What Is Subscription Billing? 6 Software To Manage Billing

It’s no secret that managing subscription billing can be a nightmare. In the age of digital downloads, it seems like there are a wide range of recurring payments. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are a variety of tools and services available that make managing recurring billing easy.

In this article, we will explore some tools for both desktop and web-based applications. You can use these to help manage subscriptions quickly and easily. We’ll also look at how you might accept subscription payments.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Is a Subscription Payment?

Is It Smart to Operate a Subscription Business?

What Tools Can Businesses Use to Manage Subscription Billing?

What Is the Best Overall Subscription Billing Software?

What Is SAP Subscription Billing?

Key Takeaways

What Is a Subscription Payment?

A subscription payment is a payment made in exchange for ongoing access to a service. There are typically set billing cycles. An example is having access to your favorite games without ever having to pay for them. The vast majority of digital services available today need some form of subscription.

Subscription billing provides customers with access to recurring services at a discount. It’s important to know if your customers are willing to continue subscribing before you offer them a deal. Most billing models offer discounts for annual subscriptions versus monthly.

Is It Smart to Operate a Subscription Business?

The short answer is definitely. Businesses that rely on recurring payments often see the most success and fastest growth. Customers who subscribe to a product or service tend to spend more than those who do not. It’s easier for companies to sell products and services with subscriptions. This is because they can keep selling them as long as their customers remain subscribed.

It also adds an element of predictability to the company’s revenue. This is good for the company and its investors. It also helps add value to the company when it comes time for valuation or sale.

What Tools Can Businesses Use to Manage Subscription Billing?

There are several subscription billing solutions that can help you manage subscription billing. Some web-based tools include: Zuora, Chargify, Recurly, and Braintree. Having an automated subscription billing process is key.

Selecting the best subscription billing software for your company depends on many factors. You will need to consider if your business requires the services of a credit card processor. If not, then any one of these web-based tools may work for you. Also check which billing frequencies are allowed.

You’ll want to check with your credit card processor first to see if they partner with any of these services. You’ll also want to check if their systems will integrate with the software you choose.

Let’s discuss each one in more detail below:

1. Zuora

Zuora is a widely used subscription billing tool with customer satisfaction. There are different functions that help to manage subscriptions which include:

• Allowing companies set up recurring billing
• Track customers and their payment history
• Offer discounts on bundled services

If you need more than basic subscription management functionality Zuora can scale with your business. It’s also compatible with popular CRM and accounting software like Salesforce, Netsuite, and SAP.

2. Chargify

Chargify offers businesses the ability to manage subscriptions of all types. There are two versions of Chargify available. First is an on-premise version. This is ideal for organizations that want complete control of their subscription billing. The second version is Chargify Direct, which doesn’t need any onsite hardware.

Some features of Chargify include:

• Ability to handle a large number of subscriptions per month for businesses
• Multiple pricing levels per subscription
• Allows customers to manage their own subscriptions from within the company’s website
• Online payments
  

3. Recurly

Recurly offers a SaaS platform for subscription billing. It can be used by organizations with any size customer base, no matter how large or small. It has many features that make it popular including:

• Manages all billing needs from one location
• Offers tools for companies of any size
• Allows businesses to offer flexible pricing plans and payment methods

The platform is compatible with most web-based applications and CRM software.

4. Stripe

Stripe is another widely used subscription billing platform. One of Stripe’s most popular features is its ability to accept both credit card and bank payments. Other features of this tool include:

• Ability to process both one-time and recurring payments
• Can be used by any business of any size
• Offers different pricing plans

It’s a good tool for businesses that want to integrate a subscription plan with a shopping cart.

5. Braintree

Braintree is an all-in-one payment platform that also offers subscription billing. It can be used by any company, no matter how large or small, and there are several features that make it stand out from the competition. More features include:

• Offers different pricing plans for different types of businesses
• Allows customers to manage their subscriptions online
• Braintree provides tools that work with other ecommerce platforms. These include Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and Demandware.

It’s a good choice for businesses that want to use an ecommerce platform.

6. PayPal

PayPal is a subscription billing platform that doesn’t require any monthly fees. It’s free up to $30,000 in transactions per month and has several extra features including:

• Ability to accept both one-time and recurring payment
• Offers tools for businesses of all sizes
• PayPal is compatible with many other popular business services. These include Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, and more.

What Is the Best Overall Subscription Billing Software?

All the tools mentioned above are used by thousands of businesses around the world. There’s a subscription billing tool that will help you manage your customers’ subscriptions. It doesn’t matter how big or small your company is.

The best overall subscription billing software depends on several factors. These include whether you want to use a SaaS, on-premise, or free tool. Other factors include pricing plans and compatibility with popular ecommerce platforms. Some examples of these platforms are Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, etc.

One of the top tools to look at is Zuora since it’s available on both the SaaS and on-premise versions.

What Is SAP Subscription Billing?

SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products. It’s a company that helps organizations manage their business operations. SAP is great if your organization wants the ability to track data from a number of different sources. These sources include financial records, customer information, and more.

Besides being a popular CRM, it can also be used as a service for managing subscription billing.

Additional features of SAP include:

• Enables businesses to manage customers and their data from one location
• Automates many business processes
• Any size organization can take advantage of what it has to offer. It’s been designed with customer-centric organizations in mind.

How Much Does SAP Cost?

SAP offers different types of packages. SAP is useful if your organization wants the ability to manage everything from one location. SAP packages often include a customer management system, application software, and more. To learn more about what it can do for your organization, visit their website.

What Is SAP Hybris Billing?

SAP Hybris Billing is a customer management system that supports flexible business models. It enables customers to make purchases quickly. It also makes it easy for businesses to manage subscriptions, products, and more from one location. This can be helpful if you run a small business with multiple revenue streams or have an ecommerce site.

It includes tools for ABM, promotion management, and more. Additional features of this software include:

• Ability to create dynamic pricing plans for different customers
• Supports subscriptions and recurring billing
• Offers tools that work with other ecommerce platforms.

Key Takeaways

In this article you learned about the best tools to use for managing subscription billing. Having a billing system that is easy for customers to manage is very important. This is crucial for a good customer experience.

Braintree offers multiple pricing plans. IT can accommodate many pricing strategies. It also supports integration with other ecommerce platforms. PayPal also provides free services up to $30k in transactions per month without monthly fees. This can come in handy when running a small business with different revenue streams or an ecommerce site.

SAP Subscription Billing automates many processes within customer data management systems. This Is done while making sure any size organization can benefit from what it has to offer.

Hopefully this article gives you some great information about the best ways to manage subscription billing.

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