DocGreen
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 44
- Location
- South Bend, IN
Hi guys!
So I've been doing the whole MSP thing, and using Mhelpdesk have everyone setup on recurring quarterly invoices. None of them take advantage of the online payment option, opting instead to pay be check. Some of them mail the check every quarter, and others I'll collect a check in person. The problem, though, is that over time the clients are slower and slower to pay, usually requiring multiple reminder emails, phone calls, and occasionally multiple visits to collect. Because of this, I've decided that I'm going to start requiring new clients to agree to automated payments, and hopefully transition my existing clients to the same.
Now, my problem is that Mhelpdesk only gives me recurring invoices... it won't automatically charge the customer even if the customer has a CC on file (stored in Stripe.) For the record, I have accounts set up with MPayments (wePay), Stripe, Paypal, and Square (which doesn't integrate with MHD)... I'm obviously not married to any particular processor, but from what I've seen MPayments has the lowest CC rate.
Also, because most of these customers seem to dislike paying by CC (and because I fees for ACH processing are lower) I'd like to offer ACH as a payment option for recurring payments.
OK so here's how I could accomplish what I want now, but it requires a lot of manual work on my end:
Obviously the preferred solution is for Mhelpdesk to integrate these features, which I know is totally possible with Stripe at least... but since that's not an option I'm willing suffer through manually updating those invoices provided I could streamline the rest of the process. Now if I were a programmer, I could easily use Stripe.js or whatever it is to build exactly what I want on my website, but unfortunately I'm not. I have seen several Stripe plugins for Wordpress though... so I'm wondering if one of them can do what I'm thinking of.
Now here's how I'd LIKE the process to go:
So... what do you guys think? Does anyone know of a Wordpress plugin that does everything I need, or another solution that fits the bill? How are you guys handling automatic billing (not just invoicing)? Is anyone accepting ACH payments?
So I've been doing the whole MSP thing, and using Mhelpdesk have everyone setup on recurring quarterly invoices. None of them take advantage of the online payment option, opting instead to pay be check. Some of them mail the check every quarter, and others I'll collect a check in person. The problem, though, is that over time the clients are slower and slower to pay, usually requiring multiple reminder emails, phone calls, and occasionally multiple visits to collect. Because of this, I've decided that I'm going to start requiring new clients to agree to automated payments, and hopefully transition my existing clients to the same.
Now, my problem is that Mhelpdesk only gives me recurring invoices... it won't automatically charge the customer even if the customer has a CC on file (stored in Stripe.) For the record, I have accounts set up with MPayments (wePay), Stripe, Paypal, and Square (which doesn't integrate with MHD)... I'm obviously not married to any particular processor, but from what I've seen MPayments has the lowest CC rate.
Also, because most of these customers seem to dislike paying by CC (and because I fees for ACH processing are lower) I'd like to offer ACH as a payment option for recurring payments.
OK so here's how I could accomplish what I want now, but it requires a lot of manual work on my end:
- Sell the client on the service contract, draw up their initial invoice in MHD as well as their contract.
- In the contract, include a Debit / ACH authorization form
- Once all paperwork is signed, create the customer & contract (plan) in Stripe
- If using ACH, I'd need the customer to verify their account (Stripe uses 2 micropay deposits to the client's bank that the customer would need to verify with me, and then I with Stripe)
- Once the account is verified, setup the subscription in Stripe using plan created in step 3, and from there it's good to go.
- Every time a recurring payment is charged in Stripe, I'd have to manually update the invoice to paid in Mhelpdesk.
- Customers, Plans, and Subscriptions have to be configured manually in Stripe
- Customer payment info would need to be entered manually, meaning they'd either need to transmit that to me somehow, or I'd need to setup the billing on-site.
- Customers paying with ACH would need to go through the PITA of verifying the micro-pay deposits
Obviously the preferred solution is for Mhelpdesk to integrate these features, which I know is totally possible with Stripe at least... but since that's not an option I'm willing suffer through manually updating those invoices provided I could streamline the rest of the process. Now if I were a programmer, I could easily use Stripe.js or whatever it is to build exactly what I want on my website, but unfortunately I'm not. I have seen several Stripe plugins for Wordpress though... so I'm wondering if one of them can do what I'm thinking of.
Now here's how I'd LIKE the process to go:
- Customer comes to my website (either with my guidance, or on their own) and is able to browse through the MSP info and learn about the services. (I can almost see myself using this as a presentation if I'm guiding them through it)
- Customer is able to pick out the different parameters of their plan, such which package they want, number of workstations/servers (quantity per package, basically), and any ala carte stuff like block hours, etc.
- I'd like any trial periods (if I go that route) to be handled here automatically as well.
- Customer is able to choose the billing terms (monthly, quarterly, yearly), the payment method (CC, ACH), and then enter all of the payment information themselves, as opposed to relaying the information for me to enter, and potentially have that info recorded on a call or in print somewhere.
- Customer gets the payment confirmation and receipt, I get an email notification.
So... what do you guys think? Does anyone know of a Wordpress plugin that does everything I need, or another solution that fits the bill? How are you guys handling automatic billing (not just invoicing)? Is anyone accepting ACH payments?
