Very good point Ken. On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 8:40 AM Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote:
> If you bill for the previous month, count on not getting the last month > for at least half the customers who leave. I’m talking about renters who > move every 12 months, people who sell their house, etc. > > That does affect your bottom line. > > Also, if you turn someone off for nonpayment, and now they already owe you > for last month plus part of this month, it can become tempting to just > stiff you and find a new provider. I know one ex customer that has gone > through us plus 2 other local WISPs plus Rise Broadband twice. I compare > it to people who are under water on their mortgage, they are actually money > ahead to walk away or get foreclosed. You don’t want your customer to owe > you so much money that it is in their economic best interest to switch > providers and not pay you what they owe. > > > *From:* Jim Bouse [Brazos WiFi] <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 28, 2016 7:23 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Postpaid vs Prepaid / Bill in Advance? > > > In the end, it doesn’t matter if it is pre or post billing. It may give > you heartburn to see non-pays getting something for nothing for a month but > in the grand scheme of things, it makes no difference because we have fixed > monthly costs. If they pay or not doesn’t affect our OPEX. > > > > Jim Bouse > > Owner > > Mobile IT Pro - Brazos WiFi > > 979-985-5912 > > [email protected] > > > > *From:* Af [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Lewis Bergman > > > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 28, 2016 6:15 AM > > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Postpaid vs Prepaid / Bill in Advance? > > > > Prebilling would be the preferred method I would think. We billed on the > first and wanted to prebill. In the end, it probably didn't make a hug > difference to the bottom line. I just liked the thought of limiting weekday > someone got for nothing. > > > > On Mon, Jun 27, 2016, 4:50 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > > Exactly. > > And most communications services (phone, cable TV, etc.) are prepaid for > monthly charges and postpaid for usage based charges. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Larry Smith > Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 2:41 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Postpaid vs Prepaid / Bill in Advance? > > If you do not "pre" bill for service, such as internet access, > there is little to no chance of collection after the fact if > they decide not to pay... We pre-bill for the "next" month > on the 20th, due by the 1st, suspend services on the 6th > for CC, ACH, etc (auto payments) that fail, then suspend > cash, check customers on the 10th. > > Our billing system handles this without issue (Freeside). > > -- > Larry Smith > [email protected] > > On Mon June 27 2016 14:35, Christopher Gray wrote: > > I've setup my billing so everything is expected to be paid before service > > is provided (prepaid). I send invoices in advance of a service cycle and > > they are due by the beginning of the service cycle. Early on, I convinced > > myself this was a good idea so I would never have to deal with > collections > > and it seemed fair. > > > > I'm working on switching billing systems, and the new system does not > > really operate that way. This has me wondering if my method is really a > > good one, or if there are good reasons to bill at the start of a service > > cycle. I've gone through my bills and others I have available to me, and > > very few actually bill in advance of a service cycle. > > > > Is there a good reason to avoid prepaid service or that companies tend > not > > to do it? > > > > -Chris > >
