Accounting firms are struggling to implement high-tech solutions. This is according to a survey conducted by Rightsworks earlier this year, which found that while 88% of businesses believe technology is having a positive impact on their efficiency, 60% believe that systems are disconnected, inconsistent, etc. Processes were found to suffer from a lack of standardized workflows.
Startups like Aiwyn are trying to meet the demand. Founded in 2020 and based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Aiwyn sells software designed to address the revenue cycle aspects of CPA businesses. Aiwyn's platform automates and reconciles payments and invoices for both CPAs and their clients.
Aiwyn was co-founded by entrepreneurs Pat Morrell and Justin Adams. While building his first startup, the healthcare company Digitize.AI (which Morel also helped co-found), Adams had a bad experience at a CPA firm. The company sent Mr. Adams an invoice two months after he sold Digitize.AI and asked him to mail a check to a post office box in Pennsylvania.
“[I]From a customer experience perspective, it kind of left a taste in my mouth,” Adams wrote in a LinkedIn post. “That made me deeply question: Why do top 10 accounting firms have such a bad experience? Why did they make it so difficult to get paid? Why cause so much friction in the process?”
So, even though he felt, as Adams puts it, “pretty burnt out” after selling Digitize.AI, he called Morrell and the two brainstormed what would become Aiwyn. has started.
Iwin currently has about 80 staff members and is expected to generate $8 million in revenue in 2023, Adams said. The firm serves approximately 130 of the top 500 accounting firms.
It's a favorable position.
According to Verified Market Research, the value of the accounting practice management software sector will reach $1.29 billion in 2024 and could reach $2.36 billion by 2031. 93% of accountants believe that accounting firms that make greater use of technology are more likely to survive good economic times. Inflation and interest rates, per survey.
Aiwyn develops what the company calls a “comprehensive” accounting practice management platform and tax-focused applications. To fund these efforts, the company recently closed a $113 million funding round led by KKR and Bessemer Venture Partners.
This round brings Awin's total funding to $127 million.
“Iwin is committed to helping CPA firms strengthen their operations and client relationships,” Adams said in a statement. “With this investment, we are poised to redefine how businesses manage their operations from CRM to general ledger and set a new benchmark for customer experience.”