This guest post is part of our ongoing Small Business Perspective series, and is written by Katharine Napoli, owner of Computerized Office Services in New Jersey.
My company provides billing and bookkeeping services to healthcare providers and small businesses. One of the greatest challenges I face is cash flow. Invoices go out to customers on a regular basis but somehow the payments don’t come in on a regular basis.
I’ve thought about accepting credit cards but because I wouldn’t be able to swipe a card the discount rate would be higher. Based on the fees I’d have to incur to accept credit cards, I haven’t decided that it’s a viable solution. So it goes back to the line of credit solution which annoys me because it seems I’m always playing the “catch-up” game.
From talking to others who are self-employed, this issue seems to be across the board. The past two months we’ve implemented a staggered billing cycle. Not all of our customers are billed at the same time; rather, we bill a third on the first, a third on the 15th, and a third on the 25th of the month. Time will tell if this helps increase cash flow.
Have you had any challenges with cash flow in your small business? What steps have you taken to fix the problem? Have any solutions worked better than others?
Katharine Napoli is the President and Owner of Computerized Office Services, which specializes in healthcare billing and small business bookkeeping. She has extensive experience with small businesses and their needs, having worked for 10 years in various industries.
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