With so many aspects of your business to run, it can be easy to misplace or forget to send an invoice. Accountancy can also add to the many tasks on your to-do list, as you may need to manually send invoices and chase clients for payments. For this reason, you should read the following advice on how to simplify the invoicing process.
Arrange a Payment Agreement
The first thing a business owner must do is establish terms with a client, which both parties should agree on. For example, you should detail how long the task will take, hourly fees, accepted payment methods, and any potential penalties that may be incurred following a late payment. An agreement will not only protect you, but it will protect the client, too. It can also speed up the payment process, as the client will have fewer questions and there will be no hidden surprises.
Simplified Invoices
Complex invoices can cause a delay to the payment process, as a client may have multiple questions regarding what they have been charged for, which could be due to confusing or vague terminology. It is, therefore, wise to keep your invoices both informative yet simple. A clean design with an organized layout can also improve readability, and should feature an invoice number, your contact details, itemized costs, total costs, and the due date.
Consider Merchant Billing
Are you still using a paper-based system to send invoices? You could be slowing down growth and productivity. It is, therefore, worthwhile turning to a Banking as a Service (BaaS) platform to streamline the invoicing process. For example, peer-to-peer transactions make it easier than ever to send invoices and receive instant payments from a client. The integrated payments will allow to quickly connect with a user’s account to send or receive payments for a product or service. It is one of the easiest ways to pay bills and boost business revenue. Learn more about Fintech 2.0.
Consistently Send Invoices
Running a demanding business may make it almost impossible to immediately send an invoice following the completion of a project. It might also be fruitless to send a client an invoice on the first day of each month if they perform their bookkeeping tasks weekly. However, you must aim to be as consistent as possible when sending invoices, which will establish a payment routine between you and the client. For example, choose a specific date and time to invoice your client, which could be the first day of a week or month. This will allow you to easily manage your invoices and receive payments on-time. Remember, the longer you take to send an invoice, the longer you will need to wait to get paid.
Limit People Managing the Account
Sending duplicate invoices will not only frustrate your clients, but it can also reduce internal productivity. It might be beneficial to your organization to limit the number of people managing an account, which can avoid duplicate invoices and ensure every necessary detail is included. After all, the last thing you will want is for human error to decrease your revenue or harm the tax process.
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