It’s no secret that customers expect speed and convenience from their field service providers. They want someone to arrive at their site exactly when they need it and make repairs quickly.
And now, the same goes for their payment experience, too.
Customers are looking for faster, more convenient ways to pay their service invoices. The good news is that meeting this expectation benefits your business, too. For too long, service companies have dealt with complex on-site payment collection. From external card readers to high processing fees, the process has not always been seamless.
Fortunately, there’s a better way. Start collecting payments quickly, easily, and automatically using field service software with integrated payments.
Convenient Options for Field Service Payments
If you offer a convenient way to pay, you’ll get a faster payment. Sounds simple enough, right? The problem is that field service companies don’t always have convenient payment options built into their systems.
Even in today’s age of digital payments, many service businesses still mail out invoices and wait for paper checks. That means someone has to print the invoice, mail it, wait for the return, process the check at the bank, and close the invoice. That’s a long process that requires a lot of work, follow-up, timing, and communication to complete. Payment delays also negatively affect your business’s cashflow. After all, getting a pulse on your profits is hard when you’re constantly waiting for payment day to arrive.
However, with payments-integrated field service software, invoices can be generated immediately and paid just as fast. In fact, they can be paid straight from the field or with a customer’s e-signature.
Here are three standard payment options that modern field service software can offer:
An email invoice with an easy pay button option is sent to the customer. They can simply supply a credit card number and make a payment. The convenience of this option can push customers to pay the invoice immediately.
Card on File
Customers provide you with their debit or credit card information to keep on file and charge when invoices are issued. By putting cards on file, you can build payment into your workflows. Technicians can even accept payment on-site this way with a quick customer e-signature. Keep in mind that this will require higher security from your field service software.
Tap to Pay
With an integrated payments system offering options like tap to pay, technicians can close service calls as soon as work is complete. Tap to pay allows them to accept payments directly through their mobile field service app. No external hardware is needed, making it even simpler to wrap up the service lifecycle.
Automatically Account for Payments from the Field
A payment isn’t truly complete until your accounting system says so. Traditionally, that meant someone in the back office manually tracking and updating the status of every invoice. Of course, this time-consuming process is prone to human error.
For instance, let’s say a customer pays, but the invoice isn’t marked as settled. Your team could end up following up unnecessarily. This causes frustration for the customer and wastes time and internal resources. These kinds of miscommunications can hurt your reputation and your bottom line.
Field service software with integrated payments helps eliminate these issues. It reduces manual work, improves accuracy, and updates your ERP or accounting system in real time. Fieldpoint, for example, integrates with ERPs such as NetSuite, Business Central, CMiC, and QuickBooks to make invoicing and payment tracking easier.
The process works by having your field service system capture time and materials in the field and automatically pass them to your ERP to generate accurate, real-time invoices. Once payment is received, both your field service platform and accounting system are updated—simple, fast, and automatic.
This level of automation is only possible when your field service software and back-office ERP are fully integrated. The result? A faster, smoother payment process that boosts efficiency and builds trust with your customers.
Embrace Modern Field Service Payment Options
Customer expectations have made speed and convenience across the entire service lifecycle not just desirable, but essential for field service businesses. It’s not enough to just get the work done quickly and efficiently. Closing the gap between service completion and payment has become part of modern field service lifecycles.
With integrated software and flexible payment options, field service businesses can turn what was once a slow, manual process into a streamlined, stress-free one for both customers and back-office teams. It’s about delivering a seamless customer experience from first contact to final payment. The easier you make it for your customers to request service, get the work done, and pay without hassle, the more likely they are to return. And for your team, automating payments means less time chasing invoices and fewer errors to fix.
Fieldpoint integrates with leading ERP systems and offers secure, contactless payment options that help you get paid faster. No more administrative overhead and no more disconnect between the field and the office.
Learn how you can stop chasing down payments and start offering a better payment experience with Fieldpoint’s integrated payments feature.