Whether during prepress or post-press or when managing inventory, commercial printers have adapted to automation to help increase efficiency and enhance customer service.
Embracing new technology is how printers have remained successful despite many changes in the industry. But if you’re running one of these companies while manually preparing and distributing invoices or calling customers whose payments are late, you are doing yourself and your employees a disservice. Your accounting and finance departments need to run as smooth as the rest of your business.
Here are five ways accounting automation benefits B2B commercial printing companies:
1. Provides purchasing powers
Staying competitive in the printing business requires you to invest in finishing equipment, presses, and software, especially if you’re working on high-volume or specialty projects. Budgeting for this equipment can be difficult if your customers are routinely making late payments or, in some cases, not paying you at all.
By offering features such as online portals and buyer-managed payment wallets, AR automation enables your customers to make prompt payments with just the click of a button. Through AutoPay, recurring fees are automatically deducted each month through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) via a checking account or charged to a card saved in the customer’s digital wallet. This ensures payments roll in on time, prevents customers from accruing late fees, and provides you with the funds to purchase new equipment.
2. Reduces disposal costs
As a commercial printer, you go through your share of paper and cartridges. The disposing of these materials can be costly as your business grows and you work on larger projects.
One way to reduce waste is by eliminating paper invoices and cutting back on check acceptance through automation. Invoices are automatically prepared for digital distribution, and payments are reconciled in a single, secure, digital platform that doesn’t require paper receipts.
By offering various payment options through ACH, you don’t have to worry about filing paper checks. You’ll be helping your customers too – paying through the ACH network is far more secure than paying by check, especially since check fraud is more rampant now than ever before.
3. Eliminates mistakes
Your customers may hire you for projects that include very important and/or highly confidential documents. They need to know they can trust you and the slightest mistake may result in prospective customers running toward the competition.
Automating your AR process eliminates human error and the payment delays, incorrect invoices, and even fraudulent activity that are the result of it. Accepting payments digitally means your team won’t have to stress over misplacing or incorrectly filing checks.
An accurate AR and billing process is an effective way to show customers they can trust you.
4. Enhances the customer experience
The commercial printing industry is highly competitive, especially as e-commerce continues to boom and companies are looking for new and innovative packaging. Standing out means offering more than just a quality product.
Providing a simple, seamless payment experience without any friction is an effective way to retain customers and lure new ones. Accounting automation doesn’t just make it easy for your customers to pay you on time, but it speeds up the invoicing process and ensures customers have plenty of time to pay a bill. By automatically handling previously manual tasks, AR automation eliminates human error, providing your customers with the accurate information required to make prompt payments.
Real-time payment tracking promptly notifies you of delays from typically punctual customers, enabling you to proactively reach out and learn of any issues you can assist with, showing your customers you care about their financial well-being.
5. Helps predict cash flow
You’re aware of the high upfront costs associated with running a commercial printing business. What makes it even more difficult, however, is the constant fluctuation of ink and paper prices.
Ensuring prompt, reliable payments from customers is a primary reason accounting automation helps B2B companies like yours better predict cash flow. By automatically sending out payment alerts and providing customers full transparency into their accounts through online portals, AR automation enables you to rely on bills being paid on time and make financial decisions that are sound and grounded more in data and insight.
Bill360 was built specifically to help B2B companies like your commercial printing business get paid faster, invigorate cash flow, and provide customers with a painless payment experience. Bill360 requires less than an hour of training and syncs to your current accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero in a matter of minutes.
Try Bill360 during a no-risk, free 90-day trial. Once your trial is done, you can access Bill360 for just $10 a month without the hassle of any contracts or hidden fees.
