Search - - [Academy](/en/elvy-academy/) - [Support](/en/about-us/support/) - [Contact](/en/about-us/contact/) - [About Elvy](/en/about-us/) - [NL](/nl/inspiratie/klantverhalen/basil/) [EN](/en/inspiration/customer-stories/basil/) [Elvy](/en/) Search Request demo Menu X ## Request a no-obligation demonstration of our software Would you like to find out what Elvy can do for your organisation? Request a no-obligation demonstration now! - [Home](/en/) - [Inspiration](/en/inspiration/) - [Customer stories](/en/inspiration/customer-stories/) - Basil # ‘You’ll recoup the cost of Elvy’s functionality and efficiency very quickly’ **Basil – a designer and retailer of leading cycling accessories – has grown significantly in recent years, resulting in a substantial increase in its financial administration. To improve efficiency, Basil opted for Elvy Invoice Processing in 2017. Recently, Document Archiving was also added to digitise multiple document flows.** Just over 40 years ago, it was Nico van Balveren who founded the Basil brand in Silvolde, Gelderland. The combination of his surname and the village name grew into a strong brand in modern cycling accessories. His son Marthijn took over the reins in 2001. Since then, Basil has grown rapidly and now employs 25 people. Together, they ensure that the colourful cycle bags, baskets, bells, rainwear and mounting systems are available at around 2,000 retail outlets across the Netherlands. But Basil is also making great strides internationally – particularly in Germany. Basil has also launched the MIK brand, a revolutionary system for clicking accessories into luggage racks. Partly as a result of this, Basil was ranked among the top 4 per cent of the most innovative companies in the Netherlands in 2020. ***‘Our company grew from a napkin to a tablecloth in no time!’*** “Basil stands for sustainable cycling joy,” says Sjaak Meijer, who has been responsible for Finance & Control, amongst other things, since 2008. “With attractive and sustainable accessories, we aim to encourage as many people as possible to cycle. After Marthijn took over the business from his father, it grew from a napkin to a tablecloth in no time. From 2004 onwards, turnover doubled within a few years. But because we carried on working as we always had, the elastic between the internal and external organisation became increasingly taut. Before it snapped, we had to optimise our processes. In 2008, we began implementing ERP software; at the time, this was Agresso Wholesale (now KCS Wholesale). By integrating a business intelligence tool, we gained an increasingly clear picture of how we were actually performing across a range of areas.” In addition, many further optimisations have been implemented over the years. ***‘We were instrumental in establishing the integration between Agresso Wholesale and Elvy: a great win-win!’*** **Pilot client** It soon became clear that we could also be much more efficient in the area of financial administration. Sjaak: “Efficiency is important to us; we didn’t want to have to take on a new employee every time our turnover grew. So we set out to find the right software to help us achieve our objectives and growth in that area too. By including it in our 2017 annual plan and setting aside a budget for it, the ball started rolling. I came across Elvy at an information session organised by our accountant and became enthusiastic about their products during a demonstration. After that, I started discussing it with others too. Unfortunately, there was no integration with Agresso Wholesale, but our suggestion to become a pilot client was enthusiastically taken on board. Elvy set about developing an interface at the time. This was set up for us, after which we were able to get started. So Basil was instrumental in establishing the link between Wholesale and Elvy. A great win-win!” ***‘For us, it’s been a very good investment, with efficiency and insight being the biggest benefits’*** **Highly recommended** “Of course, it was a significant investment in Elvy and the integration with Agresso (now KCS Wholesale). Still, I can only say one thing about it: we recouped the cost of the functionality and efficiency Elvy offers very quickly! So I’d absolutely recommend it to companies that aren’t yet working this way. For us, efficiency is the biggest benefit. In recent years, the volume of purchase invoices has grown enormously, and with it the processing and reconciliation work. That was simply too much for our administrative assistant, who works 24 hours a week. Without Elvy, we would have had to take on more staff.” **Paperless working and quick insights** Sjaak cites working without a paper archive as another benefit of Elvy Invoice Processing. “When we were recently clearing out archive material during a refurbishment, we had a pallet box full of ring binders of paper for a single financial year. Now, when I look at a financial year, it’s a maximum of ten ring binders. I see this paperless way of working as a major plus; it contributes to our sustainability mission. What’s more, this move towards automation provides greater transparency. Instead of all sorts of folders being passed around the company for invoices to be approved, everything is now digitised. This also means you no longer lose anything and can easily retrieve invoices. Every morning at 8.00 am sharp, all our budget holders receive an email from the online approval portal ElvyWeb, notifying them which invoices are ready for approval, or containing a forwarded query from a colleague. All that correspondence is also recorded in an audit trail. It’s a pleasant way of working that everyone finds positive.” ***‘Since the software was implemented, we’ve received excellent support from Elvy. We’re very pleased with that.’*** More efficient processing, correct approval procedures, digital archiving and easier retrieval were ultimately the key factors that convinced Basil to choose Elvy Invoice Processing. “It has been embraced by our entire organisation right from the start. We all recognised the ongoing developments and ensured our staff were properly briefed and prepared for them. From the moment of implementation, we’ve received excellent support from Elvy; we’re very pleased with that. Their account manager and implementation consultant were even on hand for us day and night. Their Support department is also always easy to reach and helpful.” ***Finding the right solution together*** Basil is constantly working to improve its processes. That is why they opted for Elvy Document Archiving last year. Sjaak: “As well as digital invoices, our international procurement means we also have ‘bills of lading’ and other transport documentation. We store these digitally and link them to the relevant invoice. That is the primary purpose of this module. But we still see further opportunities for digitisation that aren’t yet fully standardised. We want to set up an authorisation workflow, and the team at Elvy are working closely with us on this. Together, we’re looking for the solution that works best for our business!”