Every minute spent manually categorizing transactions is a minute lost that could be reinvested in growth and innovation. According to the statistics, an average online store processes over 3,000 transactions a month. That means that even a 1% error rate in manual processing can translate into hundreds or even thousands of dollars lost due to miscategorized transactions, incorrect billing, or missed payment deadlines.
These errors can disrupt cash flow, negatively impact vendor relationships, and ultimately erode customer trust—elements that are extremely important for any thriving ecommerce business.
Automation offers a powerful remedy. By accurately processing and categorizing transactions in real time, smart tools can cut down hours of work and drastically reduce human error, leading to significant cost and time savings.
We’ve talked to Justin McKelvey, Head of Product at PlayYourCourt, to explore how adopting Synder’s accounting automation allowed PlayYourCourt to streamline its financial management, freeing up over 480 hours every year to focus on expanding their platform and enhancing member experiences.
PlayYourCourt: Making tennis accessible for all
PlayYourCourt’s mission is to grow the tennis community by making the sport more accessible. The company offers both live and video coaching, along with a technology-driven platform that connects players with partners. Founded in 2008 by a former player and teaching professional, PlayYourCourt was established to satisfy a previously unmet need for convenient, and affordable tennis lessons, making it easier for enthusiasts to engage with the sport.
As Justin McKelvey, Head of Product at PlayYourCourt, explains: “What started with our founder, Scott, looking for a better alternative to expensive country club memberships has evolved into a thriving membership-based community that helps people improve their game and find others to play with.”
PlayYourCourt’s financial challenge
PlayYourCourt, like any other ecommerce business, relied on manual bookkeeping to manage their finances. However, financial management of an ecommerce business involves handling thousands of transactions, processing refunds, and navigating payment and sales channels. This often leads to significant problems in transaction categorization and financial management.
Justin faced this problem with Stripe: “We realized that all our transactions were running through Stripe, but categorizing them efficiently was a challenge.”
Why manual bookkeeping is a thing of the past for PlayYourCourt
Relying on manual bookkeeping methods to manage these intricate financial processes leads to major problems:
High cost of hiring bookkeepers
Employing skilled bookkeepers to manually process and categorize transactions is a financial burden, especially for growing businesses with increasing sales volumes.
Justin highlighted this concern: “We started with a bookkeeper handling everything in QuickBooks, but we knew there had to be a faster way. Paying them thousands of dollars to manually process similar transactions didn’t make sense—we needed automation.”
Cumbersome processes distracting from business growth
The manual review and reconciliation of financial data demand a lot of time and effort. This takes away attention from strategic moves aimed at expanding the business, such as marketing, product development, and customer engagement.
Reflecting on this challenge, Justin shared: “Having a bookkeeper manually review thousands of transactions would just have been a huge pain.”
Risk of human error
Manual data entry is inherently prone to mistakes, leading to errors in financial records that can affect decision-making and compliance. Common errors include misclassifying transactions, overlooking entries, and calculation mistakes.
How did Justin deal with all of these problems? In his own words: “I started Googling for options, but no other company really dug into the details—until we found Synder.”
How automation transformed PlayYourCourt’s bookkeeping
PlayYourCourt needed a solution that would eliminate the hassle of manual data entry. The team looked for an automation tool that could save them time and money, while ensuring precision in categorizing transactions.
Effortless Stripe-QuickBooks integration
As every QuickBooks expert will tell you, to integrate the accounting platform with a payment or sales channel like Stripe, you need a third-party app to serve as a connector between the two. That’s where Synder helped PlayYourCourt, making the integration of Stripe with QuickBooks simple and efficient.
Synder automatically categorizes transactions and seamlessly syncs sales data, completely eliminating the need for manual entry. With real-time financial reports at their fingertips, managers can make informed decisions based on the most up-to-date data, which leads to better financial control and superior accuracy.
While any new platform requires some getting used to, Justin noted that Synder’s user-friendly interface made the integration process smooth:
“Like any platform, there’s a learning curve, but Synder was very intuitive to use and the integration of the two platforms was just a few clicks.”
Justin McKelvey, Head of Product at PlayYourCourt
Automated categorization with Smart Rules
Synder’s Smart Rules help fill in missing data when syncing with QuickBooks Online and allow you to build a flow to trigger actions outside of it. Since platforms like Stripe and QuickBooks are designed for different tasks, some details, like accounts, classes, or product names, may not transfer automatically.
With Smart Rules, you can set custom conditions to automatically categorize transactions based on specific criteria. For example, you can ensure that all Stripe transactions over $100 are categorized as “Memberships” in QuickBooks Online. Smart Rules can also trigger actions like sending thank-you emails or text reminders, making financial management more seamless and efficient.
PlayYourCourt leveraged intricate custom rules to automate transaction categorization, leading to significant time savings and reduced manual effort:
“From the start, we used Synder’s Smart Rules to categorize transactions automatically, saving time and effort. Our Smart Rules are pretty complex, with 10 different steps, but they work so well that I’ve only had to make minor adjustments.”
Justin McKelvey, Head of Product at PlayYourCourt
The support team assisted in tailoring the system to PlayYourCourt’s unique requirements, as Justin noted: “Synder support team was incredibly helpful, building custom rules and attributes to fit our needs.”
Automating historical data sync and ensuring accuracy
With the fiscal year-end approaching, Justin faced the important task of ensuring all historical financial data was accurately synchronized and correctly reflected in their books. As they neared the end of their accounting year, Synder enabled them to seamlessly rerun and recategorize records, ensuring everything was accurately synced and correctly reflected in QuickBooks.
| What is historical data sync? Historical data refers to past transactions that happened before you started using accounting software or before a certain time. Syncing this data means bringing those past transactions into your accounting system, so you can process and analyze them. |
Once the data was seamlessly integrated into Synder, Justin applied Smart Rules, allowing him to automatically categorize transactions and gain a comprehensive view of the company’s financial standing.
Sync mistakes fixed instantly with the rollback feature
Synder’s rollback feature gives PlayYourCourt a powerful way to manage financial data with precision and flexibility. With just one click, synced transactions can be instantly undone, removing them from QuickBooks Online while keeping the original payment data intact. This ensures that errors, such as miscategorized expenses or duplicate transactions, can be quickly corrected without disrupting the overall financial records.
Other than error correction, the rollback function gives businesses the confidence to experiment with different sync settings and automation rules without fear of making permanent mistakes. This level of control not only simplifies bookkeeping but also helps maintain clean and accurate financial reports, ultimately improving decision-making and operational efficiency.
The $24K fix: Synder’s automation in action
Implementing Synder’s automation significantly enhanced PlayYourCourt’s financial operations, leading to visible improvements in efficiency and reliability. With Synder’s automated categorization, your books stay accurate without the manual work, resulting in substantial time and cost savings.
Time and money saved
Let’s do the math together.
If we estimate that a bookkeeper manually reviewing thousands of transactions per month means a week’s worth of work per month (approximately 40 hours per month). That means that in a year, PlayYourCourt would have to spend over 480 hours just on bookkeeping services.
If a bookkeeper charges $25–$50 per hour, then with 40 hours per month PlayYourCourt could save $1,000–$2,000 monthly, which means saving up to $24,000 every year.
Justin summed it up by saying: “Time is money, right? Instead of a bookkeeper spending weeks manually reviewing thousands of transactions each month—clicking into each one, checking metadata, and categorizing it—Synder does it all automatically, the moment the charge happens.”
A ‘set and forget’ solution
One of the biggest advantages of Synder’s automation is its reliability in keeping financial data accurate and up to date. Once set up, the system runs smoothly in the background, doing away with round-the-clock oversight.
“I haven’t had to check Synder in months—not because it’s not working, but because it’s doing exactly what we need it to.”
Justin McKelvey, Head of Product at PlayYourCourt
This means he can focus on running the business without worrying about bookkeeping errors or missing transactions while reducing costs associated with ongoing oversight of the accounting process. Synder takes care of the details, ensuring financial records stay precise without the need for manual intervention. This kind of dependability gives business owners peace of mind, knowing that their finances are always in order.
Final thoughts: Ecommerce is moving on from manual bookkeeping, just like PlayYourCourt
Automating your financial processes with tools like Synder can save your ecommerce business a significant amount of time and money, just like it did for PlayYourCourt.
By eliminating the need for manual transaction categorization and streamlining financial data sync, you can save up to 480 hours and even $24,000 every year. Whether you’re dealing with hundreds or thousands of transactions, automation offers a smart, cost-effective solution to ensure your finances stay accurate and up-to-date, without the headache of manual bookkeeping.
Want to save time and money like PlayYourCourt?
With Synder’s automated data sync, Smart Rules, and error-proof rollback feature, PlayYourCourt streamlined bookkeeping and freed up time to focus on what really matters—scaling their business. If you want to do the same for your company, sign up for Synder’s 15-day free trial or join our Weekly Public Demo to experience the power of seamless financial management.
