Credit Cards

[netsol]

There is certainly a cost in collecting payment. Going to the bank, dealing with returned checks, chasing down checks, mailing invoices. In the end, in some cases, it might actually be a little cheaper just to take the card.

As we grow in size, and we hire people to do things that I used to do "When I had a second" you start to realize there is a real cost in the administrative tasks a business needs to perform.

Purchasing, for example. I used to handle most of it, but with all the supply chain issues, vendor errors (I'm looking at you Canon and Midwest Sign/Grimco) and just the huge amount of inventory we need to keep on our floor, it has become nearly a full time job for us. It's not a cost you really account for, until your business has to really start paying someone to do just that.

Because we pretty much only accept credit cards, accounts receivable is mostly just a function of bookkeeping, and not something we need a specialist for.

you might want to look at a program to do "purchase forecasting" ( take and analyze 5 years of purchasing history & anticipate seasonal trends, etc & generate a list one or twice a week, you can review & proceed to order. one of our largest clients uses a company called K3S, who has a rather large client base. they also offer vendor controlled purchasing, where you allow the supplier to forcast for you

 

[netsol]

I had to sub out a sign down in Florida today. The sign company I called gave me a bid on the high end but I am busy so I didn't shop it around. I told them fine. They send me an invoice and it won't take my ACH info. I asked to use credit card and they want an extra 4%. That little 4% pushed me over the edge so I shopped around and within 15 minutes had price from their competitor 25% less AND they didn't charge me a CC fee!

I told the original company to forget about it. If they would of shut up about the 4% they could of got away with charging me 25% more.

don't you have a debit card, pointed to the same account?
isn't the debit card charge PENNIES, compared to the credit card %. ?

 

[gnubler]

don't you have a debit card, pointed to the same account?
isn't the debit card charge PENNIES, compared to the credit card %. ?

That might depend on the vendor's payment system. I use Square and get charged a percentage whether I swipe a debit or credit card, it doesn't matter.

 

[netsol]

LARGER RETAILERS have 2 payment systems
debit is just like taking a check.
a good friend has a car repair facility, not a huge business, i asked him today, he pays $0.15 for a debit transaction.
i don't take cards at all. this is my " retirement business" a couple dozen clients, who also use my consulting services. all are on open account 10-30 day terms.