Accounting is an important activity in our daily lives, personal and professional. On a personal level, we use basic accounting more often than we realize. We do so when we check our bank statements at the end of the month. We also do it when we set budgets for ourselves while planning a vacation.
In general terms, accounting is a systematic process through which we identify financial information, record and measure it and then classify it. This information is then verified and summarized in i.e. bank statements, annual reports, income statements and so on.
Companies big and small, all have at least one person in charge of bookkeeping. That person or group of people keep records of all financial transactions in the organization. All the reports generated by the data that was gathered throughout a period of time show the progress of a company. The results of these reports are then used to decide the next steps that the organization must take.
Accounting through history
Since the creation of the first coins between the 6th and the 5th century B.C. accounting has been a necessity in our society. However, it was only in 1494 when accounting has reached an extraordinary breakthrough. It was then when Luca Pacioli introduced for the first time the terms of credit, debit, journals and ledgers. These practices have set the base of modern accounting and we are still using them today.
However, along with our society’s evolution and technological development, accounting has evolved too. Unlike our non-technical predecessors, we don’t use pen and paper to keep records of our financial activity anymore.
Instead, we turned to computers through simple software and, later on, the online world. Today there are many companies offering different offline and online solutions for bookkeeping. But because of their nature, these applications are not focused on the user experience. Most times they are hard to learn and often quite confusing.
In the hopes of fixing this issue and shed a light on annual reports and income statements around the world, Billy came to life.
Disclaimer: The information and screenshots presented below reflect the website and/or application at the moment of its publication. Wiredelta does not have a maintenance agreement in place with this client, therefore all changes and updates that occurred after this date have been made by the client.
Introducing Billy
Billy is a Danish company founded in 2010 by Toke Kruse, with the help of Sebastian Seilund on the technical side. Initially named Billy’s Billing, the organization provides accounting programs and user-friendly solutions for everyday transactions. Toke got the inspiration for the concept in 2009. He tried to switch from bookkeeping using Excel sheets to an online service but failed.
Due to his disappointment with the software available at the time, he decided to create a simpler program. This program would help accountants everywhere.
The first version of the platform was launched in 2011 and it was an instant success. In 2013 the company expanded to the US, and in 2014 “Billy’s Billing” became just “Billy”. This change symbolized the launch of an even simpler version of the tool, accentuating progress towards fast, efficient and professional accounting systems.
By the beginning of 2016, Billy was working with more than 31.000 companies around the US and Europe, and registered an average revenue of over a half million dollars per month.
Today company features services such as billing, expense reports, VAT calculation systems, and more, while their portfolio grows even further.
The problem
In the pursuit of expanding their product portfolio, Billy decided that it is time to make annual reports simple and easy to create for all small businesses. However, annual reports need a series of actions before they are completed. This makes it a time-consuming, not-so-simple process, especially if the person in charge of the task has no financial background.
In this respect, Billy needed to implement a solution that would help automate the process by using less input from users and already existing data. Coincidentally, Wiredelta® had a similar project in 2017, when we partnered up with LetRegnskab. This made Wiredelta the perfect match for this case, and so, Wiredelta and LetRegnskab were brought in to help Billy with their solution.
The solution
The mission was to integrate Billy with LetRegnskab, and create an admin panel to support Billy’s clients. To do this, our developing team used the following technologies:
- PostgreSQL for the database;
- NodeJS with Express for the back-end;
- Angular 4 for the front-end;
The system allows the user attain all the annual reporting documents simply by filling out a few questions in Billy. After receiving the input from the user, the system sends the answers along with the financial information from the Billy system to the system Wiredelta built. Here the accounts from Billy are mapped towards the official ones from Erhversstyrelsen before it is sent onwards to LetRegnskab. In LetRegnskab’s system, the final report is generated both in PDF and XBRL and returned through Wiredelta’s system to the user in Billy. Then the user can submit the reports to Erhvervsstyrelse and upload the XBRL.
As a result, the user is freed from having to go through the extensive process of creating an annual report. This makes Billy an even easier and simpler accounting system, which enables their users to focus on their business even more.
Conclusion
Wiredelta’s mission is to make businesses digital. This project, much like the LetRegnskab project before, is a great case in making the world a more efficient place, where business owners can focus on creating value in their business rather than administration. It is cases like this one that show how important user interface design is, and how much it means to have a quality website or online platform. If you want to start digitizing your business as well, check our services. You can also chat with us by clicking the messenger button in the right-bottom corner of the page. We are here to help!
Also, if you want to learn more about other projects we worked on, visit our case section where you can also read more about the importance of interface design. If you have a start-up and are unsure of what you need, read our: “What does your startup’s website need to succeed,” and many many more! Visit us today!
