Beyondly

The challenge

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Reporting required time-consuming work and advanced Excel skills

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Beyondly had grown too complex for its Xero finance system. Staff were employing elaborate and inefficient workarounds especially within debtor and credit control reporting. Complex financial reporting requirements, purchase invoice approval workflows and project financial reporting goals were additional drivers behind the need for change.

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A looming change to Xero’s invoicing features prompted Diane Foote, Head of Finance, to start reviewing systems. “I knew I would have to revisit Xero and re-do our chart of accounts – and we also needed a system which could handle complex bespoke customer communication requests,” she says. “We weren’t going to futureproof our business without changing the system.”

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The solution

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Reports produced quickly and credit control made more efficient

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Beyondly committed to iplicit the month after seeing a demonstration. “We had a gut feeling that this was the right system – but we were careful to make sure all our requirements were addressed in the sessions with the iplicit team.” she says.

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It was vital that reporting should be much easier and more flexible than with Xero.  “That ability to easily report on compliance years, as well as calendar years and the standard financial year, was key. I wanted to have a basic chart of accounts but have the option to add in compliance year reporting,” says Diane. “That now happens at the click of a button.”

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Enhanced debtor reporting now allows the team to report by customer, service and internal account manager. Credit control queries can be resolved quickly as the debtor report is a live one, not a static monthly produced document.

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Beyondly’s approval workflows have also been simplified. Purchase invoice approvals used to be handled via an authorisation log and a chain of emails; now, authorisation happens quicker and more securely in the finance system. The same applies to expenses, while bank reconciliations have been streamlined. Project reporting and month end financial reporting reviews are now streamlined, efficient processes, allowing the team to monitor time, costs and profitability by service and at project level.

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The outcome

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Improved management information enables better business decisions

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The benefits of iplicit have gone beyond time savings and efficiencies. “The big difference for us has been the impact on our customer relationships and the service we can provide in finance to our internal and external stakeholders.” says Diane.

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"iplicit has given me peace of mind. I feel we've future-proofed the financial team's way of working and we're excited by other things that we're developing within iplicit. I’ve been enormously impressed by what it’s brought us as a business and in Beyondly’s 20th year in 2026 I feel it’s a really fantastic, solid foundation for further financial growth.”