How to Simplify SMEs Payments and Improve Cash Flow

This is where we come to the rescue, offering strong financial strategies to simplify payments, including allocating resources effectively and using reliable B2B payment software.

The way businesses process payments can directly influence their performance, and this applies to both small and larger businesses. However, smaller companies often struggle more with this issue. Many still depend on manual methods for payment processing – this may be due to budget constraints or a feeling that paying for software isn’t necessary while the business is in its early stages.

These methods are time-consuming, prone to errors, and often result in late fees and cash shortages. This can result in vendor relationships, business reputation, and overall cash flow being disrupted. In essence, this administrative oversight can quickly ruin your business.

This is why it’s fundamental for business owners to take a proactive approach to their operations, especially financial ones. Recently, there has been a surge in the development of business-oriented software for all kinds of needs. Fortunately, this includes solutions for efficiently paying vendors, clients, and other businesses.

Any business running payments manually or without the help of payment software will sooner or later be confronted with setbacks. Here are the most common challenges for businesses regarding payment management:

• Limited payment options: Paying is often limited to checks and wire transfers.
• Time-consuming processes: Logging expenses manually, writing checks, and mailing payments is highly time-consuming.
• Missed deadlines and late payments: Meeting deadlines manually can quickly turn into a missed payment, which can potentially harm your business reputation and continuity.
• No centralized system: Resorting to multiple resources or tools, such as bank portals and spreadsheets, is ineffective and confusing.
• Ineffective reconciliation: Syncing payments to invoices without the help of software can lead to errors.
• Cash flow gaps: Refusing to use payment software for planning payments results in short-term or long-term cash shortages, which can eat into margins.
• Poor or inexistent integration with accounting: Processing payments without automatically syncing them to accounting software leads to extra work and an increase in errors.

Digital payment platforms are game-changers for small businesses. For example, platforms like Melio make it easier to pay vendors by bank transfer or credit card — even when your vendor only accepts checks. In fact, this type of software goes way beyond payment methods.

These solutions streamline the whole payment process from scheduling to tracking and even reporting. Basically, everything related to payments is managed on one platform.

Among the usual extensive list of features, B2B payment gateways provide businesses with:

• Multiple payment methods (ACH, paper checks, credit cards, etc.)
• Online bill payments
• International payments
• Instant payments
• Schedule payments
• Track payments
• Batch payments
• Payment approval workflows
• Accounting software integrations
• Automatic bill scanning
• Custom payment links
• Competitive exchange rates
• Tax compliance
• Payment requests
• User role management
• Mobile apps (on-the-go management)

If you’re a small business owner looking to evolve your workflows, we highly recommend starting with simplifying payment processes. The main objective is to reduce manual human input as much as possible when managing finances. Manual input consumes too much time, leads to mistakes, and can impact your business to the point of no return.

With a healthy market for digital payment solutions, it’s senseless to stick to outdated working methodologies. This type of software provides multiple payment options, automation, workflows, user roles, integrations, and even support for international payments, which, when combined with a mobile app, can do wonders.

This means that if you own a small business and are struggling with paying on time, a digital payment gateway like Melio might prove to be a lifesaver. Make sure to set up your business for success by starting to streamline your business payments today.