Automated billing and payment systems are easy to use and make invoicing a smoother experience for small business owners. Accept various payment options, including online payments and payment terms like “Buy Now Pay Later”, recurring billing and subscriptions, and financing. You can also send estimates to make the payment process as easy as possible.
In this article, you will get a better idea of how you can improve invoicing workflows with an automated billing system as well as the benefits you can expect this system to bring.
What is an automated billing system?
An automated billing system allows business owners to set up rules and triggers so outstanding bills and invoices are automatically sent to clients and customers. By setting up an automated invoicing schedule, you can get your bills paid faster and maintain your budget more efficiently.
To automate billing processes, these systems often come with AI-powered general ledger capabilities as well as reporting features.
4 Benefits of an Automated Billing System
There are many benefits your small business will reap when you have a solid automated billing system implemented. Some of the main benefits you can expect to see include:
1. Streamlined Invoicing and Payment Processes
Automated billing systems will help your business create a streamlined payment process and invoicing method. This way, you can keep your company’s finances running smoothly and help customers pay on time.
2. Reduced Manual Errors and Increased Accuracy
Even the best accountants can make mistakes. You can reduce human error with automated billing software. When working with these tools, you can count on a system that always provides reports with accurate billing information and data dashboards for metrics tracking. This improves the efficiency of your records-keeping process and helps prevent costly mistakes.
3. Time and Cost Savings
Working with an automated billing system helps you save time and money. You won’t have to pay in-house or outsourced professionals for accounting and financial processes. At the same time, these processes become faster and more efficient. All this adds up to savings in labor, time, and, therefore, money.
4. Improved Customer Experience and Satisfaction
When your company utilizes an automated billing system, you will notice a marked improvement in customer satisfaction. Customers and clients find it easier to pay their invoices and can pay through their preferred methods, whether through e-wallets, credit cards, debit cards, or checks. This also enhances the overall experience of doing business with your company.
How to Choose the Best Automated Billing Systems
Selecting the top automated billing software solutions for your business needs can be a bit tricky. How do you know which tool will work best for your workflows? Here are a few pointers to get you started in the right direction.
1. Identify your business requirements and budget.
Understand what your business needs are. Do you need to send regular, subscription-type invoices? Or is it more of an overdue invoicing system? What kind of notifications or alerts do you want to send for late payments?
You also should consider the budget you have available when it comes to software. Will you need to pinch every penny for a basic billing platform, or are you able to splurge a bit on state-of-the-art accounting software?
2. Research and compare different software options.
Next, you will want to gather all the information available on the different software that interests you. Research the most popular automated billing tools today and compare various details such as key features and pricing. This will help you get a better idea of which system will better suit your business model.
3. Consider features like integration capabilities, customization, and scalability.
You are going to want to work smarter and have access to more advanced features like customized reporting in addition to billing automation. Understand what a system is capable of, how you can customize it for your needs, and if it can scale along with your company’s growth.
It’s also important to consider billing software that easily integrates with other types of business tools, like an accounting system, CRM platforms, and marketing automation software.
4. Read reviews and seek recommendations.
Before getting ready to commit, read the reviews on systems you like. Are they highly recommended? Do they have years of experience in the industry, or are they newcomers to the market? How do they respond to negative reviews from customers?
These details will give you a better idea of what kind of customer service from the system you eventually choose.
5. Take advantage of free trials or demos before making a decision.
One of the best things about automated billing systems is that there are vendors that offer free trials and demos. Take full advantage of these free trial periods before making a commitment and purchasing an automated billing tool for your business.
3 Best Billing Software for Small Businesses
To get you started with a few possible candidates for your automated software, we have listed the three leading billing tools and their most important features below.
1. Podium
Podium is an excellent resource for small businesses that can help you streamline your invoicing workflows. The platform offers an automated payment system that allows for easy subscriptions and financing options and helps prevent late payments.
The tool also lets you work a Buy Now, Pay Later schedule into your invoicing process and send estimates to clients and customers. You will also have access to text-to-pay billing, which makes it easier for customers to pay their invoices.
Podium pricing for small businesses starts at $249 per month for the Essentials Plan. The Standard and Professional plans start at $409 and $599 per month, respectively.
2. Square Invoices
Square Invoices offers comprehensive business tools that allow you to automate payroll, inventory, payments, and sales. Through the system, businesses can accept diverse payment methods, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and ACH bank transfers. Invoice tracking is also easier and more efficient, as teams can track invoice status in real time.
Square Invoices has a free-to-use plan, but the tool’s Plus Plan offers more advanced features at $20 per month.
3. Paymo
Paymo is another system that offers the ability to invoice your clients, track work time, and manage projects. They offer several different ways of creating invoices and processing payments to ensure convenience and efficiency.
You can try the system for free. The business plan does run you just $20 but offers plenty of upgrades such as priority support, Gantt charts, and free onboarding and training.
How to Set up an Automated Billing System
Setting up an automated billing process can be intimidating at first, but it doesn’t have to be. If you follow a few simple steps such as the ones set forth below, your invoices and payments will practically be taking care of themselves.
1. Research and choose suitable billing software.
One of the first things you need to do is research billing software that is specific to your industry. Billing software for a pet shop will not be the same as that for a medical business. Consider special features such as tax compliance and how these will work with your automated process.
2. Acquire necessary licenses or subscriptions.
You should purchase the subscriptions or licenses needed for the automated billing solution of your choice, especially if you’re choosing SaaS solutions. Once you have a legitimate license or subscription, you can download the software and move on to the next steps.
3. Install and configure the software as instructed.
Once you have the software, make sure to follow the installation process completely and properly. At this point, you can also configure settings according to your preferences.
This is also a good time to make sure the billing tool integrates with other software such as your accounting and bookkeeping software. These integrations ensure that your financial workflows work more smoothly.
4. Set up customer information and billing details.
Once you are done with the installation, you can begin importing customer data such as addresses, phone numbers, and other important details into the system. This process becomes easier if you integrate the automated billing system with the CRM platform that contains all your customer information.
5. Establish payment gateways and connect them.
Finally, it is time to set up payment methods and gateways, including a customer payment portal, if you have one. This step is significantly easier with a tool like Podium Payments, which is very easy to use despite its breadth of features, including different billing models like subscription billing and pay-later schemes, payment estimates, and text-based payments.
You can easily get a free trial of Podium Payments and see all the features the platform offers such as SMS reminders and automated bill payments.
FAQs
Q: What are the goals of automated billing?
A: Simply put, the goal of automated billing is to make your business invoicing and payment processing workflows more efficient. By achieving this, you get paid on time more often, which improves your business’ bottom line.
Q: How does automated billing work?
A: With automated billing, you can set up rules and triggers so the tool automatically sends outstanding bills and invoices to customers and clients. Processes such as invoice generation, approvals, and payment collections are handled seamlessly and automatically.
Q: What are the benefits of automated billing?
A: By setting up automated billing processes, businesses can save time on manual billing, invoice generation, and payment collection while reducing overall errors in these time-consuming processes. Automating billing also allows finance professionals to focus on more important tasks rather than manual processes and boosts their productivity.
