Systems creates a business network – Corriere.it

If it really comes, the recession shouldn’t be an excuse to stop investing in your company. Faced with the (new) dark times, the country must continue on the path of the transition to digital in the office and automation in the factories. With a decisive step in reducing the tax wedge. Enrica Eandi, president and CEO of Sistemi, is convinced of this, the family business with a turnover of 117 million euros (in 2021) which is also one of the Champions companies, founded in the seventies by her father Enrico. Today she is at the helm of it, supported by her brother Francesco in the role of software development manager.

For professionals

In one of the rare interviews, the two entrepreneurs outline with The Economy the national framework, strengthened by a presence throughout the territory: more than 33,000 professional firms of accountants, lawyers, labor consultants, micro-enterprises such as bars, shops use the Sistemi branded software. And then freelance workers, artisans, associations. In short, anyone who has to issue an electronic invoice and needs software to do so. Electronic invoicing, the latest big news in the sector introduced by law starting from 2019, is managed on their cloud by 365,000 companies and professionals. «It wasn’t a revolution but a step in continuity with what had been happening for years, especially for businesses: digital has become inevitable – says the president – and the world of freelancers had the opportunity to rethink a way of working . From our point of view, we have always worked, and continue to do so, to support them in automating processes». In short, says Enrica jokingly, “if previously papers and prints flew into the offices, now we allow everything to be digitized”. The change underway may allow accountants, for example, to neglect data entry activities with low added value to concentrate on aspects such as customer consultancy, CRM management or other advanced organizational trends. «The same studies ask for it», says Francesco «and the hesitations around the cloud have also dropped: they have seen first-hand that certain fears are unfounded».

Partners and network

Helping is the business model chosen by the software house which defines itself as a “network company” with the parent company working alongside 103 partners. «The face of Sistemi with end customers», explains Enrica, «nothing to do with a call center but professionals who listen to needs. We have long-lasting relationships with partners. They do a delicate job, skills are not acquired in a few days. Most have been with us for decades.” Born in 1976, Sistemi is the daughter of the intuition of Enrico Eandi, an accountant with a studio in Cuneo and a passion for technology or the first computers: when VAT, personal income tax and other taxes of the tax reform wanted by Bruno Visentini were introduced in Italy, Finance Minister, Eandi sees the road to a new business. An important decision was made in 1980: Sistemi left the Granda Province and moved its headquarters to Turin. They were complicated years, between terrorism and social difficulties, remember her children. But the transition launched the company into a national dimension. Today the Collegno site hosts 314 collaborators divided between the offices and the product factory. Future-oriented solutions are born here. Francesco explains: «We have different product lines, all made with a constantly evolving proprietary language. Technology is not a goal in itself for us, but functional to what we have to do. We’ve been busy lately with artificial intelligence: it’s worth investing here». Reclassification of financial statements, which AI can carry out at 80% and accounting for invoices: these are the two most concrete areas of application, in the opinion of the expert. «Some solutions are already offered to customers so that they understand the benefit». There is also cultural work to be done. Sistemi will remain a family business, the brothers assure: «There is no plan to go public.

Continued growth

The goal is to continue growing, with a minimum estimate of 5% more this year and 8-10% next year ». But the dimensional development is complicated due to the lack of professional profiles: even Sistemi cannot find them. “We would like to hire many of them” warns Enrica, who also points out this as an interesting job opportunity for women: “They are 61% of the total and represent over 50% of management”. The businesswoman does not ask the political decision-makers for incentives but for «a decisive step in reducing the tax wedge. We need to lighten the shoulders of those who work by raising the net. Why make the non-taxability of premiums or the transformation into a flexible benefit difficult? A cast that should be removed. If the country’s conditions are healthy, companies grow». But clouds of recession are looming on the horizon: «No alibi. Companies must invest, rethink processes, be found efficient when the negative cycle ends». The bond of Sistemi with the territory is evident in the work of the Enrico Eandi Foundation whose objective is to enhance local culture by publishing books, magazines and multimedia products such as a Piedmontese-Italian electronic dictionary and a program for writing on word in Piedmontese dialect. With a spell checker.