When an accounting firm advises thousands of businesses across many industries, payment flows cannot be a source of friction. For Ludvig & Co – Sweden's largest advisory firm within accounting, tax and payroll – embedded bank connections powered by Open Payments changed how their advisors work.
As Sweden's largest advisory firm within accounting, tax and payroll, Ludvig & Co has built its reputation on doing one thing exceptionally well: helping businesses get order, control and structure in their financial everyday life. With over a thousand advisors spread across Sweden, they combine local presence with national expertise – serving clients across many industries, from manufacturing and e-commerce to construction and professional services.
But before reliable bank integrations were in place, their process was complex. Account statements had to be downloaded from the bank, imported into the accounting system, and then reconciled line by line – often manually.
"Worst case, it became matching work done by hand," explains Annemo Härnström, Financial Advisor at Ludvig & Co. "The risk of errors increased, and mistakes could be discovered late. That's not where we want to spend our time."
Each step was a potential point of failure – and a drain on time that could have been spent on analysis.
Systems that talk to each other
For Ludvig & Co, the shift happened when Open Payments became part of the setup. The underlying financial infrastructure started supporting the workflow instead of slowing it down, and payment flows became automated, reliable and deeply integrated into the systems their advisors use every day.
"The systems talk to each other – the client's bank and the accounting software we use. Inbound and outbound payments go automatically, payments can be sent directly from the system, and bank transactions are matched in real time," explains Annemo.
The same applies to international payments.
"We can see the currency transactions and book them more smoothly," says Annemo. "It's safer to handle multiple currencies, and it works in the same way regardless of whether it's SEK or another currency."
Real-time data, better decisions and more room for advisory
The most visible effect for Ludvig & Co is what they can now do with the time they have recovered. Automated bookkeeping, fewer manual steps and reduced error rates have collectively freed the advisory capacity that the firm was built to deliver.
"Now that we have better control over the inflows and outflows, we can make faster decisions. Better liquidity planning, clearer forecasts, faster variance reporting, that's what we can help our clients with when the manual work is gone," Annemo explains.
For larger clients, reliable real-time payment data has a direct and large operational impact. Knowing exactly when payments arrive – whether tied to shipments, insurance releases or credit terms – shapes decisions across the business. The stability and predictability of embedded bank flows is felt throughout the entire financial process.
"Our role as advisors is to help businesses get order, control and structure in their financial everyday life," says Annemo. "We want to find the link between the ERP, banking services and the accounting process, one that actually works well."
“An effective solution that delivers quick results”
Ludvig & Co's collaboration with Open Payments began as a pilot project, working closely together with one of their larger clients. The experience was so positive that the approach has since expanded to additional clients and other firms in their network.
“Working with Open Payments has been straightforward from the start," says Annemo. "Good dialogue, fast responses, and a shared understanding of what we're trying to build for our clients."
Today, embedded bank connections are something Ludvig & Co actively recommends and proposes to their clients. When reviewing a client's financial setup, improved payment flows are a standard part of what they look at together.
"This is a fast and effective solution that delivers quick results," Annemo concludes. "And it puts our time where it belongs. Now we can do more of what we actually want to do, focus on advisory and moving our clients forward."
