The problem
Three systems, no fit
Like many family-run roofing businesses, Ashland Roofing was stuck juggling multiple platforms to get a single job done. To manage proposals, invoicing, and payments, they were forcing three different systems—Bill.com, Roofr, and AccuLynx—to work together.
The result was a process riddled with friction, duplicated data entry, and surprise costs.
1. The "Mystery Fee" Problem
While utilizing Bill.com for Accounts Receivable (AR) and Accounts Payable (AP), Ashland began noticing rising costs without added value.
I would get a $65 bill and have no idea what it was for. Nothing was broken down—it was just a random charge on top of the work we were already doing.
Hala M., Office Administrator
2. The 30-Minute Invoice
Because their CRM (Roofr) and their payment processor (Bill.com) didn't speak to one another, the administrative burden was heavy. Sending a single invoice required a manual loop: creating the proposal in Roofr, downloading the invoice, re-uploading it to Bill.com, waiting for payment, downloading the receipt, and re-uploading it back to Roofr.
Receiving payments was convoluted. It took about 30 minutes per invoice just to set up and send everything out.
3. The Insurance Compliance Nightmare
In the roofing industry, insurance documentation is critical. Insurers require proof of deductible, down payments, and release checks. Because Ashland had to manually "fake mark" invoices as paid inside their CRM to satisfy documentation requirements, the invoice numbers and payment receipt numbers rarely matched. This made reconciliation messy and prone to errors.
The solution
One payment hub
Ashland wasn't looking to replace their CRM; they simply needed a payment tool that worked with it rather than against it.
Hala discovered Nickel while looking for a solution for her husband’s plumbing business, Silver Key Services. After Silver Key Services switched to Nickel and she saw how easily it handled free ACH transfers, she realized it was the missing link for Ashland Roofing.
The New "One-Touch" Process
Ashland migrated their entire AR and AP workflow to Nickel. Now, the process is linear and logical:
- Create proposal and invoice in Roofr.
- Plug the invoice directly into Nickel.
- Customer pays via free ACH (or card).
- Download the Nickel receipt and attach it to the project.
There is no double entry and no second invoice creation.
Previously, high processing fees made digital payments unattractive for large roofing jobs. With Nickel’s fee-free ACH, the barrier was removed.
- In their first 74 days on the platform, Ashland Roofing processed $262k in Total Payment Volume across 90 transactions.
- 99% of homeowners now pay electronically via ACH.
- Customers report the payment interface is easy to use and secure.
The most significant operational win has been in compliance. Nickel allows Ashland to align their payment data perfectly with their job data.
It finally matches. The invoice number from Roofr matches the payment number from Nickel. There are no more 'fake' payments to satisfy software requirements and no more duplication. It makes our insurance documentation bulletproof.
Ashland didn't just fix their income; they fixed their outflow. They moved 64 vendor payouts to Nickel in the first two months, eliminating lost checks, stop-payment fees, and the delays associated with traditional bank mailing times.
"Nickel has made everything easier—AR, AP, and insurance docs. It streamlines our entire financial process without forcing us to change how we run the business."
