QuickBooks' first lending app partner announced

Small-business lender Waddle has become the first SME lending app partner for Australian QuickBooks users, in a move that the company hopes will disrupt Australia's billion dollar receivables-based lending market.

Through the partnership, the software provider claims that customers will be able to obtain a finance offer based on their accounting data within one minute, with a majority of cases funded within 24 to 48 hours.

Following its June 2015 launch, Waddle developed an agnostic view towards partnerships with software providers, but with the company also stating it has forged partnerships with three cloud accounting applications, with six more in development for 2016.

Leigh Dunsford, Waddle co-founder, said the origins of the company lie in response to his own frustrations with client funding.

“Making it easier for business owners to access capital tied up in invoices is the main pain point they constantly battle with,” said Mr Dunsford.

“The primary concern for SMEs is cash flow from customer payments. Businesses are often waiting for payments to arrive before they can fund growth and [it] can be the number one reason why they go out of business,” he said.

The sealing of the partnership follows an increasing shift in the accounting software space toward offering integrated lending solutions.

November 2015 saw fintech startup Spotcap establish itself as the first online lender to integrate with all six major accounting software solutions in Australia.