Save money every day for your small business when using one or more of these payment options.
As a small business, managing and paying vendors and contractors can be time-consuming. With our money-saving tips on payments, you can reduce your expenses and boost your cash flow flexibility. Ready to start increasing your bottom line?
Automated Clearing House (ACH) Payments
With an ACH payment or transfer, money is electronically and securely transferred from one bank to another through the Automated Clearing House Network. The ACH transaction system is used for a variety of payments, including person-to-person, payroll, direct deposit, tax payments, tax refunds, business bills, and consumer bills. A business must connect its bank to the ACH Network and grant permission to deduct or credit its account to use ACH transfers. Each party in any ACH transaction does not have any visibility or access to the other party’s bank account data.
When you include all of the costs in creating, sending/collecting, and reconciling checks, using ACH payments saves your business money, both in dollars and people’s time. A study by Bank of America found that the average small business incurred costs of $4 to $20 per check. Plus, if you have a recurring expense, you can save even more time by scheduling regular payments. And since all ACH payments are scheduled, you can better control your cash flow.
With Liquid’s vendor payment system, you can either pay now or schedule the payment for a future date for US and international vendors.
Payment Approval Workflows
Payment approval workflows have many benefits, and, in particular, save you time and money. A payment approval process helps your company with cost control, cash flow visibility, and a faster month-end close for your accounting team. It’s also easier to catch or prevent errors as well as possible fraud.
When Jing Gao of Fly By Jing switched to using automated workflows with Liquid, she immediately began saving dozens of hours every month. Finli also saves money and hours each month through streamlined and automated administration.
Liquid simplifies your payment management with an intuitive invoice processing and approval workflow customized to match how your team works. The processing and approval notification workflow is automated based on your business’s settings and controls, with a complete history of the invoice flow and actions automatically saved.
Credit Cards
Another way to pay your invoices and bills is through your business credit card, which can provide more flexibility for managing your cash flow. One benefit of paying by credit card is that it offers your business a “free float” window. A free float extends the time you have to pay your business expenses for another 30-45 days (or sometimes even longer) beyond the original payment due date.
Paying by credit card can also provide other benefits for your business that can save you money or provide other forms of flexibility. Using your business credit card to pay an invoice can result in earning rewards such as miles and cashback. Credit cards also come with fraud protection, providing an additional layer of protection for your business. Lastly, credit cards can also offer an extended credit or loan line since you have time to pay off the balance.
Liquid gives your business the flexibility to pay how you want, whether through your bank or by credit card.
Early Payment Discounts
The standard payment term on invoices is often 30 days. However, many suppliers offer discounts for early payments. Common terms your suppliers may offer are 1/10, net 30, and 2/10, net 30. With a 1/10 term, a 1% discount is offered if payment is within 10 days. Similarly, a 2/10 term means that you receive a 2% discount if paying within 10 days. Early payment discounts can help improve your margins and increase your cash flow.
Using a vendor payment system like Liquid makes it simple to review, approve, and schedule your payments so that you can take advantage of early payment discounts.
Save with Liquid
Liquid makes it easy for small businesses to take advantage of possible savings through ACH payments, payment approval workflows, credit cards, and early payment discounts. Plus with Liquid, it is simple to not only pay your US-based vendors but also your international vendors and contractors. You can pay international vendors through your bank with an ACH transfer in either USD or their local currency.
Note, we are not providing legal, tax, or payroll advice. Please consult your legal, tax, and payroll professionals. These are simply to serve as guidelines based on our own experiences.
