And good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and, welcome to this interim report from Lemonsoft. Once again, we're here to talk about our report from January to September 2023, and especially focusing then on the Q3 results. So with us today, of course, myself, the CEO of Lemonsoft, Mari Erkkilä, our CFO, and Alpo Luostarinen, our Director of M&A and Investor Relations as well. So together with Mari and Alpo, we will walk you through today's report, and we have a session on Q&A at the end as well. So feel free to ask questions, and put them in the, in the chat so we can discuss them later on.
Otherwise, we will be covering, as usual, the highlights from the last quarter, as well as the market situation as we see it. The most focused actions that we're doing at the moment to improve profitable or improve profit and growth. And then we'll walk you through the numbers as well, and reiterate our guidance for the full fiscal year. So let's get started. So first of all, I want to comment on Q3 as from a kind of quietly positive point of view. I thought we made progress on all the areas where we were working on during the quarter.
So we have certain themes around which we focus, quality, transparency, customer focus. I think that the work that we did on these areas can also be reflected in our numbers. So we had an increase in net sales of 80.1% and adjusted EBIT of 35.1%. So I think once again, we created profitable growth for our, for our shareholders and our stakeholders. Most of our revenue growth, again, came through acquisitions, but we did see, of course, that the organic growth of our recurring revenue is positive in the quarter. We also saw that the share of our transaction business in our total turnover increased with the acquisition of Finvoicer.
We had some customer churn. I think what we did see in our numbers was a reflection of the kind of economic cycle where the Finnish economy is. We clearly saw that a large part of the churn was driven due to bankruptcies. So let's see how the Finnish economy develops further. At the end of the third quarter, we had 213 employees, an increase from 187 the year before, and an approximately 50/50 split now between customer operations and product development. So quite a large jump then from Q3 2022 to Q3 2023, but of course, driven by the acquisition of Finvoicer.
Gross margin, still stable at 87.2%. We had a slight decrease on that one. And then, the number of customers took a major jump to 12,500 as well, again, from the second quarter acquisition of Finvoicer. Then, if we look at the longer-term trends going back on net sales and rolling twelve months and number of customers, so we can still see a clear positive trend during the last three years. Net sales going up from EUR 6.2 million to EUR 6.8 million from Q2 to Q3. Rolling 12 months, we're now at EUR 25.3 million in net sales, and I said a large jump in the number of customers that we have the honor of serving.
I think once again, when you look at the strength and the opportunities of Lemonsoft, the wide customer base, as well as the large product portfolio that we have to serve all these customers is clearly our opportunity to grow profitably, both now and in the future. Then a quick word about our growth strategy and our market update. We, of course, have been talking for the last two or three years about those main areas where we focus on: so product leadership and customer experience, and those two are still at the core of our operation.
So in order to be competitive in the market, we need to execute on our current product development roadmap as planned. So currently, we're investing in the Kellokortti 2 product, which we will bring out to market during 2024, and then on the Lemonsoft ERP so, we're looking on different enhancements for the financial management modules, for the manufacturing modules, and the logistics modules. And at the same time, we see a clear demand in the market for more application integration.
So customers are trying to extend their current kind of IT landscape with clear quick integration so that they can build business processes where several tools are integrated together and support the work of the employees. Customer experience, on the other hand, of course, it's imperative that we make it as easy to use, as easy to take into use, and as easy to support our customers as possible. So working on that whole kind of customer life cycle, all the way from the sales until the support is really key for us when we talk about account management and customer success.
So we've been working very hard on that during the year. And even more during the quarter, strengthening our pre-sales and our sales resourcing on that one. Now, if you look at the market, we have I think I would say a slightly positive trend compared at least at Q2. We saw that lead generation was steady. Customers are really interested in solutions for operational excellence, improving their bottom line, work time management, project management, so forth. However, if you look at the split in or the mix of products, I would say that from a direct sales point of view, new customer sales, customers are still careful with investments in medium and large scale ERP solutions.
And again, a really good order intake and good demand for our data products and application integrations. So during Q3, Q4, from a market perspective, putting even more focus on good cross-sell, up-sell campaigns between our different products to our current customer base, Q3 and Q4 is really important. Market conditions are still challenging for our customers. Our data shows an increase in churn because of bankruptcies, as I mentioned in the beginning. The macroeconomic uncertainty in Finland is clearly there for all to see. I'm not 100% sure how the market will develop.
There's still a lot of uncertainty, but looking forward to Q4, I think quietly positive at this point in time. Now, talking then about actions and consequences, or actions and results from the things that we've been doing for during Q3 to improve growth and profitability, then I just wanted to give you a couple of operational updates on the initiatives that we're working on. So, campaigns, as I said, from a sales and customer care point of view, accelerating both the new sales and then taking care of our current customers in an even better way.
Training our sales reps, training our account managers, recruiting in a very kind of focused way so that we can find the right people in the right roles, just to make sure that we really take care of the current customer base that we have. It's our biggest strength at the moment. Then, one of the key ingredients also for profitable growth is, of course, pricing, and we executed our bundling and packaging update during August, September for the Lemonsoft products, so we didn't get the full effect for the quarter.
But basically, we condensed over 150 different licenses into seven different packages, so that it's easier for customers to understand what they're receiving and what they're using and buying. And we applied that to our whole customer base within the Lemonsoft users. For new customer acquisitions, this packaging and bundling has been available already since January. Then we started also looking at, you know, how do we work within the group in the best possible way with sharing best practices. And we've seen a lot of cross-sell success early, especially between Finvoicer and Lemonsoft products.
I think it's important to understand for you that the Finvoicer, our kind of product and service portfolio is something that we have really cross-sell possibilities across all Lemonsoft products and also across all Lemonsoft customers, because invoice lifecycle management is still something which is relevant for all our customers. M&A integration, getting as much out of, of course, from a synergy and an efficiency point of view, is being looked at closely. And as I mentioned already on the previous slide, working with the Lemonsoft ERP browser-based version, the Kellokortti version 2, and the integration platform that we are using is really the kind of key product development investments that we're doing.
We also created a—for those of you who follow LinkedIn, and you maybe saw that we published a partnership with Frends Technology. We use their integration platform as a service. We use that to build quick build and deliver quick integration solutions for customers. And as I mentioned, we've seen a real big upswing in the order intake of these kind of services, and we'll push on this also going forward. And then overall, of course, looking all the time, how can we strengthen our capabilities? Where do we need more people, good people? How can we do it through training or through recruitment or through process development?
We put a lot of emphasis on that. So as I mentioned, sales and customer care, cybersecurity, cloud delivery, and operations, those are all areas where we've strengthened the organization recently. And then everything comes back to execution on strategy, right? So we are doing, as mentioned also before, some tweaks and updates to our, to our growth strategy. Those are on the finishing line, and, as I mentioned earlier, I hope to be able to share those outcomes with everybody as soon as, as soon as we have them ready and, and approved by the board. Good. Then let's go over to the finance side. So, Mari, can you please, comment on our net sales and our costs, please?
Yes, thank you. Yes, first net sales and net sales increased due to the acquisition of Duunitori.fi business and Finvoicer Group, whose net sales not included in the comparison period. Net sales were EUR 6.8 million, and adjusted EBIT margin was 35.1% of the net sales in the review period. Net sales growth has been 18.1% in the review period. Transaction income increased, especially due to the acquisition of Finvoicer Group. Organic growth of the review period was -1% due to the challenging market situation, especially consulting and other income remained organically at the lower level in the comparison period. Organic growth of the recurring revenue was positive. Yes. Distribution of expenses.
Material and services cost comprise purchase relating to hosting licenses and other external services, which affects gross margin. Gross margin was slightly lower than previous year. Material and services was 12.8% of net sales. Cost base consists primarily of the employee benefit expenses. During the review period have been capitalized development expenses of about EUR 300,000. Other operating expenses has increased slightly as planned. Thank you.
Thank you, Mari. And then, just a quick slide. As I mentioned already before, we had Q3 growth in personnel growing significantly to the acquisition of Finvoicer, or actually from Q2 already onwards. So, we also had change negotiations that took place during Q3, but those were minor role changes, roles that were removed because of duplication and so forth. And so the growth in employees from 187 to 213 is what you see from corresponding quarters. Personnel by function, as I mentioned, we are, we're almost 50/50 now, 49% in customer operations, 44% in R&D, and then 7% in other functions, which is basically our administration, finance, management, and so forth.
And again, as I mentioned previously, we are looking to strengthen our capability across the board, so it's not a case of being selective, recruiting to the right positions, to the right department, and finding the right people who can really help drive our growth and our profitability. So in those areas where we need help, for sure, we will also strengthen input from the outside. Then the outlook for 2023. We updated our profit forecast on the first of June due to the latest acquisition. We reiterate the same net sales growth on 15%-20% level compared to 2022, and then adjusted EBIT on 25%-30% of net sales as well.
We will continue to grow and deliver operational excellence to our customers. We have a large customer base, a large product portfolio. I think still the strength is, if the market is weak, for example, in construction, we can always sell our solutions to other industry segments, to other customers. Whether it's a horizontal solution such as financial management, invoice lifecycle management, or a vertical solution into industrial manufacturing or wholesale and retail, logistics, et cetera. Those are the areas where we're strong. Those are the areas where we aim to expand and also leverage going forward.
However, we still see that the economic situation in Finland is challenging for our customers, so it's too early to tell where the market is going at the moment. But of course, as everybody else, we're hoping for a quick turnaround, would also enable us to capitalize on increased sales, helping our customers. Then the investor calendar update for 2024 will come later in the year, and Alpo is working on that one. Then if there's any questions or comments for us now after the main part of the webcast, then Mari, myself, and, and Alpo will be happy to, to answer questions. Time for questions.
Good. We actually have a few questions. Let's start with the sales part. We announced the bundling and price increases, and then we received a question whether we've seen increased churn or negative feedback from customers, or what's the feedback from customers overall?
Actually, there's been only a few customers having objections towards the bundling and the pricing. I think I've been positively surprised. I've had not one single customer reach out to me directly being negative about the change. I think that the fact that we can show them that right now in your packages, in your bundles, you have so much functionality included, and this is the new price, and it's clearly easy for us to motivate why we've done this change, then it's also easy for customer to understand that, so forth—so no effect on churn at the moment, and only some individual cases where customers have not been happy about the change.
Yes, and as usual, we don't publish churn figures during the year and just at the annual statement later on. Another question on sales, and we've noted that our consultancy and other revenue sales has been a bit soft. Does that reflect in new sales later on, or how do we see the situation there?
I mean, it reflects in new sales from earlier on, right? So that's basically the root cause. So because we had longer sales cycles for new customer acquisition during the first half, that reflects, of course, in consulting and services revenues later on. Now, looking back at the first half, I mean, sales picked up quite well, May, June, and we have a number of projects again now ongoing. And as I said, we have a nice order intake also for our integration business, so I'm quite positive about the development of the consulting services as well.
Good. And have we seen any tightening competition or price pressure from our competitors in the weakening market environment?
No, I mean, I don't get the feedback very often that we would lose on price. If we lose cases, it's typically on a certain kind of functionality that we then don't have in the product, or that we somehow fail in the sales process, so that our sales organization, for some reason, is not good enough. I think the price-value combination that we provide is excellent, and I think if you look at a medium-sized ERP implementation, that we are for sure at the top when you compare total cost of ownership over five to seven years.
Yeah. And, going a bit forward to the Finvoicer acquisition, it changed a bit our split in revenue, and we have much higher transaction revenues. The question from our audience is that what are the most important items contributing to the high transaction volumes, and do we anticipate weakening in this category due to worsening economic conditions?
Yeah. I think, first of all, of course, when you look at the transaction business overall, then it's clear that if weakening market conditions will always result in a certain softening of, you know, orders being sent, invoices being sent, payments being sent, so that's clear. Then there's a certain cyclicality also when you look at that kind of business. But then if you apply Finvoicer to us, what it brings is actually the possibility to send or monetize the same transaction several times over. So you have the invoice going out, you have the reminder going out, you have the possible, you know, debt collection going out, et cetera, et cetera.
So that kind of business is actually very profitable from a kind of transaction point of view, but of course, it needs volume also to grow. But Finvoicer has been developing nicely, both from a growth and profitability standpoint over Q3. And I think, as I said, the portfolio of services that they have is good. It's available to us in the right, you know, space of time, and so I think we should just leverage that.
Yeah. What about the invoice financing business? How does that look like in the current market?
That market is, of course, something new for us that came with Finvoicer, but we saw, for example, during August and September, were record months in terms of invoice financing.
Good. And what about the Finvoicer offering? Does that fit well with our other customer bases?
Yeah, I think, the Finvoicer offering is actually available to all of our customers. So whether you're a small customer looking just to send one simple invoice, then you use the help of the HelpostiLasku, you know, directly. If you're a somewhat bigger kind of B2B service and you want to make your invoicing and your factoring kind of electronic and automatic, then you simply use the integration between the Lemonsoft and the Finvoicer products and activate that. So, yeah, I don't see a—and also, of course, the services that Finvoicer provide is now also available to our accounting partners. So we're not a competing business with our accounting partners. We're simply providing them with a service that they can sell on to their customers as well.
Good. I, I think that's enough for Finvoicer, and, and then finally, a few words about the software integrations. What, what's the current status with the, with our current software suite integrations? Well, let's, let's start with that one.
To be sure that I understand the question correctly, is the question about how are our own products integrated, or how do we integrate our customers' systems with?
Let's start with the internal integrations and then go on to externals.
Sure. The starting point is always, of course, that any product that we have in our portfolio has a REST API, which we can use for integrating the various systems in the product portfolio together. So, Lemonsoft ERP has a standard REST API. That API is then used, for example, to transfer data over to the Finazilla product for budgeting and forecasting purposes. The other way around, for example, PlanMill customers who are using the PlanMill software to do their invoicing, those invoices are sent over, for example, to the Lemonsoft ERP, using that API as well, and so they come into accounting and bookkeeping that way.
So basically, the principle is always to kind of create as tight an integration as we can between our different product families, so that we can do cross-sell, up-sell, and customers can get more out of it as soon as possible.
Yeah, we've said before that we are working on Finazilla and, and now Finvoicer integrations tightly into Lemonsoft. When do you expect those to be sort of ready?
We start the marketing of the Maksuvahti palvelu between Lemonsoft and Finvoicer already during the month of November. So I would kind of encourage people to keep their eyes out for that marketing campaign. And then from the start of the year or we already have between Lemonsoft and Finazilla integrations available for customers in the market. So we have a number of customers that use Lemonsoft as their ERP, and then Finazilla as their budgeting and forecasting system, and they're linked together.
Good. And then towards in external integrations, we said in the report that we have quite a good pipeline of customer integrations or requests from customers for integrations. Can you discuss a bit how that works?
Yeah. Of course. So it is of course clear that customers don't only have software from Lemonsoft or Lemonsoft product families, right? So sometimes we need to integrate the products that we supply with products of other vendors. And typically, we do that now based on the Frends partnership with integration platform as a service, where we have a complete team that we call data and digital products, and they have the responsibility then of implementing those integrations towards the customer's various systems. I can mention one case that we sold into the mining consulting industry here in August, September.
So the core product was our ERP, and then that was connected to eight different systems that the customer is using in his own IT architecture to do different things. So there were HR systems, payroll systems, you know, financial systems, and it was a pan-Nordic or a Nordic customer with operations in three countries. So depending on which process and which country, then the integration is always different. Because we have the partnership with Frends and our own capability to implement, we can do those in a very quick and cost-efficient way.
Good. And we've capitalized a bit of investments, CapEx investments into our software this year. How do you expect that to develop in 2024?
Yeah, we still need to invest in the Kellokortti 2 product and in the Lemonsoft ERP product during 2024 as well. So I would expect to see the same or maybe a little bit less capitalization for 2024.
All right. Excellent. I think we've gone through all the questions from our audience, and thank you very much, Jan-Erik.
Thank you, and, as usual, looking forward to Q4 and then the full year results, and let's push the gas.
Thank you.
Thank you.