AP automation solution provider thrives as middle-market businesses accelerate digitization of backend finance processes(MineralTree )
MineralTree, an Accounts Payable (AP) and payment automation solution provider, announced record results for its second quarter, ending June 30, 2020. Second-quarter sales in MineralTree’s direct channel were the highest in company history as middle-market businesses accelerated the move to automate and digitize their AP processes among work-from-home mandates and concerns over online fraud due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“We are seeing a real urgency in the middle market to update inefficient backend financial processes that are costing their businesses valuable time and money,” said Micah Remley, CEO at MineralTree. “COVID and remote work requirements have certainly helped companies realize that their paper-based financial processes need to be updated to maximize business performance in an online world.”
In addition to its best direct sales quarter in the company’s history, with total bookings up 80% over Q2 2019, MineralTree also saw its average customer implementation time shorten to three (3) weeks, with some customers implementing AP Automation in as little as 3 days. The fast implementations reflect the ease with which software as a service (SaaS) solutions designed for the middle market can be implemented.
MineralTree also saw its digital virtual card payment volumes increase by 130% in the quarter. B2B payments have long lagged consumer payments when it has come to the shift to digital, but recent advances in digital payment methods combined with the challenges of sending and receiving checks during the pandemic have driven a large increase in the number of businesses moving to digital payment methods for B2B transactions. More details on this trend can be found in MineralTree’s fifth annual State of Accounts Payable Report, a recent survey of over 1,300 finance executives and professionals in the middle market.
Mid-market companies are urgently seeking new digital capabilities to assist with increasing cost pressures and to drive better cash flow management. “Our AP process was largely paper-based and manual in the past, so moving to an efficient automated process was important to us in the current environment,” commented Doug Novak, CFO at Strategic Information Group, a MineralTree user. “Besides dramatically increasing efficiency and being able to support remote work better, we get the added benefit of improved financial controls enforced by MineralTree’s software.”
The company’s gains in Q2 came across multiple verticals including professional services, healthcare, biotech/pharma, and software. Interestingly, the company also saw gains in retail, real estate and non-profit. “We believe the current work environment has created a fundamental catalyst for change within finance departments and that businesses will continue to accelerate the digitization of their finance function,” said Remley.
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