Learn how this AI-powered financial forecasting platform eliminated QuickBooks frustrations and automated bookkeeping workflows to focus on strategic growth decisions.
"I'm just not waiting to make important business decisions anymore. With Puzzle, we got our books closed in 3 hours instead of 20+ days." — Renato Villanueva, Co-Founder at Parallel
As Co-Founder of Parallel, an AI-powered financial forecasting and headcount planning platform, Renato Villanueva needed real-time access to accurate financial data to power his company's forecasting models. However, his accounting workflow had become a major operational bottleneck that was preventing timely business decisions.
QuickBooks' dated UI was part of the problem. "It was like pulling teeth to find basic information," Renato said, describing a 40-click journey just to view a P&L.
Even more challenging was the back-and-forth needed to categorize transactions. With traditional tools, bookkeepers often have to manually verify transactions, relying heavily on founder input to clarify details. "QuickBooks just doesn't support accountants as well as it could in helping them do their jobs quickly and accurately," Renato said. "As a founder, you're juggling so much already, so anything that streamlines that process benefits everyone."
Those delays had real consequences. By the time the books were finalized—often around the 20th of the month—it was too late to act on the data. "If I find out we overspent on marketing three weeks into the next month, I’ve already lost the chance to adjust."
Renato's decision to switch to Puzzle was driven by both product capabilities and founder alignment. Having followed Puzzle CEO Sasha Orloff on Twitter, he resonated with Sasha's understanding of startup challenges. "Don't take weight loss advice from someone who's overweight," Renato explained. "If this founder thinks this works well for startups and he's a startup founder, there's got to be some efficiency he's building for."
The migration process exceeded expectations. "It felt like the first time I've ever sent a CS rep a gift card for how good the experience was," Renato said.
Puzzle's automated features immediately solved Renato's pain points:
"It was built for the most impatient people in the world. As a founder, the weirdest things stress you out. The minute you're confused about something, you're like 'I'm out, I'm done.'"
The transformation was immediate and measurable. Parallel went from waiting 20+ days for month-end close to completing it in less than one day, saving 10-20 hours monthly on accounting tasks.
Beyond internal efficiency gains, Puzzle's streamlined workflows enabled Parallel to expand into offering bookkeeping services to their own customers. When a client was waiting for their books until the 21st each month, Renato offered to handle their accounting using Puzzle.
The results were remarkable: they completed the client's month-end close by the 3rd instead of the 21st, finishing the entire project in just 3 hours.
"It cost us about $210, but we charged them $800," Renato explained. "I texted Sasha and said, 'I don't know if this is good or bad.' Sasha quickly noted that it's not just good, 'it's best-in-class.' With one test client, Parallel achieved 60% profit margins compared to the bookkeeping industry average of 20-25%. This further demonstrates how Puzzle's automation creates opportunities for new revenue streams at scale.
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