Save money every day for your small business when using one or more of these payment options.

As a small business, managing and paying vendors and contractors can be time-consuming. With our money-saving tips on payments, you can reduce your expenses and boost your cash flow flexibility. Ready to start increasing your bottom line?

Automated Clearing House (ACH) Payments

With an ACH payment or transfer, money is electronically and securely transferred from one bank to another through the Automated Clearing House Network. The ACH transaction system is used for a variety of payments, including person-to-person, payroll, direct deposit, tax payments, tax refunds, business bills, and consumer bills. A business must connect its bank to the ACH Network and grant permission to deduct or credit its account to use ACH transfers. Each party in any ACH transaction does not have any visibility or access to the other party’s bank account data.

When you include all of the costs in creating, sending/collecting, and reconciling checks, using ACH payments saves your business money, both in dollars and people’s time. A study by Bank of America found that the average small business incurred costs of $4 to $20 per check. Plus, if you have a recurring expense, you can save even more time by scheduling regular payments. And since all ACH payments are scheduled, you can better control your cash flow.

Payment Approval Workflows

Payment approval workflows have many benefits, and, in particular, save you time and money. A payment approval process helps your company with cost control, cash flow visibility, and a faster month-end close for your accounting team. It’s also easier to catch or prevent errors as well as possible fraud. 

Credit Cards

Another way to pay your invoices and bills is through your business credit card, which can provide more flexibility for managing your cash flow. One benefit of paying by credit card is that it offers your business a “free float” window. A free float extends the time you have to pay your business expenses for another 30-45 days (or sometimes even longer) beyond the original payment due date.

Paying by credit card can also provide other benefits for your business that can save you money or provide other forms of flexibility. Using your business credit card to pay an invoice can result in earning rewards such as miles and cashback. Credit cards also come with fraud protection, providing an additional layer of protection for your business. Lastly, credit cards can also offer an extended credit or loan line since you have time to pay off the balance.

Early Payment Discounts

The standard payment term on invoices is often 30 days. However, many suppliers offer discounts for early payments. Common terms your suppliers may offer are 1/10, net 30, and 2/10, net 30. With a 1/10 term, a 1% discount is offered if payment is within 10 days. Similarly, a 2/10 term means that you receive a 2% discount if paying within 10 days. Early payment discounts can help improve your margins and increase your cash flow.

Secure 2-3 day payments to 200+ countries worldwide in USD and foreign currencies

US-based users of LiquidTrust™ can send payments to 200+ countries worldwide in USD and in 40+ foreign currencies without having to ask for bank information from your suppliers, vendors, contractors, and freelancers. In addition, vendors anywhere in the world can use LiquidTrust to invoice Clients, even if those Clients are not users of LiquidTrust.  LiquidTrust makes it easier to send and receive supplier, freelancer and vendor payments, anytime, anywhere.

Note, we are not providing legal, tax, or payroll advice. Please consult your legal, tax, and payroll professionals. These are simply to serve as guidelines based on our own experiences.

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