The English word "billing" denotes several concepts at once that have a fairly wide range of applications - from ornithology to insurance medicine. But the largest number of people in our life today are faced with the value of it, which relates to the payment of any services - for example, cellular communications or Internet access.
Billing in this sense is a whole complex of operations, which requires software and hardware, as well as legal and banking support for all payment acceptance procedures. Therefore, only large providers of any services are engaged in organizing their own billing, and most firms and individuals use the services of specialized billing companies. The basic billing process is to measure the number of services provided to the user. If it is access to the Internet or a conversation on the phone, then the software of the company providing this service measures the call time or the time spent on the global network. And, for example, when buying books, programs or access to a paid site on the Internet, it is not the time that is measured, but the number of purchased units. Then the software of the billing company automatically calculates the cost of this service according to the tariffs entered into the program. In the same automatic mode, according to a previously entered schedule, the program issues an invoice to the buyer for the purchased services, and the seller transfers the proceeds, deducting the agreed payment for the operation of this system. Receipt of money from buyers is also taken into account by the billing center software package. In our modern computerized life, every day an increasing number of private entrepreneurs and companies begin to provide paid services using electronic payment systems. Therefore, there is a growing interest in billing companies that take on the technical part of this complex process described above. There are already several dozen such companies and if you decide, for example, to sell your own product over the Internet, you will have to spend some time choosing billing. They have to compete with each other, creating more and more simple ways to connect their systems to any business project and more favorable terms of service, so there is no clear leader. When choosing a billing company, first of all, you should pay attention to the payment methods that it can provide to your future customers. The maximum set includes up to a dozen electronic payment systems (Webmoney, Yandex-money, PayPal, etc.), several international systems serving credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Cirrus Maestro, etc.). The ability to pay by bank transfer, check, call to a paid mobile number is also included in the range of services of billing companies. Other important characteristics when choosing should be the cost of services of the company itself, its reliability (good business history), and the availability of technical support.
