Is Your Business Short on Payments?

Collecting money from customers is a challenging job that not all companies want to deal with.

They often outsource to outside organizations and make them responsible for billing and collections.

In theory, this leaves the companies to do what they do best: provide the services or products for which they are known. However, there are some downsides to this decision as well.

Benefits of Outsourcing Billing

Companies that do nothing but billing focus their attention on that one job.

Unlike medical practices that also have to focus on patient health care or other organizations that must divide their time between jobs, billing companies have only one task - to help you get the money you are owed.

These companies hire the best staff and ensure they are trained in billing practices. They often get better results with less effort.

What this means for your company is that you may end up getting your money faster than if you were trying to collect on your own.

Another benefit is that you can focus on the bottom line with billing - who is paying and how soon.

When you are in the middle of all of the routine tasks, it is easy to let some things go. With others handling the daily jobs, you can look at the overall picture and find ways that you can improve on your billing practices.

Downside of Outsourcing Billing

As the article, “Before You Outsource Medical Billing, Read This!” discusses, billing is an important part of a business.

You want to think through your decision to outsource even with the benefits. There are also some negatives to this choice.

The most obvious negative is that you have to pay someone else to handle your billing. This can be quite an expense for a small company.

Some billing companies charge a flat fee while others base their rate as a percentage of the money they bring in.

You have to decide which option is better for your bottom line before deciding on a company.

Another issue is that you lose some control over your billing.

The company will have its own systems and processes in place that you will not have a say in. This can be disconcerting for some businesses, especially if you tend to be more lenient or not always charge certain customers fees.

A billing company will apply the same rules to everyone. While this is not a bad thing, it can make some small organizations feel uncomfortable.

Customers may also be less satisfied with the idea that a separate company handles the billing and they can't go to the same business that provided the service or product for them.

Outsourcing your billing can be a great option, but it is not without some negative aspects.

Before you decide which path to take, you must weigh the pros and cons and choose which method is best for your organization and for your customers.