I have been thinking of switching my billing cycle to modernbill's anniversary method where all invoices will generate on the first of each month and also be due that day with prorated charges and refunds occuring rather then having everyone's renew date be the day they signed up. What are your thoughts of this billing method? Pros and cons.

We just use the payment cycle where they pay on the date on which they signed up, every month, three months, or whatever they choose. ServInt prorates, which seems ok, but I did notice some of their customers were a bit confused about how it worked, including myself when I first signed up with them.

Both ways have their advantages, I think.

I think it's best to allow the customer to choose - Some may not like you changing their billing date around as you please, Especially if you just run their credit card as soon as you do it.
I had a host do this to me without warning - Wasn't very nice, I don't like going to a store and getting declined when I know there is money on my credit card.

It would be easier on whoever handles billing - Sure, But you don't want to confuse your customers, so if you do make it a mandatory change you should make sure they all know before you make the policy change.

We changed from sign-up date billing to first-of-month billing a couple of years ago. When we did, rather than prorating the billing we just gave that time to our customers gratis, some of them wound up with nearly a month of free time.

Our customers were happy, not one complaint, and most of them found it easier to remember that they'd be billed on the first.

And it sure as heck made life easier on us.

If I do switch, which I probably will, I will not just charge any customer's cc (we don't even store the numbers so can't). I'll give the customers a free advance and make their package renew the following month on the first with no extra charge on their part.

That will be a very good move Nullified. Actually I myself got confused with the prices getting changed every day but then found out that its a different billing cycle and I was very impressed but personally I guess it will be good if you notify the clients about the changes.

We use anniversary billing with MB. I would suggest setting it up to send out the first invoice around the 25th-27th and have it due on the 1st.

I'm a convert from anniversery billing, to batch billing on the 1st of the month. I have it setup so that new accounts are pro-rated for the rest of that mth, and then also pay for the following month. That works good if you have 90, 180 and 360 day payment options.

Then it's a matter of running the batch on the 1st of the mth, and then chasing the declined transactions over the next 10 to 15 days etc.

That works for me, and it's just a matter of finding what works best for you and your business, and running with that. :)

We do a bit of both :)

Originally posted by Aussie Bob
I'm a convert from anniversery billing, to batch billing on the 1st of the month. I have it setup so that new accounts are pro-rated for the rest of that mth, and then also pay for the following month. That works good if you have 90, 180 and 360 day payment options.

Then it's a matter of running the batch on the 1st of the mth, and then chasing the declined transactions over the next 10 to 15 days etc.

That works for me, and it's just a matter of finding what works best for you and your business, and running with that. :) I do have all those billing cycles available for my customers to choose from. I've already made the switch away from anniversary to monthly with static invoice due dates.

note that the default method at modernbill which renews each package according to start date has another advantage - when your customers get rather numerous, there wont be excessive workload at the day of month whatever you choose the anniversary mode to make the billing. in default mode the workload is spread over the month, or if they are in yearly payment, even sparser.

We typically waive the remainder of the first month to setup a billing cycle that starts at the beginning of the month. We also bill quarterly or yearly and have always steered clear of billing monthly.