The smarter way for accounting platforms to power SME growth, and a faster path to working capital for your users.
Every ERP and business platform wants to deliver more value and unlock new revenue. Increasingly, that means integrating financial services - especially working capital.
Whether users manage cash flow in Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, or another accounting package, you already sit at the heart of their financial lives. These platforms are perfectly positioned to help them access the credit they need to grow.
But do you really want to become a lender?
Becoming a lender is harder than it looks
Building a working capital solution in-house isn’t just time-consuming - it’s expensive, complex, and risky. Here’s what it really takes to become a lender:
- Securing regulatory permissions
- Underwriting and monitoring credit
- Managing servicing, collections, and reporting
- Hiring risk, ops, and compliance teams
- Meet ongoing capital requirements
- Absorbing fraud risk and potential credit losses
Even with substantial investment, there’s no guarantee of success.
There's a smarter, faster way: Embed, don't build
You don’t need to become a lender to offer lending. With Bourn, ERPs and business platforms can embed a fully licensed, intelligent working capital solution directly into their products - without the complexity or compliance burden.
We handle the complexity:
- Customer onboarding and verification
- Risk assessment and credit decisioning
- Servicing, payments, collections, and regulatory ops
- Capital provision through our bank funding partners
- Two-way integration for seamless user experience
You stay focused on your customers, while Bourn makes sure capital flows when and where it’s needed.
A true partnership: The embedded fintech model
At Bourn, we’re not just a B2B SaaS tool, plug-and-play API, or infrastructure layer you’ll eventually outgrow.
We’re a regulated fintech partner to some of the UK’s largest banks and lenders, which means we bring the licence, servicing infrastructure, and funding in a full-stack offering. You bring the distribution and own the customer relationships. Together, we unlock smarter, real-time working capital for modern UK businesses.
It’s a partnership built perfectly on trust and shared incentives.
Why accounting platforms love it
With Bourn’s Flexible Trade Account (FTA), you can move beyond bookkeeping and become the growth engine for your SME customers.
Platforms like Sage, Xero, and FreeAgent gain:
- New revenue from capital flows running through your platform
- Stickier customer relationships by embedding lending in your core workflows
- Smarter, compliant financial products without absorbing risk or regulatory overhead
- Automated reconciliation—funding and payments flow seamlessly alongside invoices
Why banks love it, too
Through Bourn’s Flexible Trade Account (FTA), banks and lenders deploy capital to SMEs directly inside the platforms they already use.
Banks and lenders gain:
- Access to high-quality pre-qualified SMEs
- Real-time data for dynamic credit limits
- Improved cost to serve through automation tools
- Faster deployment of capital into a highly profitable segment
Meet the Flexible Trade Account (FTA)
Bourn’s FTA delivers real-time, intelligent working capital for how modern SMEs actually work. Instead of spending time filing in forms, manually reconciling accounts or supporting audits, businesses can focus on revenue generating activities.
Funding is underpinned by live business performance and sales data; limits can flex in real-time based on fluctuations; and a range of payment solutions are available to support daily operations - all embedded within your existing platform as a business account.
It’s working capital that flows at the speed of business.
Don't build a working capital solution in-house. Partner with Bourn.
You don’t need to become a lender to empower your users with credit. You just need the right partner.
With Bourn, you get a fully-licensed, embedded fintech solution built for modern platforms - and the SMEs powering the growth economy.
Bourn Technologies Ltd (Company Number: 15582429) is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (Firm Reference Number: 1033250) for the issuing of electronic money; and registered as a controller with the Information Commissioner (Reference: ZB692151).
Learn more at bourn.ai.