Are you tired of chasing down payments and invoices? Do you want to make it easier for your customers to pay their bills?

If you are a small business owner or freelancer, then getting paid is one of your top priorities. You need to make sure that you are getting paid quickly and reliably, or else you could end up in a bad position. That means your customers’ happiness with available payment methods is important. The easier it is to pay you, the better!

There are many ways to get paid, including via direct debit. This article will go over the advantages of using direct debit for your business, as well as how easy it is to set it up! We’ll walk you through how GoCardless and InvoiceBerry work together in order to make this happen.

Why Direct Debit and GoCardless

Cash is quick, but requires a lot of manual admin.

Bank transfers ask a lot of work from your customer and you’re reliant on when they actually send it off.

Credit or debit cards carry high costs for your business and customer cards can still fail.

Standing orders are great for fixed amounts at regular intervals, but are less flexible–if they need to pay you a different amount or change how often they get billed, your clients often need to cancel the order and make a new one themselves.

Direct debit has the convenience of standing orders, but with added flexibility. After your client allows you to collect payment from them, they won’t need to worry about things like changing amounts or frequencies. You’re in control, and more and more people are looking for this option to pay for services.

Source: UK Finance

GoCardless makes it very easy to set up a direct debit instruction between you and your client. It allows your business to collect direct debit payments from your clients directly, whenever they are due. You can do this on the GoCardless dashboard, or directly from your InvoiceBerry account with only a few steps to connect the two accounts.

Setting up direct debit for your business using GoCardless and InvoiceBerry helps you in many ways:

• You’ll get paid quicker: you won’t have to worry about your client forgetting or getting distracted by other bills. You manage the invoice, their bank pays you on their behalf.
• Your customers don’t have to do any work: after that first authorization, they won’t have to enter card details, do manual bank transfers, or anything else, in order to pay you.
• You’ll save on fees: using GoCardless, you can avoid credit card processing fees that are typically between two and five percent of your transaction total.
• You won’t have to wonder if you’ve been paid: easily collect and track payment right on the InvoiceBerry dashboard you already know and love.

How to Set Up the GoCardless and InvoiceBerry Integration

Let’s get started!

1. Log into your InvoiceBerry account and head to the Settings page by clicking on the Settings link on the upper right hand side of the menu.

2. Once you’re on the Settings page, click on Accept Payments to update your payment options.

3. You will see a list of your current payment options on this page, where you can review them if you need. Otherwise, just continue to scroll down until you see the GoCardless integration box and click on Connect.

If you don’t have a GoCardless account just yet, no worries! You’ll be able to create one in the next steps without any issues.

4. Once you click on Connect, you can either log into an existing GoCardless account, or create a new one immediately.

Let’s say you already have a GoCardless account.

Just scroll down the same page; just below the Create Account button is a link to Sign In to your GoCardless account.

You’ll then be shown a login form to sign into your GoCardless account. Please note this would be your GoCardless login information, not your InvoiceBerry information!

If you don’t have a GoCardless account yet, you can fill out the Sign Up form shown, instead. Your business name and email address is prefilled for your convenience, but you can change them if you need to.

Once you’ve filled it out, click on the Create Account button.

You’ll then be asked to sign into your new account and finish setting it up. You’ll need to provide some information about your company and payout account, among other things.

You can also do this later by clicking on Do this later? just below the Continue button, but don’t forget to go back and fill out your details! You’ll need them in order to collect the money your clients send your way.

6. Profit! You’ve successfully connected GoCardless to your InvoiceBerry account. You can check on InvoiceBerry by going back to Settings > Accept Payments and scrolling down to see if your accounts are linked.

You will also be able to see the link on your GoCardless account, from the Settings > Connected apps page.

If you’re new to GoCardless, remember to finish verifying your account so you won’t have a problem withdrawing your earnings! You can also check out the GoCardless FAQ for a deeper run-through of how their service works.

How Do I Use GoCardless to Get Paid?

Offering GoCardless as an option for your clients to pay you is really straightforward once you’ve linked your InvoiceBerry and GoCardless accounts.

When you’re making a new invoice on InvoiceBerry, simply make sure that GoCardless is selected as an available payment option near the bottom of the Add new invoice page.

If you’ve been collecting online payments using our other methods, this isn’t new to you; but if this is your first time, you’ll start seeing a new button in the invoices generated by InvoiceBerry for you.

When your clients click on Pay now, they’ll be able to pay you via direct debit instantly–no need to go to the bank or call up an account officer.

While they’ll need to authorize your payment request this first time they pay your invoice, they won’t need to keep doing it for any future invoices. This is great when they’re paying you for a subscription or other recurring payment options.

What about your funds, you ask?

Whenever a client pays your invoice, your invoice’s status will show up immediately as paid in your InvoiceBerry dashboard, so it’s all in once place with all your other clients.

You’ll also be able to see updates on your account if you log into your GoCardless account. The GoCardless dashboard will contain updates on funds pending collection from your clients, as well as collected funds that are being released according to your payout details.

Try the GoCardless and InvoiceBerry Integration Now

If you’re running a thriving business, and taking care of your customers is a priority for you, being able to offer multiple payment options is a big plus. Whether you stick with direct debit or offer more options, you’ll be able to:

• Get paid quicker
• Make life easier for your customers
• Save on fees
• Track payment easily in one location

Let InvoiceBerry and GoCardless take care of the nitty gritty details in invoicing and collecting your payment. Sign up with InvoiceBerry now to send out your invoices and get paid via direct debit, so you can focus on the big picture and getting things done.