How Excedr cut its month-end close from 10 days to 2, and got back to serving scientists.

Excedr used to spend 10 business days/month closing its books. Now it spends two, and that time goes back to the life science labs it serves. Here’s how Raiz and Rillet rebuilt the back office of a 15-year-old leasing company that answers to lenders and auditors year-round.

The situation: a scientist who founded a leasing firm

In 2011, Jon Chee was studying molecular toxicology at UC Berkeley. The equipment his experiments needed was housed in a lab at the top of a steep hill, and buying another one would have cost half a million dollars. So Jon kept running samples up and down that hill. That frustration ultimately inspired Excedr.

Today, Excedr leases lab equipment so startups can spend their capital on people and research instead of instruments. Unusually for a leasing company, Excedr funds and services every lease off its own balance sheet. Seven banks back it, and Excedr goes through four audits a year and sends its lenders monthly financial reports. One late report can put it in default.

The problem: growth was breaking the back office

For most of its history, Excedr ran on spreadsheets and QuickBooks. Then it raised $25M in growth capital to expand globally.

"It felt like Spider-Man holding the two subway cars together. We were bursting at the seams."

• A 70-tab contract waterfall. Every lease schedule, invoice, and recurring entry was maintained by hand in a spreadsheet.
• A slow close. About 10 business days every month.
• Audits consumed Jon. He spent ~3 months on audit prep.
• Rising costs. Outsourced accounting could hit $10K in a busy month.

As he looked for solutions, several legacy ERP vendors quoted six-month implementations. Jon walked away from every demo.

"It was like open heart surgery for half a year. I have a business to run."

The resolution: the right platform and the right guide

A trusted referral pointed Jon to Rillet, an AI-native ERP, and to Raiz. He needed a partner as AI-forward as Excedr, with the accounting depth to survive four audits a year.

“There’s a lot of performative AI out there right now, where companies say they use AI and it kind of just stops there. I wanted an implementation partner with deep domain expertise in accounting and finance.”

Raiz didn’t lift and shift the old system. The team mapped the full life of a lease, from HubSpot through underwriting, funding, and delivery, then built Rillet around it. That meant making the judgment calls that matter in an audit, like how to handle prorated stub payments. Now, when a contract is signed, Rillet automatically generates the invoice, schedule, and revenue entry. The 70-tab waterfall is gone.

Jon wanted all 15 years of Excedr’s financial history out of QuickBooks and in the new system, for context and insight. Raiz migrated and tied out every year. The teams worked inside Excedr’s own Google Chat and AI “company brain,” with weekly check-ins that kept the project on track.

Excedr went live in a few weeks, on a timeline Jon first thought was a typo. Raiz also helped him vet FP&A and sales tax options for the rest of his tech stack.

The results: a back office that runs like clockwork

The lenders noticed.

“Our lenders are giving us props. The level of granularity and detail is right where they want it. It’s not just me saying it’s legit. It’s coming from a banker.”

• Real-time access to capital. Excedr can see its borrowing base collateral in real time, not just at month-end, and deploy capital faster.
• Ready for global expansion. Multi-entity consolidation and multi-currency collections are now routine.
• Answers on demand. Jon queries his financials directly, down to LTV to CAC by marketing initiative.

For Jon, the biggest return is time: at least two weeks back each month for pipeline, partners, and the labs Excedr serves.

What’s next: built for the growth ahead

With $25M raised and new markets ahead, Excedr is built to scale without being crushed by its own growth. Every hour and dollar saved goes back to the mission: helping scientists do more science.

"The software is the worst it's ever going to be today. It's all up from here."

For any firm weighing a similar move, the lesson is simple. Choosing an AI-native ERP is half the decision. Choosing the partner who implements it is the other half.

Raiz is Rillet’s first dedicated reseller and implementation partner. We help growing companies implement AI-native ERP and finance systems, with the accounting depth to stand up to an audit.

Talk to Raiz