Invoicing your customers can be a great way to make money, but there are limitations to this form of billing – especially if you want your business to grow quickly and effectively. In this article, we’ll show you how you can move from invoicing to subscription billing with GoCardless, allowing you to gain new customers while also allowing them to pay in easy, manageable amounts each month.
What is the difference between invoice and subscription billing?
Invoice and subscription billing each have their own benefits. Invoices are simpler, less risky, and can provide more security for customers—though they’re often costlier as a result. Subscription billing is generally preferred by businesses that want to collect payments automatically. It also has added flexibility, letting you add and remove services over time as required.
Why do companies need a payment gateway?
If you have a business that needs to charge customers upfront for your product or service, you’ll need a payment gateway. Payment gateways are platforms that provide tools for accepting online and mobile payments, such as credit cards and direct debits.
GoCardless is perfect if you want an easy-to-use way of setting up regular payment subscriptions. It gives your customer greater flexibility in how they pay you without cluttering up your website design. Plus, it will automatically generate tax reports so your customers know exactly what they owe at year-end.
All of these features mean one thing: fewer complications and more time focused on growing your business – instead of worrying about collecting payments.
Why should one use GoCardless?
Let’s say you already have a good relationship with your customers. And let’s say that each month, they pay you automatically through PayPal or Stripe or some other means. For these kinds of relationships, it can be simpler and cheaper to just use PayPal/Stripe and invoice your customers on a monthly basis, instead of using a payment gateway like SagePay or Adyen.
You could do it, but where’s the fun in doing things manually? In order to make sure you get paid every month, why not build a fully automated system for charging people for your services based on their usage? That’s exactly what we did at our first startup (in fact, we developed custom software just for that purpose).
What are subscription bills?
While invoice-based billing works well for many businesses, it’s not always a good fit. If you want your customers to pay for an ongoing service on a regular basis, rather than every time they receive an invoice, you may be better off using what’s known as ‘subscription billing’. With subscription billing, your customer pays at regular intervals (often monthly), rather than just once.
As a result, you only need to contact them once per period, and their payment will automatically be processed – making life simpler all around. However, while some might claim that switching over is as simple as changing some settings in your telecom billing software package, reality can prove more difficult. If you have any complex arrangements or processes built around recurring payments. (such as discount codes) then moving everything over smoothly can take time and effort.
Multi-currency billing for B2B payments
If you’re doing business in different currencies, but still want to charge customers in a single currency—like USD or GBP—then you’ll want multi-currency billing. With multi-currency payments, your customers choose how much they want to pay. It’s like having a currency converter built into your payments account.
A big plus? There’s no minimum charge amount, so it works well for micro-businesses who might only have one sale every month or two. This makes it perfect for subscriptions too! Payment history: Another popular feature is payment history.
When turned on, your customer will see all of their recent payments (as far back as 31 days) on their dashboard; in most cases, they can also see full payment details—including what was paid for and when each payment was processed.
Conclusion
If you’re ready to take the next step in your business and want to move from invoicing to subscription billing, GoCardless is a great option. They offer all the features you need to manage your customers, keep track of their payments, and create beautiful reports. To learn more about how GoCardless can help you with your subscription billing needs. check out our blog post on the subject! Consider GoCardless for invoicing to subscription billing. And Our team offers 24/7 support via email, phone, and chat, and prides itself on offering exceptional quality. Please contact us if you have any questions relating to our services. We will be glad to help.