Most businesses will have the option for customer and client to transfer payments for their invoices into the business bank account, but have you investigated automating this process?
In the current age there are plenty of automated collection services, you can get clients to set up direct debits for regular payments or use systems such as PayPal to allow customers to pay directly. Most accounting software either have these built into the system or have addons that will not only produce the invoice with a payment link but can also link the payment to the correct invoice in the software itself. Meaning that not only are you getting the money in more efficiently, but part of your bookkeeping will already be done for you!
Having a direct debit system set up can also help avoid late payment, and reduce time spent on chasing overdue invoices. This can be set up to either take the latest invoices automatically or a set amount each month to cover a yearly cost. In either case, you will spend less time trying to get the money.
What do your clients gain from it?
We have touched on some of the benefits to your business, but what about your clients. Most people appreciate having multiple ways to pay an invoice, with some preferring PayPal for security or having a direct debit come out each month so that they don’t need to worry about making the payment.
It can also help when you invoice larger businesses who have an in-house accounting department. Not everybody would have access to company cards or bank accounts, but they may have a central Paypal login. This means that more people could be able to pay your invoice and reduce the time between issuing the invoice and when you receive the funds.
What about the costs?
Most, if not all, of the payments systems do come with fees or charges attached, there are a few ways to deal with this though. You could increase future invoices to recharge the costs to client, or simple absorb the costs and accept that while it costs money you are saving more time (which can be far more valuable).
You can also try to make the process more efficient. Some payment systems have a cap on charges for each transaction, meaning that the more payments you can process in one go the cheaper the overall charges would be (you would only be charged once not multiple times). This would be more applicable to direct debits in most cases, but you would need to look at each individual payment system to work out the best way.
If you’d like more information or not don’t know where to start, please get in contact with us.
