Improve Your Cash Flow Through The Billing Process

Like most business owners, you already know how crucial cash flow is to a successful company. Cash flow is the cornerstone of your business. Positive cash flow means you can effectively run and grow your business, and negative cash flow simply means you cannot. In fact, unless you turn that negative into a positive quickly, your dream may cease to exist.

Cash flow is influenced not just by bringing in more cash, but also by preventing how much cash you waste. This translates to you having to administer your expenses just as much as your revenue. One of the most imperative tools to properly and effectively manage your inflow and outflow is through an effective billing process.

Billing is a critical part of a business operation. Because of this, it is highly imperative that it is done appropriately. It needs to be precise and delivered in a timely manner. It should never become a deterrent in having an efficient way of operating your business. To accomplish all of these, please consider the following:

Improve Your Billing Process

If the aim of your billing needs is for your goods and/or services to get paid, then it makes sense to streamline and standardize your billing process. More notably, you must enhance your method for how you get paid. A simple evaluation of your current billing process can reveal ways for you to boost cash flow by getting paid on time and more regularly.

Before anything, you need to define clear terms in respect to your billing expectations. Your customers should be well versed of your billing arrangement and the terms. It is best not to surprise them unless you are offering practical price reductions or discounts. Ensure that your customers are conscious of the time limits and the penalties of not being able to meet them. Everything should be laid out plainly to your customers and those who are managing the billing roles should be cognizant of the terms and the changes.

You must also be consistent and prompt. Consistency is a necessity when it comes to good billing. This is to generate a sense of likelihood among customers and of course to make sure that your cash flow continues as expected. You should be sending bills at the same time or time frame. If you bill after a delivery or the fulfillment of a job order, you must ensure that you provide the bill after a consistent timeframe, a day or two after the delivery for instance and not weeks later. Furthermore, it is good business to send invoices as promptly as is conveniently possible. If you can provide the invoice at the same time you provide a good or service, that would be best. Avoid the confusion or issues created by mishandling the billing process through inconsistency or even forgetfulness.

Creating simple but clearly detailed invoices will save you time and increase your billing proficiency. All the vital details should be clearly specified in the invoice. First and foremost, the invoice should be clearly labeled as an “invoice” to make it easier for customers or clients to recognize and categorize the document you are sending them. There should be an invoice number and dates that specify when the invoice was created and when payment is due. Other items could include the names or brief descriptions of the items being invoiced as well as the total balance for the invoice. Also, consider including your contact numbers on the invoice and specify all the vital billing terms.

Proper billing also means that you are ensuring that you have a paper trail and tracking system in place. You should have a system that efficiently manages your invoices, particularly the use of invoice numbers and the ability to quickly find invoices and match them with particular transactions. There should be a system for checking if invoices have already been sent and to determine that they are accurate.

The sending of reminders is a great tactic to help your clients remember to pay their bills. You may consider sending preemptive reminders or waiting until they are late. Once due dates pass, it’s crucial to remind customers that they need to pay. Often it is as simple as them not receiving their invoice or even having it slip their mind. A polite reminder often does the trick. It also helps if your reminder can provide links for payment options so they can quickly proceed to make a payment if they already have funds available.

This is a lot to keep in mind when solidifying your billing process and it’s easy to skip steps or forget them yourself. The best course of action to ensure proper billing it to outsource your billing process to a reputable printing and mailing service. A printing and mailing service already has the system in place to make billing easier than ever and all they need to do is to tailor it to your business’s particular specifications. Outsourcing this process means that you can rest easy knowing that it is in the hands of the experts. It is also efficient, economical, and scalable, resulting in more satisfied customers, more time on your hands, and more money in your pockets.

Outsource Your Billing Process

Outsourcing your billing process to a quality printing and mailing service means that your invoices are sent right away, allowing for a quick response. Printing and mailing services, such as Towne Mailer, recognize and appreciate that sales and invoices are the lifeblood of a small business. You can’t get paid if you don’t send invoices. Simple as that.

We are here to make sure you stay on top of billing your customers. The faster you send invoices out; the faster payment is received. If your current billing process is monotonous and error-prone, consider switching to a printing and mailing service to ensure your customers receive quality, easy to read, pertinent invoices in a timely manner.

A printing and mailing service also specializes in following up with your customer base through invoice reminders. They will make sure to remind your customers when their invoices are due by sending reminders a few days before the invoice is due, the day the invoice is due, and a few days after – or whatever cadence you prefer.

Managing cash flow isn’t just about getting more cash to come into your business, it’s also about reducing the cash going out of your business. By outsourcing your billing process to the printing and mailing experts, like Towne Mailer, you are taking the steps necessary to ensure money comes in and less goes out. Consider the cost-saving benefits of employing a printing and mailing vendor.

Carefully consider your current expenses and cut out any that are unnecessary and try to minimize the necessary expenses as much as you can. When you partner with a printing and mailing vendor, you save money on things like equipment, paper, postage, and other consumables.

Another important aspect of managing your cash flow is making sure your business is running as efficiently as possible. Focus on cutting time, not just costs. Luckily, a printing and mailing service can do both. You pay out less in labor – or simply rearrange it – and save time by not having to handle the monotonous and tedious process of billing.

Outsourcing your billing to a printing and mailing service means that you do not have to worry about purchasing new equipment, let alone the cost of maintaining it. Costly and entangling leases are no longer a threat either. And, best of all, the bulk savings available to a quality printing and mailing service is passed on to you for extra savings!

A printing and mailing vendor means implementing a way to send bills faster and reimagining your business’s billing process. By using time efficiently, you can get more done, spend less on wages, and avoid excessive overtime pay.

Towne Mailer

Improving your billing process does not have to be a difficult or complicated task. Essentially, by just choosing an excellent printing and mailing company, you are already significantly improving your process. The right printing and mailing service is the key. Most of the other points mentioned above are already integrated into a good printing and mailing vendor’s daily operations.

Towne Mailer offers your customers a better, more clear understanding of their bills. We partner with you to help you identify and appreciate ways to improve your cash flow through the billing process. We have been doing this a long time and love to share our tricks of the trade with our customers. In fact, for nearly twenty years, we have been saving all of our clients thousands upon thousands of dollars annually and we look forward to doing the same for you and your company.

We can offer a complete examination of all of your costs, so you know exactly how much you’re spending to maintain your current billing process and show you how we can save you time and money.

Call us today. We look forward to hearing from you!