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Qonto Invoicing: Transformed Regulation into Opportunity

By 2027, e-invoicing will be mandatory for all French businesses.

With 350,000 SMEs still managing invoices manually with Word or Excel, Qonto turned a compliance challenge into an opportunity: launching Qonto Invoicing: a free invoicing solution built to simplify the digital transition.

As Staff Product Designer, I led the pivot from a banking product to a bankless, standalone invoicing solution, making the shift effortless for SMEs and opening the gateway to Qonto’s financing ecosystem.

By 2027, e-invoicing will be mandatory for all French businesses.

With 350,000 SMEs still managing invoices manually with Word or Excel, Qonto turned a compliance challenge into an opportunity: launching a free invoicing solution built to simplify the digital transition.

Index

YEAR

2024/2025

CLIENT

Qonto

TEAM

Cross-functional team: PM, Engineers, UX Writers, Product Marketing Managers

EXPERTISES

Data Analysis, User Interview, User Testing, Product Design, Design System

What were our challenges?

We had to strip Qonto down to its core banking business while preserving its essence.

Design an experience that meets the needs of two distinct audiences, comprehensive enough to offer standalone added value, but deliberately open to drive upgrades and adoption of Qonto’s wider financial services.

3 key to success:

- Invite 6,500 indirect SMEs through accountants firms.
- Activate 50% of our new customers with at least one action within 30 days.
- Upsell 2% of Qonto Invoicing monthly cohort to paid by month-end.

Dual segment targeting

Secondary target

~30% expected

Direct Acquisition

Self-registration solopreneurs

Self-registration

Invoice creation focus (AR)

Regulatory urgency

Primary target

~70% expected

Indirect Acquisition

Accountant-led via Regate partnership

Accountant invitation

Balanced adoption (AR, AP and Cashflow management)

Balanced adoption (AR, AP, Cashflow management)

Balanced adoption (AR, AP and Cashflow management)

Seamless accountant sync

Accelerate adoption via Accountant channel

Accelerate adoption via Accountants

6,500

SMEs expected

INVITATION

Join your accountant on Qonto Invoicing

Hello %{first_name},

Your accounting firm invites you to Qonto Invoicing to simplify your daily financial management and allow you to focus on what matters most: growing your business.

• Collaborate in real time with your accountant: all your invoices, receipts, and expenses are shared instantly, making your exchanges more fluid.

• Create and send your customer invoices easily to enhance your brand image and get paid faster.

• Centralize the management of your bank accounts to better control your cash flow.

• Ensure your compliance with a solution that meets regulatory requirements, such as mandatory electronic invoicing.

Hello %{first_name},

Your accounting firm invites you to Qonto Invoicing to simplify your daily financial management and allow you to focus on what matters most: growing your business.

• Collaborate in real time with your accountant: all your invoices, receipts, and expenses are shared instantly, making your exchanges more fluid.

• Create and send your customer invoices easily to enhance your brand image and get paid faster.

• Centralize the management of your bank accounts to better control your cash flow.

• Ensure your compliance with a solution that meets regulatory requirements, such as mandatory electronic invoicing.

Hello %{first_name},

Your accounting firm invites you to Qonto Invoicing to simplify your daily financial management and allow you to focus on what matters most: growing your business.

• Collaborate in real time with your accountant: all your invoices, receipts, and expenses are shared instantly, making your exchanges more fluid.

• Create and send your customer invoices easily to enhance your brand image and get paid faster.

• Centralize the management of your bank accounts to better control your cash flow.

• Ensure your compliance with a solution that meets regulatory requirements, such as mandatory electronic invoicing.

Hello %{first_name},

Your accounting firm invites you to Qonto Invoicing to simplify your daily financial management and allow you to focus on what matters most: growing your business.

• Collaborate in real time with your accountant: all your invoices, receipts, and expenses are shared instantly, making your exchanges more fluid.

• Create and send your customer invoices easily to enhance your brand image and get paid faster.

• Centralize the management of your bank accounts to better control your cash flow.

• Ensure your compliance with a solution that meets regulatory requirements, such as mandatory electronic invoicing.

Create by removing

Unlock user activation

Drive financial tools adoption

Upsell rate

Who are we really designing for?

A dual-segment strategy

The dual-segment strategy in details

Research revealed two key personas: Solopreneurs seeking simplicity and CEOs needing integrated tools.

Assuming accountants drove 31% of adoption, we chose to build a single solution that could serve all three groups: centralized, customizable, and mobile-first. Then we refined it through iterative testing.

Research revealed two key personas: Solopreneurs seeking simplicity and CEOs needing integrated tools

Assuming accountants drove 31% of adoption, we chose to build a single solution that could serve all three groups: centralized, customizable, and mobile-first.

Then we refined it through iterative testing.

Anna

When I onboard to Qonto Invoicing,
I want to do the necessary prep work so I can be ready to invoice my client at anytime.

Direct acquisition

Solopreneur

Direct acquisition

CEO

Indirect acquisition

CEO

John

I want to automate client invoice reconciliation so I'm clear on expected upcoming payments and if I need to act (e.g., chase my client)

Indirect

SMEs invited by accountants

Indirect acquisition

Accountants

Daniel

Richard

I want a trusted solution with real-time data access, strengthening my clients relationships and removing manual document collection.

Anna

When I onboard to Qonto Invoicing,
I want to do the necessary prep work so I can be ready to invoice my client at anytime.

Direct acquisition

Solopreneur

Direct acquisition

CEO

John

I want to automate client invoice reconciliation so I'm clear on expected upcoming payments and if I need to act (e.g., chase my client)

Born from user insight and market pressure, the dual-segment strategy saw direct acquisition quickly surpass the accountant-first model, becoming Qonto’s main growth driver.

Born from user insight and market pressure, the dual-segment strategy saw Direct Acquisition quickly surpass the Accountant-first model, becoming Qonto’s main growth driver.

Indirect

SMEs invited by accountants

Daniel

I want a trusted solution with real-time data access, strengthening my clients relationships and removing manual document collection.

Bankless by Design

How to create a financial platform without a bank account?

The design challenge was unprecedented : create a financial platform that looks and feels like Qonto but without any banking features.

The Light Plan is born. A solution that preserves Qonto's identity while hiding banking, puts accountant-SME collaboration first, and reveals tools gradually to keep users confident, not confused.

A short frictionless

KYC-Less Onboarding

Customization first:

the shortcut to Time to Value

Turning payment friction

into upgrade momentum

Full user journey

A short frictionless

KYC-Less Onboarding

Customization first:
the shortcut to Time to Value

Turning payment friction
into upgrade momentum

Full user journey

Turning payment friction

into upgrade momentum

Why our Homepage doesn’t serve invoicing needs?

We began explorations by mapping the activation flow, based on existing components to save time (and cost). But testing revealed they were built for banking users and didn’t match invoicing needs.

The existing activation system wasn't working for Qonto Invoicing's for 3 main reasons:
- Dashboard structure doesn't communicate value (data oriented layout)

- Widgets are irrelevant for bankless users and doesn’t surface invoicing actions
- Discovery cards raised awareness but were too passive to guide users

A new activation flow based on

3 principles

A new activation flow based on

3 principles

A new activation flow based on 3 principles

By giving users an early win with quick customization and guiding them to their first invoice, we build confidence step by step, revealing advanced features like external account connection only when they’re ready.

Single Action Focus to get immediate value

Single Action Focus to get immediate value

Celebrate & guide users forward

Progressive reveal of next actions

Solution highlight: Priority-based widgets

Build mental model of evolving Homepage

Build mental model of Modular Homepage

The current Homepage overwhelms users with comprehensive data instead of highlighting what really matters: invoices to chase up, urgent payments and upcoming deadlines. Users need actionable information, not comprehensive reports.

Initial explorations centered on alerting, trying status-based widget variations to give users a clear snapshot while preventing overlap with the invoicing page.

Initial explorations centered on alerting, trying status-based widget variations to give users a clear snapshot while preventing overlap with the invoicing page.

As a result, the new homepage has evolved from onboarding tool to daily cashflow hub, consistently surfacing the right priorities for users.

Impact: Numbers tell the Story

Qonto Invoicing validated product-market fit with:
- 8,210 users acquired since March's launch

- a high engagement (74% activation rate)

- and 4.5% converting to paid (2.5x target)

This validated our business strategy: free, bankless entry removes adoption barriers while maintaining conversion potential. Users discover value without pressure, engage with financial tools, and convert to paid banking when value is proven.

The foundation is built. We're ready to become the go-to solution for 350K+ SMEs facing the 2026 mandate.

D+30 Direct acquisition

Direct acquisition

93.1% (2,934 users)
VS indirect channel: 6.9%

93.1% (2,934 users)
VS indirect channel: 6.9% only

93.1% (2,934 users)
VS indirect 6.9%