Online commerce has made buying anything from sweatpants to professional development courses fast and easy. Payment portals that provide quick and secure online payment checkout have changed the way many consumers make purchases. The advantages retail companies get from payment portals on their websites can be realized by contractors on their websites, too, helping them get paid faster for their work.
E-commerce sales were estimated at over a billion dollars in 2022, up 7.7 percent from the previous year. Companies have moved to get payment portals and one-click buy buttons on their websites because they add convenience to the customer, which not only endears companies further to consumers but actually makes it more likely that those consumers will buy.
For contractors, a payment portal offers similar advantages. Although payment is already assumed when the contractor signs on to complete a job, easier payment processes can entice clients to pay up sooner, making the funds available to the contractor quicker. This article will discuss how adding a payment portal to your contractor website can help you get paid faster.
Why you need to get paid faster
Construction companies rely on incoming cash to balance out ongoing business and project-related expenses. A healthy cash flow allows contractors to maintain payments for supplies, equipment, and labor so that construction projects can continue smoothly. Without adequate cash flow, a project can grind to a halt, and even fail entirely.
To maintain cash flow equilibrium, contractors often stipulate specific timelines or milestones by which owners should pay for work completed to date. Contractors may submit invoices according to those outlines and still wait weeks to receive payments.
Online payment portals can help close the gap between when a contractor sends an invoice and when payment is received, which helps maintain a healthy cash flow that funds further project progress.
What is a payment portal?
A payment portal is a secure online platform that a customer can use to make a payment to a company. Essentially, it’s a button you can place on your website that leads customers to make an electronic payment so that clients don’t have to write checks or get bank drafts – they simply send the money from their account to yours.
Online payment processing is a fast, secure, and well-accepted method of moving money, and it can help you get paid faster for your contracting work.
Why does a payment portal help you get paid faster?
Many construction companies still rely on checks to pay their bills. Checks are familiar and leave clear paper trails to track payments. So what are the advantages of introducing a payment portal on your contractor website?
Simplify the payment process
Checks are indeed familiar to most middle-aged adults, but the idea that checks are somehow more straightforward than an online payment portal is patently untrue.
Offering clients a digital button that they can click to move money from one account to another is as simple as it gets. Checks must be printed, written out, signed, mailed, and cataloged in an accounting system. All this takes more time (and money) than you might recognize.
Online payment portals, on the other hand, accomplish payment in an instant in a single step. With Truss, your clients can easily pay outstanding invoices via ACH bank transfer, or via credit card in a few clicks. Accepting credit card payments further adds to the convenience of paying invoices for your clients.
Simplifying the payment process for your clients and offering different online payment methods helps to remove the barriers to payment.
Faster access to cash
When your client makes a payment via your website’s payment portal, you can access the cash faster. Checks get held up waiting for signatures, during the mailing process, or when your financial institution imposes mandatory holding periods on them. Meanwhile, funds received online are available quickly, typically within just a few days. With Truss payments, payments are available to you instantly when your client clicks the “send” button.
Faster access to cash can help maintain a healthy cash flow in your contracting business. You can use cash in the bank to pay for immediate project expenses, which could mean the difference between a project’s ongoing success or failure.
Improved transparency
Ever made an inquiry about a past due payment, only to be told ‘the check is in the mail’? Waiting for a check to arrive is frustrating and stressful, and there’s no way to track its progress through the system.
When clients submit payments through an online payment portal, you can track the funds in real-time, and even receive notifications when your clients make payments. You can manage your expenses better by removing the mystery surrounding incoming contractor payments.
Security advantages of an online payment portal
Consumers are concerned with the security of their payments. While customers are eager to take advantage of the convenience of online payment systems, 55% say security is one of their prime concerns.
Checks often feel secure because they’re solid, tangible objects, but in reality, most of the fraud that occurs in the US happens through checks. Checks are vulnerable to loss or theft during transit from one business to another. Check thieves may access funds by washing the check, and gain sensitive contact information about both the check’s sender and recipient.
Truss's online payment portal is protected through enhanced security features like encryption, two-factor authorization on every login, and fraud detection, which helps protect sensitive contact information about your business and your customer.
How to set up an online payment portal on your website
The advantages of setting up a payment portal on your contractor website are clear: a payment portal offers a quick, simple, and secure method your clients can use to transfer funds to clear an outstanding invoice. Luckily, setting up a payment portal can be just as straightforward as using one.
Truss makes it easy to create a free account and generate a checkout link your customers can use to send you money. Simply connect the link to a button on your website, and you’re set up to receive online payments.
An online payment portal can help you get paid faster
Maintaining healthy cash flow is critical to your contracting business. The increased convenience, speed, transparency, and security offered by online payments through a payment portal on your website can streamline the payment process and remove barriers to payment. These advantages can help you get paid faster to keep your construction projects moving.
Truss is built for the construction industry and makes it easy to set up an online payment portal on your contracting business's website. Try it now for free!
