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Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

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Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#91

Post by mrgriscom »

raverbashing wrote: post #32

Funny how in the US paying with cheques is still a thing Cheques are practically non-existent in Europe. SEPA all the way.

Seriously, it's fucking embarrassing.

To send me money, someone writes numbers on a piece of paper. That piece of paper is physically transported hundreds/thousands of miles to me. Then I have to write on the piece of paper. Then I take a picture of the piece of paper and upload it, where someone reads the numbers written on the piece of paper, and actually transfers the money. Is this really how the world works in 2015???

Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#92

Post by rmc »

eitally wrote: post #68
pkaye wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how does it work in reality? Do big companies violate these directives? Do the regulators fine them?

The key phrase in his statement is "unless otherwise specified". Whenever an enterprise is dealing with a supplier -- and it doesn't matter whether it's software, electronic componentry, services, or anything else -- there is no such thing as an acceptable boilerplate contract or TOS... that is, unless the supplier is bigger than you and refuses to negotiate. Apple is notorious for bullying their suppliers for exampl…

> since it's a directive and not actually a law in any country

What? EU Directives are requirements on member states to bring in laws. That data protection directive has been implemented into national law in every EU member state…

> (except perhaps maybe slightly Sweden... which is also quite a bizarre situation, having a FB data center there and all)

Pretty sure Facebook is (legally) based on Ireland, and under Irish Data Procection law (which is the implementation of the EU DPD in Ireland).

Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#93

Post by zura »

patio11 wrote: post #12

Overwhelmingly: Send a quote for the upcoming year, get a PO number corresponding to the quote, send an invoice referencing the PO number, wait an interminable amount of time, a check magically appears in the mail. The last one was 9 months late in paying. Enterprise life, yay. Salient point to keep in mind: the people responsible for everything that happened in that workflow after my customer passed the quote to her…

Another interesting question: Who decides in the Enterprise that the given price makes sense? And how it is done...

You mentioned six-figures - it can be low, mid or high six.. So does anybody thinks about this there? :)

Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#94

Post by roel_v »

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #51
refurb wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was wondering about this! Has anyone tried it? I know in my industry (pharma) we offer "prompt pay" discounts to our customers. 2% 30 net 60 for example (payment due in 60 days, get 2% off is paid in 30). Of course a huge corporate has a lot more leverage with regards to terms than a small contractor.

How does that work? Do you send out the first invoice at 98% cost, wait 30 days, and send a second 2% invoice if the payment still isn't there?

You send an invoice at 100% and put at the bottom 'if paid before xx/xx/xxxx, amount is really $x.xx'.

Obviously this depends on local regulations. For example, in Belgium the rule is that the basis for VAT does not include the 'prompt payment discount'. E.g.: invoice is 100, 2% 10 net 30. How much is the VAT @ 21%? It's 0.21 * 98, so your invoice can say 'total payable before xx/xx/xxxx: 98 + 0.21 * 98, after that: 100 + 0.21 * 98.

I had a long, drawn-out argument with a supplier once whose very accounting manager didn't understand this concept. They would have me pay VAT on the 100, because otherwise, according to them, they'd be giving me 'a discount on the VAT' (that sentence doesn't make any sense whatsoever). So I called the tax office, PLUS an accountant, to confirm the right way for them to bill me, and they still didn't believe me (or rather - didn't understand me). So just to shut me up, they said 'we'll give you another 2% discount' facepalm

Tangential to the discussion above, I guess, just venting ;)

Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#95

Post by roel_v »

curiously wrote: post #84
throwaway8490 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the USA, banks will only accept one or two checks for deposit to your personal account if you're using a fictional company name before demanding you create a business account. You don't need to incorporate to create a business account, but you have to register your fictitious name locally. Costs about $40 at various places around town and they handle all the paperwork and announcement in a newspaper. For taxes, yo…

okay well im in Canada

Don't rely on the internet for this sort of stuff beyond what you can find on the website of your chamber of commerce. Spend 2 hours with an accountant, they'll tell you all you need.

Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#96

Post by uptownJimmy »

eitally wrote: post #38
patio11 wrote: post #12

Overwhelmingly: Send a quote for the upcoming year, get a PO number corresponding to the quote, send an invoice referencing the PO number, wait an interminable amount of time, a check magically appears in the mail. The last one was 9 months late in paying. Enterprise life, yay. Salient point to keep in mind: the people responsible for everything that happened in that workflow after my customer passed the quote to her…

Here repping enterprises, can confirm this is how things work. But we don't pay late out of malice. Often incompetence and apathy, sure, but we don't actively set out to cheat you guys. We start our Net-X countdown clock at the very last moment, and typically that is when we start receiving the service (not when we agree to a deal). This seriously irks most vendors, but they seem to have been beaten down and conditio…

I cannot bring myself to upvote this wonderfully informative post.

Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#98

Post by sebastianconcpt »

fludlight wrote: post #58
nulltype wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does this trick save you money? I'm not really clear on the details of enterprise payments.

It's an interest free loan from their suppliers. They also give interest free loans to their customers, so it's a two way street. Ultimately, they want to get more free loans from their suppliers than they give to their customers

Yeah, I've heard that Carrefour does it that way

Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#99

Post by codecondo »

GordonS wrote: post #49

Late. That's how :/ Invariably we have to spend a lot of time sending emails chasing late payments, and sometimes making phone calls. They always eventually pay, but it always takes a ridiculous amount of energy to get to that point. Oh, and US customers (we are based in the UK) most often still pay by cheque (or 'check', if you are American :), which take weeks to clear and usually involve high processing fees. On t…

:/

Re: Ask HN: How do your enterprise customers pay you?

#100

Post by tonyedgecombe »

cpncrunch wrote: post #31
patio11 wrote: post #12

Overwhelmingly: Send a quote for the upcoming year, get a PO number corresponding to the quote, send an invoice referencing the PO number, wait an interminable amount of time, a check magically appears in the mail. The last one was 9 months late in paying. Enterprise life, yay. Salient point to keep in mind: the people responsible for everything that happened in that workflow after my customer passed the quote to her…

They can speed things up if they want to. I hope you're not providing your service for free for 9 months. At some point you need to give them a deadline. It's easy with SaaS, as you can just flick off the switch if they don't pay. Obviously with a large, important customer you don't want to immediately deactivate their account if they are overdue by a day, but you have to have a limit!

This is my strategy for my desktop software, I always make sure the purchasing department and users know ahead of time what is about to happen.
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