--- title: "Vestwell Automates Quarterly Close and Scales without FTEs" description: "Learn how Vestwell, a fintech redefining 401(k) and workplace savings, automated its complex recurring and usage-based billing with Ordway—slashing 10+ days per quarter, eliminating the need for a full‑time billing hire, and improving real‑time revenue reporting." url: "https://ordwaylabs.com/resources/case-studies/financial-tech/vestwell-billing-case-study/" type: "Post" publisher: "Ordway" language: "en-US" published: "2022-01-06T00:35:54+00:00" updated: "2025-08-13T13:17:17+00:00" author: "Steve Keifer" categories: - "Financial Tech" --- # Vestwell Automates Quarterly Close and Scales without FTEs Usage-Based Billing Case Study ## Vestwell Automates Quarterly Close and Scales without Adding FTEs ### Discover how Vestwell, a fintech that is redefining 401k and workplace savings programs, leveraged Ordway to automate its recurring billing processes. ![Vestwell Logo](/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/vestwell-ordway-case-study-header-400x108-1.png) ![Ordway - Subscription Billing & Revenue Automation Software for SaaS](/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Ordway-Labs-Logo-O-Updated.svg) #### The client ## Vestwell is creating the next generation of retirement plans. [Vestwell](https://www.vestwell.com) is scaling quickly and in an industry that requires them to have complex billing that includes accounting for 3rd-party fees. By adopting the Ordway billing and revenue automation platform, the Vestwell finance team streamlined quarterly [usage-based billing](/products/usage-based-billing-software/) and [illuminated real-time revenue data](/products/investor-metrics/) to effectively report to the C-suite and their Board of Directors. ![Ordway - Subscription Billing & Revenue Automation Software for SaaS](/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Ordway-Labs-Logo-O-Updated.svg) #### The challenge ## Team wanted more finance automation and visibility into revenue ### Some of the challenges Vestwell’s finance team struggled with included: #### Month End Close Every quarter, customer billing coincided with trying to close the books. The intensive month end process resulted many long nights trying to get manual invoice calculations correct. #### Usage-Based Billing Vestwell used spreadsheets to combine usage-based billing information from internal systems to generate invoices for customers. The manual process resulted in many hours rechecking invoices before sending. #### Investor Reporting The Vestwell finance team also struggled to accurately report real-time revenue snapshots and forecasts to external investors and internal stakeholders. > Ordway is the next generation of billing and subscription management tools in the same way that I consider Vestwell to be the next generation of managing a retirement plan for small businesses." > > Dave Sheen, Chief Financial Officer ![Ordway - Subscription Billing & Revenue Automation Software for SaaS](/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Ordway-Labs-Logo-O-Updated.svg) #### The solution ## Sales-to-finance automation produces accurate billings for complex customers at scale The Vestwell team[integrated both their Salesforce instance with Ordway as well as their own SaaS product (retirement planning software system)](/products/integrations/). This means contract details (amount of the deal, billing start date, terms, etc) automatically flow, error-free, to the Ordway platform. Additionally, each quarter, usage fees are automatically imported into the Ordway system from Vestwell databases to produce an accurate invoice for their customers. ### Next-generation sales-to-finance workflow automation at Vestwell includes: * Close win an opportunity in Salesforce * Automatically set up recurring SaaS contracts in Ordway with proper terms, discounts, billing frequency, etc * Automatically import usage-based billing information from Vestwell servers * Send journal entries to QuickBooks * Report monthly revenue via scheduled reports: SaaS metrics, Vestwell specific metrics and KPIs, etc. ![Ordway - Subscription Billing & Revenue Automation Software for SaaS](/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Ordway-Labs-Logo-O-Updated.svg) #### The results ## Finance automation generates worry-free invoicing, reduced expenses, and focused time for the CFO A billing process that conflicted with their quarter-end close process, is now running smoothly in the background and saving them more than 10 days per quarter for simply getting invoices out the door. As a result, Vestwell has redeployed resources to more strategic activities for the business. In fact, Vestwell estimates that by utilzing Ordway’s [subscription billing](/products/subscription-billing-software/) and [revenue recognition software](/products/revenue-recognition-software-asc-606-ifrs-15/) meant they didn’t need to hire a full-time billing person in the high-cost, New York City market. This in itself could represent $40-60K of savings annually. Those dollars are now used to fund other Vestwell initiatives. > Ordway frees up my time by doing the calculations that I otherwise couldn’t without the software. If not for the software, we would probably need another full time person just to handle our billing.” > > Brendan Keogh, Controller, Vestwell ## See the industry’s most flexible billing and revenue automation platform in action. [Get Demo](/get-demo) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How much time did Vestwell save each quarter using Ordway? Vestwell’s finance team now saves **more than 10 days per quarter**, freeing time formerly spent on manual billing tasks during the close process. ### What billing challenges did Vestwell face before implementing Ordway? They relied on spreadsheets to compile usage-based billing data, making invoicing prone to errors and time-consuming—especially during quarter-end close. They also lacked visibility into real-time revenue for investor reporting. ### Which systems did Ordway integrate with at Vestwell? Ordway integrated with Vestwell’s Salesforce CRM and internal SaaS system to automatically transfer contract and usage data. It also sends journal entries to QuickBooks and enables scheduled revenue and KPI reporting. ### What financial and operational benefits did Vestwell achieve with Ordway? Beyond the 10-day quarterly time savings, Vestwell eliminated the need to hire a full‑time billing specialist in the expensive NYC market—translating to **$40,000–$60,000 in annual savings**. ### How has Ordway improved Vestwell’s financial visibility and reporting? Vestwell now has **real-time revenue data** and streamlined investor reporting capabilities. This enhanced transparency enables more effective reporting to the C-suite and Board of Directors. ## About Ordway Ordway is an all-in-one billing and revenue automation platform for growing B2B SaaS companies, typically from post-Series A to pre-IPO. It combines [Subscription Invoicing](/products/subscription-invoicing-software/), [Recurring Billing](/products/recurring-billing-software/), [Metered Billing](/products/metered-billing-software/), [SaaS Billing](/lp/ordway-saas-billing/), [SaaS Accounting](/products/saas-accounting-software/) and [AI-Powered Revenue Management](/products/ai-powered-revenue-management/) to automate complex pricing models, streamline revenue recognition and accelerate the financial close.