DafTech 2026: why the future of SME finance is built as an ecosystem

An event that has become a must

The first thing that struck me was the scale. In 2025, DafTech brought together 600 attendees. This year, Pennylane took over Le 104 to host more than 1,500: CFOs, finance managers, fractional CFOs, accounting firms, integrators and technology partners. Between sessions, the aisles were full of very practical conversations about month-end close, e-invoicing and AI.

On the agenda, OpenAI spoke about how AI fits into leadership teams' daily work, the CFOs of Swile and Leboncoin were interviewed on stage, and Fabien Galthié, head coach of the French rugby team, closed the day with a talk on performance and teamwork. That theme sums up the spirit of the event well.

Arthur Waller's keynote: becoming the financial cockpit for SMEs

For me, the highlight of the day was the keynote from Arthur Waller, Pennylane's CEO. His message was clear: Pennylane wants to become the accounting and financial cockpit for SMEs, in France and across Europe.

The numbers he shared speak for themselves:

• 1.5 million client businesses, including more than 16,000 SMEs
• €200M in recurring revenue
• more than 1,250 "Pennylaners," half of them in tech and product

The ambition is now European, with Germany targeted since 2025 and Spain in 2026.

Arthur built his vision around three challenges every CFO will recognise:

• automating financial management to cut repetitive tasks
• securing growth by delegating without losing control
• deciding faster with a cockpit that spans reporting, budgeting, forecasting and scenarios

AI runs through all three, with Pennylane Assistant and support for MCP.

The slide that stayed with me most was the one on the ecosystem: more than 7,500 accounting firms, 50 integrators, 300 technology partners and 500 connectors. Pennylane doesn't see itself as an island but as an open platform, and that's exactly where we have a role to play.

Payhawk + Pennylane: a native integration built to grow together

Pennylane is the financial hub for many French SMEs. As these companies grow, they face new challenges: more cardholders, more subscriptions, more countries, and more VAT and FX complexity. That's where Payhawk complements Pennylane, adding a control layer to manage spend across entities, countries and workflows.

Here's what the integration does in practice:

Bi-directional sync. Expenses, payments and accounting data sync automatically between the two platforms, with no CSV exports to fix.

Aligned master data. The chart of accounts, suppliers and all required analytical dimensions sync automatically, so every expense is coded according to the rules set in Pennylane.

Control upfront, not after the fact. Instead of cleaning up transactions once they reach the books, receipts are captured instantly, policies are enforced and spend is approved before it happens, so only fully approved, properly coded data flows into the accounting system.

Faster close. Expenses are exported once reviewed and payments once settled, enabling real-time reconciliation. The integration delivers up to 50% faster month-end close and 99.7% zero-touch transaction sync, across 32+ supported countries.

Why it's a real win for growing companies

For the SMEs and mid-market companies we work with, the value is simple. They keep Pennylane's simplicity as their accounting and financial foundation, and add Payhawk's depth where spend actually begins: cards, expenses, supplier invoices and approvals.

The benefits land differently for each group:

• CFOs get clean data from the source, feeding directly into the cockpit Arthur described.
• Operational teams gain autonomy through cards and rules tailored to how they work.
• Multi-entity or international groups can manage growth beyond France without adding complexity to their stack.

It's good news for the advisers who support these companies, too.

For part-time CFOs and resellers: a partner for growing clients

If you advise several Pennylane clients, you're often the first person they call when spend gets harder to manage. Payhawk adds a control layer alongside Pennylane, with approvals before money is spent and spend managed across entities and countries. It reuses the chart of accounts, suppliers, and analytical families you already maintain in the client's Pennylane file. You can use Payhawk to serve your own clients or refer those who need it, knowing they'll have real people to speak to for support.

The takeaway: the finance of tomorrow will be collective

DafTech 2026 confirmed a clear trend: for finance teams, value will come from data quality and how smoothly their tools work together. AI will only be useful if it relies on reliable information, captured at the right moment.

At Payhawk, we're proud to be part of this ecosystem and to help Pennylane give SMEs finance that is more automated, more secure and better steered. Thank you to the Pennylane team for a fantastic day. See you next year!

Using Pennylane and want to take control of spend at the source? Explore our native integration or book a personalised demo.