As a business grows and it becomes imperative to streamline monthly billing, what’s your best tip for doing so efficiently and effectively?
Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year and have created tens of thousands of jobs.
1. Delegate the Process to a Financial Professional
The most important thing you can do with your day-to-day finances as your business grows is to delegate them to someone else. Whether you delegate them to a CPA, a fractional CFO or a trusted bookkeeper, the best way to help finances run smoothly is to remove them from the founder’s plate altogether. An hour-long check-in meeting once a month is much more manageable than dealing with individual invoices. – Brittany Hodak, The Superfan Company
2. Set a Companywide Day for Invoicing
It’s good to build a company policy for how billing and payments are handled. It’s even better to create a policy for when invoicing takes place. Set a day in your company for when this will occur, and make sure everyone is aware. The better you systematize it, the better it will go. – Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now
3. Find a Software Solution That Works for Your Business
There are tools out there, such as Quickbooks Online, Stripe and Chargify, that handle monthly billing. These solutions enable you to set up monthly billing options and monitor activity. They also integrate with a bunch of other third-party tools, enterprise resource planning systems and e-commerce systems. – Michael Hsu, DeepSky
4. Build a Tech-Centered Process for Invoicing
Entrepreneurs now have access to a long list of software, particularly in the cloud, that supports small- to medium-sized businesses. These tools can help with invoicing, collections and even processing payments. Invest time in building a process that leverages the best software for the business while documenting all the relevant steps so anyone on the team, including new members, can step in to take over the work. – Jonathan Gass, Nomad Financial
5. Negotiate the Proper Payment Terms Up Front
As your business reputation and the desire for others to do business with you grows, you should start dictating better payment terms from your vendors. For product companies, a net 90 payment term can be brutal for your finances. Pressure your sales team to negotiate better terms up front on all future deals. Your business lives and dies by its working capital. – Andy Karuza, FenSens
6. Leave Enough Buffer Time Between Invoice Deadlines and Payroll
I’ve learned over the years that Murphy’s law very much applies to monthly billing and invoicing. Because of this, I have a deadline for invoices set early enough that my accounting team can take the extra time to ensure any problems are resolved without costing anyone their paycheck. Problems still arise, but now we have enough of a buffer zone to prevent them from becoming catastrophes. – Bryce Welker, Crush The PM Exam
7. Use Standardized Templates and Routines
Have a schedule in place with cutoffs for processing tasks, and keep templates standardized so that data flows seamlessly through your database. Make sure to establish daily routines to generate billing and run scripts with the output of any errors. Then your work is just to review the daily run, which gives you more time for other tasks. – Roger Lee, Human Interest
8. Leverage Technology to Automate Invoicing and Payments
