Small Business Can

Hi there,

2 Quick questions, that may not have quick answers!

We're about to enter into a contract with a large US company to provide their backup solution (on-site and replicated to cloud) across multiple sites.

First question: When we invoice our Irish and UK clients they pay by Direct Debit. Is there an equivalent process in the US to allow us and the client to automate the process as much as possible and make the payment process as smooth as possible? If there is, does it only work if we have a US domiciled account? What do US companies use if not a DD system? We want to make it easy for the client to pay us, and for us to collect the monthly income.

Second Question: In order to invoice and collect / receive payments from a US client, do we need to be registered in the US or use a US company? I assume not, but have been told otherwise.

Recognising that's more than 2 questions, any help would be appreciated

Regards

Michael Halpin

Hi Michael,

ref: Doing business in the US.

My Sales partners in the US (based in Philadephia,) Maguire Hegarty, Paul Maguire This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. should be in a position to advise you.

An email / quick phone call should be able to resolve it for you. Please say you were speaking to me. Maguire Hegarty are accountants & business consultants & are all Irish by background. I would have introduced them to a Large Irish Pharma whom they now do the finance for within the USA. They would also have strong links to E.I. & the IDA also.

I am reachable on 087 640 9490 or by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you want to contact me first. Also feel free to reach out to Paul directly and use my name as way of an introduction.

Hope this helps.

Gavin O'Reilly

Hi Gavin,

Thanks for the steer. I'll make contact today and reference your introduction.

I'll provide update for anyone else in this position when I learn more.

Thanks again,

MH

Hi Michael

Depending on the amount you are invoicing, you can use Paypal (you'll ned a Paypal account from paypal.com) - I use it for small website and email sales transactions (under €300) worldwide. I use Freshbooks.com - for my Irish and UK conversion rate optimisation client accounts (€600/month upwards), and it will work for US accounts as well (it is US based but global online invoicing solution - I just have not yet landed a US client) which allows your clients to pay the invoice online via Credit Card (up to certain limits) or Paypal. You can also use Clickbank.com (who will apply appropriate taxes per country/US state) - though their fees are quite high (9% I think), and their business model may not be an exact fit for your requirements. Worldpay.com are another online payment processor who enable you to accept payment with credit cards from around the world (not sure of the fees). All four will allow you to create a payment button for your website, have recurring payments, etc. I have personally used Paypal and Freshbooks, and have a client who uses Clickbank (for mostly US and UK clients, but he sells to over 60 countries last count) and Worldpay (which he uses less often now - it was mainly used for over the phone credit card transactions from US and UK).

Regards,

Salvatore

I had a conversation recently with one of our suppliers who works mostly in the USA and would bill probably a few hundred large clients a month. They told me that Americans are stuck on cheques and hate paying by any other means. Their clients are mostly farmers which may have or may not be a factor but there is my 2c anyway!

I use Paypal invoicing to collect payments from abroad and have never had any problems. Paypal is widely known in the USA. Paypal may ask the the company you are invoicing to sign up with Paypal in order to process payment, however, they can skip this part if they do not want to actually sign up and Paypal will still process payment. The Paypal website has many payment integration options for you to choose from.

Thanks for the feedback and advise everybody. I'll check out all of the options suggested.

Regards

MH

Credit card is the easiest
Paypal is fine, but the fees can be a killer unless your volume is high enough

You don't need to be registered in the US initially. If you're doing a high enough turnover there you probably would need to and it can also have an impact on you if you have servers in the US

I use a couple of options.
For ease/speed then just use paypal, either directly in dollars (provided you have it set up) or bill them in pounds/euro roughly the same in dollars.
Depending on US bank they can just do a direct bank transfer - Ive received these quicker then transfers from the UK/Ireland.
They can send you a USD cheque - most banks will change these for a flat fee - about 10 quid with my bank but a 5-6 week waiting list.

Of the above, depending on bank, bank wire transfer is the cheapest/quickest combination.

You can also open a foreign US dollar account with Citibank in Dublin/London I think but with all the other options available I didnt go down this route.

Depending on your volume, nature of the client and nature of your business it might be worth while looking at obtaining an ITIN (tax number for foreigners) to avoid tax withholding, but in most cases that wont apply unless you are regularly paid by a US company as an individual subcontractor under certain conditions. Thats a lot of caveats - I have one but only a few people need one.