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Case Studies
3  min read

How Best of Class Tools can Help Businesses Grow

Abhishek Agrawal
By Abhishek A Agrawal
August 5, 2022
Table of Contents

    It was in the first week of January 2020 when John (my buddy) called me, complaining about his accounting and invoicing difficulties.

    Well FYI, John is a small business owner who has always been a Luddite for technology. He preferred the more manual methods of accounting and invoicing, feeling that this was the only way he could be truly in control of his small business. However, as time went on, he started to face several problems with his setup like, it was:

    • Time-consuming
    • Costly- as he needed to hire someone to help him manage the books
    • Inefficient- as there were many opportunities for human error.

    Besides, with the onset of the pandemic, his customers were increasingly requesting invoices that support online payments, and he was struggling to keep up with the paperwork.

    When John first told me about his accounting and invoicing issues, I knew that he needed to move away from his manual methods and toward a more efficient and modern solution. I suggested that he switch to Xero, an online accounting software that would automate many of his processes and make it easier for him to keep track of his finances. Furthermore, I also recommended using Integrately- our automation app that offers a range of integrations that could further streamline John’s accounting.

    For example, our Stripe integration helped John accept online payments from his customers, and log them automatically into Xero.

    To know which other automations helped him the most and how! Keep reading.

    5 Xero + Integrately automations automation that helps grow your Business

    We helped John implement the following 5 Xero + Integrately automation, which saved his time on accounting & invoicing and helped grow the business.

    Automated Invoicing

    The Xero + Integrately pair easily automated the invoicing process for John.  He could now generate sales invoices for each payment received through gateways (like PayPal or Stripe) and also send payment reminders to the customers. This helped him stay on top of his receivables and keep the cash flow healthy!

    Set up notifications

    We set up the following notification to save John’s time and improve his customer relationships:

    1. Send mails (on Gmail) / messages (on Slack/Discord) to the team on receiving a customer payment. It relieved John from constantly checking his accounting software for payments.   
    2. Send a thank you email/message to the customer receiving the payments. It improved customer relationships. 
    3. Send notifications for due / past due invoices. It helped John take action immediately and follow up with the customer if necessary.

    Setup Email Campaigns or Send Monthly Newsletters

    Emails and Newsletters are the best to keep your customers updated. We used Xero + Integrately to set up an automation to add a new Mailchimp Subscriber for each contact created in Xero. John could then send Monthly newsletters to his customers and keep them updated about the business. He could also filter the Subscribers from Mailchimp and run targeted email campaigns for them to grow his business.

    Aligning deals

    As the business started accelerating,  John set up his sales team on Pipedrive- a sales CRM. We used Xero + Integrately to create a deal in Pipedrive for each invoice generated in Xero. This helped John’s sales team track payments & invoices, and align their deals. We also set up an automation to create invoices when the deal reached a particular stage. This ensured prompt invoicing to the customers.

    Step up with an e-commerce business

     A few months after we had helped John set up his automations, he decided to take his business online. He started selling his products on Shopify. We used the Xero + Integrately automation to log the order placed on Shopify into a row in Google Sheets. This row addition further triggered invoice generation in Xero.  Further automation sent these invoices to the customers! This helped John keep track of his inventory and reconcile his accounts easily.

    All in all, we used Xero to track John’s finances and see where the money was going. While, Integrately helped automate workflows, thereby saving time, effort and money. 

    John was now able to focus on other important aspects of his business and continue growing it!

    8 Million+ Ready Automations
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    Conclusion

    The bottom line is that Xero and Integrately are two powerful tools that help you grow your business. If you’re not using them, you’re missing out! 

    Besides, both the tools provide a free trial to try them out before making a decision.  So, what are you waiting for?  Give them a shot and see for yourself how they can help!

    Abhishek Agrawal
    Author - Abhishek A Agrawal
    Abhishek is the founder of Integrately, CompanyHub, and Dreamwares. He is passionate about technology and entrepreneurship. He is always looking to leverage technology for the growth of the business. He has a deep understanding of how businesses work and uses this knowledge to build products that help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
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