B2B player Bill.com raises $38 Mn through Scale Venture, Amex and BoA

What if I told you there is a company that helps more than 100,000 business manage their AP, AR, Cash Flow - all integrated with ERPs, accounting softwares and can be accessed from mobile devices. What's more, it can also help you with reminders for payments and enable you to pay from within the application. There is a possibility that you don't know this dark horse which deals in the B2B space.

Bill.com, previously called CashView, is a platform with apps that enables businesses to get paid quicklyonline, pay their bills, manage budgets and cash flow. Bill.com recently raised $38 Mn in a new round of funding led by new investor Scale Venture Partners. This round also included American Express, Bank of America, Pete Knight, Fifth Third Bank, and Commerce Ventures which brings their total funding to $72.6 Mn. The company was founded in August 2006 by Rene Lacerte (CEO & BOD). His team includes Eric Chan(CTO), Mark Orttung (COO), Dan Lind and Jeff LaPorte. Bill.com had earlier raised funding from investors such as DCM, August Capital, Financial Partners Fund.

Here is a Video showing how Bill.com works:

The company’s platform offers certain features:

Accounts Payable-

• Automates payment & bill approval.
• No more paper contracts, checks or bills.
• Pay & Approve bills securely online
• Minimize errors & protect against fraud.

Accounts Receivable-

• Automates collection and invoicing.
• You click, we invoice – by US mail or email says Bill.com’s website.
• Pay & Approve bills securely online.
• Auto-reminders when payments are late or due.

Cash Flow Management-

• Cash flow can be controlled from users smartphone.
• Automates cash flow projection and control.
• 3 Months Cash Flow forecasted accurately.
• Guard against errors & protect against fraud.
• Potential problems are identified beforehand.

Pricing:

• $24 per month for solo – 1 user
• $49 per month for team – upto 5 users
• $99 per month for Corporate – upto 15 users.
• Costs per transaction - Send checks and invoices via US Mail: $1.29
• Pay and get paid electronically: $0.49
• Credit card payments: Merchant fees
• An additional $15 fee is charged for integration with Xero.

Banks process electronically around 80% of consumer payments while businesses do just 20%. But the business sector is gaining momentum and the banks want to leverage that adoption. The problem: they do not have the expertise or the focus as a business to manage the messy connectivity required for managing complex data workflows. With Bill.com they can provide customers with the services needed to automate back-office operations said Rene Lacerte, CEO of Bill.com.

According to Lacerte, 50% of the users switched from using checks to accepting e-payments within a few months of signing up for Bill.com. He also added that the company would expand to international markets and develop features that enable its users to accept payments and manage currencies beyond the U.S.D.

The company employs around 105 people currently and serves over 2,75,000 customers. Lacerte stated plans for an addition of 55 employees, spend the capital on product development and move into new offices in the next year.

Last year Bill.com had gained some recognition for its API that enabled banks and financial institutions to integrate Bill.com’s service into their own websites, systems and applications.

Some other companies with deep penetration in the back office space include Quickbooks, Concur and Netsuite. Quickbooks offers services such as Create & manage invoices, Track sales & expenses, Apply sales tax, Print checks, Track payments, Automated online banking, Create estimates, Enter & manage bills and export data to Excel. There are 5 different plans starting from $12.95/mo. All options have a 30 days free trial.

LTP View: Bill.com’s platform simplifies the complex back office operations and integrates them with the ability of pay as well. This could be embraced by small accounting firms, banks and bookkeepers as well, apart from businesses.