Choosing Smarter Billing with Custom Billing Software
Businesses with complex needs cannot rely on rigid software that provides limited financial solutions. They require a robust platform to tackle their complications, address their unique needs, and evolve as they do.
Building such a software from scratch is challenging, time-taking, and costly. It is not the remedy for businesses looking for customizable solutions on a budget. But worry not, at SubscriptionFlow we have the perfect solution for you.
SubscriptionFlow is a ready-to-use custom billing software that efficiently caters to the unique invoicing needs of businesses of all sizes. In this article, let us discover how it does that.
What is Custom Billing Software?
Custom billing software is designed to handle and automate a business’s customized workflows. Every business has unique requirements. This means they cannot entirely opt for generalized market-available billing platforms to function smoothly.
The need for a customized, rather than a generalized, software might arise due to the following:
- complex pricing structures
- diverse customer base with evolving needs
- large volume of customers that causes rigid systems to falter
- custom financial reporting requirements
- personalized invoicing needs
- role-based access control for large organizations
These are just some of the factors that lead the businesses to search for flexible billing solutions.
Subscription businesses, especially, require customization in their operations so they can meet their audience expectations better. The more personalized their customers’ subscription experiences are, the better their chances of retention.
This personalization is not possible with software that offer a ‘one-size’ invoicing approach. Subscription businesses need to set up custom subscription plans and schedules, and then execute billing accordingly. They also might need to segment customers, and create unique invoices for each segment.
All of these requirements, and many more are addressed by custom billing platforms that can flexibly implement the workflows of a business’s choice. Such software provides businesses with a greater control over their payment processes. This allows them to bill with strategy, instead of billing at random.
Features to Look for in a Custom Billing Software
Here are some important features that businesses must look for in a billing software to identify the level of customization it offers:
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- Customizable Invoicing
This allows for the creation of branded invoices following the themes and designs that a company wants. Companies can modify the layout of their invoices, apply unique color themes, and add in the data fields of their choice.
Data fields might not be restricted to the standard information that an invoice offers. Instead, they can be customized according to the unique data that a business wants to add. For instance, each customer’s invoice can include a personalized note to make their payment experience more engaging.
Moreover, advanced software like SubscriptionFlow also enables businesses to invoice according to different customer segments. For instance, a business might segment its customers according to the subscription plan they use: Basic, Advanced or Premium. Each segment can then receive its own set of curated invoices with a unique theme and style.
- Custom Pricing Models
Look for software that lets you offer a variety of pricing models, and also lets you customize pricing. Some examples of such models include recurring billing, usage-based billing, tiered pricing and hybrid billing.
Businesses can choose the model that resonates with their subscribers the most. They may offer both one-time purchases and subscriptions at the same time. One-time purchases can be in the form of add-on features for enhancing a subscription service.
- Flexible Billing Cycles and Payment Options
Make sure your software supports custom billing cycles. Standard billing cycles include monthly, quarterly and yearly billing. Businesses do not have to restrict themselves to these schedules only. They might have customers that prefer being billed on unique schedules, such as once in two months, weekly, bi-monthly, etc.
To fulfill the demands of such customers, a highly customizable software is needed which does not pose any schedule restrictions. Additionally, such software lets you offer a wide range of payment options to support a diverse customer base.
The last thing you’d want is to lose a potential subscriber just because you can’t offer their preferred payment method. Custom billing software prevents this from happening. It can support credit/debit cards, direct debit, digital wallets, ACH, mobile banking apps, and many other payment methods. The more payment options it supports, the better it means for your business.
- Versatile Subscription Management
This involves handling any subscription modifications in a frictionless manner. Customers do not like being locked in a rigid subscription plan. They should be free to upgrade or downgrade their plan as they see fit. Businesses might also offer appealing add-on purchase options that complement their subscription plans.
Billing software should be able to adjust all these modifications, so that customer subscriptions continue uninterruptedly. Moreover, if customers change plans or buy additional service features, they must get access to new plans and features instantly.
- Multiple Currency Support and Tax Calculations
Just like multiple payment methods, multi-currency options are also significant when dealing with a diverse subscriber base. It is especially important for subscription businesses operating internationally.
Customers might not be interested in paying in a standard currency, such as USD. They might find such a price more expensive, or might be dissatisfied with the currency conversion rates. To avoid these issues, custom billing software can bill in the customers’ preferred currencies.
It offers competitive conversion rates, and gives customers more transparency into their charges. Moreover, it also enables tax calculations in multiple currencies. It can calculate different types of tax such as VAT, or sales tax according to the country the business conducts activity in.
- Role-Based User Access
Suppose an organization requires multiple user accounts so that its teams can benefit from a subscription service collectively. Not all the users might require the same kind of service access. Custom billing software allow businesses to create and assign roles to different user accounts.
For example, one user might be labelled as ‘designer’, another as ‘editor’, and another as ‘reviewer’. All three accounts would have access to a different set of service options based on the nature of their roles.
Enterprises with large teams and complicated needs might require customized roles to define access, as standard roles might not be sufficient. Businesses can leverage their flexible billing platform to give these enterprises right what they need.
They can customize roles, access controls, permissions, and much more. The software executes error-free billing according to service usage, or subscription tiers involved.
- Automation
Automation is a must-have, be it for generating custom invoices, transferring them, processing payments according to custom billing models, and more. Without automation, businesses would have to run custom workflows manually. That is repetitive, resource consuming, and error-prone.
That is precisely why it is important to choose a billing software that executes all the above mentioned processes with minimal manual intervention. Automation ensures faster service access, accurate billing, and efficient customer account management, to name a few benefits.
Introducing SubscriptionFlow: The Ultimate Custom Billing Software
SubscriptionFlow offers top-notch subscription management, and enables expert billing customization for smoother operations, and stronger revenue flow. These are some of our advanced solutions for businesses with unique invoicing requirements, and for delivering personalized payment experiences:
- Custom Invoices
SubscriptionFlow lets you configure your invoices deeply. You can create invoices tailored to the image of your business. We offer a variety of templates and themes to choose from. You can create custom templates as well.
Additionally, you can modify the layout and details of your invoice. You can add custom data fields to it to make the customer payment experience personalized. What’s more, you can create unique invoices according to various customer segments.
These invoice designs can be saved and set to be reused. The system can then generate them automatically, and transfer the right invoice to the right customer.
- Discounts and Coupons
Offering discounted plans is a great way to attract new subscribers. Discounts and coupons can also be offered to the existing customers as loyalty rewards. SubscriptionFlow lets you apply certain discounts to certain customer segments.
These discounts can vary in amounts and durations. Our software performs accurate discount billing and ensures fair pricing.
- Custom Subscription Plans and Schedules
SubscriptionFlow lets you offer gift, trial and group subscriptions to expand your outreach. Create custom subscription bundles and cater to the needs of a wider audience. You can also offer entitlements, such as additional items or services based on the customer’s subscription level.
Moreover, you are free to customize recurring billing schedules as you see fit. Enable standard subscription cycles such as monthly, quarterly or yearly, or offer unique cycles to special customer segments. Our software accurately bills each customer according to their unique schedule.
- Custom Checkouts
SubscriptionFlow lets you set up three kinds of checkout processes: embedded checkouts, hosted checkouts, and API integrated checkouts. Go with the one that fits your business requirements.
Integrate SubscriptionFlow’s API for greater control and customization in checkout management. Create checkout pages that resonate with your brand, and deliver a seamless payment experience. You can customize page layout, labels and data fields as per your needs.
- Billing Adjustment and Proration
We let you offer customers usage-based billing and proration for enhanced subscription experience. You can enable automated billing adjustment to manage subscription plan changes, correct billing errors, and handle discounts and promotions conveniently.
- Multiple Integrations
You can connect with the external software of your choice via SubscriptionFlow’s flexible APIs. We offer a wide range of integrations with CRMs, accounting, e-commerce, and tax management platforms, etc. With these integrations you can establish the perfect network of tools needed to elevate your subscription operations.
- Smart Dunning
We equip you with intelligent dunning and payment recovery tools to keep your revenue flow growing strong. SubscriptionFlow auto-renews subscriptions, and flags unpaid invoices. Customers can be sent personalized payment reminders and renewal notifications to boost payment success rates.
- Group Billing
Whether you’re dealing with family plans, or enterprises segmented across geographies, leveraging account hierarchies with SubscriptionFlow can streamline your billing cycles. You can conveniently designate subscription accounts used across a company as ‘child’ accounts.
Then you can consolidate all of them under a ‘parent account’. Invoices can be tailored to cater to each account’s needs and schedules. You can unify all the invoices to generate one comprehensive invoice sent to the parent account, and send invoice copies to child accounts.
SubscriptionFlow allows you to modify account details when necessary. We also let you invoice child accounts according to their service usage.
- Custom Reporting
Businesses can create customized financial reports easily due to our custom report builder. It lets you apply various filters to narrow down data, and choose the data fields of your choice. These reports allow you to track various metrics such as your revenue, and churn rate in real-time.
- Personalized Customer Portals
SubscriptionFlow elevates your customer engagement by allowing them access to their own self service portals which can be fully personalized. Let users manage their own subscriptions, and reduce your workload.
Subscribers can use their portals to upgrade and downgrade their plans, change payment details, view their current and past invoices, update personal information, and more.
You no longer need to worry about building your own software to access customizable billing. SubscriptionFlow allows you to establish custom workflows, so that you can bill with strategy.
Our comprehensive platform enables you to manage subscription billing without needing third-party software. So what are you waiting for? Book a demo with SubscriptionFlow now, and leverage expert customization.
