How to efficiently track and manage SaaS subscriptions?
In the highly digitized world we currently live in, every day there is a new software that promises to make business so much easier. And, they actually do. Software subscriptions have become part and parcel of any business that considers itself modern. In fact, the subscription model of payment is becoming increasingly popular amongst SaaS providers as well.
Subsequently, subscription management has emerged as an urgent need for companies working with multiple cases of recurring payments at once and this is where we come in. With Volopay you get a consolidated system that works as subscription management software.
What is SaaS management?
All operations that your company has to undertake to manage its subscriptions fall under the category of SaaS management. A broad range of processes (for instance making changes to an ongoing subscription, issuing refunds, managing trials, and making recurring payments) form a part of SaaS or subscription management.
The management process starts when your company signs up for a ‘Software as a service’ or SaaS and ends whenever you leave or cancel the subscription.
Different aspects of SaaS management software
Cancellations
The subscription management software must be easy to cancel. Make sure you check all policy-related documents, especially sections pertaining to cancellations and refunds before you start with SaaS software management.
Renewal planning
Renewal decisions are an important part of SaaS management. Whether you choose to renew, which plan you renew with should be based on a thorough analysis of data on how the software has been used by your company in the past.
User allocation and management
Softwares usually provide different packages where more features are provided for bigger fee amounts. Once you’ve onboarded a software provider on a particular package, track how the features you’ve chosen are being used by your employees. It helps you decide whether to upgrade or downgrade and which employee needs which feature.
Payment frequency
How frequently you choose to pay for your subscriptions, the periodic intervals will determine how you set up your recurring payments. Payments form a critical part of subscription management so make sure you choose the right timeline. While simple, easy payment models like monthly subscriptions are common there are also quarterly, semi-annual, or annual plans available. Make sure you choose the frequency and features that suit your company's needs best.
Managing SaaS subscription is easy now with Volopay
SaaS subscription management best practices
You can also use SaaS tools to determine how much of your SaaS subscriptions are actually necessary. Focus on analyzing user insights and analytics from this software to check whether all your employees need all the features you’ve gotten with the selected package. This can help you cut out subscriptions that are not absolutely necessary and reduce your SaaS spending.
Ensure your invoicing system for subscriptions is also well designed. A structured invoicing system can be significantly helpful when month-end payments come around. Creating and sending out invoices for all your subscriptions is, again, hectic. Instead, you can just use Volopay’s SaaS tools to send out invoices automatically as per parameters that you can set yourself.
Corporate cards have come a long way from their physical versions. Now, you can issue and use virtual cards to manage a number of different aspects of business, including subscriptions. You can issue dedicated virtual cards to set up payments for each of your subscriptions. These cards can also be used to automate payments so that you never miss a payment date again.
It might be easy to manage two or three subscriptions manually. However, as your company grows so will your subscription list. The best approach to managing multiple subscriptions is doing it all in one place. By one place, here, we mean a subscription management software, like Volopay, that comes with a comprehensive dashboard to manage subscriptions.
When you’re managing multiple software subscriptions at the same time making sure all payments and renewals are on track can be quite difficult. This can mean late payments, missed payments, and even penalty fees. Keep a check on all your subscriptions to avoid such hindrances. You can easily do this from Volopay’s expenses dashboard where you can find all your subscriptions details in one place.
Lastly, you’re bound to find a host of different subscription management software to choose from. Before you make your choice, however, ensure that the expense management software provider you choose fits your company’s needs and requirements. Some key features to look out for include recurring payments, auto-approvals and auto-payments, and virtual cards.
Manage your online subscription payments with SaaS management software
Volopay gives you a platform that can really help you get the absolute best out of your subscriptions. Our system is equipped to deal with massive amounts of transactions without you having to break a sweat.
Monitor approvals easily
All expenses made with Volopay have to pass through an approval matrix, including subscription payments. In fact, all you need to do is set your preferred approval policy guidelines and let the software do the rest. Approval guidelines on Volopay are highly customizable, you can set parameters that suit your company’s needs and requirements by just clicking a few buttons. Moreover, you can always go back and update your approval policies as well.
Unique subscription cards
You can issue an unlimited number of virtual cards completely free of cost. You can use this feature to set up individual cards for each of your subscriptions. What this does is it lets you control subscription payments without actually having to put any effort yourself. Once you’ve set vendor, budgets, dates, funds, and other details on these cards, payments will be made automatically by the system itself as per information provided by you.
Analytics and insights
Having multiple subscriptions onboard can put a significant dent in your funds. Managing your subscriptions to ensure you’re spending on tools that you really need can be a tough ask. We can help do the heavy lifting here. The platform gives you detailed analytics and actionable insights on how much money is being occupied by SaaS spending. This can help you make important decisions on which subscriptions to retain and which ones are not worth the money.
Simple and secure payments
We gives all the security a bank does, plus so much more. We not only keep your funds secure but its features actually protect you from overspending and fraudulent practices. With virtual cards you only have to maintain funds that you actually need, other funds can be stored safely with our multi-currency digital wallets.
Related page: Guide to better SaaS subscription management & recurring payments
How does Volopay manage recurring payments?
Step 1: You can start setting up recurring subscription payments on Volopay by first requesting a virtual card.
Step 2: Once you’ve started the virtual card issuing process you’ll have to fill in details that are necessary to the payment process, e.g. vendor, amount, date, and so on.
Step 3: This is the step where the payment can be made to be recurring. In order to do this, you need to select the ‘frequency’ field and set it to ‘monthly’
Step 4: You can input other, ancillary details as well if they apply to you, e.g. GL code, expense details, and so on.
Step 5: Once you have filled in all details just set approvers and request the card.
After following these steps you will receive a virtual card using which you can manage your recurring payment. You can set up as many cards as you need, one can be dedicated to every subscription you have to pay for.
Volopay's virtual card for SaaS subscriptions
Volopay virtual cards essentially work in a similar way to physical cards, just that virtual cards exist electronically. These cards work as unique, budget-specific cards that provide extra layers of security for all online transactions. Virtual cards are easy to create, use and manage from our dashboard itself. Moreover, you can set up as many virtual cards as you need without having to pay a single penny.
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