Billing Software

Bill Express Ltd

CSG Systems International, Inc.

Guide to Automating Your Billing System

If you automate, you can focus on your core business
By Chris Maxcer

As your business grows and gains new customers, the relatively simple act of billing and receiving can get out of hand. However, by automating your billing system, you can save time and improve the efficiency of the process.

If you have a business where your customers are billed the same amount at regular intervals, a fully automated recurring bill-pay system is the way to go. For companies offering a wider variety of products or services at different price points, a more hands-on system that helps you track and send bills is the best bet. Popular billing options include:

1. Email billing
2. Automatic withdrawal from customer bank accounts
3. Automatic credit card charges
4. Bills mailed through a contract with a third-party service.

Action Steps

The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use Electronic Options for Greatest Efficiency If you can switch all of your customers to electronic billing, you can eliminate the need for paper invoices and achieve a better return on investment.

I recommend:  Check out services like Intuit QuickBooks Billing Solutions, Authorize.net Merchant Solutions, EIPPRO, PaymentOnline, etransactus, 2ndSite.

Choose a Processor That Can Accommodate Multiple Options If some of your customers prefer print invoices over electronic or vice-versa, look for a single solution provider who can handle both.

I recommend:  Check out Billing Pros and Canada-based GoBilling.

Send Professional Invoices Via PayPal PayPal lets you send electronic invoices but isn't fully automated for recurring billing. You can also integrate QuickBooks invoices to automatically create e-mail invoices with click-to-pay buttons.

I recommend:  Use PayPal's Payment Request Wizard for QuickBooks or PayPal.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Sending e-mail bills that offer an option to pay instantly can be efficient and cost-effective, but it also has two problems: Your customers may not be ready to receive and process invoices via e-mail, and your invoices may get filtered by anti-spam solutions and not get properly noticed by your customers. Choose your automatic billing solution based on your customer needs.
• Some billing services let you use their online billing and e-mail billing services for free but charge a fee for paper bill processing. Since many businesses need a blend of electronic and paper billing, make sure you understand the costs of each fully before you spend too much time learning to use a particular system.
• If a third-party solution provider has access to your customer accounts, make sure adequate security features are in place to protect your customers before you begin using their automated billing services.
• While e-mail billing can be the most appealing option on the surface, some customers may have concerns about receiving e-mail bills due to fraudulent phishing scams.