Posts Tagged "Small Business"

The Merchant Statement Fee

Posted by on May 31, 2014 in Blog, Credit Card Processing, Payment Processing | 0 comments

The Merchant Statement Fee

The Fee is not Just for the Paper Every month millions of businesses are charged a statement fee in association with their card processing merchant account.  Many ask the question, “Why am I getting charged so much to get a few sheets of paper each month.”  Merchant statement fees are commonly $10, $12 even $15 and there is a large misconception that this fee is only related to the packet of paper that summarizes the card processing for the previous month. The truth is that most organizations have an “account on file fee” associated with every merchant account they board.  This fee is typically based on how many accounts an ISO (independent sales organization) has with the processor and can be anywhere from $0 to $5.  It is also common for sales agents to be restricted by a statement fee “buy rate,” meaning that they can not charge less than say $5.  The account on file fee is designed to account for the monthly cost of doing businesses associated with each account, which includes, preparing and sending a paper statement to the merchant, even if they do not process a single card.   How to Eliminate the Statement Fee It is common to see statement fees from $5-$15, if you are paying much more than this, call your account representative and find out why.  Additionally, most processors and sales organizations offer to remove or reduce the statement fee if the merchant moves to paperless (online) statements.  If this is not an option, or if you prefer paper statements, it is likely that the sales organization or agent will reduce this fee should you ask.  This is especially true if you have increased processing volumes since the account was first established. An important piece of information to know is that, the two major tools that sales organizations use to protect or keep their merchant accounts are via the statement fee and monthly minimum. These fees are commonly used in calculations for termination clauses.  They are also used as ways to guarantee a minimum level of revenue, should a merchant account become dormant for any reason.  So do not expect to completely eliminate this fee, however ensure that what you are paying is...

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Cash Free Advertising

Posted by on May 31, 2014 in Blog, Business Development, Point of Sale | 0 comments

Cash Free Advertising

Pay for the ad after you make a sale! Cash free advertising is a relatively new form of advertising that implements the methodology of cost per acquisition (CPA) commonly used in the online e-commerce world and transfers the “pay-per performance” structure to the brick and mortar business. Cash free advertising campaigns allow businesses to forgo the upfront cost of advertising and only pay when the advertising medium generates a measurable sale. Typically, with advertising using the traditional method, a business would map out a budget for their advertising and pay upfront for the campaign. This could be a billboard, radio spot, a TV commercial, mailers and even online marketing. After it runs the business would then wait for the customers to arrive. With cash free advertising the business pays nothing upfront, the advertising campaign runs and the business only pays for the advertising when the customer makes a purchase. This method eliminates the risk of paying for ineffective advertising campaigns and affords the business the ability to accurately track the return on that investment. Another great option with these programs is that in some cases the business owner can also pay for the advertising using the goods or services of the business. This creates a unique 3-way barter system where the business owner pays for the advertising campaign at its cost of goods sold (COGS) while still charging the customer full retail price for products sold and services rendered. This option is great for a business with low COGS and a high gross profit margin. Assuming that those businesses also have relatively low fixed costs, it creates a massively discounted advertising payment strategy. Cash free advertising is changing the way that businesses pay for advertising and is being done with new technologies that track the way consumers spend money. With state of the art tracking software through point of sale systems advertisers can now guarantee that the advertising worked. The key element is that if the campaign does not work the business does not pay for it, thus eliminating the most critical risk in...

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Important Business Formation Documents

Posted by on May 31, 2014 in Blog, Business Formation | 0 comments

Important Business Formation Documents

Business Continuation Strategy Continuations strategies are a much-overlooked aspect that business owners must think about, especially if there is more than one principal owner of the business. Continuation strategies prepare for the unexpected personal circumstances that can seriously affect the business. This could include serious injury, illness, death or departure of a major partner in the company. By having a continuation strategy in place, it will clearly outline what guidelines are to be followed both financially and operationally with the company. If a principal dies or leaves the business, it will outline whether the affected party’s share in the company would transfer to another member, the ownership team or to another person outside of the corporate structure. This agreement should also outline how the duties of the departed principal would be redistributed within the operational activities of the company. This agreement between the ownership team gives the partners peace of mind that there is something in place to protect the owners financially in case the worst happens. Clearly documenting this information could help mitigate severe consequences.   Buy-Sell Agreement A buy-sell arrangement is an important contract that much be signed by co-owners of a business that governs what happens if an owner dies or is otherwise forced to leave the company. This agreement would also document how proceedings would occur if an owner chooses to leave the business voluntarily. In most cases a buy-sell arrangement is backed by a life insurance policy covering all major principals of an organization. Buy-Sell Arrangements are a vital document within business development and should cover all situations that can occur, for assistance with these documents a professional business consultant should review the arrangements that you have...

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Secure Online Accounting Explained

Posted by on May 31, 2014 in Blog, Cloud Accounting | 0 comments

Secure Online Accounting Explained

Secure Online Accounting Defined Secure online accounting, which is often referred to, as cloud accounting is a service that removes site level bookkeeping from personal computers and hosts it securely online. This creates protected accounting information, allows for multiple-user access and gives bookkeepers, accountants and financial professionals more efficient access to business financials in real time. Some of the ways in which online accounting mitigates data loss risk is by keeping sensitive information securely hosted off site and backed up in multiple ways regularly. Examples of how online accounting removes the risk of data loss include the following: Eliminates loss of data due to computer malfunction and tampering Removes the risk of data loss due to on-site disaster or theft Creates redundancy by data being hosted in more than one location Adds security of daily and weekly backups to multiple sources Cloud accounting also provides an ease of functionality and convenience for the business owner in several ways, including: Full access to accounting information in any location at any time Full access for bookkeepers from any location Real-time accounting updates for the business and bookkeeper Multiple-user access affords the ability to instantaneously review client data and update books Removes the hassle of file exchange between business owners and financial professionals Cloud accounting is a no-brainer for any business but is often not thought of during business development. It is an easy low cost solution that every business owner needs but is overlooked frequently. It is an easy fix for those who spend countless hours at the end of year and at tax time consolidating financial information when it could be avoided with some simple planning and implementation of a virtual accounting program. Wouldn’t it be better to spend minutes throughout the year, instead of hours or even days at the end of the fiscal year? Cloud accounting also integrates seamlessly with POS systems and credit card processing allowing the business to eliminate non-value added man-hours manually importing and exporting data. If you are interested in exploring this business solution further follow the link below for a free trial. Click here to sign up for a your 30 day FREE trial of secure online accounting (clouded...

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