Financial automation platform BILL (NYSE: BILL) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q1 CY2026, with sales up 13.5% year on year to $406.6 million. The company expects next quarter’s revenue to be around $430 million, close to analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.68 per share was 23.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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BILL (BILL) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $406.6 million vs analyst estimates of $403.5 million (13.5% year-on-year growth, 0.8% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.68 vs analyst estimates of $0.55 (23.1% beat)
- Adjusted Operating Income: $79.79 million vs analyst estimates of $65.9 million (19.6% margin, 21.1% beat)
- Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2026 is $430 million at the midpoint, roughly in line with what analysts were expecting
- Management raised its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance to $2.63 at the midpoint, a 10.8% increase
- Operating Margin: -0.1%, up from -8.1% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 20.8%, down from 22% in the previous quarter
- Customers: 493,800
- Billings: $406.9 million at quarter end, up 13.6% year on year
- Market Capitalization: $3.67 billion
Company Overview
Transforming the messy back-office financial operations that plague small business owners, BILL (NYSE: BILL) provides a cloud-based platform that automates accounts payable, accounts receivable, and expense management for small and midsize businesses.
Revenue Growth
Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. Luckily, BILL’s sales grew at an incredible 51.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. Its growth beat the average software company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.
Long-term growth is the most important, but within software, a half-decade historical view may miss new innovations or demand cycles. BILL’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed significantly as its annualized revenue growth of 13.5% over the last two years was well below its five-year trend. 
This quarter, BILL reported year-on-year revenue growth of 13.5%, and its $406.6 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 0.8%. Company management is currently guiding for a 12.2% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.
Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 12.3% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. This projection doesn't excite us and suggests its products and services will see some demand headwinds.
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Billings
Billings is a non-GAAP metric that is often called “cash revenue” because it shows how much money the company has collected from customers in a certain period. This is different from revenue, which must be recognized in pieces over the length of a contract.
BILL’s billings came in at $406.9 million in Q1, and over the last four quarters, its growth was underwhelming as it averaged 12.4% year-on-year increases. This performance mirrored its total sales and suggests that increasing competition is causing challenges in acquiring/retaining customers. 
Customer Acquisition Efficiency
The customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback period represents the months required to recover the cost of acquiring a new customer. Essentially, it’s the break-even point for sales and marketing investments. A shorter CAC payback period is ideal, as it implies better returns on investment and business scalability.
BILL is extremely efficient at acquiring new customers, and its CAC payback period checked in at 5.1 months this quarter. The company’s rapid sales cycles stem from its strong brand reputation and self-serve model, where it can onboard many small customers with little to no oversight. These dynamics give BILL more resources to pursue new product initiatives.
Key Takeaways from BILL’s Q1 Results
We were impressed by BILL’s optimistic EPS guidance for next quarter, which blew past analysts’ expectations. We were also glad its full-year EPS guidance trumped Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was still a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The market seemed to be hoping for more, and the stock traded down 4.6% to $36.46 immediately after reporting.
So should you invest in BILL right now? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
