Getting paid should be something that is really simple; however, for many small businesses, it can cause stress, delays, and confusion. If you are spending far too much of your valuable time chasing invoices, fixing errors, or juggling spreadsheets, your payment process needs to be reset. 
*Photo by Mikhail Nilov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/couple-people-woman-desk-6963857/
Let's have a look at some of the practical ways you can streamline how your business gets paid, save time, and improve your cash flow below.
Set Up Recurring Payments for Regular Clients
If you work with clients on a subscription, ongoing, or retainer basis, then recurring payments are something that you need to get set up if you haven't already.
Rather than sending the same invoice on a monthly basis, think about setting up an automated schedule. Your client will get billed automatically, and then you will get paid much faster, and you would have to send fewer reminders or follow-ups. It also means that your cash flow is going to be more predictable, which is great when it comes to planning.
Many payment platforms let you create recurring invoices and store payment methods securely, so this shouldn't be a problem. You can either customize your billing cycle and send reminders,, as well as track payments without having to do anything, which takes away from the time and pressure from this department. This works very well for service providers, fitness studios, consultants, freelancers, and anybody who is offering a monthly package.
Use Accounting Software to Sync Payments
Manual tracking invites mistakes, late entries, duplicated invoices, and missing receipts can all cause headaches when it comes to tax season.
When you are using accounting software, it helps to reduce this by syncing your payments and recording them in real-time. When a client pays, the transaction gets locked automatically. You are able to see any outstanding balances, view cash flow trends, and also generate reports in a few clicks.
Platforms like Xero, QuickBooks, and Wave all connect your bank and payment systems. This means that everything is all in one place and is really useful to look at—no switching between spreadsheets and bank apps in order to track your money.
If you're still managing your books manually, it is now time to make the upgrade. It will save you hours every month, and it will also mean that you will be able to stay on top of your finances on a yearly basis. It will also make any taxes you have to do at the end of the year much easier.
Simplify Your Invoicing Process
Confusing invoices are only going to lead to delays with any payments coming to you. If your client has any questions, then your payment is going to be sitting on hold, and this is just going to be an endless cycle.
Make sure that your invoices are simple and consistent, and they have a clear layout. They should include your business name, contact information, your address, invoice number, and issue date, as well as a clear description of any services or products.
You also need to make sure that you provide them with the due date, payment terms, and accepted payment methods. You need to make sure that you are specific with as much information as possible.
Integrate Your Payment Solutions
Make sure you aren't making your customers jump through hoops in order to pay you. When you accept credit cards, bank transfers, or digital wallets, having everything integrated in one place makes a massive difference.
Integrative payment solutions mean that you are able to accept payments, send invoices, and track income all in one place. You avoid double data entry, which means that you aren't going to have any errors.
You're gonna get real-time insights into what's being paid and what's overdue. In order to make this easier, have a look at this page on accepting payments; it helps you to connect payment tools with your website, POS system, and accounting software. The result of this is a much smoother checkout process, less friction, and much faster payments.
Offer Multiple Payment Options
One of the easiest ways for you to make sure that you are getting paid faster is to allow your customers to choose how they pay you. Some people will like to send bank transfers or use mobile wallets, while some prefer to use cards.
The more flexible you are able to be, the fewer delays you are going to have when it comes to receiving your money.
Make sure that your invoices or checkout page clearly lists all of the ways that you accept payments and try to avoid platforms that only support one option. Instead, you should make sure you are using tools that offer built-in flexibility.
Final Thoughts
A slow manual payment process is going to hinder your cash flow and it is also going to use up valuable time. The more you are able to automate, integrate into your systems, and also simplify, the more time you are going to free up in order to be able to look at other business operations.
Make sure you are taking the steps to streamline the process, as getting paid is something that should be part of your daily routine, not something that is a constant struggle.
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