At a glance
Tofu is a comprehensive, AI-powered accounting platform serving top-10 accounting firms, including Baker Tilly, Mazars, and BDO. It processes 1M+ invoices monthly for 2,000+ bookkeepers worldwide.
Legacy monolithic databases couldn’t deliver zero-downtime operations, global GDPR compliance with data residency, or elastic scaling for AI-driven workloads with massive invoice processing spikes.
By adopting YugabyteDB’s distributed SQL architecture, Tofu built a truly 24/7/365 platform with multi-region compliance, PostgreSQL compatibility, and seamless scalability for AI workloads.
Leading AI-Powered Accounting Platform Serves Global Enterprise Clients
Tofu provides top-10 accounting firms with mission-critical financial services. Their platform processes over 1 million invoices per month for 2,000+ bookkeepers, using AI to scan and extract detailed line-item data that drives next-level productivity.
The financial services industry is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven by AI, cloud-native platforms, and user demands for instant access.
Modern accounting platforms are no longer just end-of-year tax tools. They are 24/7/365 operational hubs that ingest and process thousands of invoices, manage global payroll, and provide real-time financial insights to clients worldwide.
This expansion has led to a surge in mission-critical data activity. For a platform handling sensitive financial data for global enterprise clients, downtime is not an option, and regulatory compliance is non-negotiable.
Challenges
- Legacy single-node databases created single points of failure for mission-critical financial operations
- Maintenance windows for upgrades are unacceptable for global 24/7 service requirements
- Centralized databases couldn’t meet GDPR data residency mandates across the EU and other regions
- Fixed vertical scaling limits forced expensive over-provisioning or risked system crashes during AI processing peaks
Key Database Requirements
Tofu needed a globally distributed database that could power their modern AI-driven accounting platform at scale. Their requirements included:
- Zero-downtime operations for patching and upgrades to serve global clients 24/7/365
- Multi-region, geo-distributed architecture to guarantee GDPR-compliant data residency
- Elastic, horizontal scaling to handle bursty AI workloads processing 1M+ invoices monthly
- 100% PostgreSQL compatibility to accelerate development with familiar, powerful tools
“For our global clients, data is the product. Any downtime breaks customer trust and directly costs money. We needed a database that could deliver true 24/7/365 availability while meeting strict GDPR compliance requirements.”
— Tofu Engineering Team
YugabyteDB Solution
Zero-Downtime Resilience
YugabyteDB automatically replicates data across multiple nodes and data centers. Rolling upgrades apply patches node by node with zero application downtime, enabling continuous 24/7/365 operations for Tofu’s global clients.
Multi-Region GDPR Compliance
Row-level geo-partitioning enables Tofu to run a single logical database cluster that spans the globe, while pinning specific data to nodes in the required regions. This ensures EU data remains within the EU, eliminating the need for complex data silos.
Elastic Horizontal Scaling
Linear scale-out capability handles massive AI workload spikes by simply adding nodes. YugabyteDB automatically redistributes data and load, eliminating over-provisioning while ensuring invoice processing remains fast.
Full PostgreSQL Compatibility
Wire compatibility with PostgreSQL allows Tofu’s engineering team to build AI and data-processing tools using familiar features. Applications, drivers, and ORMs work without modification.
The Business Results
- 24/7/365 uptime: True zero-downtime operations for global clients
- 1M+ invoices processed monthly: Seamless AI-driven invoice processing at scale
- Rapid time to market: Tofu named Xero Emerging App Awards finalist within three months of launch
- Elastic scalability: Handle AI workload spikes without over-provisioning
- Full GDPR compliance: Multi-region support with geo-partitioning ensures data residency
- Accelerated development: PostgreSQL compatibility enables fast iteration with familiar tools
Tofu Delivers Mission-Critical Financial Services at Global Scale
Data is at the heart of innovation in accounting technology and plays a critical role in driving transformative experiences for bookkeepers and their clients. The legacy database layers that power many financial services force unacceptable trade-offs, including data consistency, availability, global compliance, and elastic scalability.
Within three months of launch on YugabyteDB, Tofu was named a finalist in the Xero Emerging App Awards for accounting software, reinforcing market traction and technical excellence.
Tofu’s platform now delivers a secure, resilient, always-on service to clients in New York, London, Tokyo, and beyond. Their engineering team can perform maintenance without interrupting service, ensuring their AI and productivity tools remain available while still meeting the strictest regulatory compliance requirements.
By adopting YugabyteDB’s distributed SQL architecture, platforms like Tofu can:
- Handle peak AI and user traffic effortlessly, without downtime
- Guarantee zero downtime for upgrades and maintenance
- Eliminate single points of failure with multi-region availability
- Deliver fast, low-latency performance to users worldwide
- Simplify regulatory compliance (GDPR) with geo-partitioning
- Accelerate development with 100% PostgreSQL compatibility