had all the vendor details, we could just upload it into the new NetSuite system, it synced across.”
“What I liked about BILL—which is why we kept it when we transitioned from QuickBooks to NetSuite—was it’s just a really easy product to use and it saves a lot of time.” — Kevin Cullinan, Corporate Controller and Director of Finance, Myomo
“What I liked about BILL, which is why we kept it when we transitioned from QuickBooks to NetSuite, was it's just a really easy product to use and it saves a lot of time,” Cullinan says.
BILL’s artificial intelligence is a time-saver with the NetSuite integration. “I have the same vendors every month,” Willner says. “BILL makes it very easy to autofill most of the stuff. I can also enter data into NetSuite for POs, and then BILL pulls it over.”
Approvals used to be a pain, but not anymore. “Before BILL, we cut checks from QuickBooks and signed them and sent them,” remembers Willner. “One of my favorite things about BILL is the fact that we can set up all of our approvers remotely.”
Cullinan concurs, “At my previous company, I was responsible for signing hundreds of checks—taking off the paper clip, making sure the approval was attached and that the invoice amount matched. It could take up to a full day. With BILL’s simplified approval workflow, I can just look at the invoice, quickly verify that it’s the right vendor and the right amount, check the box, and move on. The whole payment process now takes me just 15 minutes a week.”
“With BILL, I can just look at the invoice, quickly verify that it’s the right vendor and the right amount, check the box, and move on. The whole process takes me just 15 minutes a week.” — Kevin Cullinan, Corporate Controller and Director of Finance, Myomo
The time savings with BILL translate into increased flexibility for the Finance department, and the company as a whole.
Says Willner, “BILL makes it easier to maneuver around and process payments with everything all in one place.”
“BILL adds a layer of flexibility and agility to your financial operations,” continues Cullinan. “Some days, thanks to BILL, with all the time I’m saving on payments, I actually get to leave work at a reasonable time to see my kids before they go to bed.”
“BILL adds a layer of flexibility and agility to your financial operations.” — Kevin Cullinan, Corporate Controller and Director of Finance, Myomo
That flexibility also comes in handy when dealing with operational challenges, like supply chain issues.
“Since COVID, the supply chain has been so out of whack. It’s hard to get what you want, when you want it. We’re ordering larger quantities of things farther ahead of time to ensure we have what we need, when we need it,” explains Cullinan. “Having a simple payments process with BILL makes it easy to make these larger payments quickly.”
BILL’s new three-way matching tool for NetSuite users provides greater visibility and control across purchase-to-pay workflows. Purchase order and item receipt details are automatically synced directly from NetSuite to BILL and can be viewed alongside invoices in a single BILL workspace.
For Myomo, three-way matching paired with NetSuite has saved time for the Finance team. “BILL three-way matching makes my process more efficient,” says Willner.
“When you’re trying to match data between two systems, it can introduce human error. Having BILL do it for you gives everyone more confidence that it is accurate.” — Kevin Cullinan, Corporate Controller and Director of Finance, Myomo
Three-way matching also gives the team a confidence boost. “When you’re trying to match data between two systems, it can introduce human error,” says Cullinan. “Having BILL do it for you gives everyone more confidence that it is accurate.”
As Myomo prepares their budget and plans for 2023 and beyond, the Finance team is glad to have BILL as a partner. BILL’s efficiency and flexibility are good not just for accounting, but for the entire organization.
“BILL makes your life easier and makes you better at your job, so you can do your job quicker, more efficiently, and with more control,” Cullinan says. As part of their budget process, the finance team sends out summary files to each department head by month. “If we had to gather and share this with physical paper, we’d have to dig into old file cabinets. Maybe even going back to storage to find the right files. But with BILL, it’s easy to get the information we need to help plan out our budget for the upcoming year,” Cullinan says.
In short, Cullinan concludes, “BILL is a cost-effective product. It’s efficient for all users. BILL doesn’t just automate AP, which is the front end of it, it also automates and simplifies the entire process from the controls to the payment process.”
