What is Payment Processing?
Payment processing generally refers to the automation of payment between a service provider and a customer. For professional services firms, this means offering clients the option to pay by ACH or credit card and having the record of the transaction sent directly to your billing and accounting software.
Cheaper, faster, and more secure than collecting payment through wire transfer or check, payment processing allows firms to get paid quicker.
How Payment Processing Works
Once your invoice is ready to be sent, you simply attach a link to your firm’s branded payment landing page. When the client then receives the invoice in their inbox, they can click the link and directly enter their credit card or ACH information. And just like that, you’re paid.
4 Things a Professional Services Firm Needs in a Payment Processing Solution
For professional services firms that want to process payments, you need a provider that’s secure, integrated, and simple. Let’s look at the four most important features that firms look for in a payment-processing tool.
Keeps Your Data Secure
Every payment processor should be able to prove that they can process your clients’ payments safely and consistently. Otherwise, you could expose your clients’ data to theft, as well as your own data. You can gain their trust by using a provider that can prove that they’re secure.
A safe payment-processing provider will have Data Security Standard (DSS) compliance from the Payment Card Industry. A provider that adheres to DSS will not only protect your clients’ data but can also save you from liability. That’s the best way to assure all of your assets are in the best hands.
Connects to Your Invoicing
It doesn’t make any sense to do billing and invoicing in one place, and then payment processing in a different place, which could result in error after error. Instead, look for an all-in-one tool that can send out your bills and invoices, and also process your payments.
When your processing is integrated with your billing and invoicing system, the record of your transactions will update automatically, and in real-time. That will save you not only from errors but also from all the time it takes to enter billing information manually.
Offers Affordable Fees
There are so many payment processing providers, these days, that there’s no reason to waste your budget on processing fees. Depending on the partner you choose, the processing fees you incur could be very different, so make sure that your provider is the best fit for your firm.
Look into every processing partner that your firm could use, and compare all of them, starting with the fees they charge. You can be sure that one of them offers the features you need, at a price that fits your firm, without compromising quality.
Offers Proven Support
Your firm needs a payment processing provider that’s not only available to solve problems, but that can support your firm, no matter when you run into trouble. If your payments tool goes down at a crucial time, your provider should offer excellent support, so your firm can get back to work.
Ask your provider about their system’s guaranteed uptime, to see how dependable they are, and to see if their payments tool is the best fit for your firm. Good support guarantees that your payments system is always working right, and that your clients can depend on your firm, no matter what happens.
If you’re searching for a billing and invoicing software that processes your clients’ payments securely and affordably, all within the same software, then get in touch with BigTime to schedule your personal demo.
