Validate's answer

Small to medium sized businesses who have cash flow or A/R issues

Klartab's answer:

Klartab serves two distinct audiences that often work together:

Freelancers (Klartab Time) Independent contractors who bill multiple clients at different rates and currencies. Specifically: - Mixed-client freelancers who need clean per-project PDF reports at month-end without manual spreadsheet work. - Retainer-heavy contractors on fixed-hour engagements who need cap tracking to avoid over-billing. - Freelancers placed through staffing agencies who need a simple way to submit timesheets for approval.

Staffing & Placement Agencies (Klartab Agency) Boutique agencies (typically 5–30 contractors) that place freelancers with end clients and need to manage the time-approval workflow centrally. This includes working agency owners who both manage their team’s submissions and log their own hours as a placed freelancer.

Validate's answer

Validate was created in 2012 out of sheer frustration. At the time I owned a contracting business and had just finished a big job. Like most contractors, I got a payment up front to start and then effectively "extended credit" to the customer until the job was done to receive the final payment. The problem was the customer had no intention of giving me the final payment- OR the other 5 contractors he had also hired; which I did not know at the time.

I was out $15,000 and the customer stopped returning phone calls, emails, and was "never home" when I went to the door for payment. There was nothing wrong with my work, or the schedule it was completed, or any discrepancy in the total due. I was at a roadblock, and I needed something to get his attention to tell him I was serious about getting paid. I started looking into options, and nothing was looking too promising.

I could have put a lien on his house; but that is only effective if I hire a lawyer to foreclose in court. I would probably spend close to that on legal fees, and I would be the last one in line to get paid- after the banks and all the other creditors who had a claim to his property. Chances are I could go into debt on this one, and I would be waiting a year or more for my money, not really an option. I could have taken him to small claims court, but that's only good up to $5k in most states, and he owed me three times that! That option was out. I looked into collections, but most had start up fees of $100 or more and they took up to 40% of what they collected, with no guarantee of collecting anything. I was quickly running out of viable options and my bills still needed to be paid.

I needed something that was inexpensive, quick, and powerful to compel this customer to pay. I was not finding it, and being part Italian, my mind quickly went to a blacklist. I wanted everyone in town to know he was a deadbeat and not to work for him. I quickly discovered this was not the most legal thing to do, despite it being the thing this guy needed to compel him to pay, and the thing I needed to feel like I could take back control of my business and not be at the whim of crooked customers. As it turns out the law isn't so keen on blacklisting customers, that little thing about defamation. However, there is this book of law that allows businesses to report consumers that do not pay to a national database, provided they follow specific guidelines. Sounded close enough to a blacklist to me.

So, I set out to create this "blacklist" based on the federal law. It took many years of research, development, legal guidance, coding, and compliance audits and Validate was born. A business forward platform that gives small and medium sized businesses the power to hold consumers accountable on a national platform. Additionally, I achieved the goals that I sought when I was looking for the solution to my problem. Validate is inexpensive at just $35.00 a month with no hidden fees, no additional fees, and you keep 100% of what you collect paid directly to you. It's quick, letting you report consumers in as little as 60 seconds, on your time, wherever you are and manage your delinquent customers on your personal dashboard, Finally, it's powerful! Reported consumers have 14 days to pay or they are listed on a national database for seven years. No more “the check is in the mail”, I forgot to pay, I'll pay when I can, or the myriads of other excuses we get as small business owners. Fourteen days, period. See how compelling a countdown to being listed on a national database is for your customer- you will be getting paid in days.

Klartab's answer:

Klartab was built out of a frustration with tools that do too much. The founding philosophy is simple: identify the one obvious thing a tool should do, do it well, and stop there.

Klartab Time started as a timesheet tool for freelancers who were tired of live timers, activity tracking, and surveillance-style software. The goal was a clean, manual log — hours per project, your rate, a PDF for the client — without any of the noise.

Klartab Agency followed as the natural companion for the agencies that place those freelancers. Instead of chasing submissions over email and reconciling spreadsheets, agencies get a purpose-built inbox with approve/reject workflows, comment threads, and period locking.

Both products share the same values: EU-hosted, GDPR-ready, no behavioural advertising, transparent flat pricing, and a deliberate refusal to expand scope beyond what’s needed. The Klartab suite is built for people who want software that gets out of the way.

Validate's answer

Coldfusion, USPS tacking and verification

Klartab's answer:

Klartab is built on Google Cloud infrastructure:

• Cloud Run — for serverless container hosting
• Cloud SQL — for the relational database (PostgreSQL), hosted in europe-west1 (Belgium)
• Firebase Authentication — for user auth
• Stripe — for billing and payments (with Stripe Tax for EU VAT handling)

The web app is fully responsive and works well on mobile browsers. Native iOS and Android apps are on the roadmap.

Validate's answer

Validate is the only self-service, flat-fee accounts receivable platform that combines automated demand letters, FCRA-compliant credit reporting, and client screening in one tool. Unlike traditional collection agencies that charge 20–50% of recovered funds, Validate charges a flat $35 per month with unlimited use and no contingency fees. Businesses keep 100% of everything they collect. Most reported accounts resolve within 14 days.

Klartab's answer:

Klartab is built around a single philosophy: do the obvious thing well, then stop. Unlike bloated all-in-one tools, Klartab offers two deliberately focused products — Klartab Time for freelancers and Klartab Agency for staffing agencies — each solving one problem without scope creep.

• No live timer, no activity tracking — Klartab Time records totals over an interval, keeping things simple and respectful of your privacy.
• EU-hosted and GDPR-ready — all data lives in europe-west1 (Belgium); no behavioural advertising, and your data stays yours.
• Tight integration between the two tools — freelancers placed through a Klartab Agency get Klartab Time at no extra cost, with a clean submission and approval workflow.
• One flat price per tool, no tiers, no upsells — €10/month for Klartab Time; €100/month + €5/active seat for Klartab Agency.

Validate's answer

Unlike competitors, Validate combines three critical tools in one platform — demand letter automation, FCRA-compliant credit reporting, and client screening — for a single flat fee of $35 per month with unlimited use. Traditional collection agencies charge 20–50% contingency fees and act as a last resort. Other software alternatives either lack self-service automation, charge per report, or do not include client screening or credit reporting. Validate is the only platform that lets businesses act early, keep 100% of what they collect, and screen new clients before taking on the risk.

Klartab's answer:

Choose Klartab if you want tools that respect your time and your data, without the noise.

• Radical simplicity — most time-trackers try to do everything: live timers, activity screenshots, integrations, AI insights. Klartab Time does one thing: log hours per project, export a clean report, get paid. No hidden complexity.
• Privacy-first — EU-hosted (Belgium), GDPR-ready, no behavioural advertising. Your data is never monetised.
• Fair, transparent pricing — one flat price with no tiers or per-feature upsells. Freelancers placed through a Klartab Agency agency get Klartab Time included at no extra cost.
• Purpose-built agency workflow — Klartab Agency replaces the spreadsheet-and-email approval loop with a proper submissions inbox, comment threads, approve/reject workflow, and period locking. Competitors either ignore agencies or bundle too much.
• No lock-in — month-to-month, cancel any time, data stays accessible read-only for 60 days after cancellation.

Klartab's answer:

Klartab is an early-stage product and does not publicly list named customers. The typical customers are:

• Independent freelancers billing multiple clients across different currencies
• Retainer-heavy contractors managing fixed-hour engagements
• Boutique staffing and placement agencies (typically 5–30 contractors) that need a structured approval workflow for timesheet submissions