Posted by Chris Kampfe

In our pursuit to unite business policies with green policies, we’re going beyond simply using public transit, biking to work, and recycling our green tea bottles…which we do anyway. One of our foremost aspirations at PaySimple is to simplify billing processes and empower small businesses to succeed. Taking that a step further, when small businesses and online billing come together, we’re succeeding not only in the marketplace, but also in reducing our impact on the environment.

Small businesses across the country spend thousands of dollars every day on paper, printing and postage to bill clients. By moving all your invoices and receipts into the magnificent, paperless world of the Internet, you are effectively tossing all of those expenses in the compost pile, or recycle bin–or whatever you do with your trash.

In the process of saving your business money, you’ll also be saving trees, water and energy. Think of paperless billing as your company’s way of thinking globally and acting locally.

If you’re wondering just what kind of impact you and your business can have, below is a posting from ElectronicPayments.org, which estimates the environmental upshot if every household in the U.S. paid their bills online.

• Save 18.5 million trees each year, or the amount of lumber needed for 216,054 typical single-family homes.

• Save more than 15.8 billion gallons of wastewater a year, more than that generated by the city of Fresno, Calif.

• Save more than 29 trillion BTUs, more than enough energy to provide residential power to the city of Jacksonville, Fla. for one year.

• Reduce toxic air pollutants by 2.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalents, akin to having 390,326 fewer cars.

• Reduce by 1.7 billion pounds the solid waste generated in a year, equal to the raw tonnage generated by Detroit in a year’s time.

• Save landfill space and curb the amount of toxic chemicals - including methane gas - released into the atmosphere as paper decomposes. A contributor to global warming, methane gas has 21 times the heat-trapping power of carbon monoxide.

Many small businesses are created on a foundation of integrity, but due to budgetary restraints, decisions are often made on a basis of what is “financially sound,” and not necessarily what is “environmentally sound.”

By creating platforms for small businesses to shine, we hope to change the way businesses think, to show that financially and environmentally sound choices are in fact one and the same… and that tofu is nutritious and can actually be quite tasty when prepared with the right seasonings.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Technorati Tags: recycling, small business, online billing, paperless billing, environmentally sound, tofu

Posted by Sarah Jordan

As most of us are smack in the middle of our first full workweek after the holidays—and we’re re-energized and back in the swing of things—I’d like to take a moment to recap some important industry events of last year. Here are a few of the milestones, scares, and trendsetters from 2007:

o Studies revealed that consumers initiated $82.3 billion electronic transactions 2006, an increase of 13% from the year before.*

o The fall of the paper check continued: the Federal Reserve announced its plan to cut its regional check-processing centers down to four by March 2011.

o Payment networks Visa, MasterCard, and Discover became stand-alone public entities or were in the final stages of becoming so.

o Visa launched its mobile payments platform.

o Apple released the iPhone, and its tremendous popularity contributed to the predictions of mobile payments expansion.

o “Skimming,” a process where someone takes your credit card to process your payment and then fraudulently records your information for later use, became a notorious id theft practice.

o Security breaches drove more proactive PCI compliance programs, both externally by law and from within companies.

What to expect for our new year? Security threats and compliance programs will continue to gain momentum and hopefully mandate all payments industry organizations become PCI compliant. Paper checks will continue to decline and actually become more costly and time-intensive to process manually. Technology innovations, partnerships, and mergers will not only integrate payment, accounting, and billing systems, but also inventory, shipping, and distribution systems. Happy New Year to a more secure and efficient business.

*Figure from Digital Transactions (v4, n11, November 2007)

Popularity: 18% [?]

Technorati Tags: electronic transactions, paper check, mobile payments, id theft, PCI compliant

Posted by Sarah Jordan

The holiday season can either be your busiest or your slowest time of the year. Help prepare for this season by following these simple tips:

Watch Your Cash Flow: If the holidays are the busiest time for your business, then save money from your increased revenue for the slower months ahead. However, if the holidays are the slowest time for your business, then cut your expenses as much as you can and start a reserve when revenue is flowing again for next holiday season.
Sell Gift Certificates and Gift Cards: Almost every business, from dentists to carpet cleaning, can sell gift cards during the holiday season for their services. If the holidays are slow for you, then offer gift cards/certificates at a discount, allowing you to take advantage of holiday buying revenue, and the customer to use later in the year.
Take Advantage of “Down” Time: Host a networking party, update your website, submit an article to a local publication. Every business has its “down” time and it’s a great time to get caught up on tasks that get pushed to the back burner during the busy months.
Attend Holiday Parties: Holiday parties are an excellent way to make new contacts and reach potential clients. Attend as many parties as you can–and don’t forget to bring along a handful of business cards.
Send Holiday Cards and Thank You’s: An important part of the holidays for all of us is to send thanks and well wishes to others. This is also important for businesses. Sending a holiday card with “Thanks for being our customer” is a very simple and inexpensive way to remind customers of your business.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Technorati Tags: holiday season, Cash Flow, networking party

Posted by Sarah Jordan

Yep, it’s true. It seems everything under the sun these days is “going green” (even Wal-Mart has). While PaySimple itself promotes saving resources and going paperless for billing and collections, we’ve recently taken simple internal steps to be more environmentally friendly as well.

1) We’ve implemented glass, paper, and plastic recycling bins throughout the office. And if we don’t separate accordingly, our office manager will be sure to let us know. We also recycle our print cartridges, which in turn, makes them more inexpensive to purchase.

2) Our new web server, Dreamhost, is green. This may sound odd, but servers that host green put off significantly less harmful emissions and use renewable energy. Click the logo to see our green certification or Learn more about Dreamhost.

3) In addition, PaySimple is using EcoPasses. An EcoPass with the Regional Transportation District in Denver gives employees all-inclusive access to local public transportation methods. Within one month, an entire office went from driving to work, to taking public transit.

Taking small steps to becoming green is not difficult and can save your business some cash in the process. Check out public transportation programs in your area and start recycling your print cartridges. If you’re shopping for web hosting options, choose one with a clean emissions program. And as always, your business can get some good PR out of it.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Technorati Tags: going green, environmentally friendly, recycling, EcoPass, web hosting

Posted by Sarah Jordan

What to look for in a payment processing system for your business. If you’ve been looking, or are just starting to look for something to simplify your accounts receivable processes, then you’ve probably noticed the wide variety of systems out there. From check printing to ACH automatic debits, it’s important to be an informed consumer about the different types of processing as well as the different systems available. Here are a few key areas to pay attention to:

Pricing: Payment processing can be a “get what you pay for industry.” When comparison shopping, picking the cheapest price could mean you’re picking a…well, you get the idea. Also, a seemingly cheap price to start out can lead to hidden costs down the road. Read the find print or anything with an “*” next to it in the pricing agreements.

Customer Service: Many companies charge a fee each time you call in to customer service. Trying to avoid a fee, you can end up with an even bigger problem than what you started with. Call in to the customer service line before purchasing to see what kind of service you actually get.

Features: Always take advantage of demos or free trial periods to investigate the capabilities and feature of the system. While shopping, you should ask questions about your business. Where does your business plan to expand later on? Will you be able to accept payment off the web? Does this system support new technologies or outdated ones?

These categories are broad, but there are quite a few details within each one. See our comparison charts for detailed examples: PaySimple competitor comparison, Cash Disbursement. Taking the time to investigate your options for a payment processing system will help you choose the system that best suits your business-and its growth.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Technorati Tags: payment processing, accounts receivable, ACH, business, competitor comparison