Custom Billing Tips That Add Value for Your Clients
The idea of custom billing for your business might make you cringe. It might seem like it would become an accounts receivable nightmare. Different due dates for different clients? How in the world would you ever reconcile it? The good news is that custom billing adds value for your clients. When you add value, your clients continue to use your services. In this article you’re going to learn some custom billing tips that add value for your clients and how you can implement them without worrying about creating a tangled billing mess when you’re trying to reconcile your invoices each month.
Instituting Custom Billing for Your Clients
Custom billing can be boiled down to one simple concept: assigning a due date that meets the needs of your clients. For instance, if you work primarily with consumers and you know that certain clients receive their pay twice a month, you could institute a custom due date to make it easier for those clients to pay you. If you work with a company that has a seven-day period to approve invoices once they are received, you could minimize your hassle (and theirs) by moving their due date. You would still mail the invoice on the original day, but make it due seven days after it is received.
Believe it or not, this doesn’t necessarily make your job of reconciliation any more difficult. You could have two dates each month to reconcile invoices or still stick to either the beginning or the end of each month. You’ll still know which accounts are truly past due. This could also improve your cash flow.
Provide Options for Billing
When you provide billing options for your clients, you’re adding value. Traditionally mailed invoices may be fine for most businesses. However, start-ups or consumers may want the added convenience of e-billing. Check out your accounting software to determine if it is capable of providing electronic bills. If not, you might check out PayPal. PayPal is one of the most trusted online money exchange systems, and they offer the ability to invoice clients. Clients can pay directly through PayPal regardless of whether or not they have an account.
Why should you offer electronic invoices? They’re easier to track. If something is lost in the mail, it’s just gone. Providing electronic billing makes it easier for you to confirm that your client received their invoice.
Provide Payment Options
Cash and checks are great, but debit and credit options are valuable options in this economy. There are inexpensive card processors that businesses of any size can use to process their payments. Look into online payment options through Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and PayPal to keep up with the ever-increasing desire by your clients to have more convenient and secure payment options.
Stay in Contact With Your Clients
This tip is particularly important if you work with businesses that must go through the process of having an invoice approved before paying it. When you are prepared to mail or email out the invoice, pick up the phone and contact the person that approves invoices. If that’s not your contact person, call your company contact to let them know about the invoice. Ask for the name and direct contact number of the person who does the approvals so that you may call them directly next time. This can help speed up the time it takes for approvals to happen and for you to receive your payment.
Ask About Their Preferences
The only way that you can really know about billing preferences is to ask your clients. You can simply give your clients a call and ask if you’re looking to change to more client focused billing practices. If you’re just starting out in business, you can start this process from the ground up and talk about billing preferences during your initial client contact sessions. There’s really no wrong way to find out how you can better serve your clients!
Free Expert Feedback on Your Billing Processes
Clients A.R.M. is excited to offer you free expert feedback on the billing processes you have in place. Our process review takes less than an hour and can help alert you to potential problems. You can book your free process review by filling out this form. We’d love to put our more than 30 years of accounts receivable experience to work for you!
Want to focus more on your business and less on accounts receivable? We can help. Clients A.R.M. provides a wide array of accounts receivable management services for law offices, healthcare facilities, and businesses of all sizes. You can check out what we have to offer and book your complimentary process review. We will help you get the perfect processes and procedures in place. Clients A.R.M. can handle your accounts receivable from start to finish remotely or we can write your policies and procedures so that your billing staff starts off on the right foot. Whatever you need, we’re here to help!
