How to choose the best bill pay service for your accounting firm

Paying a bill manually is becoming a thing of the past. Businesses are moving steadily toward digitization, with tech-savvy accountants and bookkeepers in the vanguard. The question is not whether you should use a bill pay service, but rather which one best suits you and your clients. 

Choosing a bill pay solution impacts all aspects of your firm, from time management and productivity to client retention. That is why you can’t risk it with a bill pay service that falls short for you and your clients.

Meet Melio - a comprehensive, yet simple, free bill pay solution designed to provide accountants and bookkeepers with all the tools they need to manage their clients’ bill pay.

Simple to sign up, simple to onboard, simple to use

Simplicity is the name of the game, starting with the registration and onboarding process.

Overcomplicated apps with unnecessary "bells and whistles" require a long learning curve for your clients. But the time between registration and scheduling the first payment shouldn't take longer than a few minutes. A friendly, clear, and straightforward user experience is key. 

The same logic applies to daily work. Whether it’s you or your client handling bill pay, scheduling payments should take only a few clicks. Anything beyond can add up to hours a week and will curb productivity. 

Melio puts simplicity and ease of use first, so you can save precious time on managing clients’ bill pay. Walker Agency, a Houston-based accounting firm, and its founder, Amy Walker, CPA,  reduced bill pay handling time by 40% and each client onboarding by 4 hours with Melio. 

2-way sync with QuickBooks Online

Settling for a service that doesn't offer 2-way sync will consume precious time on data-entry and double the risk of human error. 

Melio syncs automatically with QuickBooks Online, so you don’t have to waste time on redundant data entry. 

Here’s what Becky Rogoff, founder of Accounting Solution, has to share about Melio’s integration: “What’s great about Melio is how seamless the process is. With one click the bill is captured, payment processed, recorded, bank register adjusted and proof of payment is sent to the vendor.“

‍Melio offers payment ubiquity and flexibility for your clients ‍

One client prefers paying via ACH, while another favors a debit card. A third may use several payment methods, and fourth will choose a credit card, to extend float. On the receiving end, some of your clients’ vendors like the immediacy of ACH, while others insist on paper checks. 

But how do you accommodate all these options? Easy, with Melio your clients can choose between payment methods - ACH or debit card, or even their credit card, and Melio will send out the payment for you: vendors can choose how to receive the payment - ACH or paper check, regardless of the payment method used by your client. 

For Martin’s Handmade Pretzels, located in upstate New York, Melio’s check feature was no less than a life-saver, when their bakery and headquarters burned down to the ground, along with their stock of paper checks: 

“Without Melio I would have had to order new checks, and write them all by hand, and that was not where I needed to be spending my time as a business owner, especially when I send 15-20 checks a week.”

Melio also enables you to schedule multiple and recurring payments to save even more time and hassle. 

How much does it cost? 

Some bill pay apps charge subscription fees, and collect additional fees for services and features. You may pay around $40 monthly per user, and $10 more if you also want it to sync with your accounting software. 

But you and your clients shouldn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars just to be able to pay and get paid online. 

In fact, it doesn't have to cost anything at all. Melio has no sign up or subscription fees. All basic payment options are free, and adding users and approval levels are free as well. The only features Melio charges for are credit card (for the payor) and expedited payments. 

David Perry, founder of Latitude Bookkeeping Services, shares his experience with Melio: “We’re saving hundreds of dollars a month per client. We’re talking $200-$300 a month per client, that we would have to pay with another app”.

Designed with accountants and bookkeepers in mind

Accounting professionals handle multiple clients and need to juggle between them throughout the course of a day:

• Melio includes an intuitive and easy to navigate dashboard of all clients' accounts on one screen, including bill statuses.
• All your clients are accessible from a single login, and from the same dashboard, with a simple click of a button. 
• You can set-up simple approval levels with a few clicks, so you and your clients are quick on your feet while maintaining your clients’ control and visibility over their expenses.
  

Try Melio's free & simple bill pay solution for accountants & bookkeepers. Just click the link, follow the simple registration steps, and add your first client.