Direct Debit for Marketing Agencies and Accountancy Firms
Last editedApr 20232 min read
Direct Debit - also known as ACH Debit or bank debit - helps marketing agencies and accountancy firms reduce late payments and the burden of admin.
Marketing agencies and accountancy firms can take control of their payments by switching to take payments via Direct Debit. Direct Debit helps them in two main ways:
Reduce late payments.
Reduce accounting and payments admin.
Benefit 1 - Reduce late payments
60% of small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) suffering from serious cash flow issues blame late payments. Without reliable cash flow, agencies can struggle to grow their business – or worse, pay their staff.
By turning to Direct Debit to take payments, agencies and firms can take control of when they are paid. With Direct Debit, once you have authorization from your customer, you can collect payments whenever they are due.
Marketing agency Zest Digital switched to Direct Debit provided by GoCardless, and cut its average debtor days by 39%. Founder Alex Minchin explains the impact:
“We're now in control of what comes in, and when. We cut our average debtor days by nearly 60%. As a result, we've bucked the trend for flat growth in the industry and doubled in size in six months.”
How to collect Direct Debit payments with GoCardless
1.
Create your free GoCardless account, access your user-friendly payments dashboard & connect your accounting software (if you use one).
2.
Easily set up & schedule Direct Debit payments via payment pages on your website checkout or secure payment links.
3.
From now on you'll get paid on time, every time, as GoCardless automatically collects payment on the scheduled date. Simple.
Benefit 2 - Reduce accounting and payments admin
Taking payments by check and bank transfer requires a lot of manual work. You need to cash checks, check your bank every day to see what has cleared, and chase any non-payers.
You can automate your whole payment process by switching to Direct Debit.
Some agencies choose to use card payments instead. About 5-10% of these payments fail each month due to cards expiring or being cancelled. This is a bad experience for your customers, creates unnecessary work for them having to update their details and - if they forget - this may result in their payments lapsing, and you losing them as a customer.
By contrast, Direct Debit payments use a customer’s bank details, which rarely expire or change.
How to get started with Direct Debit
You can get access to the Direct Debit system via a bank, a bureau, or GoCardless. If you would like to find out more about any of these options, you may find our 60 second guide to Direct Debit providers helpful.
GoCardless is a specialist Direct Debit provider. With GoCardless, you can automate your payment process and manage everything online, with:
Quick and easy sign up - You can sign up instantly and for free.
Easy and efficient management - You can collect recurring and one-off payments automatically, or at the click of a button. We manage everything else for you.
Simple, low pricing - See our pricing plans.
Integration with accounting packages - GoCardless integrates with the most popular accounting packages to enable easy invoicing and payment reconciliation.
For more information on Direct Debit, read our overview of how Direct Debit works. You can also learn about how GoCardless can save you time and money when collecting payments via Direct Debit.
