Diagnosis
Why inventory blocks 40% of SMB year-end closings
In a 200-file SMB sample (restaurants, retail, e-commerce, internal Q4 2025 study), 38% had an inventory variance > 5% between client Excel and observed stock. The accountant ends up with 2-3 back-and-forth emails, sometimes redoing the valuation by gut feel, billing unpaid time or eroding margin. Hidden cost per "wonky inventory" file: 2-5 hours of senior accountant time — €200-€500 per client per year, on 20 clients = €4,000-10,000 of lost profitability.
Compliance
EU commercial code on stock inventory
Across the EU (France art. L123-12, German HGB §240, Spanish Código de Comercio art. 28), every commercial company must run a physical inventory at least once every 12 months. Auditors and accountants must be able to verify it. In practice, many SMBs supply a rough 31/12-dated Excel — a real risk in case of audit. ApsionScan generates a timestamped, signed export that satisfies this obligation, exportable as PDF or CSV, transmitted directly to the firm.
Business model
How to recommend a tool without becoming a software reseller
The firm does NOT become an ApsionScan reseller. The model is simpler: 1) the firm recommends the tool to the 5-15% of clients for whom inventory is a blocker; 2) the client subscribes directly (€15/month) and pays ApsionScan; 3) the firm gets either a commission (~10%) on the recurring subscription, OR no commission but free access to the firm portal (co-marketing model). No stock to carry, no support to provide — your only role is qualified recommendation.
Firm portal
Firm portal: what is live and what is coming
Live today: firm access request page, personalised onboarding for your first 3-5 pilot clients, CSV / Excel exports of valued stock at a given date. Coming Q3 2026 (already in backlog): single multi-client portal where one dashboard shows inventory status across all your SMBs, with "inventory overdue" alerts and bulk PDF download of valuations dated 31/12. If interested, the right-hand form puts you on the priority list.
GDPR & security
France hosting, per-firm namespace, GDPR compliance
Data hosted in France (OVH Cloud), encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3). Each partner firm has an isolated namespace: no client of one firm is visible to another, even by accident. ApsionScan does not resell or exploit your or your clients’ data (GDPR-compliant DPA on request). Daily encrypted backups, kept 30 days. SOC 2 Type 1 audit planned Q4 2026.
Case studies
Three typical firm portfolio examples
Case 1 — Generalist firm, 8 staff, 80 SMB clients: 12-15 truly concerned (restaurants + 3 retail + 2 workshops). Estimated gain: 35-40 h / year. Case 2 — Specialised hospitality firm, 4 staff, 35 clients: 28-32 concerned. Estimated gain: 80 h / year. Case 3 — Regional firm, 20 staff, 250 clients: 30-50 concerned depending on sector mix. Estimated gain: 100-150 h / year + better client satisfaction (SMBs complain less about year-end).
Without vs with ApsionScan (firm with 30 SMB clients)
| — | Without ApsionScan | With ApsionScan |
|---|
| Inventory hours / client / year | 3-5 h | 0.5 h |
| Year-end delay (days post-close) | 15-30 d | 5-10 d |
| Client chase emails | 2-3 / file | 0-1 |
| Tool cost for the firm | €0 | €0 (client pays) |
| Audit risk on stock | High (loose Excel) | Low (timestamped) |
How-to
Become a partner firm in 4 steps
Typical path for a generalist firm wanting to test ApsionScan on 3 pilot clients.
- 1
Identify your painful clients
List the 5-10 SMB clients for whom inventory is a recurring friction (often restaurants, retail, workshops).
- 2
Request firm access
Fill the right-hand form (Request access tab). We respond within 48 business hours.
- 3
Free 3-client pilot onboarding
We onboard your 3 first clients for free: calls, support, valuation export calibration.
- 4
Decide on the final model
After 3 months, choose: commission on subscriptions, free portal access, or informal recommendation.