If you are a small business owner, you know that billing can be tough. Even after tediously sending out invoices, you are still not guaranteed payment on time. It can be a time-consuming cycle, but one that’s critical to any business. This is why you need an efficient billing system in place.
Businesses rely on automated billing software to streamline billing processes. When choosing billing software, you need to know the most important features of these applications. This will help you to determine the software that’s most suited for your business. Here are the most critical features of automated billing software.
1. Billing Options
With so many businesses doing the majority of their transactions over the internet, it is often easier to send project quotes and invoices online rather than using traditional mail. Online billing programs enable you to keep your billing information organized and paperless in one location. Take advantage of the billing services by Reliabills and make invoicing easier.
2. Automated Billing
One of the most important features that you want in your billing software is automated billing. It enables you to configure your billing software so that it sends bills to your clients automatically. This feature ensures that your bills will always be sent out at the right time. The feature contains various options like automated payment reminders and recurring payments. Thanks to automated billing, you will save time and be able to concentrate on other matters of your company. Also, automated billing reduces payment delinquency. Automated billing is among the most important features of online billing software.
3. Invoice Customization
Another powerful feature of automated billing software is invoice customization. The feature may be used to adjust bills as required or offer personal discounts. Many managers don’t know it but it’s possible to change how bills appear. It is possible to improve your invoice to wow clients and customers. Invoice customization lets you add icons, brands, and logos on your bills. It provides a cheap way of marketing in addition to ensuring prompt billing. Take advantage of this feature to get the best of your automated billing software.
4. Report Generation
The ability of online billing software to generate reports is an important feature that helps you capture and record customer habits. Certain automated billing software can produce reports of the time a customer paid. This feature helps you to pre-determine your cash flow. If you have noted that a customer is often late in payment, you can always send reminders that their payments are due. Additionally, if you notice that a client hasn’t paid for some time, you can discontinue services until such a time that they pay up their bills. The software can also be configured to look for trends. You can use the trends for planning your financial management.5
5. Built-in Accounting
Certain automated billing software programs include a built-in accounting feature that compiles a list of all bills that have been paid. It also lets you see the date these invoices were settled and the amount paid. This feature saves you money that you could have used to hire an accountant. The feature also lets you manually record the invoices for tax purposes. In addition, it generates and emails for a tax statement. You just have to ensure that you have fed accurate tax information into the software and you are good to go. The feature is very important for proper record keeping of your business.
6. Debtor Management Support
This is an advanced feature that is only available in some automated billing software. In case you notice that a customer hasn’t paid up, just connect the software to a creditor app. This way, the billing program exports the contact info and unpaid bills. You can also use the software to forward this information to collection agencies. If you have a high default rate among your customers, then you will find this an extremely useful feature.