One-time invoices sound simple, but strangely they can be fairly complex when a business is running many of them at one time. Ideally a business would be able to send out accurate invoices on time and collect payment by the due date with no issues. However, many companies are not using a tool that allows for scheduled payments.
Many apps do not have a scheduled payment feature within the tool. Some software made specifically for an industry include a form of scheduled payments, however, they are often outdated and missing functionalities and flexibility that increase productivity.
ChargeOver allows you to create a schedule of payments for your one-time invoices, allowing your customers to make partial payments and/or pay their invoices off in installments.
If you have a customer that would like to pay their invoice balance off using installments or has made plans to pay a partial amount now and scheduled the remaining amount in the future, the Scheduled Payments feature is perfect for these types of scenarios. To read more on how the Scheduled Payment feature works within ChargeOver, check out the How to Schedule Payments for Milestones / Partial Payments / Installments on One-Time Invoices
Although scheduled payments and automatic bill payments sound similar, there is a difference between the two types of automated billing processes.
Scheduled payments are:
Scheduled payments are one invoice with payments automatically scheduled to pay down the balance of that single invoice. They are individual payments scheduled to be sent to the customer on a specific date prior to the bill due date. This gives customers some flexibility to successfully make payments on time.
"Due dates can be created on specific terms. But, with scheduled payments the due date doesn't have to be the same date as the scheduled payment day. It's valuable because if people are still mailing checks or are not automatically paying the invoices, it gives them a grace period to make a payment." Chris Dub, Onboarding Specialist at ChargeOver
Automatic bill payment are:
When money is automatically transferred on a scheduled date to pay a recurring bill, such as a mortgage, credit card, or utility bill. Individuals can set up an automatic bill payment through their online checking account, brokerage, or mutual fund to pay their monthly bills.
"Auto-pay is an automated process, which pays your balance in full each billing cycle 2 days prior to the due date, scheduled payments are manually entered by you for the date you choose each time you make a payment." Milford Water Company https://www.milfordwater.com/faqs/what-is-the-difference-between-auto-pay-and-a-scheduled-payment/
There are many benefits of scheduled payments. Many of our customers at ChargeOver previously had issues with DSO's constantly holding them back.
"Days sales outstanding (DSO) is a measure of the average number of days that it takes a company to collect payment for a sale. DSO is often determined on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis." Will Kenton at Investopia https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dso.asp
When a company is waiting on customers to successfully make payments, past the due date, it can halt their growth, throw off their reports, and create invalid calculations for them to rely on. Crushing DSO's is a ChargeOver user's super power.
In the case of a few law firms that use ChargeOver, the law firms need to invoice a large lump sum that most cannot afford to pay in one payment. The law firm uses a scheduled payment plan to pay towards that lump sum. This helps make sure balances are paid off in a timely manner and the customer receiving the services can afford the product at the time of purchase.
With ChargeOver, scheduled payments are easy. Our customers have the ability to make due dates flexible for customers. The tool automatically stores information and assigns due dates immediately so that you are not tasked with keeping track of individual information. ChargeOver gives the admin in control of the account the ability to assign payments to be due on intervals that make sense for your business. ChargeOver also gives your customers the flexibility to pay off their total balance all at once. That makes keeping organized a whole lot easier!
Set up scheduled payments to boost your business by saving time, money, and a whole lot of energy.
To get the right tools for schedule payments, schedule a demo with ChargeOver.
