Why you should offer extended payment terms to your business customers

Payment flexibility has been commonplace in B2C transactions for many years, and now, emerging payment technology is making this possible for B2B trade. Whether you’re looking to get paid faster, address current debtors or provide a better customer experience, implementing an integrated payment solution that delivers more ways for customers to pay their invoices, is a great solution for any business.

This article outlines why tapping into automated accounts receivable solutions that offer flexible payment methods, including payment plans, is a smart move for your business.

Why should your business provide flexibility to business customers?

Once you’ve worked with certain customers for a while, you know which businesses are reliable payers and those that tend to pay late. Late payments can occur for several reasons, including administrative errors, cash flow problems, manual processes where invoices get lost in email inboxes or the post, or it can be simply put down to limited payment options. 

Offering flexible payment options is a good way to encourage faster payments and demonstrates care for customers who can’t pay a full invoice amount on time, especially if a customer’s business is facing financial challenges. 

Utilising the power of automated technology to provide flexible B2B payment plans

On average finance teams spend around 65 per cent of their time on manual processes. Automation can reduce this by 30 per cent, allowing teams to work smarter. Plus, when you factor in that an estimated 40 per cent of all finance functions can be fully automated, this means your business can enjoy major time savings that come from smarter debtor management. 

While your business can offer payment plans to its customers without automated systems and processes, it makes things a lot more difficult to track and doesn’t address late payments caused by tight cash flow in a customer’s business. Late payments tend to have a flow-on effect because when one business pays another business late, it usually impacts the entire supply chain.

Fortunately, technology such as integrated payment platforms and automated accounts receivable tools allow you to offer payment plans without putting a dent in your business’s cash flow. With this technology, you can offer customers access to more payment options, including:

  • Flexible payment options: Accept a variety of payment methods and give your customers more ways to pay their invoices, on time and correctly. Offer bank transfer, credit card payments and access to third party finance. 
  • B2B Buy Now, Pay Later: Sell more, get paid on time, and let a third-party, like Spenda, assess and assume the financial risk, giving you more certainty over your cash inflows.
  • Instalment Payments: Offer your customers access to realistic repayment plans via a BNPL framework. Know exactly when you will be paid and have better control over your business’s cash flow.

Grow and get paid faster with Spenda

Spenda has the tools that can enable your business to provide payment plans and flexibility to your business customers. Whether your customers prefer to pay via bank transfers, credit card payments or a Buy Now, Pay Later arrangement, Spenda delivers all of these options in one intuitive and connected digital platform. It allows your customers to have more flexibility over their accounts payable processes, while you get paid faster. You’ll also save time and resources that you would have otherwise used up chasing late payments.

Click here to download our free guide on how to improve cash flow management across your business, and learn how you can get paid faster while creating an exceptional customer experience.

  • This article is for general information purposes only. Consult a qualified financial advisor regarding any changes to or decisions about your business’s finances.