[Tutorial] How do I get paid online?

Nearly 15,000 small and medium-sized businesses close down every year because of non-payment. These are mainly due to oversights and bounced cheques.

Opting for electronic invoicing with an online payment method reduces the risk of late payments, oversights and misunderstandings.

In this invoicing tutorial, we'll look at how to get your invoices paid online, so you can take control of your sales management while saving time .

See all software Billing and Invoicing

How can you avoid unpaid invoices and save time when invoicing?

The background

In today's fast-paced consumer society, where everything has to go smoothly and quickly, customers are looking for a personalised, smooth and fast experience. At the slightest difficulty, there's a good chance they'll put off their search, purchase or payment until later, or even give up and forget all about you.

By being there for your customers and making things easy for them, you build trust and get paid sooner.

However, sales management and customer relations are time-consuming tasks that can become difficult to manage due to lack of time and resources, especially for VSEs and the self-employed.

Here are a few tips to help you save time managing your sales and avoid unpaid bills.

Solutions to put in place

1. Organise and update your data

It's easier to find the information and contacts you're looking for by centralising them in the same digital file or software. What's more, it's much more practical if you need to share your data. By classifying them by category (private customer, business customer, new product, second-hand product, training, service, etc.) and updating them regularly, you can avoid errors and duplication.

2. Check the customer's solvency

Prevention is better than cure. If your customer is a company, check their creditworthiness on dedicated information sites. This will give you an overall idea of the health of the company in question.

You can also question your customer or their suppliers directly.

3. Be responsive in your customer relations

A customer who gets what he wants quickly is a satisfied customer. Answer their questions and send the necessary documents as quickly as possible. This can also help you stand out from the competition.

Follow up quotations and invoices before the due date to make sure that your customer hasn't forgotten about you and that there are no problems on their side.

If you have not received payment after the first day on which the invoice is due, send an initial reminder or telephone directly to find out more and suggest an amicable solution.

4. Requesting payments on account

Making payments on account allows you to advance the cost of raw materials, which can sometimes be expensive, as well as labour costs on a long-term contract. In this way, you can avoid cash-flow problems in the medium term.

When customers pay a deposit, they are committing themselves to paying for the product or service, failing which they will be liable for damages. They will therefore be more inclined to pay the remaining amount once the work has been completed. Remember to warn your customer when you draw up the written contract and don't forget to mention the deposit in your terms and conditions of sale so that it has legal force.

5. Provide for compensation for late payment

Don't forget to mention any compensation for late payment and the terms and conditions on your quotations and invoices, as well as in your terms and conditions of sale.

If your customer is a business, it is compulsory to mention a flat-rate indemnity of €40 for collection costs as provided for in Decree no. 2012-1115 of 2 October 2012. Whether your customer is a private individual or a professional, you can set a daily compensation rate. This must be more than three times the legal rate in force, i.e. €2.58 for 2019.

You can charge late payment penalties from the day after the payment date shown on your invoice. In the case of payment by default, penalties are payable on the 31st day following receipt of the goods or performance of the services.

6. Offer fast and secure payment methods

Offer your customers easy payment facilities by offering them a variety of methods: bank card, bank transfer, SEPA (for subscriptions), online solution, etc.

Did you know that 5 million bounced cheques were issued in France in 2018 alone? If your buyer is desperate to pay by cheque, protect yourself by requesting a bank cheque whenever possible.

7. Use invoicing software with integrated online payment

By managing your sales from A to Z on the same software, you save time on your administrative tasks by centralising and automating invoicing and the sending of your documents.

No more paper invoices that get lost, you save on postage costs and what's more, it's environmentally friendly.

With online payment, your customer can pay as soon as he receives the invoice, which considerably reduces late payments and missed payments.

Tutorial for invoicing and getting paid online

As we saw earlier, using invoicing software with an integrated payment solution is an effective way of managing your sales quickly and easily and avoiding late payments.

We're now going to look at how to invoice and get paid online.

For this tutorial, we'll be using INFast invoicing software. This comprehensive sales management solution covers :

• creation of quotations and invoices that comply with anti-fraud legislation
• online payment
• management of customer and product/service data,
• invoicing and payment tracking
• customer reminders.

Now consider the case of David Fabre, a landscape gardener.

After several years working for a company, David decided to set up his own business 2 years ago. The landscaper has built up a solid reputation and a large number of contracts. However, some payments were late in coming and David found himself in a fragile financial situation. What's more, managing invoicing has become a time-consuming task. He no longer has enough time to devote to his family. This is having an impact on his morale and day-to-day organisation.

So David decided to use invoicing software to automate sales management operations and get paid more quickly.

Mr Dupont is a loyal customer of David's, but unfortunately he can sometimes be absent-minded and late with his payments. Let's see how David can improve his payment times in the different cases he will encounter.

1. Before he starts

First of all, when David logs on for the first time, he fills in his company details. This will enable him to automate future tasks.

He clicks on his name at the top left of the window. Then, in the drop-down menu, click on "My company".

David fills in the following information:

• company name
• contact details,
• SIRET and SIREN numbers ,
• VAT number,
• legal form,
• legal information.

This information will appear automatically on all invoicing documents that are created. It can be modified at any time in David's account or directly on invoices on a case-by-case basis.

2. Editing and sending a quote

As a reminder, estimates have been compulsory for most activities since the 2014 Hamon law. Apart from that, it's also a good way for David to secure a sale and protect himself in the event of a dispute.

Mr Dupont wants to order a fence to close off his exterior. So he asks David for a quote.

To create a quote from his dashboard, David goes to "Home", then "Create a quote".

What should appear on the quote

To create a quote, David needs to enter :

• the name and contact details of the customer (in this case, Mr Dupont),
• a detailed breakdown of each service and/or product, in terms of quantity and unit price excluding VAT,
• the price of labour excluding VAT,
• the VAT rates in force, if applicable, according to the nature of the products and services,
• the period of validity of the offer.

The date and numbering of the quotation are automatically taken care of by the software and cannot be changed, so that the quotation and subsequent invoice comply with the law against VAT fraud.

David also includes all the relevant details, such as delivery terms, dates of services, guarantee period, etc.

Calculating the VAT rate

David enters the price excluding tax (HT) of his items as well as the value added tax (VAT) rates. The software instantly calculates and displays the price inclusive of all taxes. If no VAT rate is entered, the default rate is 20%.

Sending the quote

Our landscaper then sends an e-mail notification to Mr Dupont by pressing the e-mail icon at the bottom right of the window.

Martin Dupont opens his e-mail and clicks on the "See quote" button. This takes him to a secure page where he can accept or reject the quote.

Once Mr Dupont has approved the quote, David is notified immediately.

3. Convert the quote into a valid invoice

Once the quote has been accepted, David immediately converts it into an invoice by clicking on the Convert to invoice button at the bottom right of the window.

Once the invoice has been checked and registered. All that remains is to send a new notification to Mr Dupont.

4. Secure online payment

Mr Dupont receives a new notification e-mail.

By clicking on the "View invoice" button , Martin Dupont is taken directly to the payment page , where the invoice is also displayed.

He enters his credit card details and validates his payment.

Online payment is protected by 3D Secure and the data is stored and secured in Europe, in compliance with the RGPD.

The payment is recorded and the invoice is noted as "paid" in the billing software.

David receives notification of the payment in return at , and the payment is then transferred to his bank account.

By offering online payment, the time taken to pay invoices is reduced, and shorter payment times mean business growth.
What's more, David is improving his reputation and customer relations: by being responsive and attentive, he is building a relationship of trust.

5. Keeping track of payments and dunning an invoice

Keeping an eye on payments is important for the health and cash flow of your business, but also for contacting your customers at the right time.

By sorting his documents by filter, David can see in real time the status of his invoices and who he needs to remind.

To monitor the opening of emails and the status of quotes and invoices, David goes to the 'Documents' tab .

The open envelope icon indicates that the customer has opened the email. A closed envelope means that the customer has not viewed the email. If nothing appears, the customer has not received the email. David knows that he needs to send a new reminder e-mail or telephone the customer directly.

David reviews the invoices paid and outstanding. He can see that Mr Dupont has paid his last invoice, but that the invoice for 27 August is still outstanding.

David will be able to send a message based on the status of the invoice and the number of days overdue indicated in the software.

To remind Mr Dupont, he chooses one of the suggested pre-filled templates:

• Pre-reminder: This is a courteous message to be sent when the estimate or invoice due date is approaching;
• Reminder 1: This is the first reminder email;
• Reminder 2: This second, firmer reminder email should be sent if the first reminder has not been followed up.

In the case of a first reminder, David selects the Follow-up 1 template.

Our landscaper then sets the dunning deadlines using the "Configuration of dunning notices and templates".

Mr Dupont will then receive a new notification inviting him to view his invoice. He will then be redirected to the online payment page, along with the reminder e-mail, enabling him to update his payments immediately.

See all software Billing and Invoicing

In conclusion

Invoicing and getting paid online is a quick and easy solution for smooth sales management. By adopting the best practices we've listed and applying them to an invoicing solution that offers online payment, you'll get paid more quickly and stay in control of your cash flow. You save time on invoicing and improve your customer relations. So you can focus on your core business with peace of mind.

Sponsored article. The expert contributors are authors who are independent of the appvizer editorial team. Their comments and positions are their own.