XU: Can you provide an overview of Plooto and its primary functions in accounts payable and receivable?

RR: Plooto is an all-in-one payment automation solution that securely automates accounts payable and receivable for small-to-midsize businesses and their accounting firms, saving them time and helping them gain control of their cash.

Plooto makes it easy for more than 10,000 North American businesses to customize and automate payment workflows, reduce time spent chasing approvals, and mitigate human error in accounting processes.  

XU: How does Plooto differentiate itself from other accounts payable and receivable software in the market?

RR: Unlike other point solutions that manage either AP or AR – often requiring separate software to facilitate approval logic – Plooto is a true end-to-end, automated solution.  We’ve made Plooto approachable and user-friendly, from the pricing – which is per entity, rather than per user, so the savings grow as your business grows – to the interface, on which we get consistently positive feedback.

We also offer top-tier product support and hear from our users that our response times outpace other software.

XU: What are some common pain points businesses face in cash management that Plooto addresses effectively?

RR: Plooto allows businesses and accounting professionals to be hands-off with manual tasks, while keeping the hands-on security of your chosen approval settings. Rather than relying on bank feeds and CSVs, you can reconcile in a fraction of the time with Plooto.  You stay informed throughout the payment process with consistent updates on the status, and can also set tailored approval controls to reduce the risk of fraud and allow only necessary team members to access payments.

XU: How does Plooto's technology simplify manual payment and accounting processes for businesses?

RR: A two-way sync with Xero, QuickBooks, or NetSuite alleviates the need to manually enter and reconcile payment data. Plooto offers multiple payment methods and supports payments to vendors across 20 currencies to 40+ countries, so you can manage all AP and AR from one platform. Say goodbye to tedious bank lines, cutting paper checks, and email thread approvals.

XU: Can you highlight any specific features of Plooto that enhance total control over cash management for businesses?

RR: If knowledge is power, then Plooto plays a part in powerful cash flow management.

Automating the payments portion of your cash flow process ensures you have control over when and how you pay and get paid – giving you clear insight into dollars in and out of your business. When you’re on top of your cash management, you’re able to make smarter, more timely business decisions.

XU: How does Plooto integrate with other accounting software platforms?

RR: Plooto integrates directly with Xero enabling powerful end-to-end payment automation and reconciliation. Once the connection is established contacts, bills, and invoices are imported into Plooto.

After a user initiates the payment, approval rules that have been set up are activated, the payment is made, and Plooto reconciles your records in Xero. We offer similar two-way integrations with QuickBooks and NetSuite.  

XU: What kind of businesses benefit the most from using Plooto?

RR: Businesses with finance teams still using manual accounting processes can see immediate time savings and error mitigation from using Plooto.

For accounting practices, Plooto is a single platform on which to manage their entire book of business – securely automating client payments so they can spend more time growing their firm.

XU: What are the onboarding and support processes like for new Plooto users? How easy is it for new customers to get started?‍

‍RR: It takes less than 15 minutes to create an account and complete the verification submission. Once you pass security checks, you should be ready to start transacting within one business hour. The process is simple enough to complete yourself, but our customer success team is also available to help you get started with a demo, training, and the right resources.

XU: How does Plooto leverage automation to reduce the manual workload for finance teams?

RR: Teams can use our Plooto Capture feature to email or upload invoices and let Plooto do the work of automatically importing the data into accounting software like Xero.

Accounting teams can then send funds through Plooto to pay the invoice, which is automatically synced back into Xero and marked as paid. Approval processes based on roles, responsibilities and even dollar amounts ensure you can control spend and security without additional human effort.

XU: How does Plooto's reporting and analytics capabilities help businesses make better financial decisions?

RR: Plooto gives you visibility and control of funds going in and coming out of you (or your client’s) business, and auto-reconciliation with your accounting software means you can have confidence you’re getting complete data to forecast your cash flow. Automation enables speed to insight, so your finance decision makers are equipped with timely data.  

XU: What role does customer feedback play in the development and improvement of Plooto's features?

RR: Two of our company values are innovating for our customers and championing their success. We love engaging with Plooto users at live events and through one-on-one interviews. These conversations keep us close to pain points and real-world needs that we strive to solve both through our platform development and customer support.

XU: Looking ahead, what are some future developments or features that Plooto plans to introduce to further enhance cash management for businesses?

‍‍RR: We’re excited to announce new capabilities that will provide businesses with even more ways to take control of their cash very soon! Stay tuned in the coming months.