New SmarterPay Partnership Will Revolutionise Direct Debit Collection

Published:25 August 2024

I’m delighted to announce an exciting new partnership between Aedon.Accounting and SmarterPay, a collaboration that has been years in the making. This partnership represents a significant milestone in our journey together, one that’s built on a foundation of mutual respect and a shared vision for the future of direct debit collection.

Our relationship with SmarterPay dates back to 2018, when we first started working together on projects related to the original Sage Live, now known as Sage Financials. Over the years, we’ve developed a strong professional bond, fuelled by our complementary skills and a genuine desire to create something truly impactful together.

The time has finally come to turn that desire into reality, starting with SmarterPay’s core functionality in the direct debit business. SmarterPay is one of the UK’s largest direct debit collectors, with an impressive client portfolio that includes household names like British Gas. They are a serious player in the direct debit space, and we’re thrilled to join forces with them to deliver a seamless, integrated mandate process that will transform the way businesses manage their direct debits.

Our collaboration centres around three key elements designed to streamline the direct debit process and alleviate the administrative burdens that often accompany it.

  1. Simplified Mandate Setup:
    The first element of our integrated solution is a quick and effective way of setting up direct debit using SmarterPay’s platform. The process is user-friendly, cost-effective, and ensures that all necessary details are validated, saving businesses time and reducing the risk of errors.
  2. Efficient Direct Debit Collection Run:
    The second element is the creation of a direct debit collection run. Thanks to the integration of Aedon.Accounting and SmarterPay, businesses can send out direct debit instructions 14 days in advance and collect the payments 14 days later with ease. This seamless integration ensures that the collection process is both smooth and reliable, giving businesses confidence that their payments will be processed correctly and on time.
  3. Automated Handling of Failed Payments:
    The third, and perhaps most crucial, element of our solution addresses the most challenging aspect of direct debit collection: dealing with failed payments. At Aedon.co, we’ve developed a special transaction called the “sales failure” to manage this issue. This unique feature automatically updates the sales ledger and records the failure in the system, allowing credit control teams to manage the situation more effectively.

What makes this solution truly powerful is SmarterPay’s Smart Cloud system, which automates the decision-making process around whether to represent a failed direct debit based on business-specific rules. With around 60 different codes that can indicate why a direct debit has failed—ranging from insufficient funds to more sensitive issues like the account holder’s death—having these rules in place ensures that businesses can respond appropriately in each situation.

This partnership was officially launched at the recent London’s Calling event, and we’re already seeing significant interest from clients who recognise the value of this integrated solution.

Phil Chilvers, CEO of SmarterPay, said: “We are incredibly proud of our close working relationship with Paul and the team at Aedon Accounting. Our partnership delivers a clear vision for the future of accounting within Salesforce. Aedon’s heritage in the accounting space has helped overcome the challenges associated with regular revenue collections which is so important for everyday business. We are really very excited about the opportunities ahead.”

We at Aedon.co are also incredibly excited about the potential of this partnership to change the game for businesses managing direct debits. By automating the most time-consuming and error-prone aspects of the process, we’re giving businesses the tools they need to focus on what they do best—growing and succeeding.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to roll out this groundbreaking solution, and feel free to reach out if you’re interested in learning more about how it can benefit your business.

Paul Foden
CEO, Aedon.Accounting

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