Fifo Capital unveils “Digital CFO Technology” SaaS platform, Fifopay, to transform Aussie SMEs’ financial management

Leading business finance provider Fifo Capital has announced the public release of Fifopay, a cloud-based, AI-enabled financial management platform designed to revolutionise SMEs’ financial operations. Several of Fifopay’s features are Australian fintech firsts.

Fifopay acts as a “digital CFO” when integrated alongside a business’s accounting software, offering AI-driven insights into cash flow, budgeting and planning tools, automated negotiations of discounts with suppliers, and robust protection from fraud. The platform empowers SME owners with accountant-grade expertise effortlessly, eliminating the administrative burden of financial management and planning.

The release of Fifopay is timely as SMEs across the country face the stress of minimum wage increases, interest rate hikes, and a one-in-three chance of recession. Research reveals that one-third of the nation’s small business owners report experiencing financial stress at least half the time. Cash flow problems are the most serious cause.

Fifopay integrates seamlessly with 16 different accounting platforms, generating a comprehensive and visual report of a company’s cash flow. It can use data from incoming and outgoing invoices, expenses, supplier and debtor information, and existing lending facilities. It proactively monitors various relevant factors such as customer payment behaviour and late payment trends, enabling businesses to plan their expenditure effectively and meet upcoming payment obligations.

Fifo Capital CEO Wayne Morris says that Fifopay’s most exciting, first-in-market feature is all about the time value of money. “Whether customers pay on time plays such a pivotal role in the success or failure of many Australian small businesses. Fifopay helps encourage prompt payments across the market by empowering customers to automatically negotiate discounts with suppliers for early payment,” he said.

Already extensively tested and proven successful, Fifopay’s early payment discount feature allows bidirectional negotiation. Customers can automatically request discounts from a supplier for early payment, while suppliers can advise customers of early payment discounts, helping to boost their cash flow and enabling them to pay their own suppliers and staff without having to borrow cash.

Fraud poses another significant threat to Aussie businesses, with losses reaching $23.2 million in 2022, up 42% from $13.4 million in 2021. Small businesses (between 5 and 19 employees) saw a 61% increase in losses to fraud, mostly fake invoice scams. Addressing this issue, Fifopay incorporates AI-enabled verification of all incoming invoices, including non-electronic invoices. Morris said, “Our AI assistant VISTA is currently in training mode, reviewing tens of thousands of different invoices, to ensure it spots potential frauds”. This is another one of Fifopay’s unique offerings in the Australian market.

Morris emphasises that the benefits of Fifopay extend beyond small businesses to include larger, more established businesses, too.

“While helping SMEs to solve their working capital and cash flow problems is essential in the current environment, Fifopay also enables more established businesses to trade better and more efficiently. Reliably unlocking 2–8% in discounts is revolutionary for any customer, and the benefits are compounded when this process happens automatically, without having to devote resources to negotiating better deals with suppliers. By harnessing the power of our platform, businesses can maximise their savings and invest them towards profitability growth, it’s a win-win for customers and suppliers all round.

“Fifopay truly is a game-changing piece of fintech,” Morris concludes.