Payment choice gives business clients the edge. Here’s what to tell them.

Think about how much your own personal expectations have changed when it comes to paying for (or getting paid for) goods or services in only a few years. As consumers, we’ve gone from “will you be paying with cash, card or check?” to a simple wave of the phone or QR scan for payments in the blink of an eye.

Now we expect a range of choices based on our individual preferences for speed and ease of payment, as well as other variables. And the same thing has happened in the business world. Regardless of size, many of your business clients are operating at the center of a complicated web of vendors, partners and customers, each with their own unique requirements for exactly how and when they get paid or make payments. Some are still content with the ACH- and check- based approaches that have been in place for years. But many more have shifted their expectations considerably in a short amount of time.

Your clients need to keep all these stakeholders happy by meeting their changing preferences, ensuring they’re paid on time using whatever method they prefer while your firm and client uses the exact same processes across the board. This is also an opportunity for clients to minimize their transaction costs by optimizing payment types. For example, when payment speed is not the most important issue for one of their vendors, they should be using a lower-cost payment option. An integrated financial operations platform like BILL makes it easy to customize payment options at the client level, satisfying all these requirements for firms and clients alike. The result: smoother business operations and relationships. That’s why expanded payment choice is a huge priority for many companies today, especially small- to medium-sized businesses.

The good news is that your clients have access to a wealth of tools designed to help them provide flexible, practical payment choice options to all their stakeholders – even if many of them aren’t even aware of what’s possible. As a trusted advisor to your business clients, your firm is best positioned to help them understand their payment choice options and put these tools to work.

Payment choice: Which capabilities should you look for?

While there are many payment choice capabilities firms can help their clients put to work today – far more than can be described in this short article – there are several that are considered the most important. Here’s what you and your business clients should know to get started.

Payment choice is just as impactful for their vendors as it is for your clients.

Look for a platform that allows vendors to securely enter information and indicate their own payment preferences, ensuring that they get exactly what they need in a controlled, well-managed way.

Capabilities like these will help:

• Payors and payees use different preferred methods on the same transactions. For example, the payor can send money one way, and the payee can choose to receive it in a different way.
• Vendors process their own payments immediately upon client approval using virtual cards, temporary corporate card numbers used for payments.
• Choose the exact moment money leaves the client’s account based on variables such as when a payment arrives to fund it. Clients can also accelerate timing based on funding terms.
• Accelerate high-dollar, urgent payments as needed.

Enhancing payment visibility benefits everyone.

Vendors need to know when they’ll get the money they are owed. In a consolidated view provided by a single platform, firms, clients and vendors can all clearly see the status of payments, regardless of payment type. Key capabilities include:

• Visibility allowing users to see payments going out (or those that are scheduled to go out) in real time, from any device.
• A single platform for clearing all transactions using automation, resulting in a smoother month-end process.

Cross-border payment capabilities are becoming increasingly important.

More than ever before, companies need to be able to pay vendors who are scattered all over the world. These vendors want the same things as those operating domestically: timely payments in local currencies from local banks. With the right payment platform, your clients can deliver on these needs. Here’s what to look for:

• International wiring capabilities.
• Ability to pay in local currency, if preferred. Payments leave the US domestic business in dollars and enter the vendor account in local currency.
• Expanded reach. For example, the BILL platform enables payments in 134 countries.
• Ability to pay from local banks.
• Same-day payments enabled by global transfer abilities.

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A smart way to help clients win

Your business clients need every advantage they can find to win in today’s environment. When you bring them new ideas and approaches that can help, you not only give them the tools they need, you also strengthen your firm’s value proposition and client relationships. That’s why you should be having conversations about payment choice with your clients today. It’s a smart, practical tool that can give them the edge in managing important vendor relationships.

To learn more about how to enhance your clients’ payment capabilities, visit the BILL Accountant Partner Program landing page at CPA.com.

About the author:
Kimberly K. Blascoe, CPA, leads CPA.com’s CAS 2.0 practice transformation programs, focusing on helping firms establish and grow optimized CAS practices through consulting, practice development and training offerings. Prior to joining CPA.com, Kim spent more than 30 years in public accounting, which included leading the CAS practice for a Top 20 firm.