Vertical ERPs Capture Workflow and Cash
Matt Brown, Co-Founder of Bonsai, on the rise of vertical ERPs
The strategic jump from vertical SaaS to vertical ERP is that the software stops being just a system of record and becomes the place where money actually moves. Once scheduling, invoicing, payments, payroll, and accounts sit in one product, the company can earn not only subscription fees, but also payment take rates, interchange, float, and lending revenue, while making core workflows faster and harder to replace.
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The clearest pattern is to start with a workflow next to money. In restaurants that can mean tips and payroll routing. In travel it can mean installment payments, holding funds for months, and paying many vendors in different countries and methods. Those messy flows are where a vertical product can justify owning payments, not just tracking them.
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This changes the business model. A vertical SaaS tool mostly charges per seat or per location. A vertical ERP can price software low, sometimes near break even on payments, because the bigger prize is owning total payment volume and upselling faster payouts, cards, credit, or payroll tied to that flow of funds.
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Recent examples show the playbook spreading across very different categories. HoneyBook moved from client management into checking, debit, and money tools for solo service providers. EquipmentShare combines software with rentals, financing, and equipment operations, showing how vertical systems expand by controlling the transaction layer around the workflow.
The next phase is that more vertical software companies will compete to become the financial hub for their niche, not just the dashboard. The winners will be the products closest to the most painful money movement in the workflow, because once cash collection, disbursement, and financing run through the same system, retention and monetization both climb.