Ask anyone who has done this before - switching billing platforms can be a headache. So, ideally, the billing partner of your choice should not only fit the bill today but also grow with you over the years and be by your side as your company evolves.
That said, most companies will end up changing their subscription billing platform if they are unhappy with its functionalities, or simply outgrow it. And when you are ready to make that move, you need to be sure that your new billing platform is backed by a team of experts at your disposal to assist you during the onboarding process - there’s nothing worse than migrating to a new platform and not having anyone to guide you.
Working with a dedicated team will save you and your company a good deal of work and stress, allowing you to continue to focus on your product, and minimize the friction and pain points for both you and your customers.
But first things first, let’s consider some reasons why companies might want to switch billing solutions and migrate into a new one.
5 most common reasons why companies choose to migrate into a new billing platform:
Here is a list of the most common subscription billing platform problems that companies come across which lead them to making the decision to migrate to a new one.
1. It’s impossible to bill the way you need
You want to introduce billing plans that are a little bit more sophisticated than monthly flat fees, and your subscription billing platform can’t support that. Now, you are faced with a choice of having to switch billing platforms, or compromising and settling for what is available inside your current billing software.
2. Using the same payment processor as your billing provider
It’s easy to get locked in with high fees. It sounds logical to use the same company for both billing and payments, right? But what if it turns out that the processing fees you are being charged by your current payment gateway or card processors are higher than they should be? In this case, you are stuck with them and all you can do is watch how your money disappears from your profits every month.
3. You can’t enter new markets
By the same token, what if you want to start selling in a new geographic location that your current payment gateway provider does not cover? Will you have to use two (or more) separate systems and face an accounting challenge? Will you have to switch payment gateway alltogether, start from scratch with someone new and migrate over everything you have been doing so far, even if you are happy with your current setup? Ask anybody who has been in this situation before: it is way more common than you might think and they can vouch for how difficult that process is.
4.You hardcoded your own billing nightmare
You didn’t want to “waste” time and money integrating a recurring billing and subscription management platform into your current flow, so you made a billing software of your own that is hardcoded into your core offering itself. You are now stuck: you have to maintain a piece of software that’s not your core product and you are extremely limited to what you can do with it.
5. Negative Merchant Experience
Sometimes, it’s actually not about money. Or at least not directly.
- Are you not able to talk to a real human if you have any questions or concerns when it comes to your subscription billing platform?
- Are you having a difficult time iterating your pricing strategies due to your subscription billing platform’s constraints?
- Do you need special local compliance?
- Do you need to implement a local bank-to-bank payment method?
- Do you need to incorporate a Point-of-Sale (POS) into your billing model?
Any of these billing pain points can have a significant negative impact on your business. This is why you should keep in mind the possibility of moving to an alternative provider - which is not as difficult as you might think.
What do you need to take into account during the migration from one billing platform to another?
Since each business is unique, the migration processes will be slightly different and vary from company to company, but 99% of them will need to address the following areas during their billing platform migration:
- Migration of customers
- Migration of customers’ credit card tokens or payment mandates
- Migration of products/plans
- Adjustment of integrations
Migration into Billforward
To facilitate the migration and avoid any difficulties for your business, there is a well-trodden and documented process to migrate your billing into Billforward.
Whether you are looking to migrate from another subscription management and recurring billing platform, or want to make the step up from manual invoicing via your accounting system (such as Xero), you can rest assured that Billforward’s Customer Success Team will be there for you every step of the way.
Billforward can help you migrate your customers together with their payment details, as well as your products, plans, and subscriptions. Moreover, we’ll also be very happy to help you with re-connecting your API integrations with additional software tools. And if needed, we can help you switch to a new billing partner, as Billforward integrates with over 30 payment gateway providers around the world.
Forget about any pricing constraints that your old subscription billing platform might have had. With Billforward, you’ll be able to implement multiple pricing models and carry out the pricing strategies of your choice - after all, you should always be able to price the way that makes the most sense for your business.
We are committed to going above and beyond to make the migration experience as smooth as possible.
Why not book a discovery call with one of our billing experts and see how we can help you meet your subscription goals!