Normal Ice Cream saves 7 hours a week on banking admin thanks to QuickBooks Bill Pay

Alexa Norlan, owner and founder of Normal Ice Cream, started her Utah-business based on a love of uncomplicated soft serve. “I wanted the food to stand for itself, where if you tasted the product, you could understand it,” she says. “‘Normal’ can be whatever you want it to be. It can be just a plain vanilla cone. It could be one of our fancier cones.” 

Today, Normal Ice Cream lovers can enjoy flavors ranging from “Butter Berry” to “Off the Cob” to “Saltine Sandwiches.” And despite what the name suggests, every bite is anything but ordinary. “We use almost all local ingredients and really nice chocolate,” Norlan says. “I don't even advertise that, because it’s just so important to me that it’s ingrained into what we do.”

Also ingrained into Normal Ice Cream’s day-to-day is QuickBooks Bill Pay—Norlan’s go-to solution for managing her business’s bills, payments, and financial reports. “What would take me five hours now takes just 30 minutes, if that,” says Norlan. “QuickBooks Bill Pay has improved my process and saved me so much time.”

QuickBooks Bill Pay simplifies banking

Norlan’s ice cream is simple; her banking? Not so much. Fortunately, she has QuickBooks Bill Pay. “We have so many different revenue centers,” Norlan says. “We've got catering, we've got wholesale, now we've got California, the truck, and the store. I pay hundreds of bills a week.” But with QuickBooks Bill Pay, staying on top of bills is a breeze. 

“Banking is my favorite feature. The rules have saved me probably six or seven hours a week,” Norlan says. “I can take my bills and literally drag and drop them into QuickBooks Bill Pay. If they come in via email, I can just take a picture and drop them into QuickBooks. It not only saves me time, but typos, too.”

Less human error, more time savings

Avoiding these simple but costly mistakes is a big deal to Norlan. “Making sure that my suppliers get paid accurately is really important to me. So the drag-and-drop feature is so helpful,” she says. “It doesn’t rely on me having to remember the exact dollar amount or go back and forth for quick references.”

Additionally, QuickBooks Bill Pay records transactions and matches them automatically. That prevents duplicate bills. “I've got several incoming credits every day. Matching those would take me forever without QuickBooks,” says Norlan.

Batching and scheduling puts focus back on the business

“I love being able to batch transactions,” says Norlan. “Like selecting numerous bills and paying them all at the same time, or at least knowing what needs to be paid today versus tomorrow. It really does allow me to focus on the big steps,” she says. 

Having a better idea of her accounts payable allows Norlan to make more informed decisions about her business’s growth. And thanks to QuickBooks Bill Pay’s robust automation, she’s spending less energy on the day-to-day bookkeeping, and more on planning Normal Ice Cream’s next move. 

“Seeing every dollar that comes in and dollar that goes out, doing the categorizing and the matching of expenses—all of it is so easy. It takes me an hour every Monday, and I'm caught up all the time. I love having control of all that.”

QuickBooks Bill Pay gives Norlan a bird’s eye view

"I pull reports multiple times a week. That allows me to focus on whatever needs help in the business,” says Norlan. Like many businesses, Normal Ice Cream’s different revenue sources fluctuate seasonally. “Wholesale can be stronger in the winter, and the store or the truck can be stronger in the summer,” Norlan explains. “Knowing where I can focus all of my energy to push on that growth is really helpful."

With QuickBooks Bill Pay, Norlan can narrow down her reporting data by location, time period, and more. She has real-time reports at her fingertips and anytime access to cash flow projections. In other words, getting a bird’s eye view of her accounts payable has never been easier. “I know exactly what's coming in and out every day and where we're at,” she says.

Normal Ice Cream comes full circle

Ice cream lovers can continue to enjoy delicious cones and pints in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Norlan first got her start. She’s also serving up treats in Los Angeles, with catering events and pop-ups. 

“I'm really coming full circle,” she says. “I'm back on the streets. Maybe I don't have my truck this time, but I am out meeting people. It's been very exciting to think about the new faces that Normal hasn't met yet.”

Wherever Norlan goes, QuickBooks Bill Pay is there to help.