If there is one thing accountants and bookkeepers know it is that not all ways of receiving payment are created equal. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming, weighing all the options, especially for our own firm. So it was great to realize recently that using Veem’s recurring payments feature might just be the perfect solution for my own firm – in more ways than one!
Basically, it allows you to request from a customer or client that they authorize an automatic payment to you, from them, on a regularly recurring schedule. This means they authorize the payment as well as its regular recurrence. And they are doing this from their own account inside Veem.
Really simple, straightforward. It’s almost mundane, right? Yep, I thought so, too. That is, until I realized what I could accomplish by asking my clients to pay my monthly fee using Veem’s Recurring Payments feature.
I learned the hard way that getting clients on automatic recurring payments is a complete necessity. There is nothing worse than having to present a client with a bill for payment immediately on the heels of discussing their less than stellar third quarter! But typically that means getting an authorization for a recurring credit card charge from them. And that means transaction fees.
Frankly there is something inexplicably disappointing about seeing even the smallest percentage deducted for fees after receiving payment. It’s not even the amount. It’s the whole mental thing of weighing out the cost vs benefit. And we’re the financial types, so it can be like a kind of sad-trombone reflex.
But with Recurring Payments, it’s just like Veem operates on one off payments: no transaction fees for domestic pays. So, yay saving money. But a bigger cheer for not having to consider whether you SHOULD figure out a way to save that money.
As I mentioned, automatic recurring payments are the go-to approach for work with clients. Sure, there are other ways to do things, but this one requires the least amount of effort and keeps things less awkward around your money as your work with clients about their money goes along.
But one part of this whole approach cannot really be avoided. Unfortunately, it is also the part that can feel most awkward – the beginning. Basically, you have to ask a brand new client, who may not know all too much about you, to give you their credit card or ACH details so that you can process their monthly payments. Automatically. Every month. I mean, YOU know you’re a good person who isn’t going to charge them willy-nilly, but THEY don’t necessarily know that in their bones yet.
The point is that for some clients this innocent workflow might strike a nerve; particularly if the reason they have come to you is because their prior person was less than conscientious, less than careful, or worse yet, less than honest!
The Recurring Payment functionality in Veem allows you to set up the request and parameters surrounding when and how much you need to be paid. But ultimately, it is the customer who authorizes the transactions. And they don’t have to give you all their bank or credit card details, they put all of that in themselves. Plus, they can log in to Veem any time to keep tabs on things.
We get paid, they get control. It’s a win-win.
I have been using Veem in my practice for years. It is not only a great tool for clients, it’s also a great way for me to help clients have a good experience with my services. On more than one occasion, the simplified workflow or drastically cut expense was just what my clients needed to feel like they were headed in the right direction – in their work with me and their ability to run their business well.
By asking clients to authorize and fill in payment details for my own recurring fee, I am introducing them to Veem in a very low risk sort of way. I am not asking them to change everything, I am asking them to pay me the way I can best be paid. They get to see what the platform is like, even perhaps imagine/consider if they should use it? All in a context that isn’t about making them run their business how I, still a stranger, think they should. Instead, I’m just giving them a little peek into how I, an expert they have hired to help, choose to run my OWN business.
It’s quite an endorsement, without being in-your-face. The best part is that if they ask me why I choose to use this app for my own payments, I can tell them the very reasons I’ve listed above:
Not only am I able to show that I have insights on tools that will help them in their business, but I am also demonstrating that when I evaluate tools, I actually consider what features THEY want as a business owner.
About the Author:
Mix a creative mind with a number-cruncher, then throw in a dash of New York City attitude and what do you get? Kelly Gonsalves – a true entrepreneur that is all in, all the time. Her first endeavor began just five years ago when Kelly founded Totally Booked (™). The purpose: to assist every small business in becoming more profitable by utilizing efficient accounting processes. She soon followed up by founding Totally SEO, a boutique service for the accounting industry and co-founding Leading Lady Machine Works, a project devoted to making swag better for companies and the accounting community at large.
Kelly is a QuickBooks Advanced Certified ProAdvisor (™), a member of the Intuit Trainer Writer Network, a HubDoc Top 50 Cloud Accountant, on Avalara’s Social Media Top 100, an Insightful Accountant Top 10 ProAdvisor, as well as the host of Insightful Accountant’s QB Talks: App Neighbourhood Watch.
When Kelly isn’t busy starting and growing companies, making merch, and engaging with the community, she loves to cook, paddle-board, and chase after her dog, Nina.
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