The “pay up” portion of any meeting can get awkward fast, especially if you’re dealing with an accounting client you know isn’t good with finances in the first place. However, if your clients don’t pay you then you can’t pay your employees, accounting partners, and everyone else who works to maintain the office on a daily basis.

Everyone needs to get paid in order to keep their livelihood going and that’s just a fact no one can get around. Time and billing software for Quickbooks gives accounting firms solutions to the billing questions and organizational tools and tactics that make billing happen more effectively with every client.

Timing is Everything

This doesn’t only mean timing in a conversation when talking about billing with clients. It also means timing when asking them for what they owe. If you go for the right time, you should be able to catch the client in a good mood when they have the money to pay you.

Payday is the most obvious but you can also mark your calendar for tax return periods, popular times when people receive bonuses, and any other details you happen to know about your clients. Use time and billing software for Quickbooks to help you set these reminders and make them available among other accountants in your firm.

Teach Compassion

You can’t actually teach compassion but you can use role-playing and other training techniques to give accountants tips about dealing with different situations. Let’s face it, some clients are going to give sob stories that aren’t true or say whatever they have to in order to get out of paying the bill. By teaching your accountants how to handle these situations with compassion, they may also be better able to differentiate the real problems from those who are just trying to get out of paying.

At the same time, it’s a good idea to discuss different payment plans that accountants are allowed to offer to clients who really have trouble getting the money together to pay their bill. You can keep these policies readily available and use Quickbooks Online (QBO) to allow easy communication when accountants work from home or on the go.

Resorting to Collection

Before you think about selling client debt to a collection agency, understand that you will only be getting a percentage of the debt that is owed to you. While this might seem better than nothing, think about ways you can make it work with your client instead and look back through the information in your time and billing software for

Quickbooks to see if there’s something that was missed. Not only won’t you get the full amount owed to you by going to a collection agency, but you also risk damaging the relationship with a client that might only be going through a short period of financial woe.

Billing and Client Relationships

The best way to really show clients that you care is to build relationships before questions about billing ever come up. Time and billing software for Quickbooks can give you reports that show you when your clients have had trouble paying in the past and you can use that information to show compassion during those reoccurring rough periods.

When you build a solid foundation, it’s easy to talk about money when the subject comes up. Stay updated with clients on all matters and maintain relationships on a regular basis to make billing simpler and conversations about money a lot less awkward.

Did you know Jetpack now fully integrates time and billing software with Quickbooks Online? Click here to start a free trial

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