How to Choose the Best Billing Software for Your Business

In today’s fast-tracked financial landscape, billing software has become a need. To run a business is like trying to balance several stacked plates in your hands. To preserve that balance, you need to be extremely cautious and proactive. Operating a business entails a number of processes like managing products and payments, invoices, customer engagement, revenue, unpaid invoices and much more. Sounds like a mountain of work!

Yes, it is a mountain of work if you use manual labor or age-old techniques to deal with it. That is why most modern SaaS and subscription-based businesses have transitioned to using a good billing software, reducing their workload by a great deal.

A billing software is the ultimate solution to your growing business’s complex needs. It streamlines your entire billing process from invoice generation to payment collection. You no longer have to juggle with multiple spreadsheets to ensure data accuracy, or track payment schedules.

Of course, having a billing software is important. We will explore this in more detail in a while. But there are dozens of billing software available in the market. How do you choose the best one for you? The purpose of this blog is to give the answer to this very question. So let’s get started!

What is a Billing Software?

Billing software is a platform which provides end-to-end handling of all your financial processes. Billing software automates and optimizes your workflows, eliminating the need for repetitive manual interventions. It speeds up your operations many times over, and frees up the time of your company’s professionals, so they can focus on more productive areas of the business

Here is what good billing software do for you in a nutshell:

• Automatic invoice generation
• Managing recurring payments
• Setting up customized payment schedules
• Tax calculation
• Payment processing via multiple payment gateways
• Automated reminders and notifications
• Customizable pricing and plans
• Detailed reports and analytics

Why is it Important to Choose a Suitable Billing Software?

It might be appealing to select a billing software quickly, without prior research, with the mind to migrate to a new system if it doesn’t work out. But this line of reasoning is not only flawed, but also could prove more costly to you than you can imagine. This is because billing system migration does not come without its own challenges and expert solutions.

The most straightforward way to avoid migrating in the future is to put careful thought behind your selection of a billing software in the first place. Your choice is crucial in affecting these aspects of your business:

The location of your data

Having an all-in-one billing software is necessary if you do not want to go back and forth between different software or accounting platforms to keep track of all your data. Having data scattered across various platforms does not give you the complete picture of your finances, and may cost you some of your hard-earned revenue.

To prevent this, you would need to go for a billing software which seamlessly integrates with your existing cloud platforms. SubscriptionFlow’s all-in-one dashboard is ideal for you to oversee your progress in real-time. With that, you no longer have to worry about missing any outstanding payment, or customer update.

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Moreover, with all data integrated into one platform, you don’t have to chase after clients for overdue payments. Instead, you are enabled to run customizable reminders or follow-ups on automation.

Compliance with financial laws

Calculating your tax, and then making sure that you are compliant with all the relevant tax laws is something that you have to do often. If your data is scattered across a number of spreadsheets, retrieving accurate information on time can be very challenging.

If you sign up with a billing software that cannot auto-generate reports for you, or ensure compliance, you would have to consider migration. Otherwise, such processes would keep your staff’s hands full, and minimize productivity.

Customer Communication Dynamics

After the customer payment gets processed, manual follow-ups for transaction confirmation can be time consuming and inefficient. Let us not forget the possibility of human error in customer engagement. Even a single email getting accidentally sent to an unintended customer can lead to a fallout in customer relationship.

Imagine forgetting to notify a customer about payment confirmation, or not following up with even a simple ‘thank you’ message. The customer would simply be unsure about where their money went. This may cause undue anxiety. Having communication gaps like these due to inefficient manual handling can be a hurdle in the improvement of customer relationships.

That is why, be mindful to choose a billing software with an advanced CRM integrated within, to streamline and automate communication. Never miss out on meaningful customer interactions again.

Business Insights

A billing software promptly generates reports and analytics, and gives you access to real time financial insights. Manual tasking, on the other hand, involves storing data onto the spreadsheets. While spreadsheets can keep the data records safe in them, they cannot generate valuable insights. Instead, it falls onto the employees to make sense of those numbers and deduce the company’s overall financial situation accordingly.

This process, once again, is highly error-prone and time consuming. These are some of the metrics that you would need to keep tabs on:

1. MRR or ARR (monthly or annual recurring revenue)
2. Percentage of outstanding invoices
3. AR (accounts receivable) turnover ratio
4. The time it takes customers to make payments
5. Popular plans or payment options

You can easily access all of these business insights via an advanced billing software, with the condition that you choose the right one for you.

Choose a Billing Software That Fits Your Business Needs Like a Glove

Finally, we come to the criteria you would need to consider while choosing the best SaaS billing software. Use the following criteria as a checklist, and match your business’s requirements with it to find the fittest billing solution for you.

Does the billing software align with your business model?

If you are a SaaS subscription-based company, then general billing platforms are not for you. They offer you simple bookkeeping solutions, and that is why they should be crossed out. It is common for subscription-based businesses to confront complex billing scenarios. That is because such businesses offer diverse pricing models such as usage-based, volume, or tiered pricing.

Similarly, the businesses dealing with subscriptions need a subscription billing management software. Such a software supports recurring payments, and complex billing models, such as prorated billing. Also check if the software can manage trial periods for your new customers.

Does it facilitate automated operations?

For businesses dealing with huge loads of data or subscription cycles, manually running the operations is a real pain in the neck. You would need a billing platform to automate recurring billing cycles for you. Automated invoicing makes things quick and efficient.

You no longer have to chase after payment schedules or remind yourself to send payment follow-up messages. Everything can run on auto-pilot.

Does it easily integrate with your existing software?

It is very possible for your business to be working with other cloud-based platforms as well. Such as a bookkeeping software, CRM, or project management platforms. Choose a software which supports all these integrations. Having all of your platforms in sync prevents data silos and unifies all your valuable information in one, easy-to-access interface.

Moreover, confirm if the billing software integrates with the payment gateways that you prefer, such as Stripe and PayPal. Also ask which payment methods does it support. If you have a globalized customer base, then choose a billing platform which offers a wide range of payment options. For example, credit cards, electronic wallets, bank transfers and more.

Is the billing software scalable?

Select a billing software by keeping your business size in mind. If you are a SaaS business with visible growth potential, go for a billing platform which is capable of growing alongside you. A scalable billing software gets easily adapted to your increasing transaction volume influx.

It is capable of handling huge subscription bundles, and dealing with the preferences of your international subscribers. For example, it may support multiple languages, multiple currencies, and country specific tax regulations.

Does it offer automated compliance?

Making sure that your financial processes are complaint with global, or country specific regulations is frustrating indeed. Why not sign up with a billing software which takes care of compliance for you?

Run your operations worry-free with a billing platform that is PCI-DSS compliant, and guarantees that the customer payment data remains secure. Moreover, go for a software which can manage your compliance with regional tax authorities, and recognize your revenue according to the internationally accepted standards.

Does it guarantee a smooth customer experience?

If strengthening relations with customers is key to boosting your revenue, make sure to choose a billing software which offers your customers exceptional services. Ask if the software offers 24/7 customer support, and customer onboarding assistance. Also check if it facilitates you in making your customer engagements more personalized.

Is it capable of generating reports and analytics?

Report generation is essential for getting valuable insights into your SaaS business’s operations. If you desire a keep track of your financial progress, consider getting onboard a software which calculates your key metrics for you. These can be the customer churn rate, retention rate and LTV (customer lifetime value), to name a few. Get an accurate picture of your customer behavior, identify patterns, and make decisions to improve the stats.

Is the software user-friendly?

Check how easy to navigate your future billing software is going to be. An important consideration could be training your employees to use the new software. If it is complicated to operate, and requires you to go through lengthy tutorials, your employees might take a great deal of time to get used to its functions.

Furthermore, if it has a difficult interface, then you might actually end up using only the basic features it offers. As you wouldn’t know how to access its advanced functions. This would mean you losing out on the full value of the software you paid for.

Why SubscriptionFlow is a Cut Above the Rest

SubscriptionFlow fits the above mentioned criteria perfectly. These are some unique features we offer:

All-in-One Dashboard

By signing up with SubscriptionFlow, get access to a unified dashboard that consolidates all your data into one, easy-to-navigate interface. Gain real-time insights into your revenue operations, and make your decision making frictionless.

Customizable Invoices

We understand your unique billing requirements, and tailor your invoices accordingly. Use our software to create professional and personalized invoices that reflect your brand. Incorporate unique links into your invoices to make payment convenient for your customers.

Advanced Pricing Models

SubscriptionFlow allows you to incorporate complex pricing models into your subscription plans. For example, usage-based pricing, volume or tiered pricing, and prorated billing. We let you streamline recurring billing and customer renewals. Make your operations effortlessly easy, and boost customer satisfaction.

Smart Dunning Management

Automate dunning processes with our robust billing software to ensure maximum revenue recovery with custom rules and scheduled retries. Send personalized payment reminders to your customers, to maintain an uninterrupted cash flow.

Easy Compliance

SubscriptionFlow makes compliance simple by managing tax calculations, and ensuring that your company abides by the regional tax regulations. We also make sure that your invoicing is compliant to country specific financial standards. Leave your concerns for us to handle, and save your peace of mind for smooth operations.

Book a demo with us to further explore our capabilities. We might be just the billing software you are looking for.

Conclusion

Billing software automates and optimizes your workflows, eliminating the need for repetitive manual interventions. There are countless billing software available in the market. You have to invest in the right one to streamline your operations. Follow our checklist for choosing a billing platform and know exactly what to look for to match your business’s demands. Join SubscriptionFlow to get a powerful, all-in-one solution for all your billing concerns.