Case study

RICO Industries

Discover how Rico cut DSO by 12 days and automated cash flow forecasting with higher accuracy.

About the Company

Rico Inc. has sold wholesale gift and novelty products into retail markets across the country since 1944. The business has been a consistently top-ranked licensee of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and more than 200 colleges and universities. Rico has grown over their 75 years of service. They have acquired multiple companies, including Tag Express in 2001, and Big League Promotions and Tags By Design in 2009. In addition, they launched their first brand, SPARO, in 2013.

Industry

Wholesale Distribution

Employees

140+

Location

United States

Challenges

Rico was using NetSuite ERP for AR management, however, it was limited in functionality and user-friendliness. The CFO mentioned how NetSuite was practical for mid-level companies, but when one wanted to be more agile, processes would become cumbersome. Cash flow calculations were time-consuming as they were done manually in Excel and gradually shifted from being done weekly to being abandoned completely.

Solution

Rico needed faster invoice payments without sacrificing existing systems. They wanted a solution that included not only automated collections processes, but also provided cash flow projections with predictive analytics.

The CFO emphasized that “the addition of a fintech solution should not add work and rather make processes easier.” The team was pleasantly surprised with a simple and quick integration process for a service that would take time off their plate from doing manual work and hunting down clients. They were especially welcoming to the change due to the user-friendliness of the Payference solution.

Any suggestions or requests made by the CFO or team were solved within days rather than a normally longer response and implementation rate. The added functionality to the Payference solution of sales forecasts and additional usability on the payment portal had a quick turnaround period of a week.

The finance team saw many customers use the payment feature soon after the implementation of Payference.

Results

Payference’s accounts receivable automation streamlined the entire AR process, making it easier for their team to follow. By using automated email communication, customers are enabled to pay invoices quickly and efficiently. Rico had seen a reduction of 12 days in DSO with only three months of using Payference.

“Automating day-to-day operations
leaves more time for the important analytics.”
- Navin Eric, CFO

Moving forward, Rico hopes to see Payference’s technology alert them about clients who will likely make late payments. This is in effort to proactively reach out to those customers rather than waiting the entire invoice payment period.