While many reasons exist for implementing an integrated payment processing solution, three main reasons top the list. First, you put yourself at a competitive disadvantage if you don’t implement this option. It stands among the top best practices to implement in business, regardless of the industry, for its many side benefits, such as the direct import of big data. Second, using integrated payment processing saves your company money in numerous ways, including work reduction and reduced customer service calls. Third, the integrated method reduces human error in the accounting data. Other, smaller benefits also exist that add value to the accounting process and the business overall.
1. Integration Is the New Best Practice in Accounting
Integration sets the new standard; it provides the new best practice in account management. This process streamlines payment processing such that payment transaction data flows directly into the company’s ERP or accounting program. It provides a competitive advantage.
2. Significant Money Savings for Business
This saves the business money by eradicating the need for employees to manually enter data after waiting for batch reports or spending time on account reconciliation. The company can eliminate the need for a full-time accounts receivable clerk for data entry and instead, put each employee to work on tasks that build the company and grow its sales. This reduces customer service calls by ensuring the correct application of data. The business no longer fields calls from irate customers reporting a missing payment, overbilling, or erroneous fees or taxes. The amalgamated benefits of implementing an integrated payment solution outweigh the costs. The reduction in hours devoted to data entry, account reconciliation, and error correction can quickly repay you for the purchase of the payment solution.
3. Eliminating Human Error
Another benefit of integrated payment processing is that it eliminates the potential for human error. While duplication occurs frequently when you add human data entry, direct import of information eliminates this possibility. You guarantee that data gets entered correctly and applied to the appropriate account.
A Plethora of Other Benefits
Implementing an integrated payment solution addresses customer payment preferences of those conducting business in either sector – business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) sectors. An integrated method lets you accept credit and debit cards, mobile payments, gift cards, and app payments, such as those from PayPal, CashApp, Venmo, etc.
You also improve your understanding of your business’s cash flow, which lets you better manage your money. Since you no longer wait for batch reports, you obtain an up-to-the-moment picture of your sales. Your balance sheets can now report a truly accurate balance, providing you with a better picture of what you have to pay for operating costs, employees, vendors, and taxes.
By using the direct import possible with an integrated system, you also import metadata, and you obtain the full transaction. With manual entry, you very likely only enter the minimum amount needed. Using an integrated payment processing method gets you all of the data on an immediate feed. This doesn’t just contribute to your accounting system; it contributes to your big data. By pulling directly from register tape and online payment processors, you obtain more than the credit card number, customer name, and address, and the item purchased. You obtain the entirety of the data sent to the processor. Using an integrated system lets you share this data with other business systems such as your CRM.
You have many reasons to purchase and implement an integrated payment processing solution. Rather than wait, purchase one now to put your business at the front of the pack. Utilize every competitive advantage and benefit in many ways from using an integrated payment processing method.