Things to consider when choosing your subscription billing solution
The publication of Forrester Wave™ report about Recurring Billing Solutions is always a good occasion to reflect on the value that subscription billing platforms brings to the market (full report).
Choosing one platform or another is a critical decision as not all of them provide the same range of choice of possible billing models, flexibility and/or availability of native integrations. Long term vision is needed as often the investments will take time to show returns. Budget and contract negotiation, of course, takes a very important role, but if we forget about it and we only look at capabilities - which are the factors that should be valued?
Business model flexibility
Choosing a platform with a wide range of charging models will keep your Product Managers, Finance and Customer Experience team happy. While on MVP the focus would most probably be on simple recurring charges, soon you’ll see yourself hungry to implement mixed models including usage based charges, one-time charges, pre-paid with drawdown charges, tiered pricing, volume discounts and so on.
Configurability & Usability
The ability to configure the billing solution without extensive professional service engagement will make the total cost of ownership of the solution way more cheap in the long run. Make sure the platform you choose can be customized in-house. The presence of a well-structured knowledge center is usually a good hint. Beware of recurring billing solutions with a steep learning curve. Involve revenue and billing operation teams in the Solution choice to make sure that target users will be confortable with its UI.
Automation capabilities
Make sure the solution can be operated with minimum set of activities, especially when it comes to accounting period closure, catalog configuration, contract and invoice adjustments, contract renewal management. This really makes a difference and it’s here that the solution can bring most of value.
Feature extension and integrations
Design your target SaaS Lead to Cash process and map the capabilities of your subscription billing solution to check if the system covers all your needs and/or well integrate with your existing landscape. Prefer solutions that comes with integrated functionalities, out-of-the box integrations but make sure that APIs are available to further flexibly extend the integration scope. Area where to look: integration with self-service portals, payment providers, revenue recognition, CRM and ERP. Do you fear you will not be able to do everything by your own? Prefer solutions with an available ecosystem of vendors that can help you with system integration and maintenance.
Customer Support & Community
Your subscription billing system vendor will be your partner into this journey. Providers that offer a strong Customer Support and that nurture Communities of experts around their solutions will make your life easier when it comes to tackle difficult challenges
Pace of innovation
SaaS world demands companies to continuously innovate their business model to stay competitive. Linked to this, the billing system must also to constantly evolve at a rapid change to keep up with these changing needs. If you are scouting your next subscription billing vendor, I strongly recommend to review their commitment to innovation and their ability to adapt to market shifts. (Hint: with e-invoicing B2B and B2G regulation becoming more and more demanding across multiple regions, check how the billing vendor is going to react to support you being compliance). Do not limitate to review the product roadmap but have a look at recent feature releases and recent investments to assess their pace of innovation. Look for solutions that not only meet your current requirements but also demonstrate a long term vision and agility to evolve together with your business. At the end, your next billing platform will be your strategic asset in driving your future success.
What are the most important factors for you when choosing a subscription billing solution?
