Invoice Customers
Maintaining different types of software for the multiple departmental duties your team manages can create islands of information and repetitive, time-consuming tasks. Alternatively, if you could invoice customers from the same software you manage your other business operations from, data could flow smoothly to populate your invoices with product and customer information.
How to Streamline for Simplicity
If you’re already using SOS Inventory to manage your orders, manufacturing, or inventory, adding SOS Pay is a great additional feature you can add to your existing account.
SOS Inventory’s SOS Pay feature offers online credit card and ACH (electronic check) payment processing. Fees are charged on a per transaction basis. SOS Pay also allows you to record payments with other payment methods that your company accepts. Like other aspects of SOS Inventory, SOS Pay is designed to work in tandem with QuickBooks Online or as a standalone feature.
To sign up for SOS Pay, select Payments (Operations Menu > Sales > Payments) when logged in to your account. If you do not see this option or would like more information about SOS Pay, please contact our Support team.
QuickBooks Online for payment can record the actual payment (check, credit card, etc.) in QuickBooks Online. SOS merely records the deposit for tracking purposes.
Making the invoicing process easier for your team will help ensure invoiced amounts accurately reflect monies owed and get invoices out on time to maintain adequate cash on hand for your business.
Invoices can be frustrating for your customers and if you can avoid contributing to that frustration, you’re more likely to get paid on time.
Invoice for Customers - How to Improve Customer Response Time
Even the most dependable customers can fall behind in payments when short-staffed or busy. There are some helpful strategies to encourage on-time payments that are much more pleasant than chasing a customer down for payment when the bill is overdue.
- Incentivize on-time payments with a discount, i.e., 5% off if paid by a specified date.
- Incentivize automatic payments with a discount. Charge their credit card at the beginning of the billing period for a lower cost.
- Make sure the payment process is clear and easy-to-do. The customer should know in advance if a late fee will apply and what the different payment options are. Your contact information should be provided on the invoice as well as instructions for making payment.
- Obtaining a deposit from the customer can also help ensure a commitment.
- Ensure payment terms are clear – reviewing the terms with the customer prior to invoicing will help avoid any misunderstandings that might cause an invoice to go unpaid.
- Be sure you are issuing the invoice to the correct person. Ask for the name and email address of the person who pays the invoices. If you’re sending customer invoices to the wrong person, there’s no telling how long it will take to make its way to the correct addressee. Businesses hire and lose employees without necessarily informing vendors. If a bill goes unpaid, the onus is on you to uncover the holdup.
- Include a description of services – to avoid any mix-up with previously paid invoices, be sure to indicate dates and details related to the specific invoice for clarity.
When you invoice customers, offering an online payment method can facilitate on time payment. SOS Pay makes invoicing easy to do right from your SOS Inventory account.
