Project Brief Project Brief: Bilko Project: Bilko — Balkan Accounting SaaS Version: 0.1 Date: 2026-02-23 Author: John (AI Director) Status: Draft Reviewers: Alem Bašić (CEO) Document History Version Date Author Changes 0.1 2026-02-23 John (AI Director) Initial draft 1. Executive Summary There is no modern, cloud-native accounting platform built for Balkan SMBs. The 348,000+ active small businesses in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina are forced to choose between expensive ERP platforms (Pantheon, Minimax) that are over-engineered for their needs, or manual processes in spreadsheets that fail regulatory requirements. Bilko solves this by offering Fiken-inspired cloud accounting — simple, compliant, affordable — with full local tax compliance (Serbian SEF e-invoicing, Croatian eRačun, BiH PDV) and support for local languages and currencies. Phase 1 targets Serbia with a €8-25/month SaaS model, validated by Croatia's January 2026 e-invoicing mandate as a forcing function across the region. Budget: €17K. Timeline: MVP launch by May 2026. CEO approval granted 2026-02-20. 2. Business Context & Market Opportunity 2.1 Business Context The Balkan region is in a period of rapid digital transformation of business administration. Serbia made e-invoicing (SEF) mandatory for all B2B transactions in 2023. Croatia mandated eRačun (HR-FISK) for all businesses from January 2026. Bosnia-Herzegovina's CPF e-invoice platform is expected to follow by 2027. This regulatory wave is forcing hundreds of thousands of SMBs to abandon paper and spreadsheet workflows and adopt digital accounting tools — now. The current market options are: Pantheon / minimax — complex, desktop-first ERP solutions that cost as much as a part-time secretary. Over-engineered for SMBs. QuickBooks / Xero — global tools with no Balkan tax compliance, no local language, no SEF/eRačun integration. Manual Excel + accountant — still the default for most micro businesses; entirely non-compliant from 2023+ onwards. This creates a clear market gap: a simple, cloud-native, affordable tool that handles local compliance out of the box. Fiken (Norway) proved this model works — it captured 50%+ of the Norwegian SMB market by doing accounting simply, not by adding more features. 2.2 Market Opportunity Dimension Current State Opportunity Market Size (TAM) €50-150M annually across 3 countries 348K+ active SMBs × €8-25/month × 12 months Serbia SAM 300K+ active businesses; 90K+ VAT-registered Immediate addressable: 50K cloud-ready SMBs Croatia SAM 140K+ active SMBs; eRačun mandate Jan 2026 30K SMBs actively searching for tools now Growth Rate +15% annual digitalization of SMB finance Regulatory mandates accelerating adoption Key Trend SEF (2023) + eRačun (2026) + CPF (2027) wave Regulatory forcing function = organic demand 2.3 Strategic Fit This project directly supports: Strategic Goal: ALAI Holding's transition from services-only to product + services revenue model OKR / Initiative: First ALAI SaaS product generating ARR by Q3 2026 Alignment with ALAI mission: "We build digital. You build business." — Bilko is exactly that: ALAI builds the digital accounting infrastructure so Balkan SMBs can focus on their business. 3. Problem Statement 3.1 Core Problem Balkan small business owners cannot find affordable, compliant, simple cloud accounting software in their language. Every available option is either too expensive (Pantheon), not compliant with local tax law (QuickBooks/Xero), or too complex for a 5-person business (any ERP). As e-invoicing mandates tighten, the cost of inaction — fines, manual processes, accountant overhead — is rising rapidly. 3.2 Pain Points # Pain Point Affected Stakeholder Measurable Impact P-01 No simple cloud accounting tool with SEF e-invoicing support Serbian SMB owners Fines up to 500,000 RSD for non-compliant invoicing; hours of manual work per invoice P-02 Pantheon costs 3-5× more than Fiken's Norwegian equivalent Budget-conscious SMBs ~€150-200/month vs. target €25/month — 6-8× price difference P-03 No local language support in global tools (QuickBooks/Xero) Non-English-speaking owners Onboarding failure; accounting errors from mistranslated concepts P-04 Accountants managing multiple clients have no unified view Bookkeepers / accountants 2-3 hours per client per month in manual data reconciliation P-05 No multi-currency support for BAM/RSD/EUR in local tools Importers/exporters Manual exchange rate calculations; errors in VAT reporting 3.3 Current State Gaps Current Process/System: Most Balkan SMBs use one of: (a) Excel + manual accountant for monthly reconciliation, (b) Pantheon/Minimax installed on local PC, (c) no accounting at all for micro-businesses below VAT threshold. Key Gaps: No cloud-native option: all local tools require local installation or expensive server licensing No regulatory compliance out of the box: SEF integration requires custom development in all existing tools No modern UX: Pantheon's interface has not meaningfully changed since 2010 Cost of Inaction: An SMB owner ignoring SEF compliance in Serbia faces fines up to 500,000 RSD (~€4,250) per violation. Additionally, manual accounting for a 10-invoice/month business costs approximately 4-6 hours/month of owner time or €80-150/month in accountant fees — 3-6× what Bilko will charge. 4. Proposed Solution Overview 4.1 Solution Description Bilko is a cloud SaaS accounting platform built for Balkan SMBs. It handles invoicing (with SEF e-invoicing for Serbia and eRačun for Croatia), expense tracking, bank reconciliation, VAT reporting, and double-entry bookkeeping — all in a simple, modern interface available in Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian. Priced at €8-25/month, it undercuts every existing compliant solution in the market. 4.2 Key Capabilities # Capability Addresses Pain Point Priority CAP-01 SEF e-invoicing (Serbia) — create, sign, submit, track P-01 Must Have CAP-02 VAT/PDV auto-calculation (20% RS, 17% BA, 25% HR) P-01, P-02 Must Have CAP-03 Simple invoicing UI (6-step wizard, PDF, email delivery) P-02, P-03 Must Have CAP-04 Multi-currency (BAM, RSD, EUR, USD) with exchange rate locking P-05 Must Have CAP-05 Bank statement CSV import + auto-reconciliation P-04 Must Have CAP-06 Double-entry bookkeeping + Chart of Accounts (Balkan GAAP) P-04 Must Have CAP-07 Multi-user RBAC (owner, admin, accountant, viewer) P-04 Must Have CAP-08 P&L, Balance Sheet, VAT reports + PDF/Excel export P-04 Must Have 4.3 Solution Architecture (High Level) graph LR A[SMB Owner / Accountant] --> B[Bilko Web App\nNext.js 15] B --> C[Bilko API\nExpress + TypeScript] C --> D[(PostgreSQL\nPrisma ORM)] C --> E[SEF Platform\nefaktura.gov.rs] C --> F[Email Provider\nPDF delivery] C --> G[Exchange Rate API\nECB / fixer.io] 4.4 Platforms & Channels Web Application (Next.js 15, responsive / PWA installable) iOS Mobile App — Phase 2 Android Mobile App — Phase 2 API / Backend Service (Express + TypeScript) Admin Dashboard (included in web app) 5. Key Benefits & ROI Projection 5.1 Quantified Benefits Benefit Category Description Estimated Annual Value Revenue SaaS subscriptions — 500 orgs × €180 avg ARR Year 1 €90,000 Year 1 Revenue growth +30% Year 2, +50% Year 3 as Croatia + BiH launch €270,000 Year 3 Cost avoided No need to build custom regulatory tools for each project €20,000/year saved in client project overhead Market credibility Bilko as reference for ALAI's product-building capability Non-quantifiable; high strategic value Total Year 1 Benefit ~€110,000 5.2 ROI Calculation Metric Value Total Investment (Phase 1) €17,000 Total Annual Benefit (Year 1) €90,000 Payback Period ~3 months after launch 3-Year ROI >1,500% (conservative) Net Present Value (3yr, 10% discount) ~€300,000+ Assumptions: 500 paying orgs Year 1, avg €15/month, 30% growth Year 2, 50% growth Year 3. Conservative; Fiken reached 50K orgs in 5 years from comparable market. 5.3 Qualitative Benefits Brand/Reputation: Bilko establishes ALAI as a product company, not just a consulting firm Competitive Advantage: First-mover advantage in cloud-native Balkan accounting; regulatory moat (SEF/eRačun compliance is complex to replicate) Risk Reduction: ARR from Bilko reduces ALAI's dependence on consulting revenue volatility Employee/User Experience: Accountants manage clients from one platform; SMBs spend less time on compliance 6. High-Level Requirements # Requirement Type Priority Notes HLR-01 Create and submit SEF e-invoices to efaktura.gov.rs Functional Must Have Serbia launch blocker HLR-02 Auto-calculate Serbian PDV (20% standard, 10% reduced) Functional Must Have HLR-03 Double-entry bookkeeping with Balkan Chart of Accounts Functional Must Have All 3 countries HLR-04 Multi-currency support: BAM, RSD, EUR, USD Functional Must Have HLR-05 GDPR-aligned data handling; user data export Non-Functional Must Have EU-adjacent regulatory context HLR-06 Multi-tenant organization isolation Non-Functional Must Have SaaS security requirement HLR-07 Page load < 1 second (subsequent), < 3 seconds (initial) Non-Functional Must Have HLR-08 Support 10,000 concurrent organizations Non-Functional Must Have Scale target HLR-09 Croatian eRačun (HR-FISK) integration Functional Should Have Phase 2 HLR-10 AI-assisted bookkeeping suggestions Functional Could Have Phase 2+ 7. Competitive Landscape Alternative Type Strengths Weaknesses Why We Win Pantheon Direct competitor (ERP) Established brand; full accounting features; local market presence Desktop-first, over-complex for SMBs, expensive (€150+/month), poor UX Bilko is cloud-native, 6× cheaper, Fiken-simple UX Minimax Direct competitor Feature-complete, regional presence Old architecture, not cloud-native, no mobile, limited SEF support Bilko is modern stack, better UX, lower price QuickBooks / Xero Indirect competitor Global brand, polished UX No SEF/eRačun, no local languages, no local currency compliance, €30-50/month Bilko wins on compliance and local language — they cannot compete Fiken (Norway) Inspiration / adjacent Proven model, NPS 70+, 50K+ orgs Norway only; no Balkan presence Bilko IS Fiken for the Balkans Our Unique Value Proposition: The only cloud accounting platform built specifically for Balkan SMBs — with SEF e-invoicing, local language, local currency, and Fiken-level UX simplicity, at an affordable monthly price. 8. Resource Requirements 8.1 Team Role Effort Source AI Director / PM Full-time oversight John (ALAI) Backend Development 6-8 weeks (AI-assisted) ALAI builder agents (Sonnet) Frontend Development 2-3 weeks (connect to API) ALAI builder agents (Sonnet) QA / Testing 2 weeks ALAI validator agents DevOps 1 week setup + ongoing ALAI builder agent Balkan regulatory advisor As needed Asmir Merdžanović (SnowIT) 8.2 Budget Summary Category Estimated Cost (EUR) Development €8,500 Design €1,500 Infrastructure €1,200 Licenses / APIs €800 Contingency (17%) €2,500 Total €17,000 8.3 Timeline Phase Duration Start Backend development (50 endpoints) 2 weeks 2026-02-23 SEF integration 1 week 2026-03-09 Frontend → API connection 1 week 2026-03-09 Alpha testing 1 week 2026-03-23 Beta program 2 weeks 2026-04-07 Production launch (Serbia) 1 day 2026-05-01 Total Duration ~10 weeks 2026-02-23 9. Go / No-Go Decision Criteria 9.1 Go Criteria (ALL must be met) Budget approved: €17,000 Phase 1 — APPROVED by Alem 2026-02-20 Key stakeholders aligned on scope and timeline — CEO approval 2026-02-20 All 8 pipeline gates passed (Market Research through CEO Approval) — PASSED 2026-02-20 Tech stack decided — Next.js 15 + Express + PostgreSQL confirmed Database schema complete — 15 models defined and validated SEF API access confirmed — pending Serbian legal entity (ALAI Tech d.o.o.) registration — in progress 9.2 No-Go Triggers (ANY is sufficient to stop) Serbian tax authority mandates software certification blocking MVP SEF API fundamentally incompatible with planned UBL 2.1 approach Budget overrun exceeds €17,000 ceiling without CEO reapproval Legal blocker in Serbian company registration that prevents operation 9.3 Decision Dimension Decision Decision Maker Date Proceed with development GO Alem Bašić (CEO) 2026-02-20 Budget approved Yes — €17K ceiling Alem Bašić 2026-02-20 Resource allocation approved Yes Alem Bašić 2026-02-20 Approval Role Name Date Signature Author John (AI Director) 2026-02-23 Reviewer AI Director (John) John 2026-02-23 Project Sponsor Alem Bašić CEO (Alem) Alem Bašić