Kolleno Payments
How Sereni Achieved a 93% On-Time Payment Collection Rate with Kolleno
93%
8 hours
38%
About Sereni
Sereni’s mission is clear: to deliver meaningful, modern funeral services that honor people’s lives with dignity, empathy, and care. As the company expanded across the Benelux region, it became a trusted partner to hundreds of local communities, helping families navigate loss with compassion and clarity during their most difficult moments.
Unfortunately, Sereni’s growth brought added complexity. Financial workflows were highly manual, invoicing varied across services, and collections required careful, compassionate communication. As the finance team juggled these demands, the cracks began to show.
To support its next chapter, Sereni needed a smarter, more unified system and found it in Kolleno.
The Challenges
As Sereni grew, so did the difficulty of managing its financial operations. The company’s commitment to personalized, sensitive funeral services demanded a level of care that extended beyond the ceremony into every part of the client journey, including billing.
However, managing that responsibility at scale required time, structure, and tools the finance team didn’t yet have.
1. Balancing Empathy with Operational Efficiency
In an industry where timing is delicate and emotions run high, even a standard payment reminder requires careful consideration. Sereni’s team often delayed follow-ups out of compassion, but that grace came at a cost—late payments, unpredictable cash flow, and hours spent on manual, awkward conversations.
“We weren’t just managing invoices—we were managing relationships,” said Bart Van den Bossche, CFO at Sereni. “And we didn’t want to compromise on empathy.”
2. Complex, Decentralized Invoicing Structures
Because Sereni serves a wide range of clients across regions, cultures, and service types, their invoicing requirements are anything but standard. Local directors handle billing differently, and ceremonies vary in format and cost. With no centralized system, the finance team had to reconcile these variations manually, losing valuable time and increasing the risk of delays or errors.
3. Limited Visibility Across the Organization
With so many moving parts, Sereni struggled to get a unified view of their receivables. Reports had to be pulled manually. Payment statuses were tracked in spreadsheets. And follow-up activity varied widely between locations. Without a centralized dashboard or real-time reporting, it was difficult to spot risk early, track performance, or optimize how the team worked.
4. Time Lost to Repetition and Manual Work
On top of the emotional complexity, Sereni’s collections process was weighed down by repetitive admin. Reminders were written one at a time. Tasks were tracked in inboxes or notebooks. Nothing was automated, which meant that every week, the team lost hours to routine follow-ups that could have been handled by an automated system.
The Solution
Why Kolleno?
Sereni’s goal was to maintain compassion in their client communications while creating a more efficient, scalable collections process behind the scenes.
Their ideal solution had to integrate with their existing ERP system, adapt to varied invoicing needs, and empower the finance team with tools to act confidently and proactively.
They were looking for:
- Intelligent workflows to automate and personalize payment reminders
- A centralized task manager to streamline follow-ups across teams
- A professional customer payments portal to reduce friction and improve cash flow
Kolleno ticked every single box. “We chose Kolleno because it offered the structure we needed, without sacrificing the sensitivity our work requires,” said Bart Van den Bossche.
Kolleno gave Sereni a framework to handle collections with empathy, structure, and speed. From automated workflows to centralized visibility, the platform delivered a meaningful shift in how the finance team worked day to day.
Intelligent Workflows for Dunning
Kolleno’s intelligent dunning workflows gave Sereni the ability to automate collections without sacrificing their core values of empathy and respect. In the funeral services industry, every touchpoint matters—and the team needed a way to follow up on outstanding payments that was timely, appropriate, and aligned with the emotional nature of their work.
Kolleno delivered exactly that.
Using dynamic rules based on invoice age, client behavior, and tone, Sereni was able to create workflows that gently but effectively prompted clients to pay. First reminders could be soft and informative, while later messages escalated gradually and respectfully.
These communications were personalized—not just with names and invoice numbers, but with language that fit the moment and the relationship. Follow-ups didn’t feel automated. Instead, they felt professional and considered.
Instead of wondering whether a reminder had gone out, or stressing over how it would be received, the finance team now had total confidence that outreach was happening on schedule and with the right tone. Messages were automatically sent, escalated when necessary, and followed by thank-you notes upon payment. Each step was logged in Kolleno’s system, ensuring transparency and consistency across the board.
“We were pleasantly surprised at how structured, empathetic, and consistent the follow-up messages are”, said Bart Van den Bossche.
Crucially, these workflows didn’t just improve collections—they protected Sereni’s brand. The team could preserve the human experience that clients rely on, while reclaiming valuable hours previously spent writing emails and tracking reminders manually.
The result was faster payments, stronger relationships, and a finance function that could operate with calm, clarity, and compassion.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Integration
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central had long served as the backbone of Sereni’s financial infrastructure. It housed invoices, client records, and operational data. However, it wasn’t built for proactive, scalable accounts receivable management. What they needed was a platform that could plug into their ERP without friction and add the automation and structure their collections process was missing.
Kolleno’s native integration with Dynamics 365 made that possible. As Bart Van den Bossche explains, “We didn’t want to rip out the systems that were already working—we just needed something smarter on top. Kolleno integrated seamlessly with Dynamics, which meant we could automate collections without changing the way we issue invoices or manage client data.”
Invoices generated in Dynamics are now automatically pulled into Kolleno in real time, complete with all the essential data points: client details, invoice numbers, payment terms, due dates, and amounts owed. As soon as an invoice goes live, Kolleno picks it up—initiating workflows, triggering reminders, and tracking payment behavior from that point forward.
This eliminated the need for double entry, spreadsheet reconciliation, or toggling between platforms. The two systems now speak to each other continuously. Once a payment is received through the Kolleno platform, that information is pushed straight back into Dynamics. Records are kept fully in sync without any manual intervention.
This had an immediate impact on the finance team. They no longer waste time reconciling data or checking two systems for accuracy. Everything flows smoothly—from invoice issuance to follow-up to final payment confirmation.
Perhaps most importantly, this deep integration gave Sereni the confidence to automate at scale. They knew the data was reliable, the workflows were accurate, and the systems were aligned. That trust in the underlying infrastructure allowed the team to shift their focus from routine admin to high-value tasks, knowing that nothing would fall through the cracks.
Customer Payments Portal
In the funeral services industry, the payment experience needs to be as seamless and unobtrusive as possible. Clients are navigating an emotionally difficult time—the last thing they need is friction when it comes to settling their invoice. That’s why Kolleno’s secure, self-serve payments portal became such a vital part of Sereni’s transformation.
Instead of sorting through long email threads, asking for invoice reprints, or manually inputting bank details, clients now receive a personalized link to their dedicated payment page. They can see exactly what they owe, review payment history, and choose from multiple payment methods—including credit card and direct bank transfer via open banking. The portal is branded to reflect Sereni’s professionalism and accessible 24/7 across desktop and mobile, making it as convenient as it is secure.
For clients, this means less stress and more clarity. There’s no need to wait for back-and-forth with a finance contact or dig through paperwork. Everything they need is in one place, and the entire process takes just minutes.
“Our clients are going through one of the hardest moments in their lives. They shouldn’t have to chase us for payment details or struggle to settle an invoice. Kolleno’s portal made that part of the process smooth, respectful, and entirely self-serve”, adds Bart Van den Bossche.
For Sereni, the impact was equally meaningful. Payment-related queries dropped significantly. They no longer had to field countless emails from customers asking for invoice copies, clarifications, or banking details. The team could spend less time answering routine questions and more time focused on higher-value activities. The portal also dramatically improved the speed of collections—turning days or even weeks of delay into same-day settlements.
Perhaps most importantly, it elevated the overall client experience. It gave clients control, transparency, and simplicity at a moment when they needed it most—without compromising Sereni’s standards for compassion and care.
Task Manager
As Sereni’s operations expanded across regions and service areas, keeping track of who was following up on what—and when—became increasingly difficult. The finance team was relying on inboxes, calendar reminders, and personal to-do lists to manage tasks. This decentralized approach made it easy for things to fall through the cracks, especially when team members were balancing collections with other responsibilities.
Kolleno’s built-in task manager changed that by introducing structure, clarity, and accountability into Sereni’s day-to-day collections workflow.
Now, every task—whether it’s sending a follow-up, reviewing a payment dispute, or escalating an overdue invoice—is logged, assigned, and tracked in a centralized workspace. Team members can instantly see what’s in progress, what’s overdue, and what’s coming up next. No more duplicated efforts. No more lost context. Everything is visible and documented, with a clear chain of ownership.
For managers, the benefits were immediate. They can review team workloads, reassign tasks as priorities shift, and ensure that nothing stalls during staff absences or handovers. It’s also easier to identify bottlenecks or gaps in follow-up strategy and address them quickly.
“The task manager has brought transparency to our entire AR process,” said Bart Van den Bossche. “We can finally collaborate in a way that’s structured and scalable”.
By giving everyone a shared view of what needs to be done and who’s responsible, Kolleno didn’t just boost efficiency—it created a more collaborative and proactive collections culture. The team can now spend less time coordinating and more time supporting Sereni’s mission: serving families with care.
The Onboarding Experience
Transitioning to Kolleno was refreshingly simple. From the start, Kolleno’s team worked closely with Sereni’s finance and tech teams to ensure everything was configured to fit the business’s structure, sensitivity, and ERP environment. The integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was handled swiftly, and intelligent workflows were tailored to suit different client profiles and payment cadences.
The platform’s intuitive interface meant Sereni’s team could get started right away, and Kolleno answered their questions swiftly and thoroughly. From system setup to live execution, the onboarding process was tailored to meet Sereni’s exact needs.
“Kolleno made the onboarding process surprisingly easy,” said Bart Van den Bossche. “We were prepared for it to be a long and arduous process, but it was the complete opposite.”
The Impact
By partnering with Kolleno, Sereni redefined how it manages accounts receivable—without compromising on the empathy and care that defines its brand. In just a few months, the team went from juggling manual tasks and delicate follow-ups to operating a smooth, structured, and fully integrated AR process.
- 93% of payments collected on time within six months
- 8 hours saved per week on manual AR tasks
- 38% reduction in median days late
However, Kolleno’s impact went beyond the numbers alone. It gave Sereni the confidence to scale—empowering their finance team with clarity, visibility, and control. With real-time data, automated workflows, and seamless ERP integration, they now have a system that supports growth while respecting the compassion and care at the heart of their work.
“Kolleno has brought structure and sensitivity to one of the most challenging parts of our business. We’re faster, more efficient, and more confident in how we communicate with clients.”
– Bart Van den Bossche, CFO at Sereni
Ready to Transform Your AR Process?
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