Getting paid for your services or products is very important in any business. However, for many small business owners the task of accepting payment from customers can even be a challenge sometimes.
Not all small businesses are geared for accepting credit card payments. Many entrepreneurs find it time consuming or too complicated to deal with payment processors or to sign establish an online payment system.
As a result many business owners resort to accepting cheques which exposes them to possible fraud and loss of income, according to cloud-based accounting software company FreshBook of Toronto.
Fraudulent or bounced cheques lead bad debts, disorganized books and mismanaged cash flow. FreshBooks said some surveys indicate that at least one in four businesses close down in the first year of operation due to poorly managed cash flow.
FreshBook today launched its WePay an online payment solution designed to make it easier for service-based small business owner set-up and record transactions as well as speed up collection.
“We believe small business owners shouldn’t have to bang their heads against the wall to accept credit card payments,” Mike McDerment, CEO and cofounder, FreshBooks, said. But at the same time, he noted “one of the biggest frustrations with online payments is that it requires too much time and work: from initial setup to tracking payments to updating reports.”
He said FreshBook’s new payment processor, eliminates the need to manually track payments, deposit cheques and update records.
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WePay provides users with a secure way to accept credit cards online with the added benefit of viewing payment status within their FreshBooks dashboard. Once a payment is made, the payment information is automatically updated across the business owner’s FreshBooks account along with invoices and relevant expense information. FreshBooks also automatically records refunds and chargebacks.
FreshBook users who signed on for the beta testing of WePay, reported immediate improvement in the time it took to receive customer payments into their accounts.
As many as 52 per cent of the invoices issued with WePay were paid within the same day and more than 70 per cent were paid within 48 hours.
McDerment said all FreshBooks users have also have access to live support. With FreshBooks, customers know exactly where their money is at all times without having to contact multiple companies for assistance with payment-related matters, he said.