Praxent scales gig economy payments with BILL API Platform and expense automation

For over 25 years, Praxent has been helping financial services and insurance companies reimagine their future through digital transformation. As a boutique consultancy of over 140 fintech specialists, they deliver end-to-end product development that combines human-centered user experience with cutting-edge engineering.

"We're a financial services digital consultancy," explains James Moughon, VP of Digital Products and AI at Praxent. "We work with our clients' legacy systems to launch modern, digital experiences that serve their customers better than their competitors do."

When one of their longest-standing clients needed to scale their gig economy payment operations, Praxent turned to BILL's API Platform to create an automated solution that would transform their business.

Challenge: Automating complex gig economy payments

The client, Palaterra, a retail execution platform that specializes in alcohol tastings, had plans to expand nationwide, but the system they were using to pay gig economy contractors was not going to work at that scale.

"Their payment process was complicated," Moughon says. "They would build these huge spreadsheets and manually execute payments every two weeks. It took days to get everything ready. Hours and hours of building files and sending them through one tool after another. To scale nationally, they needed a better way."

Solution: Custom payment platform powered by BILL API Platform

To help their client get ready to scale, Praxent turned to BILL API Platform, using it to connect their client's systems and to create an end-to-end solution.

"We used the BILL API Platform to build a custom payment scheduling system that integrates seamlessly with our client's operations and automates the entire payment process," says Moughon. "The platform calculates payments based on completed jobs and executes them automatically, with contractors onboarded directly into BILL for seamless bank account setup."

"By using the API Platform to connect with BILL, we reduced payment lag from 2-3 days to next-day payments. What used to take days of manual prep now runs automatically overnight. The platform has been so successful that other agencies are now adopting it, using the same API method to manage their own gig economy payments."

“By using the API to connect with BILL, we reduced payment lag from 2-3 days to next-day payments. What used to take days of manual prep now runs automatically overnight."

Results: Transforming operations through automation

The automated platform enabled the client to scale nationwide. Today, the company has grown from serving a single agency to supporting multiple agencies across the country, with more planned for the future.

"The impact of the platform we built using the BILL API Platform has been dramatic. There's going to be exponential growth of that platform over the next two to three years," Moughon notes. "A lot of people have seen the value in what it can do. "

“The impact of the platform we built using the BILL API Platform has been dramatic. There's going to be exponential growth of that platform over the next two to three years. A lot of people have seen the value in what it can do."

Beyond APIs: Streamlining Praxent's own financial operations

Praxent also uses BILL to streamline expense management across the organization. "The operations team loves it. Being able to manage our expenses without double entry is just incredible," Moughon adds. "Using BILL Spend & Expense is two to three times faster than our previous system."

For the marketing team, BILL has made a significant difference in being able to track campaign management and measure ROI. 

"We can associate each expense with a specific campaign or event," explains Kristiane Mandraki, VP of Growth. "With around 50 expenses per campaign, being able to track ROI would be impossible without the level of organization you get in BILL Spend & Expense. Especially when you're managing long campaigns that can span several months."

“We can associate each expense with a specific campaign or event. With around 50 expenses per campaign, being able to track ROI would be impossible without the level of organization you get in BILL Spend & Expense."

Summary: Comprehensive financial operations automation

Whether Praxent is building and maintaining custom payment platforms or managing its own expenses, BILL automation helps the team scale efficiently.

"BILL is comprehensive," Moughon concludes. "If I had to use one word, that's what I'd call it. From API to expense management, BILL gives us the tools we need to focus on what we do best—helping our clients transform their digital experiences."

“From API to expense management, BILL gives us the tools we need to focus on what we do best—helping our clients transform their digital experiences."