CUSTOMER STORY
Exero: a top-tier ERP without paying for what it doesn’t use
When AI started putting pressure on prices, this boutique translation company decided to cut back on everything except quality. With BillWords it keeps the same top-tier management it had, sized to its business and up and running in just one month.
1 month
to start working with BillWords (with its previous platform, several months)
Quality
All the indicators for its quality audit, straight from BillWords
Functionality
The same functionality, with faster invoicing
At a glance
- Company: Exero, a boutique translation company
- Location: Guadalajara, Spain
- BillWords client since: 2025
- Previous tool: XTRF
- The challenge: keeping top-tier management without paying for features designed for much larger companies.
- The solution: BillWords, with close support adapted to the way they work.
- The result: the same functionality, up and running in one month, with faster invoicing, full control of its files and quality indicators ready for audits.
Technology pioneers since 2007
Exero was founded in 2007 by Juanma López, a project manager since 1998. It translates from Spanish into any language for Spanish companies, and into Spanish for foreign companies, working both with larger translation companies and directly with end clients.
Its hallmark is investing in technology to deliver the best possible service. Every time Exero has grown, the way it is managed has grown with it: from a carefully designed spreadsheet to custom-built software and, later, to one of the most complete management platforms on the market. Something unusual for a company of its size.
An excellent tool… but hard to adapt
Juanma talks about his previous tool frankly and without reproach.
“I was very happy, I’ll be completely honest. Once you get into the rhythm, it’s a program that covers everything.”
Juanma López, CEO of Exero
But the industry changed. With the arrival of AI, pressure on prices kept growing, and Exero made a clear decision: cut back on everything except quality. That’s when the numbers stopped adding up. Its platform was designed for projects with many languages, multiple steps and complex workflows, and every adaptation to the way they worked was charged separately.
“I’m not going back to that solution, because it’s too big for me.”
Juanma López, CEO of Exero
The same functionality, made to measure
The recommendation came during the annual renewal of his Trados license, and Juanma had his doubts: he had seen an old version of Gespoint and it hadn’t convinced him. The new cloud platform, BillWords, changed his mind from the very first demo.
Even so, he was skeptical:
“I had my reservations. I thought: there’s no way a tool that costs five times less can do the same for me. Well, yes, it does the same.”
Juanma López, CEO of Exero
There was also a decisive factor: the peace of mind of working with a Spanish company that knows the regulations and the reality of the industry in Spain first-hand, including the adaptation to VERI*FACTU.
Up and running in one month, with a team by its side
With its previous platform, Exero took months to really start working, with training based on documentation and tickets. With BillWords, around one month.
“It was very fast. The program is very intuitive and has everything.”
Juanma López, CEO of Exero
According to Juanma, the difference was the support: working sessions with the Gespoint team whenever he needed them, and concrete solutions instead of generic instructions. When an incompatibility with his Microsoft email account came up, the development team adapted the program and solved it over a weekend.
What has changed for Exero
Today Exero runs its whole business with BillWords: clients, vendors, projects, delivery notes and invoicing.
Everything it needed, nothing it doesn’t use
The same functionality as its previous platform, sized to its business.
Fast, flexible invoicing
It adapts to what each client asks for, without paying for extra features.
Its files, under its control
The company’s OneDrive is connected to BillWords. Files stay in its own storage and it can access them instantly, without downloading or unzipping them from a vendor’s server.
Quality audits without cross-checking data
In its last audit it got all the indicators straight from BillWords. Before, this had to be done by hand.
Software that adapts to them
Not the other way round: BillWords fits the way they work.
“They’ve never told me ‘that can’t be done’. It’s always been ‘why don’t you try it this way?’”
Juanma López, CEO of Exero
His advice to other translation companies
“Nobody wants to pay more than they need to. It has pleasantly surprised me. I encourage people to be open to it.”
Juanma López, CEO of Exero
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Is your translation company also paying for more than it uses?