Where Maxio stalls, Zenskar empowers: Redefining Billing and RevRec

Implementation and migration

Maxio users have reported a long and complicated setup process.

• Users found Maxio’s onboarding guides hard to follow and the process far from seamless.
• The product has a steep learning curve that often leaves users confused after onboarding.
• Importing data into Maxio is not easy. This forces users to manually upload data or build their own integrations.
• Developers report that API documentation could be better, reducing the guesswork and ambiguity in implementation.
• Support is not available immediately in all time zones.

Billing and revenue recognition are difficult enough without adding unreliable platforms or support into the mix. That’s why we make it a point to help our users every step of the way to make their lives as easy as possible.

Migrating to Zenskar is seamless. Our platform connects to most of your tech stack through direct integrations. It offers API endpoints with reliable documentation.

Zenskar works as an extension of your in-house finance team.  We handhold you during implementation and offer prompt support 24x7 over email, Slack, or Zoom after going live. You’ll also have dedicated account managers to help you with your concerns.

Products, subscriptions, and contracts

Maxio’s approach to products and plans is unintuitive. In case of multi-site businesses, each site has its own catalog of products and plans.

It only supports vanilla subscriptions. It doesn’t have a built-in pricing configuration to support pricing and billing intricacies. For instance, multi-year contracts cannot be configured easily. Some users have found subscription setup complicated on Maxio. Contracts cannot be created or imported in bulk and users have to resort to manual entries.

Zenskar’s product dashboard is simple and flexible - allows you to configure products and features with different billing cadences, currencies, pricing models, discounts, and entitlements. Contracts can be created automatically through CRM integration, API connection, bulk import from spreadsheets, or manual entries.

Its graphical data model supports advanced pricing models with ease. Here are some of the pricing models Zenskar can automate for you that Maxio’s subscriptions cannot:

• Prepaid subscriptions
• Part prepaid, part postpaid contracts
• Ramp deals
• Product bundles
• Combinations of contract and product-level discounts

Usage and metered billing difficulties

Maxio offers usage data storage within the platform. It also supports event ingestion via API or through Airbyte integration. Its usage capabilities are far from easy or intuitive though. Some of its glaring limitations come from the way it handles usage.

• Usage data has to be time-stamped - the start and end dates often cause inconsistencies due to timezone differences or systems.
• Prepaid billing for usage-based pricing cannot be supported.
• Events are not tied to subscriptions automatically on Maxio. The event data itself must identify the subscription through an identifier while data ingestion to be filtered and aggregated at the end of the billing cycle.

Zenskar is built to handle pricing intricacies - it supports usage and hybrid pricing modes effortlessly through its graphical data model. Zenskar interprets and configures intricate pricing and contract terms as objects on a graph that can be linked however you need them.

Instead of a rigid template to force fit your use case, you have the building blocks that can be put together any way you like, just like legos. 

• Pricing itself is straightforward - a user could pick from a library of pricing plans or build a pricing model from scratch through a drag-and-drop configuration.
• Metered components can be added to the billing through the dashboard itself. These can be modified at any time too.
• The subscription billing cycle can be configured differently from the invoicing period.

That’s just scratching the surface of Zenskar’s pricing capabilities. Any pricing model you can imagine can be configured on Zenskar.

Billing and invoicing

Since pricing intricacies cannot be fully automated, the billing functions downstream are not fully automated either. Metered billing components, conditional terms, and prepaid pricing or invoicing have to be handled manually.

As discussed above, the event setup can lead to invoicing errors or inaccuracies. Users have noted the same problem for tax computations. Invoice customizations are limited to logo addition and invoice line items.

Zenskar automates billing and invoicing end-to-end. Once the pricing and invoicing terms are configured, the invoices can be generated dynamically from the preset templates. You can customize every step of the way - from line items to tax computations, adjustments, and entitlements. Invoices are generated automatically:

• Create branded invoice templates on Zenskar or upload HTML code.
• Dynamically generate invoices are based on the template.
• Automate tax computations with Avalara integration.

Collections automation and receivables management

Maxio’s collection capabilities are limited to payment failure retries. Collections and dunning outside of that has to be handled manually or outside of Maxio.

• Invoice emails have to be created separately for each payment method.
• Payment reminders cannot be sent before the due date.
• Payments cannot be reconciled on Maxio’s dashboard.

Zenskar automates all your dunning sequences and email communications. You can create templates for payment reminders, receipts and invoices with all the relevant variables and auto-populate them dynamically.

You can personalize the experience further by configuring custom schedules for different customer segments.

Reliable revenue recognition

Maxio revenue recognition cannot handle beyond vanilla subscriptions owing to the limited architecture to support pricing and billing intricacies. It also lacks a fully synced accounting system. This results in including inaccuracies and manual adjustments in the revenue recognition process.

Zenskar helps you stay compliant with ASC 606 and supports creating journal entries automatically and posting them to ledgers, revenue reporting etc.

• Custom rules can be created to tailor revenue recognition to your business model and needs.
• Revenue recognition can be scheduled periodically, manually, or through specific events or triggers.
• Revenue periods can be set irrespective of the contract period to give you control over your accounting periods.
• Performance obligations can be automatically derived from contracts and products, or defined on the contracts by you.
• Manual reconciliation can be eliminated by syncing transaction records from your payment gateway.

Reporting

Maxio's reporting and analytics capabilities are known for being inadequate. It is difficult to get insights around metrics such as ARR, MRR etc. Most users rely on third-party tools like ChartMogul or set up their own reporting structures. Maxio does not support customized analytics. In cases of multiple entities of custom reporting, one has to rely on third party tools or build their own analytics module.

Integration challenges

Maxio offers a range of integrations but the connections are outdated and unreliable. Users encounter difficulties when integrating Maxio with other systems, existing integrations often face inefficiencies or require manual workarounds. For instance, Quickbooks is one of the integrations that is available but users rarely opt given its difficulties.

With Zenskar, you can seamlessly integrate with 200+ data sources and warehouses and 35+ tools to best fit your needs.

• Connect your CRM with Zenskar to sync your customer data, contracts, and communication emails.
• Automatically send customer invoices, credit notes, payment status, and refund information into your ERP.
• Add your tax computations to the invoices automatically with integrations with tools like Avalara.
• Collect payments via Stripe, Adyen, Razorpay or offline payments methods.

Cost affordability, ROI and scale

Maxio's pricing structure is not affordable for smaller companies. With a modest customer base, the costs can climb to $20-25k too. It is not a great fit for enterprises with specific billing and accounting needs as it is not very flexible and its feature set doesn’t make it scalable. Considering the high price point, it doesn’t necessarily offer more value than its more affordably priced alternatives.

Zenskar is growth first. Pay for the platform once, not for every invoice you send or payment you collect. We don’t charge a percentage of your revenue.

Our pricing is tailored to your needs and scale; it reflects the impact we create and our operational costs. We value long-term partnerships, striving for mutual benefit. Learn more about our pricing here.