Crunch Processes 6,500 Monthly Subscription Payments On Salesforce

Crunch is an online accounting platform built for sole traders, contractors, and small businesses across the UK. With around 6,500 paying clients, getting paid reliably and efficiently is not just a back-office function - it is core to the health of the business.

Relied on Bank-based Direct Debit:

For years, Crunch managed client payments through a combination of bank-based direct debit systems and manually generated files. The process was inefficient, complex and exposed the business to potential risk. As Finance Director, Stephen Paynter describes it as: "Before Unaric, using the bank and direct debit, using Salesforce to generate the files - it was slow, it was cumbersome.”

Siloed data:

For a business that relies on consistent cash flow to reinvest in its own software platform, any disruption to payment processing had immediate consequences. Customer and payments data sat in disconnected systems (Salesforce, Sage, and the direct debit platform) which meant no single source of truth, no automation and limited visibility across teams.

Limited payment methods on offer:

Clients were also restricted to one payment method, with direct debit mandates creating friction in the onboarding process and causing some clients to hesitate at the point of sign-up.

Crunch needed a payments setup that was automated, secure, and fully embedded into Salesforce - one that could grow alongside the business without requiring constant reinvestment or an expanding finance headcount.

Crunch partnered with Unaric Payments to embed a fully digital, automated payment operation directly into Salesforce, with GoCardless powering bank-to-bank payments as the underlying payment service provider.

One system for all customer and payments data:

Every transaction - from new client onboarding to monthly and annual subscription billing - is now handled through Unaric Payments within Salesforce. Secure payment links allow new clients to complete their payment setup digitally, with end-to-end encryption ensuring that no sensitive payment data is ever stored on Crunch's own systems. All of it sits in GoCardless and flows directly through the Unaric integration.

The solution gave Crunch two things it had not had before: full payment flexibility and a single source of truth. Where clients were previously limited to direct debit, they can now choose between direct debit and card payments; a change that Stephen says has transformed the sales conversation. "In the past, clients have been reluctant to complete a direct debit. Now you can just complete a card payment. It makes a huge difference."

With payment data unified inside Salesforce alongside CRM and customer data, the whole organisation - from finance to client services - has visibility in one place. 

Automating manual tasks:

Reconciliation, which was previously a complex, multi-system task, is now straightforward. And rather than the team discovering problems themselves, Unaric proactively alerts Crunch to any payment file issues before they become a problem.

Stephen explains, "It's usually Unaric who will inform us that there's been an issue with our payment files, rather than us finding out two or three days later that the payment file hasn't been processed. It's so efficient."

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The impact on Crunch's operations has been significant. With 6,500 clients paying on different schedules (some monthly, some annual, some by card, some by direct debit) the entire process runs automatically. 

Reducing headcount:

Stephen estimates that without this level of automation, Crunch would require 15 to 20 staff members to manage payment processing manually. Today, the finance function runs on a team of four.

Crucially, that number has stayed flat even as the client base has grown. As Stephen puts it: "If we put another 3,000 clients on, we still wouldn't have to grow our team. The systems are so good."

Greater security and error correction:

Bad debt exposure, often a significant challenge for subscription businesses, sits at under £50,000 per month, one of the lowest profiles in the sector, according to Stephen. The combination of automated collection, real-time payment status visibility, and GoCardless's failure monitoring means payment issues are caught and addressed quickly, keeping arrears tightly controlled.

Giving customers payment flexibility:

Offering clients the choice between card payments and direct debit has also removed a long-standing barrier in the sales process. Younger entrepreneurs in particular prefer card-based options, and the flexibility to accommodate that has broadened Crunch's appeal to a changing client base.

Out of the box functionality:

From an implementation perspective, the Unaric Payments product delivered in a way that Stephen particularly valued: out of the box, with minimal disruption. "The bit that made it easy was the Unaric part, which was almost out of the box. It kept our developers focused on the CRM upgrade rather than having to build our own payment system."

The relationship with Unaric and GoCardless has now been in place for around seven years, and the partnership continues to evolve. GoCardless's ongoing product innovation - including instant bank payments via Pay by Bank - is surfaced directly to Crunch through the integration, without the business needing to build or maintain anything itself.

TESTIMONIAL

"Crunch likes working with partners who have a very common ethos to ourselves. We like building those relationships and ensuring that we grow together. Picking Unaric and GoCardless is so important to us - they're the right partners to ensure our business grows. Together we're a stronger force."

Stephen Paynter — Finance Director, Crunch

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