Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Need to Outsource Billing Department

[cyman]

I REALLY want to find a company that will take care of billing for me.

Any companies that will do that?

NOTE: I want a company that is well known OR located in Canada/USA since they will have my customer's information!
I find that the majority of my company's problems and slow downs has to do with billing.

[ANMMark]

Why not allow software to handle your billing, and an accountant to handle the rest of your company's financial tasks/burdons?

[cyman]

i doubt an accountant would handle the daily billing of customers with all of the menial tasks of upgrading, downgrading, closing, etc. without charging a hefty fee. How much would you expect it to cost per month?

[Lubby]

What customer management/billing system are you currently using? Also how big is your company. You may be able to find someone to work part time as an employee to do this.

[ANMMark]

i doubt an accountant would handle the daily billing of customers with all of the menial tasks of upgrading, downgrading, closing, etc.

These of course are not the tasks I was referring to, when I mentioned an accountant.

I'm talking about using your own online billing software, and having an accountant handle accounts payable and receivable.

[AdWatcher-Eugene]

Why would you want to outsource such a vital part of your business. I can understand outsourced support, but billing is just too important for the business.

[Seany]

Most of the things you talked about up there can be automatically taken care of using ModernBill or LPanel or a similar software.

[IRCCo Jeff]

I'm curious about this as well. How much are you looking to spend on a solution and what type of volume are you looking at (both amount of transactions and total dollars)?

[TinaHost]

i used to look after the finance department of a hosting company. i don't know how large your company is but billing is linked to your accounting system and the more real-time and in-depth your knowledge of your finances (e.g., where your revenue is coming from, who are your largest customers, who are your problem customers in terms of payment), the better idea you have on how you are doing as a business. plus, i recall that we also looked closely at accounts receivable (which is integrally linked to billing) to make sure we promptly follow up on customers who do not pay on time (or at all).

[wheimeng]

Indeed, it is a vital department. let the software do most of the jobs, if you could not find a proper software that caters your need, customize it. Just not letting it go... If I've not mistaken, IBM does take outsourced billing task

[valeriestw]

I agree that this is a very important aspect of your business, and you need to keep a close eye on it.

However, if you just need someone to help you with the various administrative aspects of running a business - whether it's things like handling upgrade / downgrade tickets, or maybe helping you with other stuff in your office so you can do that part yourself, consider looking into a Virtual Assistant.

Virtual Assistants are trained and experienced administrative assistants who work by the hour, from their own homes. You could set one up with a lower-level administrative access to handle some of your stuff online, or send her other duties to handle (phone calls, mailings, data entry, word processing, etc.). Basically, they will handle whatever you need handled and are more cost effective than an employee because you only pay for the time you use. They usually have some kind of "plan" for ongoing support or you can just purchase one-time assistance if that's what you want.

Just FYI - might be a way to help you feel less overwhelmed.

Valerie

[cyman]

Hello to all,
Thanks for the great replies!

However, I am still interesting in outsourcing this. Yes, it is vital, but other things are even more vital: Marketing, expansion strategy... If I keep doing this I just wont grow!

The Virtual Assistant is a good one, just in general to free up time. I find Google Answers is sometimes good at "outsourcing" problem solving.

Here is the issue with software: It never works perfectly. I am right now using ModernBill, but it sometimes doesn't register PayPal payments correctly. And when a customer cancels, say, with PayPal, it doesn't notify me or follow up with the customer automatically, so I need to spot that myself. There are also small bugs in it that I end up paying dearly for, like that it doesn't charge for the account variables right. Essentially, I have no confidence in it. These small issues are big when you have over 400 clients. You cant patrol things unless you dedicate a lot of time. And you never know if software is mucking up something behind the scenes.

[Corey Bryant]

Just curious cyman - what gateway are you using?

[ANMMark]

Yes, it is vital, but other things are even more vital: Marketing, expansion strategy

Marketing and expansion strategy are nowhere near as vital as billing. I really don't know anything that would compare to the importance of billing.

Billing is your business' lifeline, and you can have no marketing, or expansion strategy without it. Outsource your billing and watch you money go out the window. Then lets see how your marketing and expansion "strategy" turns into a marketing and expansion "tragedy"

In any case....good luck with this plan.