GetMyInvoices not only has an increasingly larger range of functions and more and more users, the history is also extremely interesting. There is no one who could provide better insights than our Product Owner Björn Kahle. Because he has been there from the beginning, can explain even complex issues in an understandable way and has invented the invoice management solution. As COO of fino, Björn has a lot to do. Nevertheless, he immediately made time for an interview when we asked him about it - and also gave an outlook on future developments.
**Björn, how did you originally come up with the idea for GetMyInvoices? **I have been programming and then developing software for companies since I was ten years old. In 2013, I was using so many external services that it was a hassle to download all the invoices for them. So I sat down and did some programming. Through my discussions about the topic, other interested parties quickly emerged.
**What did the first version of the software look like and was the solution already called GetMyInvoices? **Yes, it was always called GetMyInvoices. The first version was very different than today. It was a desktop version that ran locally on Mac and Windows computers. She downloaded bills onto the PC. The cloud version came about later because users’ expectations had developed so that they no longer had to install anything.
**Then GetMyInvoices has grown little by little. How many users are currently using the invoice management solution (October 2020) and how many people are working on the software? **We have around 10,000 customers and 25,000 users. Our team consists of 50 employees.
**This is extremely strong growth. How does the success feel that you can help so many people with time-consuming and nerve-wracking tasks with your idea? **Of course I’m proud that what I came up with works. But the success also encourages me to keep going - as do the comments from critics. You can say: Success doesn’t make you full, it makes you hungry.
**Has the development of GetMyInvoices changed you? If yes, to what extent? **I had to or was allowed to learn a lot of new things, for example working with a large team. The solutions are different than when working alone. What were once casual decisions have become considerations such as: Who needs to know what and when? It is also a balancing act to be innovative and fast and still have a good, functioning product. It’s like always climbing new levels.
**Is this already what you had hoped for or where should the journey lead? **I am grateful for what is there, but the path continues. Right now we are developing many new functions that make GetMyInvoices interesting for other user groups.
**GetMyInvoices has already grown enormously in recent years. How many functions can still be integrated and how many other solutions can be connected? Will the end come at some point or can GetMyInvoices continue to grow indefinitely? **Whatever is needed can be integrated into portals from which GetMyInvoices downloads invoices. As far as functions are concerned, we will actually soon be “completed”. We would have liked to include more, but it’s already difficult to convey what GetMyInvoices can do. We are therefore moving towards developing fully integrated products, for example travel expense reporting.
**Without wanting to reveal too many secrets: Can you give a foretaste of the new possibilities? **Yes, there will be a banking function, among other things. Users can connect their bank account and, for example, automatically assign receipts to transactions. A new product is our “Receipt Messenger”. If users connect their bank account, compare the bookings and the receipts and a receipt for a transaction is missing, this can be requested via “Receipt Messenger”. The solution then ensures that the document is imported into GetMyInvoices without any effort for the user. We are also working on expanding Fintract . Roughly speaking, this involves automatically reading out information, transforming it and transferring it to other applications - a way to expand the use cases that we cover with GetMyInvoices.
