542 Partners takes control of software disbursements and eliminates leakage

Before Rechargly, 542 Partners managed software disbursements across Xero, Dext and ASIC through a mix of Ignition, spreadsheets and manual checks.

As the firm scaled, tracking subscription changes and ensuring accurate billing became increasingly difficult. Pricing updates, plan changes and client variations created gaps in the process, leading to missed charges and revenue leakage.

Since implementing Rechargly, the firm has centralised disbursement tracking, automated billing updates and shifted subscription costs directly to clients. The result is a more accurate, scalable system that removes risk and improves visibility across the business.

At-a-glance stats

• Firm size: mid-sized advisory firm
• Location: Sydney, Australia
• Client type: Tech, software and recruitment businesses
• Core systems: Xero, Xero Practice Manager, Ignition, FYI Docs
• Key outcome: Eliminated disbursement leakage and shifted to unbundled billing
• Efficiency gain: Significant reduction in manual billing and reconciliation work

Before: What life looked like pre-change

Context

542 Partners is a Sydney-based accounting and advisory firm working with clients across the tech, software and recruitment industries.The firm operates on fixed-fee monthly engagements and has a strong focus on process improvement. As it grew, managing software disbursements across multiple clients and tools became increasingly complex.

Old workflow

Software disbursements were managed across multiple systems without a centralised process. The workflow typically involved:

• Reviewing Xero invoices for subscription charges
• Comparing those charges against Ignition engagements
• Updating proposals manually when subscriptions changed
• Communicating changes to clients and chasing approvals

This process required coordination across systems and relied heavily on manual checks.

Where the process broke down

Fragmented systems created gaps

Subscription data lived across multiple tools:

• Xero for invoices
• Ignition for engagements
• Spreadsheets and emails for tracking changes

“It was a manual process to check every subscription we had on a Xero invoice to every bill done through our Ignition engagements... it was seemingly impossible to get that spot on.” — Stuart Brandman, Director, 542 Partners

Without a single source of truth, maintaining accuracy became difficult.

Manual proposal updates added friction

When subscriptions changed, account managers had to:

• Edit engagements in Ignition
• Resend proposals to clients
• Wait for acceptance before billing updates could take effect

“Our account managers would go into their engagement in Ignition and have to go through an edit process, which could lead to mis-billing. That’s where the hours added up.” — Stuart Brandman, Director, 542 Partners

This created delays, increased admin, and introduced risk of errors.

Revenue leakage from missed changes

Because pricing updates and plan changes were not consistently tracked:

• Some subscription costs were not passed on to clients
• Billing did not always reflect actual usage
• Margins were impacted

Leakage became an accepted issue as the firm scaled.

The trigger

The tipping point came as the firm approached a full engagement renewal cycle. This created an opportunity to reset how disbursements were managed and introduce a more robust system. At the same time, the firm was rolling out broader operational changes, including timesheets and deeper cost tracking, which increased the need for accurate disbursement data.

During: How the firm made the change

Implementation

Rechargly was introduced as part of a broader shift to improve cost tracking and operational visibility.

The goal was clear:

• Track every subscription cost
• Recover all disbursements
• Eliminate leakage

The rollout included a multi-month onboarding process and required some upfront data clean-up, particularly within Xero.

“We had several months to plan and execute. Having a really good lead-in was quite key to the success of the rollout.” — Stuart Brandman, Director, 542 Partners

Automating disbursement tracking

Rechargly now captures subscription changes automatically.

• Vendor pricing updates are detected in real time
• Client allocations are updated without manual input
• Billing reflects actual subscription usage

This removes the need for manual reconciliation across systems.

Integration with Xero Practice Manager and Practice Connect

As part of introducing timesheets, the firm needed full visibility into both time and cost.

Rechargly, combined with Practice Connect, enables:

• Subscription costs to be pushed into XPM
• Accurate WIP tracking across clients
• Visibility into true client profitability

“If you're going to do something, you do it properly. We're able to track our overall billing against the costs, both human time and recharge subscriptions.” — Stuart Brandman, Director, 542 Partners

This ensures both labour and software costs are accounted for in one place.

Shifting from bundled to unbundled pricing

A key strategic change was moving away from bundling software costs into fixed fees.

Previously:

• Software costs were absorbed within pricing
• The firm carried the risk of price changes

With Rechargly:

• Clients pay the actual cost of their subscriptions
• Pricing adjusts automatically
• Risk is removed from the firm

“If your audit fee is X and someone else's is Y, you should pay X or Y. That’s what Rechargly allows us to do.” — Stuart Brandman, Director, 542 Partners

The new playbook

The updated workflow is structured and scalable:

• Subscription charges are captured automatically
• Costs are assigned to clients in real time
• Billing reflects actual usage
• Costs flow into XPM for WIP and profitability tracking

The process no longer relies on manual checks or proposal updates.

After: Results + proof

What changed (Before to After)

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Day-to-day impact

The team no longer needs to manually reconcile subscription charges or update proposals when pricing changes.

Instead, billing updates happen automatically, and costs are reflected in real time across systems. This reduces admin workload and removes the risk of missed updates.

Business impact

The shift has improved both operational efficiency and financial performance:

• Elimination of disbursement leakage
• Accurate cost tracking across all clients
• Improved visibility into profitability
• Reduced admin across account management workflows

The firm now has confidence that all subscription costs are accounted for.

Bottom line

542 Partners replaced a fragmented, manual disbursement process with a centralised and automated system. By unbundling software costs, integrating with XPM, and tracking subscriptions in real time, the firm eliminated leakage, improved visibility, and built a scalable billing model aligned with actual client usage.