[Steve H]

Hi Guys,
Does anyone have any input, good or bad on "Go cardless" or a similar option?
Just trying to get more efficient and save time where we can going forward.
Does it work well, does it cost much (each month/transaction) or does it save you time/money each month, which is the main reason for doing it in the end!
Cheers in advance
Steve

[Shrek]

1% + 20p per transaction-

400 x £10 monthly customers =

30p per transaction =

£120 a month =

£1440 per year 

So you clean 144 customers a year to pay a company to collect payment and then transfer it to you.

[Pete Thompson]

I use it for some customers, but not all. For ones where they keep forgetting to pay it’s handy because you don’t have to keep reminding them.

I don’t think the above example is realistic to be honest, I doubt many people have 400 x £10 customers.

Assuming the turnover is right (£4k) I’d say you’d be more likely to have 285 x £14.00 monthly customers.

In that case, the fees would be 34p per customer, so more like £97 per month (assuming you collected all of your turnover this way).

This is also tax deductible, so if you’re paying 20% tax and are self employed, the actual cost is £78 per month. (Less if you’re a higher-rate tax payer)

Pros:
+ Cashflow (no waiting for weeks to get paid)
+ Bad debts less likely (though not impossible)
+ Customer doesn’t have to do anything, which some really like
+ Generic cards ; you wont need to write out your 'windows cleaned today' cards with individual amounts one (EG please pay £14.00), you could just get generic "thank you for continuing to pay by direct debit" cards, which will save some time and admin.  It might also be a way to hide your prices from employees if you don't want them to know how much you are charging.

Cons:
- Fees
- I don’t like to be dependent to an outside company to get paid. If they went bust or shut down, or decided to triple their fees, it would be a real pain to untangle from them if you collect all your income this way.

[Shrek]

I use it for some customers, but not all. For ones where they keep forgetting to pay it’s handy because you don’t have to keep reminding them.

I don’t think the above example is realistic to be honest, I doubt many people have 400 x £10 customers.

Assuming the turnover is right (£4k) I’d say you’d be more likely to have 285 x £14.00 monthly customers.

In that case, the fees would be 34p per customer, so more like £97 per month (assuming you collected all of your turnover this way).

This is also tax deductible, so if you’re paying 20% tax and are self employed, the actual cost is £78 per month. (Less if you’re a higher-rate tax payer)

Pros:
+ Cashflow (no waiting for weeks to get paid)
+ Bad debts less likely (though not impossible)
+ Customer doesn’t have to do anything, which some really like
+ Generic cards ; you wont need to write out your 'windows cleaned today' cards with individual amounts one (EG please pay £14.00), you could just get generic "thank you for continuing to pay by direct debit" cards, which will save some time and admin.  It might also be a way to hide your prices from employees if you don't want them to know how much you are charging.

Cons:
- Fees
- I don’t like to be dependent to an outside company to get paid. If they went bust or shut down, or decided to triple their fees, it would be a real pain to untangle from them if you collect all your income this way.

Why do you doubt many people have 400 x £10 customers? Have you done extensive market research 🧐, there’s people on here that say they do 20 semis  a day , it’s not difficult.

It was a clear example with round figures so the guy can clearly see how much it cost, you can reduce the figures or increase them as much as you like

[dazmond]

I have enough things eating into my income from window cleaning without using an outside company making money off my hard earned cash...

I don't mind waiting a few weeks for some payments(most pay by bacs) as its rolling debt which is drip fed into my account every day of the year....

[jo5hm4n]

GoCardless is simple.

If you want to save time on admin, and dont mind the extra costs then use it 100%

If you dont mind the extra time on admin, and you want to keep costs down in your small business then dont use it.


If you are trying to grow your business and have a multiple van operation then GoCardless 100% or you will spend and waste so much time chasing payments and cashflow will be poor.

[Slacky]

I don’t have any £10 customers. £10 is probs a tad low to use as an example. Might be better to use an average.

[Shrek]

I don’t have any £10 customers. £10 is probs a tad low to use as an example. Might be better to use an average.

What’s your average slacky , it’s difficult using an average when there’s a big mixture of people on here going from London to Aberdeen

[Slacky]

I don’t have any £10 customers. £10 is probs a tad low to use as an example. Might be better to use an average.

What’s your average slacky , it’s difficult using an average when there’s a big mixture of people on here going from London to Aberdeen

Dunno, but you can chew the bones off that.   

[Shrek]

I don’t have any £10 customers. £10 is probs a tad low to use as an example. Might be better to use an average.

What’s your average slacky , it’s difficult using an average when there’s a big mixture of people on here going from London to Aberdeen

Dunno, but you can chew the bones off that.   

Flippin eck 😂 😂 😂

How on earth do you manage a round like that 😭 you’ve got 8 weekly & 2 monthly??

[Slacky]

They're the same pretty much aren't they, 8 weekly, 9 weekly, 2 monthly. The average price for those is 50 quid. It's just how they were entered in to Aworka.

Don't over complicate it. Ive done my money by 13:00 with a 09:30 start 

[Arnold Palmer]

It's just how they were entered in to Aworka.

That would give me the heebie jeebies.

[Splash & dash]

GoCardless is simple.

If you want to save time on admin, and dont mind the extra costs then use it 100%

If you dont mind the extra time on admin, and you want to keep costs down in your small business then dont use it.


If you are trying to grow your business and have a multiple van operation then GoCardless 100% or you will spend and waste so much time chasing payments and cashflow will be poor.

We are a multi van operation and I certainly wouldn’t use it would cost a fortune, if you set your stall out with customers before taking them on getting payment isn’t difficult, Co careless is a complete rip off once you have signed up and got hundreds or thousands of customers on it they have you by the short and curly s if they hike the price up what do you do ?  Major job to change , friend if mine is paying  over 14k a year in charges and trying to come up with another way .

[Kinderbueno]

I am thinking of this

[Arnold Palmer]

GoCardless is simple.

If you want to save time on admin, and dont mind the extra costs then use it 100%

If you dont mind the extra time on admin, and you want to keep costs down in your small business then dont use it.


If you are trying to grow your business and have a multiple van operation then GoCardless 100% or you will spend and waste so much time chasing payments and cashflow will be poor.

We are a multi van operation and I certainly wouldn’t use it would cost a fortune, if you set your stall out with customers before taking them on getting payment isn’t difficult, Co careless is a complete rip off once you have signed up and got hundreds or thousands of customers on it they have you by the short and curly s if they hike the price up what do you do ?  Major job to change , friend if mine is paying  over 14k a year in charges and trying to come up with another way .

I changed to smartdebit when gocardless doubled my bill.

[Perfect Windows]

The money we spend on GoCardless is, indeed, shocking. But only if we disregard any benefits it brings.

Vin

[Smudger]

Certainly horses for courses - no problem using go cardless

Saves so much time chasing payments

 darran