Salesforce CPQ and Billing

Businesses across the globe are constantly evolving as per modern technological trends. Businesses across the globe irrespective of the industry are facing cut-throat competition. Offering customers the best possible interactions is among the keys to business prosperity. Gone are the days when traditional methods of record-keeping were the norm. To be at par and to stay ahead in the league, businesses must shift towards the optimum use of software and automation. Customers now prefer online methods more than traditional methods for these interactions. This is the new age driven by automation. And if you wish to be ahead in the domain, you must integrate the best platforms with your business to ensure phenomenal results.

What is CPQ? How does it work?

CPQ stands for Configure Price Quote. It is a sales tool for businesses to create quotes for orders with accuracy and ease. The quotes that CPQ generates are automated based on the rules set prior, to avoid errors in terms of quantities, discounts, options, customization, etc. Automation in pricing eliminates manual entries thus saving time and error. Since it does not require human intervention at every step, it is a much safer and more convenient way of quoting. CPQ software that serves small and big companies alike.

How does it help?

When you use CPQ, you can successfully avoid wrong pricing, inaccurate discounts, and other possible disasters. With CPQ, the process of quoting prices is faster and it is more precise. In this manner, you can avoid any possible conflict with customers. As CPQ does the tasks that consume your time, you can now engage in building customer relationships by focusing on other important targets. Your company’s sales staff is therefore in a better position to deal with customer concerns and they remain easily approachable. Some studies indicate that an average of 35% of a salesperson’s time is available for sales. This means that if they are relatively unoccupied, they would be able to work on their efficacy with better focus.

What is Salesforce Billing?

Salesforce Billing is a successful tool automating the aspect of customer subscription. It is easy to use this tool for companies that prefer automation for such processes. Considering the specific requirements of companies, Salesforce has designed automated billing. Salesforce Billing enables you to automate invoices, payments, and revenue. It is an add-on package using information and records from Salesforce CPQ. When you place an order under Salesforce, CPQ billing picks up the order to create a record. You must integrate Salesforce Billing with Salesforce CPQ.

CPQ helps businesses to save and generate substantial revenue. Apart from guaranteeing a successful sales process, it helps to maximize profits. Companies that have used CPQ have witnessed 4-fold growth in net profit in less than 5 years. This could be achieved because, with CPQ, companies were able to offer various options to customers, limiting discounts and saving time.

How does Salesforce Billing work?

You can use Salesforce Billing to invoice an order and manage balances through credit/ debit notes. Automating customer payments by executing the transaction through third-party payment gateways is enabled by Salesforce Billing. It is possible to maintain the data for all of these transactions and use an ERP to store them. Keep these steps in mind while engaging with Salesforce Billing:

• Salesforce Billing runs on rules deciding how and when to create the transactional records. You can manage a variety of products under one rule and decide how you want Salesforce Billing to take care of these transactions. Some of these rules are listed below-

1. 1. If an invoice needs to be created
   2. The impact of invoice line’s pricing and date values on billing dates, periods, dates, and cycles
   3. If you wish to create a revenue schedule and transaction
   4. If you want to calculate tax
   5. Calculating tax based on data and integration

• You can create an order and a contract as soon as you quote using CPQ. This contract will influence contract sale transactions in the future and enable users to modify/ renew their subscriptions. An order created from a quote will show an unactivated status for products. You can only bill products that are marked as activated. Hence, it allows you to keep a product provisionally un-active till the time you want to execute billing. This is how it simplifies your tasks and gives you a clear picture of the status of the order.

• With Salesforce Billing, you can easily create and manage reports on revenue for products/  services. You have the option of spreading the revenue over a period. You can also use bundled products/ services to calculate revenue. These are products that are delivered over time or at once. With this tool, you can decide whether to add discounts/ credits on products. Some ways to report revenue include adding orders, amending contacts, customer acceptance,  deliverability, expanding your business across new locations, etc.

• Salesforce Billing complements Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP platforms for the convenient functioning of companies. Salesforce billing converts Salesforce CPQ’s data into transactional data. The ERP platform extracts data that matches to create general ledger and financial reports. This is how Salesforce billing and CPQ together take care of customer financial touch-points. By integrating ERP into your Salesforce Billing, you can create invoices, calculate revenue, manage payments, figure out key stakeholders, etc.

Conclusion

You must have realized the extent to which Salesforce Billing boosts your productivity. It allows you to access billing orders, view product ratings, keep a track of the processing status, etc. You can also generate an invoice, apply taxes as per requirements, manage payments, track revenue and financial periods, generate reports of the billing process, etc. Your sales engagements will be hassle-free with Salesforce Billing. For faster and more efficient business processes, opt for this tool today. Let technology decide the fate of your business. Utilize the power of Salesforce to have an ousting experience for your customers and your employees. So, what are you waiting for? Integrate Salesforce Billing to your existing systems and ensure the best of outcomes for your business! 

If you are looking for a reliable Salesforce-focused service provider, CEPTES is the answer for you! Request a consultation today.