It’s the year 2023, and as we look around us, we are sure to notice the many leaps and bounds that technology has made. In fact, in the last couple of years alone, there has been such an explosion of OTT streaming platforms that almost every television network out there now owns a paid streaming service. But alongside these services, we’ve also welcomed another phenomenon into our daily lives - recurring subscription billing. So what is recurring subscription billing and how does it work? Let’s find out!
Understanding Recurring & Subscription Billing
Recurring billing, simply put, is the process of billing your customers at regular intervals. More often than not, this billing system goes hand-in-hand with a subscription business model and is understood as synonymous with subscription billing. However, there are some subtle differences.
For one, you can incur a recurring bill on services that do not require a subscription. (Do you pay water and electricity bills every month? Those are recurring bills!) And second, a subscription business model typically restricts the duration for which a service is available to a customer. This can vary widely from one year to a month to anywhere in between or more. Regardless, in the end, recurring and subscription billing models are simply a means of ensuring a regular and predictable income for a business. And in times of fiscal uncertainty, such models can make a company more attractive to potential investors.
Does Your Business Need Recurring Subscription Billing?
No doubt, businesses around the world have come to appreciate the benefits of a recurring subscription billing model. But does that mean it is what your company needs? Not necessarily. So how do you find out if it is? With a simple checklist, of course!
Listed below are some business types that can, and do, benefit from a recurring billing system. And if your company falls into one of them, you can rest assured that you’ve come to the right place.
- SaaS
Bigwigs like Dropbox and Slack are SaaS companies, and since such businesses typically offer their software and services via subscriptions, a recurring billing system is certainly on the cards for them.
- Entertainment
Are you offering entertainment services like Netflix, HBO Max and Disney+ do? You could qualify for a recurring subscription billing system!
- Health and Fitness
Do you wish to offer health and fitness advice to your clients? You may benefit from a recurring billing model where you charge them for a set number of consultations in a month or a year.
- E-commerce and DTC
Are you familiar with Amazon’s subscribe and save option? It allows consumers to get deliveries of products they regularly need, such as pet food, at a discounted price. A recurring billing system would, no doubt, work wonders here.
- Education
If your company offers online courses, you could bill your customers regularly for using your services.
- Online Publications
Much like physical magazines, online magazines too can use automatic subscription billing software to manage their recurring charges to subscribers.
What Does an Automatic Billing Software Do?
Let’s say you’ve got a new client who has signed up to use your services. You’ve decided to bill them regularly and will be saving their banking details to process future payments. These payments will also need to be made through secure gateways that guarantee your users the privacy they desire. Finally, once a transaction has gone through, you will also be expected to generate an invoice to share with the customer.
Now, wouldn’t you agree that all of this seems a bit complicated? Thankfully, this is where automatic billing software can help. Once you’ve implemented such a program, it will assist you in streamlining this process and reducing human errors.
The Pros of Using a Subscription Management Software
Still not on board with recurring billing software? No problem! We'll just take you through the amazing benefits of using subscription management software to show you why you should implement such a billing system.
- It is oh-so-convenient
Any customer that signs up for automatic subscription billing can tell you how convenient it is for them to simply “sign up and forget.” And for your company, using trustworthy automatic billing software offers all the same kinds of convenience, but on the backend.
- Keeping Track of Offers and Discounts
You certainly would not be the first company in history to offer discounts to its consumers. And so, you also would not be the first company to realize what a chore it is to manually keep track of such offers. So, don’t! Let the billing software do it for you!
- Accommodate Multiple Payment Methods and Currencies
The best way to improve conversions is by offering a variety of payment methods and currencies. If a potential subscriber comes all the way down to the buying stage only to find out that their preferred payment method is unavailable, you’d lose out on some much-needed business.
- Safe Data Storage
By employing good subscription management software, you can safely store your customers’ sensitive information in a secure database and retrieve it as and when needed.
Build Your Recurring Billing Software with Pixbit Solutions
When it comes to billing, nothing can take a back seat, certainly not the software used. Sure, you can use recurring billing software that another company offers. Or, you can build one yourself with Pixbit Solutions.
To begin with, our experts are skilled at adding and subtracting any number of features you choose, be it invoicing, cloud storage, point of sale, record management, GST billing or others. Second, building software of your own lets you keep track of multiple invoices and accounts in a way that you choose, offering you more independence. And who can say no to that?
Finally, with Pixbit Solutions building your software, you can be assured of having end- to-end management of your customers’ complex transactions with complete ease, while also making sure that the software adheres to your company’s business goals and needs. So, say yes to our custom-built recurring billing software and see the magic unfold!