Hot startup of the month: Nigeria's Tyms

Startup Tyms has built an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered finance and accounting automation software system with an aim to redefine how businesses manage their finances.

Built for CFOs, accountants, business owners, and bookkeepers, Tyms aims to streamline operations and boost efficiency.

"Tyms was founded upon the evaluation of financial accounting and bookkeeping software in the African market, and how substandard and weak they are compared to software from the developed world," said Tyms CEO and Co-Founder Ibrahim Adepoju in an interview with Connecting Africa.

Adepoju said the failure of most small and medium-sized businesses is attributed to poor financing and poor financial accounting. No business is expected to run their business picturing profitability as an assumption.

"Tyms was founded to make comprehensive and standard financial accounting affordable and accessible to accountants and non-accountants with zero hassles," he continued.

Tyms helps African businesses manage their accounts payable and accounts receivable, along with their bookkeeping and general accounting activities through its Tyms Book platform.

Furthermore, the Tyms CEO said he believed that while accounting is important to the success of any enterprise, most business owners and even accountants don't see accounting as a simple exercise.

"Tyms chooses not to go the way of being just another accounting software, but rather a companion for most of these businesses. We leverage automation that ensures the business doesn't need to log in to the software every time to keep records or run computations on a spreadsheet before bringing it to the software," he explained.

Established in 2021 by Adepoju and Chineye Ochem, the company acts as a one-stop shop to streamline accounting by integrating it into multiple platforms.

Tyms Book features

Adepoju said the Tyms Book can be utilized by small business owners, accountants, bookkeepers, and CFOs to enhance the following:

Sales channels: It automatically imports sales data from its customers' online stores and marketplaces for real-time accounting updates.

Bank connections: The platform connects bank accounts and digital wallets with Tyms to track cash inflow and outflow for automatic reconciliation.

Payment processors: It links payment gateway accounts to Tyms to track and reconcile transactions.

Expense systems: The company integrates an expense management system to automatically record and categorize business expenses for more efficient accounting.

Payroll integration: Customers can connect their payroll system to Tyms and access salary, tax and other payroll expenses for accurate bookkeeping and financial reporting.

Inventory systems: Companies can sync inventory management software with Tyms to keep track of stock levels, calculate costs, and manage inventory expenses.

Fusing SaaS, fintech and regulation

Adepoju lauded the company's ability to fuse software-as-a-service (SaaS) and fintech into its accounting platform.

"We saw the need for a solid collaboration between vertical SaaS, especially in accounting and fintech toward the delivery of quality value to businesses beyond just moving money," he explained.

He said that he also saw the connectivity potential driven by open banking systems, which can unify business financial data and simplify accounting.

"While fintech companies are focusing on getting compliance with regulators, it is important to know that the businesses they are serving need to also be compliant with tax regulations and even meet audit requirements," he explained.

"That is where we see Tyms play a crucial role in this area due to our solid expertise in financial accounting," he explained.

Furthermore, he said the company has introduced a new product called Lehjah by Tyms, which makes it possible for any fintech platform, bank or vertical SaaS to embed accounting into their platform in less than an hour, without writing lines of code.

Tyms CEO and Co-Founder Ibrahim Adepoju. (Source: Tyms)

Tyms complies with global standards when it comes to information security and financial data management.

"We strive to implement all necessary security measures and undergo periodic audits by professional bodies to review, correct, and certify our practices," Adepoju continued.

Tyms available globally

"Tyms' expansion plan was initiated as soon as it was launched. Our accounting system complies with both GAAP and IFRS standards," he explained.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is a collection of commonly followed accounting rules and standards for financial reporting. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are accounting rules designed to ensure the financial statements of public companies are consistent, transparent, and comparable globally.

"Proudly made in Africa, Tyms is available to users from any English-speaking region. We support integrations and automatic bank connections in Europe and America. Although our team is based in Lagos, Nigeria, and our direct sales focus on Nigerian and other African businesses, we also leverage organic reach for global users," he explained.

"We are currently monitoring usage and demand outside Nigeria, Ghana, and Mauritius to identify emerging markets. However, Tyms is open globally," he asserted.

Adepoju believes that money is still a big problem on the African continent, and anyone solving the money problem in any form, should keep making that impact. However, greater priority should be given to meeting all necessary regulatory requirements needed to operate the business, while also considering the developer Application Programming Interface (API) from the beginning.

APIs are a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other.

"If a fintech in Africa starts thinking about developer API integration from day one, just like their counterparts in developed markets, it will enhance connectivity and create opportunities for new innovators to solve more financial problems," he concluded.

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— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa