Nootka Saunas found an additional 20% time savings each week with QuickBooks Bill Pay

Kris Harris, co-founder of Nootka Saunas in Squamish, British Columbia, has never shied away from a challenge. “I started Nootka Saunas in 2019 as just a backyard operation,” he says. “I didn't have any tools, so I’d go to the tool library, rent the tools for a couple of days, build the saunas I needed to, and then return the tools.” 

Harris used online advertising sites like Craigslist to sell his saunas. “I was very bootstrapped

from the beginning,” he explains. “I built and installed probably about the first 50 designer saunas before there was a point, kind of in early 2020, when it clicked and we started

seeing more traction.” That’s when Harris realized that his “side project” had the potential to become a full-time business. 

But high-quality saunas and a lean business mindset aren’t the only parts of Nootka that have remained in place since the beginning of Harris’s journey. Intuit QuickBooks, too, has been part of the picture since day one. 

“Since the very first sauna we sold and the first invoice we sent, that was with QuickBooks,” says Harris. “That's one thing that I think we did pretty well; just having our finances in order so we didn't have a huge mess to clean up later on.”

Six years later, Nootka is a thriving business with entities in both Canada and the United States. Harris’s saunas can be found all over North America. Still, he’s continued to operate with a “bootstrap” mindset, pushing the company toward lean manufacturing and operations. “It’s kind of a unique part of our company,” Harris says. “We don't actually have a sales team. Everyone in the office, including myself, will respond to sales calls or emails.”

Leah Mulholland is Nootka Sauna’s operations manager. She handles the company’s bookkeeping and works closely with QuickBooks Bill Pay. “Every month, we probably send out about sixty payments,” she explains. “QuickBooks Bill Pay has saved us quite a bit of time and increased our efficiency.”

Batch payments make Nootka more financially efficient

“We ship saunas all over North America, so trucking invoices come through constantly,” says Mulholland. “Being able to combine all those invoices into one transfer just speeds up the process. The time efficiency that using batch payments has created for us is pretty substantial. Instead of having to go into each vendor to create individual payments, we're able to do it all in one go.”

Batching payments together is just one way QuickBooks Bill Pay has helped Nootka Saunas take care of business faster. Another piece is the ease with which Mulholland is able to gather customer information. 

“Bills come through to us in multiple forms,” she explains. “Photos or email. We're able to upload those all into QuickBooks under specific vendors. If we don't have that vendor's information, it's very easy to reach out to them directly through QuickBooks to collect the payment information from there.”

As for sending out payments, that part, too, has never been easier. “I just validate that we've received the service, then pass it on to Kris for final approval. Once he clicks ‘approve,’ the transfer is immediately connected to our bank account,” Mulholland says.

But how does that efficiency look from a numbers perspective? “Using QuickBooks Bill Pay every single week has led to an additional 10-20% in time savings,” says Mulholland.

QuickBooks Bill Pay simplifies accounts payable

“Early on, sending bills was a multi-step process where we would go into our banking software and send out ACH payments or checks in the mail,” explains Harris. “With QuickBooks Bill Pay, we’re able to schedule payments, have secondary approval, and see how cash will be leaving

the account over the month. We can do it all in the QuickBooks platform, and that’s really streamlined the process. It’s helped us better understand our cash flow.”

Mulholland agrees. “We're able to schedule bills to be paid further out depending on our cash flows that week or month. And that's been extremely helpful,” she says. “Being able to schedule our payments in the future has allowed us to maintain cash flows with accounts receivable coming in, and accounts payable going out.”

Another benefit? Mulholland says that with QuickBooks Bill Pay, Nootka’s contractors and vendors get paid faster than ever, and with fewer mistakes. “Previous to Bill Pay, we were using spreadsheets, and it was a very time-consuming process. Any sort of mistake in the formula could then transfer over to paying a vendor the wrong amount,” she says. “Having it all in QuickBooks Bill Pay adds another layer of confidence that our vendors are going to get paid smoothly and efficiently, and the correct amount the first time. We're able to get more done throughout the day, rather than going back and forth between different spreadsheets and our banking system to get someone paid.”

Nootka Saunas grows year over year

“Nootka Saunas is still growing quickly. We've almost doubled in size every year since we started, and we plan to keep doing that,” says Harris. 

With no end to growth in sight, Harris says he and his team will continue to rely on QuickBooks Bill Pay. “All our payables for our US entities are sent out through QuickBooks Bill Pay. We’ve used it to expand our business, and we see being able to grow with it for the foreseeable future.”