BILL’s 30 Million Transactions Highlight Demand for Small Business Automation

When it comes to digital transformation, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) need big help.

That was the word from BILL during its second quarter 2025 earnings call Thursday (Feb. 6), where executives stressed that despite broader macroeconomic uncertainties, BILL is positioning itself as a financial automation leader for SMBs — a market historically underserved in digital financial services.

“We delivered strong financial results and innovated at a rapid pace as we executed on our vision to be the de facto intelligent financial operations platform for SMBs,” said René Lacerte, BILL CEO and founder. “Today, more than 480,000 businesses rely on BILL to manage their day- to-day financial workflow. We are moving fast to address a vast market opportunity to transform the financial operations for millions of SMBs.”

BILL’s Q2 FY25 revenue reached $362.6 million, a 14% year-over-year (YoY) increase, while core revenue — comprising subscription and transaction fees — grew by 16% YoY to $319.6 million. Within this category, subscription fees rose 7%, and transaction fees surged 19%, underscoring the increasing adoption of BILL’s platform as more SMBs digitize their financial workflows.

Despite these positive figures, BILL’s stock experienced a significant decline, plummeting 30% following the earnings announcement. The downturn was primarily attributed to the company’s guidance for the upcoming quarter, which fell short of market expectations.

For the fiscal third quarter ending March 31, BILL projected a total revenue between $352.5 million and $357.5 million, representing a YoY growth of 9% to 11%. This forecast was below analyst consensus estimates, leading to investor concerns about a potential slowdown in the company’s growth trajectory.

Read more: The Payments Problem Small Businesses Don’t Know They Have

During the most recent quarter, BILL continued to scale its impact within the SMB sector, processing a staggering $84 billion in total payment volume (TPV) during the quarter — a 13% YoY increase. The platform facilitated 30 million transactions, up 17% YoY, reflecting strong demand for automated accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) solutions.

The number of businesses utilizing BILL’s platform reached 481,300, reinforcing its expanding footprint in a segment where digital financial tools are becoming critical. As more SMBs embrace cloud-based financial operations, BILL executives stressed that the company remains well-positioned to capitalize on this shift.

“We are executing on our strategic priorities and are confident that our strong business model will allow us to drive years of durable growth, an attractive long-term profitability profile and sustained value generation for shareholders,” said John Rettig, BILL president and CFO.

While BILL’s growth trajectory remains solid, the B2B FinTech space is becoming increasingly competitive. Incumbents like Intuit QuickBooks, PayPal and American Express, as well as newer players such as Ramp and Brex, are targeting SMBs with financial automation solutions, payments infrastructure and embedded finance products.

Read more: Connecting Small Businesses to the Broader Business Ecosystem

BILL’s differentiation, per its executives, lies in its integrated approach, offering a comprehensive suite that spans AP, AR, spend management and expense tracking. Unlike traditional payment processors, BILL positions itself as an end-to-end financial workflow enabler, ensuring businesses can automate and optimize cash flow with minimal friction.

PYMNTS Intelligence found that SMBs are harnessing technologies like accounts receivable (AR) automation to enhance their efficiency, speed and accuracy and remain competitive.

With AR automation, these businesses can optimize their cash flow management, trim their days sales outstanding, improve their processing speed and reduce errors, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “How Automations Reduce Receivables Delays.”

Still, separate PYMNTS Intelligence in the report “Accounts Payable and Receivable Trends and the Path to Profitability,” a collaboration with American Express, found that 36% of SMBs say cost and complexity prevent them from automating their AP/AR functions.

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