Tracking business revenue might seem simple at first, but those who actually sit down to do it on a regular basis find that this can actually be a complex multistep process with many moving parts — and consequently many possible points of failure. Many software developers aim to manage this part or that part of the process to ease some of the pain. Aiwyn, based in North Carolina, leverages artificial intelligence technology to manage the entire revenue cycle process from start to finish.
Aiwyn was founded in 2020 specifically to address the revenue cycle pain points common to CPA firms, things that co-founders Justin Adams and Ellen Choi were well familiar with when they launched their company. For instance, frustrated with the constant need to switch between applications at different parts of the process, Aiwyn was built with integrations in mind to reduce the number of unnecessary clicks and speed up the process overall. Aiwyn's products overall aim to automate and streamline a process that has traditionally been a cumbersome affair filled with manual, repetitive tasks.
Co-founder Ellen Choi talked to Accounting Today about Aiwyn's recent efforts toward shoring up even more parts of the billing process, as well as her observations about the current wave of generative AI technology sweeping the industry, and the company's plans to study this new technology and use it responsibly within its own solutions.
How would you best describe what your company does?
Choi: We are an AI technology company that helps CPA firms automate and digitize their revenue cycle process, all on top of their existing software solutions. We enable this by integrating seamlessly with practice management systems, CRMs and other core tools in our space. The result is faster cash flow, higher realization, elimination of manual work, and a modern, cohesive client experience.
What is in your product line, and what is your flagship product?
Choi: Our product line improves different parts of the revenue cycle process and includes Client Engagement Automation, Billing, Insights, and Payments & Collections. Our flagship product is Payments & Collections, which offers a frictionless client payment experience through a modern client portal and sends automated, customized reminders (Smart Statements) on aging invoices.
What was the last big initiative or project your company completed?
Choi: Billing is our newest product in the market. From day one of starting our company, we have heard consistently from CPA firms that the billing process is one of the most broken parts of their revenue cycle, with partners spending two-plus days per month on this work with 300-page billing worksheets. Our Billing Automation solution integrates tightly with existing practice management systems to alleviate this burden from partners, save time across all functions and get bills out the door faster.
What is the most exciting new thing you're working on?
Choi: We recently announced our latest product module, Client Engagement Automation, which unifies disparate client onboarding (i.e., engagement letter signing) and intake processes into one holistic, seamless workflow. One compelling aspect of Client Engagement Automation is that it syncs with the firm's CRM (i.e., Hubspot) and practice management system, which eliminates repetitive data entry, increases data accuracy and results in a more cohesive client experience.
What differentiates your company from others similar to it? What makes you different? Unique, even?
Choi: We dedicated significant R&D resources to building tight integrations into core tools (i.e., practice management and CRM systems) that enables us to read real-time data. This means that we can provide contextual insights and automation that's difficult for an unintegrated solution to match. As an example, it takes 10+ steps for a client to pay one invoice with an unintegrated payment portal. With Aiwyn's Payments Automation, it takes two clicks.
What is the biggest tech challenge facing accountants today?
Choi: As a profession, there are a number of tech challenges we face including dealing with legacy technology that can't be easily replaced, lack of automation of manual, repetitive tasks, balancing security and compliance with adopting leading tech, and tech and IT talent recruiting and retention.
The 900-pound gorilla in the room right now is ChatGPT and generative AI, which is not only disrupting our industry but upending society as a whole. This technology is advancing at a rapid rate and as much as we want certainty and answers, it's been an interesting journey as an industry to accept that we don't know what we don't know. At Aiwyn, we continue to educate ourselves on the enormous potential of this new technology and build with it in a responsible way that delivers high customer value.
What is the biggest challenge with selling to this market? Of being a company whose customers are primarily accountants?
Choi: One of the biggest challenges is that our industry's capacity challenge translates into the firm not having enough bandwidth to devote to longer-term technology investment or strategic thinking. Because they are so underwater on their work, they don't have time to improve their processes and technology, which has an initial fixed cost investment of resources and training. This in turn traps accountants into a vicious cycle of overworking and frustration from legacy tools, causing burnout and employee turnover.
Firms tell us ,"We love your product, it's a matter of when not if," and see the compelling ROI of our solution. However this is not enough in selling and we spend time educating the market on best practices of digital transformation and ensuring that our implementation is as frictionless and lightweight as possible.
Aiwyn at a glance:
HQ: Charlotte, NC
Website:
NPS: 76
Number of products: 5
Decrease in Days in AR: 51%
