Payment account symbolizes Moneybird’s innovative character: ‘We thought, how hard can it be?’

The Enschede-based company achieves this with a self-developed accounting program. The foundation for this was laid in 2008. “I had my own business, but invoicing kept piling up,” says Edwin. As a Computer Science student at the University of Twente, he “crafted” a program to automate the process. Customers were impressed, but the idea to develop the program further remained on the shelf. That is until Joost Diepenmaat and Berend van Bruijnsvoort (who left the company in 2015, ed.) joined. The rest is history. 

The program gained traction, and Moneybird grew. Now, after fifteen years, Moneybird has over 300,000 users. “On the one hand, it has been fast, but at the same time, we have grown at a very comfortable pace,” says Edwin. “We have never raised capital funding; we have done everything on our own. That’s how we calmly expanded Moneybird.” Customer needs have always been at the forefront. “We continuously asked what they need to innovate accordingly. Each time, we saw new possibilities to save time on administration, such as scanning invoices with your phone or automatically recognizing invoices received via email.

The innovative character is characteristic of Moneybird. If the company sees opportunities, they seize them. Sometimes, the innovations are small but crucial for users. Other times, the innovations are more imaginative. Since last year, for example, Moneybird has been the only online accounting software where users can open their own payment account. This fulfilled a long-standing wish for Edwin and Joost. “We often heard from customers that they were dissatisfied with the connection between the bank account and the accounting system. Transactions come in with a delay. You see that you’ve received money in your bank account, but three days have passed before this appears in the accounting environment. In a time when everything is fast, we wondered if this could be better. Joost and I are both software engineers and thought, ‘How hard can it be?’”

The entrepreneurs took matters into their own hands and looked for a solution. At the same time, they saw that many entrepreneurs struggled to open an account with a bank. Could they do something about that, too? “So, hundreds of things came together. The idea became more and more alive. We just couldn’t make it concrete until Adyen came into our picture,” says Edwin. “They have a banking license and were developing a platform for a payment account. They were looking for a reliable partner to collaborate with and thought of us. Since we had been working on this for so long, we already had our presentation ready, so to speak. Adyen was very pleased with that. Together, we further developed the plan.”

The payment account was launched in November 2022. Moneybird customers receive an IBAN and a debit card, and they can immediately see in their accounting software whether an invoice has been paid. These are all advantages that make administration a bit easier for entrepreneurs. “It is a special innovation in the Netherlands,” explains Edwin. “A year has passed, but no party is following us. It is amazing how many enthusiastic responses we get. Entrepreneurs who have cancelled their bank accounts because they want to switch to our payment account. That shows a lot of confidence. At the same time, it is a huge responsibility. We are very aware of that.

The latter keeps Moneybird sharp. The company continuously looks for opportunities to improve the product and market it even better. Contact with the customer is crucial in this process. Edwin enjoys it. It’s pioneering again, just like in the early days of Moneybird. “When we started, we interacted with the customer to see how to improve our product. Then, it was a matter of scaling up and getting bigger. But with this new product, we are returning to entrepreneurship, almost feeling like we are a start-up again. That variety makes it fun.”

The innovations ensure that working at Moneybird remains enjoyable and challenging for Edwin. As a company on the cusp of the financial world and information technology, developments follow each other rapidly. Edwin says, “You now see AI developments happening very quickly. We also follow that with great interest and test with it. After fifteen years of Moneybird, Joost and I are sometimes asked if we still find it enjoyable, but so far, there are always things coming our way that give us energy. Take the payment account, implementing such an innovation well is a huge challenge. And I am sure we will encounter more challenges. Only when there are no more challenges we will look further.