As a subscription business, billing is perhaps the most important activity you manage …and if it isn’t, it should be. The challenge of billing for a recurring revenue business is due to the sheer volume of transactions, and the accounting activities that are involved with maintaining a tight ship.
As your company grows, billing challenges increase exponentially and manual billing processes cost you money - this is the tipping point where automation is now a must. But billing automation does much more than keep your invoices flowing smoothly, it can maximize your revenue and optimize your earning potential.
Here are 5 ways that billing automation actually helps you create net new revenue.
Check Out: Are You Ready for Billing Automation?
1. Speed--Billing is Fast, Easy and Efficient
Automation allows you to “set it and forget it.’’
By setting up billing for each customer only once, you save hours of time that otherwise would have been spent performing the same task over and over each month. Automation speeds up the delivery of invoices without having to lift a finger, based on the settings you create.
Because of the time saved using automated billing, overhead costs are also saved.
Automated billing can reduce the need for additional staff in your finance department, often saving you the cost of a full-time employee allowing that headcount to be redeployed to other strategic areas.
2. Accuracy - Billing is Error-free
The recurring nature of a subscription business makes invoicing, payments and revenue recognition next to impossible to accomplish manually without error.
The errors alone are costly, not to mention the long-term costs associated with decreased customer satisfaction, increased churn rates and damage to your company’s reputation.
Automation eliminates manual, error prone processes which means you can drive your business with confidence.
RELATED: 4 Keys to Success in Switching to an Automated Billing System
Complete Guide to Subscription Billing.
This guide will walk through the wide range of features required to automate your recurring billing, subscription management, and payment processes.
3. Revenue Maximization - No More Revenue Leakage
Flexibility through automation enables you to adjust pricing according to customer preference and buying behaviors.
If customers want to change their payment method or some other aspect of their subscription, this is a good thing as this means their plan is to stay with you; they need to make that change quickly and easily, with as little disruption to your business as possible. The ability to easily self-serve creates a stronger customer experience while reducing churn.
Automation is essential to streamline your subscription billing processes and capitalize on every opportunity to maximize revenue giving you a competitive advantage!
4. Business Insights-- You Have Real Time Financial Data for Decision-making
Not only does all the money flow through it, but for subscription-based businesses, billing automation offers insight into the customer lifecycle through reporting capabilities.
You can easily view subscription movements, communications, renewals, upsells etc. Metrics help you calculate the lifetime value of customers, churn rates and ARPU (average revenue per user). This information enables you to strategize and plan new pricing and incentives.
Additionally, because you can close your books faster with billing automation, financial data is more current meaning you can make better decisions based on next to “real-time” data.
5. Flexibility - You Are Client-centric
Flexibility through automation enables you to adjust pricing according to customer preference and buying behaviors.
If customers want to change their payment method or some other aspect of their subscription, this is a good thing as this means their plan is to stay with you; they need to make that change quickly and easily, with as little disruption to your business as possible. The ability to easily self-serve creates a stronger customer experience while reducing churn.
Automation is essential to streamline your subscription billing processes and capitalize on every opportunity to maximize revenue - giving you a true competitive advantage!
RELATED: 5 Ways an Automated Billing System with a Robust API Supercharges Your SaaS
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