How to use QuickBooks® Payments to make collections a thing of the past

There is a huge untapped market for accounting pros to offer consulting services around credit card processing. While you might not be in the business of selling merchant services, you should be aware of how to use QuickBooks® Payments.

Coaching your clients on the right tools to run their businesses efficiently and effectively will allow you to provide superior service. By sharing the benefits of QuickBooks Payments and its user-friendly capabilities with your clients, you will not only help make their businesses run smoother, but also give them more freedom to focus on their business. QuickBooks Payments automation allows clients to collect payments easier and faster to avoid chasing people to pay them.

7 reasons to introduce QuickBooks Payments

1. 1. No long-term contract. There is never a contract, monthly minimum, or termination fee. Fees are clear and transparent. Clients can test drive it to see how it works for minimal risk.
   2. Easy to understand pricing. See the breakdown below:
      • A two-tiered pricing plan: The first option is the “pay as you go” plan. You pay when you use it. This allows you to have the service to use when you need it, but not pay a monthly fee. Or, if you plan to process payments more often, you can select the monthly fee option to reduce your costs even further. There are rates for swiping for the card in hand, and rates for keying in the transaction when the card is not present.
      • Accepts all major credit cards and debit cards: American Express, Visa, Master Card, Discover, and rewards cards are accepted without complicated pricing. They are all the same rate, swipe, or keyed with QuickBooks Payments. There are no longer any penalties for accepting American Express or rewards cards!
   3. Multiple ways to get paid. Imagine all the different options to get paid fast that are part of your payments subscription:
      • Integrated merchant service: When you receive payment right inside QuickBooks, you can manually enter payments for Credit Card or ACH.
      • e-Invoicing: Email or text an invoice to a customer with a Pay Now link. The customer securely enters their payment.
      • Go Payment: The ability to collect payment using swipe, or key in, on a mobile device.
      • E-commerce: The ability to collect payments by using an Intuit® approved shopping cart.
      • Recurring payments: For monthly services, you can set up payments to be processed automatically.
   4. Clients get paid faster. If you offer your customers options to pay you quickly, you will get paid, on average, twice as fast as those who don’t. This makes collections a thing of the past. QuickBooks Payments also offers free next day funding and instant access (fees apply).
   5. Huge time savings. It doesn’t matter what method your client uses to pay you – the payments are all batched together, making it easy to record a deposit. Invoices and payments are automatically reconciled. The reconciling is done for you, eliminating the most time-consuming task of manually matching payments with invoices and reconciling with the bank statement. This feature, alone, saves significant time, and you look like a HERO to your clients!
   6. Get first-hand experience. Demonstrate how easy it is to use by signing up for your own account and using it to collect payment from your client. There is no better way to explain how this tool works than with first-hand experience.
   7. Discounted ProAdvisor® Rates: As a ProAdvisor, you can offer discounted rates. Here’s how we do it at Complete Business Group. If your client is interested in reviewing their current rates to ensure they will get a better rate with QuickBooks Payments, gather the last three merchant statements. Even if your client thinks their rate is lower, help your clients understand their costs to see if it will make sense to switch over to QuickBooks Payments.

Steps and strategies for implementing QuickBooks Payments

Start by simply introducing and pointing out QuickBooks Payments features, and coaching your clients on their importance. You will continue to build a lasting relationship based on your trusted expertise and genuine desire to see them grow their businesses.

Original article by Carrie Kahn, CPA, published on the Firm of the Future Blog.

To learn more Schedule Time with Jonathan, or call (617) 332-8522