3 minute read
Ageras Aspires to Create the Ultimate Financial Cockpit for Small Companies
A line of acquisitions of small fintech companies has turned Ageras Group into a financial ecosystem, which is helping small companies. The goal is not just to offer the best accounting software, but to gather the companies' finances in one place.
Ageras started as a platform with one product: Small companies can quickly receive three offers from accountants, so they can get their finances under control as easily and inexpensively as possible.
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Since then, the company has added a line of products through development and acquisitions of fintech companies, which also assists small companies with financial aspects. This has made Ageras grow to more than 100 employees across six markets in Europe and the USA. But the goal is still the same.
“The mission is to ensure that small companies receive all the necessary help within financial services to run their business. We have become an ecosystem, and currently, we are so within accounting. Yet, we also see this expand to other areas that can help small companies,” says Rico Andersen, Founder and CEO at Ageras Group.
Ageras aims to create one entrance where small companies can have all of their financial needs met – without having to visit their online bank or the tax administration's webpage during the session. And Ageras is already doing great.
One entry to all services
Both the accounting software Billy, Meneto, and Tellow and a Dutch competitor within marketplaces for accountants have become a part of the Ageras family in recent years.
“The whole idea is that you can enter one place and receive all of the services that the ecosystem offers. For instance, in Billy, you can do your accounting. Besides that, you can also collaborate with your accountant, pay bills, find financing, and possibly have a dialogue with your clients,” Andersen says.
The various products should be combined into one offer for the small companies so that they can receive assistance no matter how far they are in their journey.
“When companies find an accountant through Ageras, they also need some accounting software, where the relationship to the accountant can continue. And this is where the synergies start to become effective: The customers can come in and get the product they are looking for here and now, but we also have the next product ready when they need it. And it’s all gathered in one entry,” Andersen says.
The various tools are compatible. The accountant can be found through the accounting software – and the accounting software can be found through the accountant search. And the strategy is to maintain to add Fintechs to the family so that the small companies can receive a 360-degree service.
The future is built by integration and automatisation
Ageras does not consider it adequate to offer the best accounting software. Rather, the aim is to make all aspects concerning finances and administration of small companies merge into one entry.
“Instead of making the accounting software all about debit and credit, it should be treated as the company’s financial dashboard,, which they never have to leave when they operate the business,” says Andersen.
Ageras aims to be the front-end that ties the company together – even the parts that are not directly delivered by Ageras, e.g., the bank or the government.
The Dutch accounting software Tellow, which is also a part of Ageras Group, is already far in this mission. Here, the bank is connected when signing up, so the software can automatically do the bookkeeping based on receipts and bank transaction data. At the same time, Tellow integrates with the government, which means that VAT, tax returns, and annual accounts can be made and reported automatically, directly from the accounting software.
That is the future Ageras wants to create. The company aims to become the one place where you can do everything that you today need accounting software, banks and government portals for. And everything should be automated.
In the words of Andersen: “You log into the cockpit, where the systems tell you whether you’re doing a great job or not running your business. Accounting software that’s so easy to use even a 10-year-old can figure it out is no longer enough. In the future, you won't even need a 10-year-old - the system will do it by itself."