The world is quickly becoming a digital, paperless place, yet half of all small businesses still use checks to make payments. Take Sara, for example. Sara runs her own custom print shop. She works with a lot of smaller vendors that only accept checks and a lot of one-off clients that prefer to pay her at the end of the day but don’t carry a lot of cash. 

 

Sara’s story isn’t unique — many businesses choose checks over online payments. Some use checks because of familiarity, others because they’re universal, but many choose to pay by check because of cost, security, and cash flow management. However, many of these reasons are based on misunderstandings and myths that prevent small businesses from reaping the benefits of ACH payments. 

 

What Are ACH Payments?

 

Before we dive into how ACH payments can benefit your business, let’s take a look at what they are and how they work. ACH stands for Automated Clearing House payments. These electronic payments allow a vendor to debit a customer’s account for the amount due. The customer gives the vendor authorization to do so by providing their routing number and account number when the customer agrees to pay.

 

A Cheaper Way to Get Paid

 

Many businesses think that checks are a free way to make and accept payments. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The real cost of a check varies from $3 to $20, including the cost of paper, stamps, and envelopes, as well as labor hours that are used to mail and reconcile checks. In addition, canceling a check can cost $20 to $30. 

 

If Sara completes two one-off projects per week, for which she collects checks, that leaves her with eight checks a month, which are going to cost her anywhere from $24 to $160 a month to process. That adds up to between $288 and $1,920 every year, which does not include paying her suppliers by check. 

 

ACH payments, on the other hand, have a flat transaction fee of around $0.50. While there is some manual labor involved in making and receiving payments online, it’s not nearly as time-consuming as making payments with physical checks, and accounting happens automatically when ACH payments are connected to invoices or bills. 

 

A Better Cash Flow Overview

 

Some businesses operate under the idea that the delay that comes with processing checks offers more liquidity and gives them more control over their cash flow. While that idea may be true for a small number of businesses, it applies only to very specific circumstances. 

 

For the most part, ACH payments offer better cash flow because ACH funds become available faster. On average, ACH payments are processed within three business days. Paper checks can take up to eight business days. That does not include the time it takes for the US Postal Service to deliver a check in the mail.

 

Five days might not sound like a lot, but it is. For a business like Sara’s, where 25% – 30% of her revenue is paid in checks, switching to ACH payments provides a more accurate cash flow projection for her business on a weekly basis. 

 

ACH payments can bring additional value to your business if you make them through FINSYNC’s payments platform. The all-in-one platform automatically matches payments with your accounts receivable and accounts payable, which saves you a lot of valuable time. If you’re already using FINSYNC, enabling ACH payments for your account is simple.

 

ACH is More Secure than a Check

 

Many businesses are reluctant to share their bank account information with vendors. This is due to the risk of a data breach, and have therefore stuck to check payments. Unfortunately, using checks doesn’t always protect you from fraud. In fact, about 70% of all organizations experienced check fraud in 2018, according to JP Morgan.

 

Checks and ACH payments use the same information to process payments:

 

◦ Routing number

◦ Account number

◦ Payment number

 

All of the time your check is in the mail, this information is potentially exposed to anyone who comes in contact with it. When you pay using ACH, however, you typically have an extra layer of cybersecurity protocols that your vendors put in place to protect your data.

 

You can add an additional layer of security by using ACH payments through FINSYNC. The platform stores all account information without ever exposing it to customers or vendors. You don’t have to take responsibility for your customer’s and vendor’s account information and rely on their cyber security to protect yours. 

 

Save Time and Money With ACH Payments

 

ACH payments offer several additional benefits over paper checks. ACH payment processing times are much faster. Meaning you will get paid faster and have more control over your cash flow. ACH is also a less expensive way to get paid, and using ACH frees up valuable time. If you use ACH through FINSYNC, you can also save time on the reconciliation of accounts payable and receivable, which happens automatically. FINSYNC also makes payment via ACH more secure because your routing information is never exposed to your vendors.

 

FINSYNC allows you to run your business on One Platform. You can send and receive payments, process payroll, automate accounting, and manage cash flow. To learn more about how we can help your business start, scale, and succeed, contact us today.

As a small business owner, you strive for maximum efficiency, whether it’s related to sales, accounting, or marketing. Your time is, however, finite, and it’s not always clear where you should focus your efforts.

 

That’s why we’ve developed a new series of blog posts about the different ways you can manage your finances to save time, money, and effort. That way, you can focus on growing your business.

 

The first topic we’re going to address in this series is payments. If your clients don’t pay you or you don’t pay your vendors, your business will come to a standstill. In today’s business landscape, streamlining and enhancing security on your payments can be a business advantage that will help your business grow faster.

 

The Need for Small Business Owners to Streamline Payments

 

Suppose you’re like a lot of small business owners; payments and other accounting tasks fall on your desk at the end of the month. These tasks are sometimes deemed “a necessary evil” because of how costly and time-consuming they are. 

 

In fact, nearly 40% of small business owners spend more than 80 hours a year on payments and other accounting tasks. The cost of those hours and other services that still need to be outsourced lies between $5,000 and $20,000 for 46% of small business owners.  

 

Dealing with payments is one of the tasks you can and should streamline. In fact, an inefficient payment system can actually have a negative effect on your business. It can prevent you from paying yourself, your employees, and your vendors on time, which can have disastrous results. Business development plans, marketing budgets, and hiring can suffer as well.

 

On the other hand, streamlining your payments can help you get on the good side of your customers and get a much better overview of your cash flow. Fortunately, streamlining your business payments doesn’t have to be difficult.

 

How to Streamline Payments

 

Efficient payments start with an efficient payment system. There are three areas where you can streamline your payments: customer invoices, vendor payments, and the way both are reconciled in your accounting. Ultimately, a good system should cover all three areas.

 

Spend Less Time Getting Paid

 

Following up on unpaid invoices is, perhaps, one of the most time-consuming tasks related to payments. It’s time that you or an employee spends on status emails and phone calls, which can be better spent on other tasks. 

 

Save time by setting up automatic reminders that let clients know when an invoice is overdue. You’ll want to do the same for recurring invoices. 

 

To take it a step further, you can make it easier for your clients to pay you. That means providing several payment options, such as ACH, credit cards, or checks, along with easy access to invoice information. Clients should be able to access invoices without searching frantically through their inboxes or getting on the phone with you. 

 

All of this can be achieved with an all-in-one platform that provides your clients with a secure payment inbox. With a system like FINSYNC, clients are provided with a portal where their payment information is stored together with all the invoices they have issued. This means that you don’t have to store payment details for your clients and can rely on FINSYNC to do it for you.

Pay Vendors with Any Payment Method

 

Paying vendors can be tricky, mainly because some may prefer getting paid by credit card, while others might only accept checks or ACH. A big part of streamlining your payments is finding a system that lets your vendors accept payments from you in a way that’s convenient for them.

 

FINSYNC Pay is one such system that provides both convenience and security. Your vendors don’t even need to sign up for an account to get paid, and they can receive payments directly into their bank account. With a system like FINSYNC, you can even use your credit card to pay for goods and services that typically are cash-only.

 

Sync Payments and Accounts Automatically

 

Once you’ve made sure that your customers can pay you with ease and your vendors are getting paid on time, it’s time to make sure all those payments are recorded the right way. A lot of that work will fall under the responsibilities of your bookkeeper. You, as a business owner, can make that job easier for them. 

 

An all-in-one solution such as FINSYNC will help you along the way. Because the system incorporates payments, bookkeeping, accounting, and more, the payments that you make and receive will be automatically matched with corresponding invoices, and accounting entries for sales accounts receivable, accounts payable, cash, and more occur automatically as you work.

 

Streamline Your Payments With FINSYNC

 

If you’re looking to simplify your business payments, FINSYNC might be a solution for you. This all-in-one platform combines accounting, payments management, bookkeeping, and cash flow management. You can also optionally upgrade with projects and payroll. FINSYNC allows you to automate your back office. That way, you can focus on the most important tasks as a small business owner.

 

 

 

Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps are easy to use, typically free to download, and can be used for anything from splitting up a dinner bill to paying a friend for your half of the rent. You’ve probably experienced the ease and convenience of Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, and other P2P apps when paying friends. While these solutions are great for personal use, they don’t generally provide the same advantages to small businesses. 

 

In this article, you’ll learn how peer-to-peer payments work and how FINSYNC Pay is bringing the ease and convenience of P2P to the world of business payments. 

 

How Do Peer-to-Peer Payments Work?

 

P2P payment apps enable the transfer of funds between two parties using their individual banking accounts or credit cards through an online or mobile app. They’re designed to make life easier. The typical steps for a P2P payment are:

 

1. Download the app and create an account

2. Link your bank account

3. Locate the account of the person you’d like to send payment to

4. Send payment

 

The recipient will generally receive the money immediately in their Venmo or PayPal account. Transferring to a bank account typically takes 1-3 days.

 

P2P payment solutions have grown in popularity for several important reasons.

 

Convenience

Traditional bank transfers can become complicated and take up unnecessary time. Writing a paper check requires you to mail it and wait 7 to 10 business days for processing.

 

Compared to making a payment via check, cash, or ACH, P2P apps significantly cut down the number of steps and the time it takes to send and receive funds. 

 

P2P payments are extremely convenient for paying people who aren’t set up with merchant accounts (this generally includes all of your friends, but it also includes a lot of the vendors you may be doing business with).

 

Security

 

Unlike direct payments made by ACH, check, or credit card, P2P apps don’t share bank or credit card information between the people sending and receiving money. You only need to know the recipient’s account name within the specific app you are using. This helps keep your personal information more secure.

 

FINSYNC Pay: Streamlined Like a P2P App with Enhancements for Business Payments

 

What if there was a payments platform with Venmo-like convenience for your business? That would be like having your cake and eating it, too. If paying a vendor for a service was as easy as paying a friend for dinner, you’d be able to focus on growing your business instead of writing, collecting, and processing paper checks.

 

FINSYNC Pay is a payments solution that makes paying your vendors easier than paying a friend for your half of the check. That’s because FINSYNC Pay is like no other B2B payments platform.

 

FINSYNC Pay gives your business the power to pay vendors faster, easier and with less processing. You can even use your credit card for traditionally cash-only payments, which enables you to maximize credit card rewards and simplify your business finances. 

 

Using FINSYNC Pay is as simple as the P2P payments you’re probably familiar with. You can send a payment in three simple steps. The recipient doesn’t even need to be a member of the network. To send a payment:

 

1. Sign in to FINSYNC account

2. Enter a vendor email

3. Optional: attach the vendor’s invoice or other remittance detail

4. Send payment

 

Bring Business Benefits to Peer-to-Peer Convenience

Increasing the convenience of your B2B payments can provide significant value to your business. What makes FINSYNC different from traditional P2P payment apps? Why aren’t all small businesses using Venmo to pay their vendors?

 

Simplifying Vendor Payments

 

Unlike traditional P2P payment apps, your recipient doesn’t need to be a network member. They simply click on the link in the email and enter where they’d like to receive the money, which could be a direct deposit or even a check if they still prefer a mail-based process. If they’d like, they can create a free account to streamline this process even further and keep a historical record of transactions and their supporting documentation.

 

Simplicity for your vendors means simplicity for your business. With FINSYNC Pay, no “switching” is required. Your vendor’s integrated email notifications, free portal, and access to related documents only enhance their ability to be efficient.

 

How FINSYNC Can Help

 

FINSYNC allows you to run your business on One Platform. You can send and receive payments, process payroll, automate accounting, and manage cash flow. To learn more about how we can help your business start, scale, and succeed, contact us today.

 

Though paying with available credit generally makes life easier for a business owner, not all vendors that you do business with are capable of accepting credit card payments. This disconnect can make it difficult to manage your cash flow.

 

But what if you could use a credit card to pay a business that doesn’t accept credit? Now you can with FINSYNC Payments. Learn the many ways that your business can benefit when you pay a traditionally cash-only vendor with a credit card.

 

Benefits of Controlling Cash Flow with Credit Cards

 

Not every vendor you work with is likely to accept credit. Businesses may have various reasons for not having set up merchant processing. Fortunately, this no longer means your business has to miss out on the benefits of making payments with a credit card.

 

Small businesses often confront long payment terms that make it difficult to maintain the cash flow necessary to pay vendors every month and cover crucial expenses like payroll. If you’ve just taken on a large project with a customer who won’t pay until the project is completed, or you’ve just invested in new equipment or staff, you may experience some short-term cash flow issues.

 

Using a credit card can be a short-term solution to cash flow problems by giving you some extra time to receive payments and keep ahead of expenses. Many vendors are willing to accept credit and make it easy for you to delay expenses and keep cash on hand. But what about the vendors that don’t present this option?

 

Use a Credit Card to Pay Cash-Only Businesses

 

Businesses that limit customer payments to cash are often concerned with the complexity of accepting credit card payments. But what if it was easy for these businesses to accept credit?

 

With FINSYNC Payments, businesses don’t need an existing merchant account to accept credit card payments. All you need is their email address. This makes it easy for a business to request to pay via credit card and for the vendor to accept the credit card payment. 

 

Here’s how it works:

 

1. Your vendor receives an email request to accept a credit card payment.

2. After clicking on the email link, your vendor is directed to a simple form to accept the limited merchant account.

3. The vendor receives payment in their bank account within two business days.

 

This process can even be automated in future transactions. Vendors can also maintain a secure record of payments if they set up a free or paid account in FINSYNC.

 

Benefits of FINSYNC Payments

 

FINSYNC Payments is a revolutionary new technology that enables you to pay cash-only vendors with your credit card. From your landlord to your produce vendor, you can charge virtually any business expense to your credit card. That means more cash in your pocket and more ways to maximize control over your cash flow.

 

Maximize Control Over Your Cash Flow

Let’s say your payroll deadline is approaching, but you don’t have enough cash in your bank account to cover it and pay your suppliers. Having the option to use a credit card to cover payments ensures that you can always pay your vendors and employees on time, regardless of your current cash flow.

 

Simplify Your Business Finances

Business payments can be difficult to manage. Especially when one vendor prefers wire transfer, another prefers ACH, and another prefers only cash. FINSYNC allows you to consolidate all of your payments within a single platform. FINSYNC Payments now enables you to use a credit card to simplify payments and business finances further.

 

More Secure Transactions

Unlike traditional payments that can expose your ACH or bank account information, FINSYNC Payments offers encrypted and private charge card details. Your credit card information never reaches the vendor — and vice versa. Your vendor gets paid without you ever having to hand over your credit card details. 

 

Maximize Credit Card Rewards

Another major benefit of FINSYNC Payments is the potential it provides to earn credit card rewards. Since FINSYNC Payments enables you to divert check payments and wire/bank transfers to a credit card, you can increase your credit card spending and maximize credit rewards. Those rewards can be used to cover new purchases or be reinvested to help you grow your business.

 

FINSYNC: Use a Credit Card to Pay a Business That Doesn’t Accept Credit Cards

 

FINSYNC Payments is more than simply a better way to pay your vendors. It enables you to pay your vendors on time, increase the amount of cash in your pocket, and seize control of your cash flow. 

 

How FINSYNC Can Help

 

FINSYNC allows you to run your business on One Platform. You can send and receive payments, process payroll, automate accounting, and manage cash flow. To learn more about how we can help your business start, scale, and succeed, contact us today.

 

Wasted time and money from paper files always seem to find a way back to your business. Regardless of how hard you work to eliminate them. One struggle for many businesses is working with clients that still use paper checks.

 

One of the most common ways large businesses handle this problem is through a lockbox- A PO box that is traditionally only available through a bank. Available for firms doing a very high volume of inbound check processing. 

 

With FINSYNC, small and mid-sized businesses can benefit from a lockbox. They are able to receive checks and have them automatically deposited and applied to the correct invoice. FINSYNC’s Lockbox service provides huge time savings. Users can work abroad and still get paid. It also allows companies to be completely digital even if their customers are old school.

 

B2B Paper Checks are Still Common

 

While Europe and Latin America have various standards that make B2B paper checks less common, they are still common in the United States. This means that many businesses are forced to wait on “snail mail” to receive and process multiple checks, even if they operate under a paperless business model. 

 

You could utilize a lockbox through your bank, but those services are typically only offered at offsite processing centers and available to enterprise-level clients.

 

FINSYNC’s Lockbox is Available to Clients of All Shapes and Sizes

 

FINSYNC’s lockbox is available to clients of any size and allows digital firms to work with traditional businesses. With lockbox, digital firms can easily have checks collected from traditional businesses and match deposits to invoicing.

 

Simply request a payment using FINSYNC to give your customers a simpler, more secure way to pay you via bank draft (ACH), debit or credit card, or paper check sent to your FINSYNC PO Box (lockbox). Your customers will have their own free, secure payment inbox to review and accept your invoices and attachments and pay online.

 

Forward Thinking Companies Use FINSYNC

 

“Going green” is all the rage these days. As more and more companies turn to third-party payment processing and paperless offices, many businesses still need a way to collect and process paper checks from traditional clients.

 

Lockbox by FINSYNC enables businesses to: 

• Easily send invoices and attachments

• Know when and how much you’ll get paid

• Accept every customer payment format

• View real-time status of invoices and payments

• Incentivize early payments with discounts and rebates

• Streamline by allowing customers to store banking info online

• Receive paid invoice funds directly in your synced bank account

 

Check out the top reasons why you should consider FINSYNC for managing your business finances.

 

Benefits of Lockbox

 

With FINSYNC, your business can save thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in admin time each year. Lockbox is designed to help you streamline your financial operations and run a paperless office. 

 

With Lockbox enabled, any customer who desires to pay by mail will see your Lockbox address on your invoices in their inbox as your remittance address. When a check arrives in your Lockbox, it is deposited into your default income account. 

 

With Lockbox, it doesn’t matter if you work in the gig economy, you’re a digital nomad, or you work with corporate clients in the U.S.. You can receive checks from businesses in the U.S. no matter where you are in the world. 

 

FINSYNC Lockbox and accounts receivable help you get in sync with your customers and get paid more quickly and efficiently. Lockbox is a win-win for both you and your clients. The software makes it simple to pay and get paid. In addition, it eliminates the need to pay someone to go to the mailbox and keep track of physical invoices. 

 

Lockbox allows invoices to be sent immediately and get paid as soon as you receive your check. Allowing you to manage your small business finances in a single platform. It enables you to sync up your small business finances and harness the power of your financial data to give you a complete picture of your business. 

 

If you’re a digital firm looking for ways to receive paper bills and convert them into e-bills, FINSYNC’s Lockbox service is an easy-to-use solution.

 

How FINSYNC Can Help

 

FINSYNC allows you to run your business on One Platform. You can send and receive payments, process payroll, automate accounting, and manage cash flow. To learn more about how we can help your business start, scale, and succeed, contact us today.

When it comes time to pay a bill, most people want to get it done and move on. Luckily, there are ways to optimize your business using payments with attached remittance advice.

If you’re a small business owner juggling all manner of responsibilities, you may be tempted to take the same approach. Especially if you’re already comfortable using handwritten checks or relying on Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments from your bank account.   

With the bevy of money-sending applications that have emerged over the past decade, there’s no need to settle for a decidedly outdated, slow and inefficient way of paying your business’ bills. The ACH system in the United States originated in the 1960s.   

There are tools that can optimize your use of the ACH system. Even if making payments from your bank account is more your speed. These tools save time and give you a greater sense of control over your business’ finances.   

An Inefficient Approach  

So where is the ACH system lacking? The biggest drawback is the limitations when it comes to remittance advice. Referring to the documentation that’s transmitted along with funds to explain how to apply them.   

ACH money transfers only allow for a small amount of data to be electronically transmitted. This is typically only a few characters. You’ve seen this before whenever you’ve looked at your bank statement and puzzled as to why half the name of a merchant appears missing.   

This limitation makes ACH transfers an inefficient and time-consuming method for businesses to pay their bills. The lack of detail in the remittance advice makes it difficult to reconcile accounts.   

Let’s say you’re a software company that accepts ACH payments. You have to sift through invoices and find proof of payment. In addition, you must cross-reference those documents with your bank statement. This can be a frustrating process. Since your bank statement may have many entries for similar amounts. Without complete information in the form of remittance advice, it can seem near impossible to sort through everything in a timely fashion.   

A Better Way   

In 2013, the Federal Reserve published a report aimed at garnering public opinion about the need in the U.S. for faster and more efficient payment options.

In the report, the Fed noted how checks and payments made via the ACH system lacked key features sought by consumers. For example, being able to provide assurance that a payment would not be returned or reversed; timely notification to the payer and payee that the payment had been made; and masked account details. This eliminated the need for users to disclose bank account information to each other.   

The Fed report also noted how ACH relies on systems that are not universally fast or efficient.   

What solution did the central bank’s report propose? A payment system that would combine convenience, safety and accessibility at low cost. Including technology that would enable faster processing, enhanced convenience and the extraction and use of valuable information that accompanies payments. However, the government has not acted on these recommendations.   

Of course, much has changed in the past six years. Smartphones loaded with digital wallets and the advent of Fintech-powered, automated payment systems offer options and reliability that far surpass the speed and scope of ACH payments by themselves.   

Data-Rich Payments   

Small businesses, in particular, benefit from a payment system that saves time and helps make cash flow more predictable.   

Even the ACH system can be made more efficient when augmented through the use of applications that enable email notifications to link to transactions.   

How is this useful? The emails can send attached files. For example, an invoice or other document. As a result, making it possible for the payment to reach its destination with detail-rich remittance advice.   

The information that’s typically included in remittance advice includes the name and address of the payor, the payee’s name and address, the date, the amount being paid, any invoice number and an estimate for when the funds transfer will be completed. A system with attachments even allows the payment to include a copy of the original bill/invoice.   

FINSYNC’s integrated suite of financial services software includes a bill payer that makes quick work of online payments. It also features a payments “inbox” that provides vendors a secure way to receive payments and the details of the transaction — without sharing sensitive bank account information.  Here are 5 questions to ask yourself when choosing a payments platform.

Perhaps most importantly, the use of a detail-rich payments platform can help you manage your business’ cash flow. The remittance advice from your customers helps create a real-time snapshot of your receivables and outlays. Giving you a clear sense of future transactions.    

Isn’t it time to drop those envelopes for something that really pays off?

Experience a better way to manage cash flow and grow with less time and better results with FINSYNC.