I've seen a company that uses a bar code system. It may look good, but unless you have
thousands of customers there really is no need for this level of complication.
EZclean I think they were called.
Any automated payment system you use will eat into the actual price of the job. Joe customer doesnt want to pay extra for the fact you have a wonderful payment system, so it comes off the price of the job.
If you want to accept
direct debits, that is a whole different ball game (Direct debit is where your bank
takes money from the customer by agreement). For a start, you must be subject to the rules of the Direct Debit Guarantee which has certain trading limits which are relatively high.(in the order of about £150,000 turnover) You must also satisfy your bank that your administrative systems are efficient enough to cope with DD and they will also look at the financial standing of your business. If you are not a limited company, forget it. More info here:
http://www.directdebit.co.ukHowever, you may consider asking your customers to set up a
Standing Order Subtley different from direct debit in that the customer instructs their bank
to send funds to your bank on a regular basis (eg every month). As your customer is controlling the arrangement, there are no criteria you must meet other than to have a bank account that will accept standing orders. (some savings accounts will not, but all current accounts will)
I do this with a few customers, and it works perfectly.
If you are having difficulty organizing who has and hasnt paid, then you need george.
http://www.georgesystems.co.uk-Philip