Accepting Payments
You can accept payments in advance, in portions, as recurring payments (ie multi pays) or as ongoing payments for a specific period of time. Depending on what your business is will determine how your payment structures are set up. Coaches accept payments in advance. Graphic artists or project consultants may get paid with a deposit, a mid project payment and then balance on completion. Some people may get paid for completed work only. It really depends on how your business is set up.
There are many ways you can accept payments for your services.
Cheque or money order (certified cheque) – you have to wait for the money to be received, but once it is the services begin. You can accept post dated cheques if that suits you.
Bank transfer – email transfer or wire – these are instant and becoming more popular, at least email transfers are. Wires are useful for larger amounts of money (and in fact some merchant accounts will not accept large transfers except by bank wire).
Paypal – paypal account or credit card
Merchant Account – credit or debit card – through your bank or through a third party gateway (Authorize.net, Practice Pay Solutions, PowerPay, Global Payments, Moneris).
Pros of using credit cards: instant /impulse /convenient
Cons of using credit cards: chargebacks /merchant account fees
Fees are a part of accepting payment solutions – Paypal has fees of around 3% , Merchant accounts have fees of anywhere from 1.9% to 2.5%. Look at structure and see which is right for you. Third party merchant fees are higher than directly working with your bank, but can be more convenient when you get set up.
Merchant Account
You get the person’s credit card and you can enter it manually. You can process refunds, voids, partial payments, automated payments. You get detailed billing for all transactions for any date range. Need a virtual terminal or a shopping cart integration to have clients make their own payments through your merchant account.
For a merchant account, you may have to pay a monthly or annual fee and also transaction fees There are also increasing availability for mobile options which you can learn more about by visiting their websites.
Paypal
You can set up a variety of buy buttons using Paypal on your website. You don’t need to use a shopping cart to manage your purchases. You can also send invoices with a Pay Now button installed on them.
There is no charge to set up your own Paypal account or to accept payments online, other than transaction fees. You can send a payment request which then gets paid by the client. They can also pay you directly. They don’t need a paypal account.
You can also set up recurring payments easily. For the basic service they need a Paypal account. If you want to let them pay other ways without a Paypal account you need to purchase their service.
There is also a Virtual Terminal option that you can pay $30 for monthly and you can use your account as a payment terminal. This way you can take credit cards over the phone which can facilitate payments.
Estore – WordPress Plugin
This is a plugin that you pay a one time setup fee for $60 and then it’s free to host on your WP site. I have not used it, but it integrates with Paypal or your merchant account and can also be integrated with your email program for autoresponders. The only issue I’ve seen is that if you have complicated shipping options it may not work for you, but it’s definitely worth exploring. You can even apply coupons using the estore.
And of course because it’s a WordPress product it will integrate well with other WordPress plugins (and they even bundle your purchases).
Read about it here: http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wordpress-estore-plugin-complete-solution-to-sell-digital-products-from-your-wordpress-blog-securely-1059
Whichever system you choose, be sure to have payment procedures in place. Have a policy for when clients need to pay you and hold them to it. Keep track of your recurring payments using something like a Google calendar or your CRM. Set up a contract and use a payment processing form so that you have the client details on file. Detail your payment policy in your contract. Also, have procedures in place for what happens when payments default or are late, and how you will handle them and how that will affect your client.