How To Reduce Write Offs by 99%

8 Step Program for Accounting Firms

While it's hard to believe, accountants struggle to get paid promptly. That's right, most accounting firms are downright terrible at implementing a payment processing system to get paid quickly and minimize their uncollectible write offs. Even worse, they dread calling slow paying clients for fear that it will end the engagement, which perpetuates the problem.

If this describes your practice, then here is a process for reducing your write offs by 99% and dramatically improving your cash flow.

1. Invoice clients electronically. If you are still mailing out physical invoices to your customers, you are delaying the payment process. Instead, you need to email out invoices and encourage electronic payment processing to speed up payments. In fact, many customers prefer to pay electronically.

2. Send out invoices right away. Rather than wait until the end of the month, invoice clients immediately upon completing their work. While this tip seems blatantly obvious, most accountants kick the can down the road and bill at the end of the month. Billing at the end of the month for work completed the first couple of weeks within a month makes no sense. Instead, operate like most businesses and present a bill when the work is completed.

3. Integrated electronic payment system. Rather than wait for bills to arrive in the mail, savvy accountants are using an online payment system which accepts electronic payments by eCheck (ACH), credit cards and bank wires. Three forms of electronic payment integrated into one system for maximum convenience. BizPayO was designed to accept multiple forms of electronic payments so waiting for checks to arrive in the mail ceased.

4. Distribute hyperlinks everywhere. To make it easier for your clients to pay you electronically at all times, BizPayO provides a secure hyperlink program so you can integrate electronic payment processing into your website, imbed hyperlinks into your invoices, and even in your email signature thus eliminating the check is in the mail routine.

5. Accept mobile payments. You electronic payment processing system needs to be mobile friendly these days. And, you should consider accepting mobile payments on your cell phone. It's so easy today to become "mobile friendly."

6. Integrate online payment processing into your new client process. Going forward, all new business clients for your accounting practice need to sign a client engagement letter AND authorization to debit their account (e.g., ACH or credit card) for payment. Whether the client's bill changes each month or is the same fixed fee, you need authorization to capture payment. This provides you with the ability to control getting paid immediately after your work is completed. The reality is that the general public trusts accountants so asking them to sign a document stating that they authorize you to pay yourself is no big deal to most small businesses.

7. Existing clients that fall behind. If one of your existing business clients falls 60 days behind, then it's time to contact them directly, provide a reasonable installment payment, and demand that they sign your authorization to debit their account to prevent this from happening in the future. If they don't have the cash, then credit card payment is the fallback alternative.

8. Coax clients to pay by ACH (eCheck) over credit cards. As the trusted advisor for your clients, you should advocate that clients pay by ACH. The BizPayO electronic payment processing system reinforces this message by providing you with an Uncharge feature on credit card payments, thus encouraging clients to pay by ACH.

This 8 Step Program will reduce your uncollectible write offs by 99%. The biggest challenge is your own aversion to change. That's right, your own fear is the biggest obstacle.

Here are some quotes from accountants who have used this process to take control over getting paid.

Mark Orlando, CPA in San Diego CA "BizPayO's convenient link creation tool speeds up payment and provides us with control over getting paid. Our goal is to get 90% of our clients onto this system to improve our cash flow even further. The days of waiting for checks to arrive in the mail are thankfully over."

Larry O'Dell, CPA in Winston-Salem NC "I have integrated BizPayO into my billing system to provide one holistic solution, rather than two merchants. Using one merchant for credit cards and another for ACH was inefficient. BizPayO's hyperlink tool enables clients to pay rapidly without me taking a phone call for payment."

Luke Gheen, CPA in Colorado Springs, CO "All new business clients must sign our engagement letter plus the authorization for ACH processing to become a client of ours. That provides us with the control to get paid a few days after invoices are generated. As a result, our Accounts Receivable is $0 and we never have write offs for bad debt any more. It's how we operate a modern, tech savvy accounting practice and have total control over getting paid rapidly."

Learn more about BizPayO online electronic payment processing to lower your write offs and get control today.