Industry

Smartcar’s Director of Finance cut 5+ days from the team’s monthly close as a finance team of one

5+ days saved

on monthly close

99%

of monthly close automated

~50 → ~30 days

DSO reduction

5+ days saved

on monthly close

99%

of monthly close automated

~50 → ~30 days

DSO reduction

Employee count

51-200

Previous technology

QuickBooks

Smartcar’s finance team needed Rillet to eliminate manual accounting work and automate 99% of their monthly close workload so they could focus on what actually moves the business forward.

Key pain points

Manual month-end close consuming weeks of data entry and reconciliation
Finance team of one with no bandwidth left for strategic work
Disconnected systems requiring constant manual data reconciliation across platforms
DSO of ~50 days with no systematic collections process
No pricing framework or gross margin benchmarking
Cash flow visibility dependent on ad hoc, manually assembled models

Key results

5+ business days saved on month-end close every month
99% of monthly close fully automated
DSO cut from ~50 to ~30 days
80% gross margin pricing framework established from scratch
Automated 13-week cash flow model with weekly leadership visibility
Finance now a strategic partner to the business, not just a reporting function

The company

Smartcar is an API platform for connected vehicle data, enabling developers and businesses to build applications that communicate directly with cars and trucks. As a company whose entire product is built on the power of integrations, Smartcar is a true believer in letting data flow seamlessly between systems, a philosophy that shaped how they approached rebuilding the company’s finance function.

The challenge

Doing more with less

Emily Frey, Director of Finance at Smartcar, manages the company’s entire finance function solo. The mandate was demanding: close the books faster, decrease vendor spend, and support company growth, all without adding headcount.

The problem wasn’t effort. It was tooling. Smartcar’s finance systems were disconnected, forcing Frey to rely on manual processes to reconcile data across platforms, track contracts separately, and validate financial information month after month. Every close consumed days of manual work that left no room for the strategic work the business actually needed from finance.

“As a finance team of one, I can’t afford to spend lots of time on manual data entry.”
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‍- Emily Frey, CPA — Director of Finance, Smartcar

The solution

Rillet automated the 99% of the accounting function

Smartcar made the switch from QuickBooks to Rillet to transform their month-end close. With built-in revenue recognition, invoicing, and AI-powered accounting, Rillet gave Frey everything she needed for continuous close in one seamless platform.

The impact was immediate. With Rillet handling automated transaction coding, reconciliation, and reporting, the monthly close went from a multi-day manual grind to a process that essentially runs itself. Frey’s role shifted from data entry to oversight.

“With Rillet, 99% of the monthly close is automated. All I have to do is reconcile accounts and check that the automations are continuing to function as expected. Goodbye data entry tasks!”
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‍- Emily Frey, CPA — Director of Finance, Smartcar

The time savings were not incremental, they were transformational. Frey reclaimed more than five business days every single month, which she immediately redirected toward higher-value work.

“Migrating to Rillet has shaved over 5 business days off my month-end close tasks.”
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‍- Emily Frey, CPA — Director of Finance, Smartcar

The results

From reporting function to strategic partner

With 5+ days returned every month, Frey is able to redirect her energy toward initiatives that directly impact Smartcar’s business.

The cumulative effect was a fundamental shift in how Smartcar’s finance function operates. Frey is no longer just closing the books, she’s a strategic partner to leadership, informing decisions around pricing, international expansion, and cash management.

For a company like Smartcar, an API-first platform that lives and breathes integrations, Rillet was a natural fit. It didn’t just automate accounting tasks, it gave their finance director the leverage to do work that actually matters.

“Instead of closing the books, I’m spending that time on forecasting, planning, and strategic work with our leadership team. The impact is that finance is now operating as a true partner to the business, not just a reporting function.”
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‍- Emily Frey, CPA — Director of Finance, Smartcar

By the numbers

Process	Before Rillet	After Rillet	Impact
Month-end close	Two weeks of manual data entry and reconciliation	99% of monthly close automated and 5+ business days saved every month	Close compressed from weeks to days — capacity freed for strategic work
DSO	~50 days	~30 days	40% reduction in days outstanding, materially stronger cash flow
Pricing framework	No gross margin benchmarking	80% gross margin framework established in partnership with the product team	Finance now drives margin discipline across product lines
Tax compliance	Reactive and ad hoc	Global compliance review completed; registrations initiated in key international jurisdictions	International expansion unblocked—no compliance risk holding back growth
Cash flow visibility	Ad hoc, no real-time view	Fully automated 13-week cash flow model pulling directly from AR and forecast data	Weekly leadership visibility into liquidity and spending decisions

“Rillet is a no-brainer for anyone in the SaaS space looking to modernize their accounting tech stack.”
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‍- Emily Frey, CPA — Director of Finance, Smartcar