During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brittany Malidore faced a heartbreaking realization: the small businesses and nonprofits that needed her help the most were often the least able to afford it.

"Prior to launching Ledgerly Consulting in 2021, I found myself having to let clients go because they couldn't afford the new minimums that were set within the firm that I worked at," recalls Brittany Malidore, now Managing Partner and Co-founder of Ledgerly Consulting. "These were important clients, from small businesses to nonprofits that were trying to make a difference. Throughout my career in public accounting, I’ve come to learn that I could always help the people who had money. But I found that I couldn’t help the ones that were really struggling – that needed the expertise the most to survive. When I had to turn away clients in masses, that was the last straw. Something had to change.” 

“Throughout my career in public accounting, I’ve come to learn that I could always help the people who had money. But I found that I couldn’t help the ones that were really struggling – that needed the expertise the most to survive. When I had to turn away clients in masses, that was the last straw. Something had to change.”

After a decade of experience, including leading and launching client advisory services (CAS) practices for smaller firms, Brittany founded Ledgerly Consulting with a mission: use technology to make high-end accounting more accessible.

"Clients don’t come to us because they have clean books," Brittany explains. "They're referred to Ledgerly Consulting because they're stuck. They're messy, they're lost. We love that technical side—helping organizations untangle their most complex problems. But we try to do it affordably, and to do that we had to drastically cut the hours it takes to unravel that mess. We had to completely reimagine our traditional accounting systems."

“We love that technical side—helping organizations untangle their most complex problems. But we try to do it affordably, and to do that we had to drastically cut the hours it takes to unravel that mess. We had to completely reimagine our traditional accounting systems."

Challenge: Eliminate manual work to reduce costs

To make their expert services affordable, Brittany was determined to eliminate the manual work that drove the bulk of their costs. But the sheer number of hours they needed to cut felt overwhelming.

"Within our firm before BILL, we have clients whose weekly bill pay might take 3-5 hours or more,” Brittany explains. “Then, the month-end close could easily take 8-10 hours just reconciling all of the manual bills and check payments.” 

"Clients would come to us writing checks from three different checkbooks—one in their car, one in their office, one in their bag," Brittany recalls. "They struggled with vendor profiles and 1099s because there was no consistency in collecting the necessary information, much less save the bills. And cash flow was a nightmare because there was no way to track what they'd written versus what had cleared. It was terrible. Every single time we brought on a new client, we'd find thousands of dollars in uncleared checks."

To tear down that mountain of manual work, Brittany set out on a quest to find a modern system that could take over the heavy lifting. "I was determined to find a financial automation platform that could change everything about the way we worked—I found that in BILL."

“I was determined to find a financial automation platform that could change everything about the way we worked—I found that in BILL.”

Solution: BILL Accounts Payable and Spend & Expense

Today, Ledgerly Consulting requires clients who need bill pay services or write a high volume of checks to use BILL. For nonprofits undergoing audits, it's mandatory—there's no manual process allowed.

"We instantly fell in love with BILL and we are still in love today," Brittany says. "The amount we paid for the platform and the per-service cost was a fraction of what clients were spending before on AP. Thanks to the clearing account, our reconciliations alone far outweigh the cost. The difference between traditional AP and BILL's automation platform was night and day."

“We instantly fell in love with BILL and we are still in love today. The amount we paid for the platform and the per-service cost was a fraction of what clients were spending before on AP. Thanks to the clearing account, our reconciliations alone far outweigh the cost. The difference between traditional AP and BILL's automation platform was night and day."

The impact has been especially transformative for our nonprofit clients dealing with complex allocation requirements and audit preparation.

"For nonprofit audits, BILL has eliminated endless hours of work," says Brittany. "I can pull down receipts with a click of a button. If they need an approval workflow, it's right there. If a client has a hundred audit selections that may have taken me 3 days before, I can do all the AP and credit cards in a few hours. It's remarkable and honestly, it's priceless what BILL can do for extracting information."

“If a client has a hundred audit selections that may have taken me 3 days before, I can do all the AP and credit cards in a few hours. It's remarkable and honestly, it's priceless what BILL can do for extracting information."

The firm has also implemented BILL Spend & Expense with tremendous results.

"Think about all those allocations," Brittany says. "Admin, fundraising, programming. Plus, restricted funding. BILL Spend & Expense automates all of it. For nonprofits, it's a no-brainer. The automation and control benefits are so clear."

Results: Transforming service delivery through automation

By automating manual processes with BILL, Ledgerly Consulting hasn't just reduced costs—it's transformed how it serves its clients.

"Our support teams are now able to process bills for clients five days a week, and it's amazing," Brittany says. "We've seen such incredible efficiency gains. We're closing books as early as the 5th to 10th of each month. Even covering multiple entities, the AP team doesn’t feel stressed at all because so much is being handled by the BILL platform's AI and automation tools. I've never had anyone be unhappy with BILL—they've only been thrilled with the results."

“We're closing books as early as the 5th to 10th of each month.Even covering multiple entities, the AP team doesn’t feel stressed at all because so much is being handled by the BILL platform's AI and automation tools.”

Most importantly, the automation has allowed Ledgerly Consulting to shift from basic bookkeeping to true advisory work—even for their smallest clients. Clients get more with Ledgerly Consulting since teams spend less time on “what” and more time on “why and how.”

"Before BILL, we spent 90% of our time figuring out the 'what'—what did you spend money on? Where is the document? How do we classify it?" Brittany explains. "Now, we spend 95% of our time on things like financial analysis, general ledger hygiene, and having strategic conversations with clients. That's what these organizations really need—not just clean books, but strategic guidance to help them grow and succeed."

“Now, we spend 95% of our time on things like financial analysis, general ledger hygiene, and having strategic conversations with clients. That's what these organizations really need—not just clean books, but strategic guidance to help them grow and succeed.”

Summary: Technology democratizes expertise

For Ledgerly Consulting, automation through BILL is about more than efficiency—it's about democratizing access to financial expertise.

"Why would I charge you for something I can automate? Our mission is to help organizations that traditionally couldn't access this level of service. BILL helps us eliminate the manual work so we can focus our time—and our clients' budgets—on what really matters. That's why I started this firm—to help the organizations that need us most. Thanks to the automation we found with BILL, we can finally do it."

“BILL helps us eliminate the manual work so we can focus our time—and our clients' budgets—on what really matters. That's why I started this firm—to help the organizations that need us most. Thanks to the automation we found with BILL, we can finally do it.”