App of the week – GoCardless
GoCardless is the easy way to collect Direct Debit Payments.
GoCardless allows you to take control of your payments, ensuring your invoices get paid on time, every time via Direct Debit. With automatic reconciliation in Xero, GoCardless improves your cash flow and reduces your admin.
Once your business has connected its Xero and GoCardless accounts, and has obtained direct debit authorities from its customers, payments are automatically collected by GoCardless and the transactions marked as paid within Xero.
Why we love GoCardless:
- Improved cash flow – automatically collect payment for any Xero invoice on the due date, whether recurring or ad hoc.
- Reduced admin – be more productive. Spend less time chasing unpaid bills and manually reconciling payments.
- Happier customers – make payment hassle-free. Set up once to pre-authorize future payment collection so you can focus on business.
- Integrated with Xero – fully synchronized with Xero to collect payments and automatically reconcile against your invoices.
- Quick and simple set-up – get started in minutes with a simple set-up.
- Low, transparent fees – no set up costs, hidden fees or charges for failed payments. GoCardless charges a 1% transaction fee, with a minimum of 20p and a maximum of £2. This makes it cheaper than credit card transactions, which typically cost around 2% with no ceiling.
- Currency options – collect payments in British Pounds, Euros, Australian and New Zealand Dollars, Canadian Dollars.
How it works with Xero
The GoCardless payment service lets you set up direct debit with your customers to automatically collect payments for your Xero invoices.
Getting started with GoCardless for Xero in 5 steps
Connect your account
Get started in minutes by connecting your GoCardless and Xero accounts to the GoCardless for Xero app. See and manage all your GoCardless payments in one place.
Set up your customers
Your Xero customer data will be automatically synced so you can send out Direct Debit mandate requests via email. If you prefer, you can manually select customer records to send mandate requests to. The online mandates take seconds for your customers to complete. You can even add a link to your website or engagement letter.
Add a pay now button to your invoices
Get paid on time by enabling your customers to set up a Direct Debit mandate with you straight from the invoice. Add a pay now button to your invoices so customers can pay for recurring and one-off payments by direct debit.
Start collecting payments
Each time you create an invoice in Xero you can collect the payment automatically by Direct Debit on the invoice due date. Alternatively, you can manually collect payments for specific customers or by Xero branding themes.
Automatically reconcile invoices
Once you’ve received a payment, the relevant invoice(s) will be marked as paid. Xero records the GoCardless fee posted as an expense automatically.
We enjoy automation and making life easier is every way possible. And GoCardless adds to the smooth sales and payment collection process. For more specialist advice – talk to our expert bookkeepers.
