Case Study: Hayward Distributing achieves 100% invoice visibility and customer self-service with Esker

Gaining New Levels of Visibility & Empowering Customers to be Self-Sufficient

Hayward Distributing Co., a national distributor of outdoor power equipment serving 3,500 retailers, struggled with a fully manual accounts receivable process that created invoice visibility issues, slow check processing and constant customer calls. Facing growth and a planned acquisition, the company needed a scalable, more transparent AR system to eliminate bottlenecks and improve cash application.

By implementing Esker’s cloud Accounts Receivable suite—featuring KPI dashboards, an online self-service portal and invoice-tagged messaging—Hayward gained 100% invoice visibility, reduced paper checks, and improved reconciliation and customer communication. The solution enabled two-thirds of staff to work remotely, onboarded roughly 50% of customers so far, and allowed the company to scale without adding back-office headcount.

Hayward Distributing

Jeff Budde

Chief Financial Officer