Self-billing Systems for Recruitment Agencies
Published: 18/06/2019
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Today, we want to discuss self-billing systems and their benefits for recruitment agencies. This article is particularly useful for managers and owners, especially those looking for opportunities to grow and scale their businesses through digital transformation.
Efficiency is synonymous with business success; anyone even slightly involved in business management can confirm this. Therefore, it’s no secret that to accelerate revenue growth - you guessed it - you first need to enhance performance efficiency. Easier said than done, especially in a sector like recruitment, where success isn’t measured in sales.
Fortunately, we live in fascinating times when more and more tasks can be delegated to technology. Consider processes like invoicing. They are essential, yet they’re time-consuming and do not drive progress. Such operations can now be automated, enabling you and your staff to concentrate on tasks that help your organisation advance. In this article, we will specifically discuss self-billing.
Self-billing is a legally binding agreement between an agency and a contractor registered as a limited company. It allows the agency to create invoices on the contractor’s behalf. It's similar to a pay run, but instead of sending payslips, you send invoices followed by remittances when you make payments.
Switching to a self-billing system can benefit your business if you own or manage a recruitment agency that deals with contractors operating as limited companies. Self-billing is a common practice among larger agencies that have many contractors on their books. You may not have considered self-billing if you’re still a smaller company with a reasonable number of contractors. Alternatively, you might have been discouraged because you think it's too difficult to implement. But let us assure you that it’s not.
Self-billing enables a faster pay cycle since you won't have to wait for or chase contractors to send invoices. This allows you to manage your pay runs as you see fit, all at once. It's far superior to waiting for invoices to arrive sporadically. Plus, you'll save considerable time by not needing to send email reminders for invoice submissions.
Time is money in the business world. Anything you can do to free up some hours for your back-office staff is a significant advantage. The time-saving benefits of self-billing enable you to devote more attention to client billing and credit control. After all, that’s what truly matters. A quicker billing cycle leads to a healthier cash flow.
A few billing mistakes can accumulate over time and significantly impact your business, particularly if they remain unnoticed. However, an automated self-billing system allows for fewer errors. Self-bills are generated automatically from timesheets and pay claims as your agency inputs pay information.
Contractor self-billing is one of the many features of Timesheet Portal's back-office software. It enables you to generate self-billing invoices for contractors based on automatically recorded time and entered pay rates. This also ensures the accuracy and timeliness of self-billing invoices. Our self-billing module will save you valuable hours, as the self-bills can be automatically generated and exported directly into your accounting software. We integrate with Xero, Sage, Quickbooks, and Kashflow.
Adopting self-billing systems can transform a business overnight or be a gradual process. However, it is not merely a temporary fix for one-time optimisation. It is a solution that scales with you and drives change, enabling your business to continue growing over time.
Self-billing isn’t just beneficial for your business; your contractors are likely to prefer it too. You’ll save your contractors time – something they’ll appreciate! Implementing self-billing means that contractors won’t have to worry about producing invoices that are paid late again, provided they submit their timesheets and expense claims on time.
Moreover, you will spare them some annoyance by no longer needing to nag them for the invoices. Overall, by implementing a self-billing system, you will share control over the process and bear a similar share of responsibilities. This will foster mutual trust and facilitate smoother communication.
Finally, using self-billing systems helps you gather valuable insights that can further enhance your processes. Over time, you will begin to notice trends in timesheets. Additionally, you can compare them against client satisfaction, the contractor’s skill level in specific areas, and the most problematic aspects.
You can use this to provide constructive feedback to the contractor to support their growth, and the data can assist you in finding better placements for them moving forward. Data collected through self-billing will enable you to create individualised and highly relevant experiences. It works wonders when connecting the contractor with their next project.
The market is saturated with various self-billing systems. Some are industry-specific, some offer unique features, and others provide very competitive pricing—the list continues. Before you begin your search for a suitable solution, list the functions that are essential for you. Establish your price range—this will help narrow down your options.
Of course, we are biased since Timesheet Portal Recruitment edition is our product. However, that also means we know exactly what it’s capable of, as well as how much thought went into designing its features. So, hear us out.
Some additional benefits of offering self-billing through Timesheet Portal include:
Customisable structure and self-billing layouts featuring agency branding;
Consolidated invoices can be produced for umbrella companies, reducing paperwork;
Self-bills can be generated automatically when a timesheet or expense claim is approved and ready to be exported at payroll cut-off time;
Send remittances directly from Timesheet Portal with a single click of a button;
Email notifications inform contractors when invoices have been generated and paid;
Document signing capabilities allow self-billing agreements to be signed digitally through our system.
Getting started with self-billing is incredibly simple. Therefore, there’s no reason to postpone it. The benefits are numerous, and the risks are minimal. You should read and adhere to the HMRC guidelines and have both parties sign a self-billing agreement.
The wide range of self-billing systems caters to companies of various sizes and needs across different sectors. However, here’s a tip: to fully benefit, consider using it alongside a system that automates processes, such as Timesheet Portal.
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