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Finotor — Accounting Platform

[ DEC 2023 - FEB 2024 ]

Finotor is an all-in-one accounting solution for entrepreneurs and e-commerce businesses that simplifies daily financial management.
I bootstrapped the project and designed core feature such as invoice generation based on modern forms.

Last updated on August 8, 2025

ROLE: Fullstack Developer

CLIENT: For Finotor, employed by Selego B.V.

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During my university exchange in Berlin, I joined Selego as a freelance full-stack engineer for 3 months to help build Finotor, a modern accounting SaaS tailored for e-commerce merchants. The mission: turn a fragile prototype into a lean, reliable MVP ready to serve real users — fast.

What I Brought to the Project

  • Bootstrapped the full-stack architecture (React + Express + PostgreSQL)
  • Designed and built core features: product management, customer/supplier modules, invoicing engine
  • Set up modern dev tooling: Vite, Formik, Sequelize, html2pdf
  • Actively contributed to architectural and product decisions
  • Fostered a pragmatic dev culture focused on user needs and fast iteration

Finotor — Smart Accounting for E-Commerce

Finotor’s Purpose

Finotor tackles a growing pain among online merchants: simplify and automate accounting. The project was initiated by Franck Brunet after a first failed attempt revealed common pitfalls:

  • Poor client feedback loops
  • Over-modularization
  • Incoherent UI/UX
  • Feature bloat

We built Finotor with those lessons in mind.

Key Features

  • Native E-commerce Integrations Seamless data sync with WooCommerce, Shopify, and Stripe
  • AI-Powered Automation Transaction categorization and anomaly detection
  • Dynamic Financial Dashboards Actionable insights to monitor and optimize business health
  • Cash Flow Forecasting Predictive models to help merchants anticipate liquidity needs

The Selego Method — Startup-as-a-Service

A Lean Startup Philosophy

  • Short, iterative cycles focused on delivery and feedback
  • Ruthless prioritization to maximize value early
  • Keep It Simple (KISS) — build only what’s necessary
  • Direct access to real users via Slack + on-site idea box

A Culture of Structured Innovation

At Selego, I experienced a work environment that balances:

  • Creativity with structure: Encouraging bursts of ideas within a productive framework
  • Transparent feedback loops: Open, respectful communication that boosts product quality and team cohesion

Technical Architecture

Modular System

  • App — merchant-facing dashboard
  • Admin — internal control panel
  • API — unified backend with all business logic

Tech Stack

Frontend

  • React + Vite — fast and modern interface
  • Formik — robust form and validation management
  • html2pdf — generate downloadable accounting docs

Backend

  • Express — minimal and scalable framework
  • Sequelize — database ORM
  • AWS SDK — cloud storage for docs
  • Nordigen — open banking data access
  • Stripe — payment reconciliation

My Role in the Team

Worked as a full-stack developer alongside three teammates:

  • Contributed to architecture and tooling choices
  • Set up dev & prod environments and CI scaffolding
  • Developed key modules:
    • Product catalog for merchants
    • CRM for customers and suppliers
    • Invoice engine: generation and email dispatch

What I Gained

Technical Mastery

  • Full-stack JS with modern tooling
  • Secure API design and third-party integration
  • Architecting scalable, modular SaaS systems

Methodological Strength

  • Agile mindset tailored to early-stage products
  • Prioritization based on value, not ego
  • Working closely with stakeholders who aren’t developers
  • Designing around real user needs, not hypotheticals

Final Takeaway

This mission helped shape my approach to product building: mix solid engineering with startup realism. I left with stronger dev skills and a clearer vision of what building useful, lean, user-centric products actually means.

Keywords

InvoicesReactSequelizeecommerceexpressjavascript