6 Benefits of Integrated Credit Card Processing

To avoid the stress of manual accounting, many businesses are now using integrated credit card processing to help manage finances.

What are integrated payments? The video below can help explain:

Integrated payment processing allows businesses to link their accounting software to an integrated payment provider. This simplifies the payment process and gives businesses the ability to process payments directly within existing software.

The benefits of integrated payments certainly make it worthwhile. It can eliminate double data entry and provide a much more seamless accounting process.

Integrated credit card processing is straightforward and extremely effective.

Here are 6 benefits of integrated credit card processing that can help small businesses streamline the accounting process.

1. Save time
2. Reduce overall expenses
3. Increase cash flow
4. Reduce human error
5. Improve your workflow
6. Strengthen security

Save time

One of the most significant benefits of integrated credit card processing is the number of hours that small businesses can save by no longer having to manually enter credit card information into accounting software.

Instead of having to go back and manually input every transaction detail, all batch information is automatically entered into the ERP system or accounting software following a transaction.

With integrated payment processing, transaction information transfers straight to accounting software without any additional human interaction.

This frees up more time in the day for employees to complete other tasks that they may not have normally been able to accomplish.

Reduce overall expenses

Integrated credit card processing eliminates daily tasks that employees used to perform. Since integrated credit card processing can update payments to the General Ledger automatically, there is no longer any need for an employee to manage the Accounts Receivable or reenter transaction data into the accounting software.

In addition, it simplifies the payment process and makes it easier to train employees on how to process payments, allowing businesses to save money and time on training.

Increase cash flow

Getting paid on time is ideal, but not always as easy as some may think. In fact, 90% of small businesses that fail due so because of poor cash flow, according to Business.com.

The manual accounting process is time-consuming, and can delay small businesses from receiving invoice payments for several days.

With integrated credit card processing, payments can be automatically applied to accounting software, and posted to Accounts Receivable and General Ledger.

This simple process ensures that small businesses get paid as soon as possible, which makes it much easier to manage finances and increase cash flow.

Reduce human error

Human beings are not perfect. Whether it is entering data incorrectly, double data entry, or applying incorrect data to accounts, accounting mistakes are bound to happen. Once they are discovered, these mistakes need to be corrected, which takes up valuable time and could cost a business money.

With integrated credit card processing, payments are seamlessly passed into accounting software, and applied to the General Ledger or credited to an invoice. This process eliminates human errors and double data entry and ensures that a business is able to function as efficiently as possible.

Improve your workflow

Without the help of integrated payment processing, the credit card transaction process can seem complicated and time-consuming. First, an order must be taken from the customer. Next, credit card information is swiped or keyed into the credit card terminal. Then, a paper invoiced is printed and attached to a paper receipt. Finally, at the end of the day, invoices and receipts are sorted through to make sure they match and are marked as paid.

One of the benefits of integrated credit card processing is that businesses can simply enter credit card data directly into accounting software, and the integrated payment system takes care of the rest.

This automated process can help to maximize productivity for small businesses and encourage effective workflow management.

Strengthen security

The manual accounting process has been used for years. However, integrated payments provides businesses the ability to use cloud-based accounting, which provides a more secure method of managing finances.

Cloud-based accounting is a software that runs on servers and allows businesses to access data from anywhere using the Internet. It protects businesses from system administration costs and server failures. Many cloud-based accounting software are also PCI compliant, which helps protect credit card information in the event of a data breach.

According to Firm of the Future, most cloud-based accounting software is run from a data center, which offers multiple levels of security to protect the software and your data. The typical data center has significantly better security than most small businesses.

The video below covers even more added benefits of integrated credit card processing:

Integrated credit card processing for your business

Linking your accounting software to an integrated payment provider will help eliminate manual errors and speed up the overall process. When deciding between solutions, make sure you understand your company’s credit card processing needs so you can set up the best payment processing for your business.