Setting up and assessing finance charges can be complicated. We suggest you consult with us if you want to take this route.
You might consider what you pay some of your other vendors when you’re deciding on variables like Annual Interest Rate (%) and Grace Period (Days). Keep in mind that in some jurisdictions, you can’t charge finance charges on existing finance charges, so you’ll need to know your local laws if you want to check that box. Then, tell QuickBooks how you want it to calculate the charges.
To see who owes finance charges and have them applied, click Customers | Assess Finance Charges. Select the Assessment Date and the customers who should be charged. If you click the box in front of Mark invoices: “To be printed,” QuickBooks will print a separate finance charge invoice in addition to the main invoice for each customer. Otherwise, the charges will just be included on their next statement.
Warning: Please let us work with you if you decide to add finance charges. We can help prevent mistakes that will most likely make your customers very unhappy.
Allow your customers to pay online.
This is actually our number one suggestion. You’re not penalizing your customers in any way. You’re simply providing them with an easier way for them to settle up their debts. It’s a courtesy to them, actually. They don’t have to dig for their checkbooks and stamps, address an envelope, and get their payment to the post office. QuickBooks adds information to your invoices telling customers exactly how to proceed.
The benefits to you are obvious: You’re more likely to get paid quicker, and you won’t have to deal with cashing checks and chasing down deposits. You’ll have to first sign up for QuickBooks Payments, which will allow you to accept credit card, debit card, and ACH bank transfer payments electronically. There are no monthly or setup fees, but you’ll of course pay transaction fees. The money should be in your bank account by the next business day, and QuickBooks takes care of all the background work, matching payments with invoices. We can help you get set up here.
Send statements.
You can always run an A/R Aging report to see who’s past due. But you’ll also learn which customers are in arrears if you create and send statements. Click Customers | Create Statements to produce comprehensive lists of your customers’ invoices and payments. You can define a date range and send statements to everyone (or a hand-selected group). You’d be more likely to send statements to everyone who is a specified number of days past due, as pictured below.