Introduction

CashFlow is OpenSolar's payments and invoicing solution built by solar professionals, for solar professionals. This article is designed to provide finance and accounting teams with the key information to know about CashFlow.

In this article, we'll cover:

• What does CashFlow do?
• Key CashFlow benefits
• FAQs
• Objections

What does CashFlow do?

1. Allows customers to make payments via a variety of payment methods directly from their solar proposal, with compliant CC surcharging where applicable
2. Automatically generates invoices (based on a template you may customize) for each payment, and automates customer follow-up for all outstanding invoices
3. Provides simple, real-time visibility into payment status for sales and operations team members, allowing them to support payment collection activities
4. Supports easy reconciliation with your accounting system

Note that CashFlow is NOT meant to be a replacement for your existing accounting system; it complements QuickBooks (and similar tools) - it doesn’t replace it.

Key CashFlow benefits

• Save on fees
  • Only pay when you get paid - no subscription cost
  • Low credit card fees - save money relative to Stripe, Square, etc.
• Add flexibility
  • With smart surcharging, credit card fees can be automatically and dynamically built into pricing
  • Easily adjust milestone configurations and payment amounts - we know… solar projects can be messy!
• Stay up to date and keep everyone in the loop
  • Activity tracker - for each project, see all payment-related actions taken by your team, the customer, and our system on the post-sale payments page
• Improve the customer experience - for both you and your customers
  • Intuitive, professional checkout experience
  • Automated (customizable) reminder emails so customers know what is due when
  • Provide multiple payment options to your customers in one invoice
    • Smart surcharging and configurable payment options per milestone (e.g., no debit cards, no premium credit cards, etc.)

FAQs

• What is OpenSolar?
  • OpenSolar is the world’s leading solar operating system, providing solar design, proposal and contracting services as well as project management functionality to contractors in over 120 countries.  Beyond these universal services, in our core markets, OpenSolar facilitates hardware ordering, financing and payment collection all in service of our goal of helping our users operate more efficiently and grow their businesses sustainably. 
• Why should we trust OpenSolar to handle our payments?
  • While OpenSolar has a well-earned reputation for the accuracy of our designs and the effectiveness of our product, we recognize payment processing services is a very different category.  That’s why we’ve partnered up with BlueSnap, a leading Payment Services Provider who has been providing payment services for over 20 years and is trusted by brands you know, like Ford and Monday.com. 
• Is this meant to replace QuickBooks (or Xero… or Sage… or Freshbooks…)? How is this working with QuickBooks?
  • No.  QuickBooks is great, and we’re not out to reinvent the wheel and build an accounting tool.  But there are some things that QuickBooks isn’t optimized for - like minimizing back-and-forth between the sales/operations teams and accounting; and automatically calculating milestone payments in a way that accounts for all of the quirkiness of a typical solar project; and meeting the customer where they are so they can pay directly from their proposal - and that’s where CashFlow comes in. 
• Do I have to use this for all projects?
  • No.  You can decide on a project-by-project basis when you want to use it.  You can even specify what payment methods are acceptable for each milestone (e.g. credit cards for deposits, but only ACH for M2+ payments).
• Are there any recurring fees?
  • No.  You only pay when you get paid - with transaction fees on credit cards (same structure as typical credit care fees, but lower) and a low flat ACH fee. See here for more details on each payment method.
• Do I need an OpenSolar account?
  • No, but you may find it useful to have one to configure templates and set rules (e.g., what payment methods are accepted for what payments) and to monitor invoice statuses and sync with your accounting system. 

Objections

"My current process works for me. Why change?"

• For one, with CashFlow you can eliminate most of the back-and-forth between your sales/operations and accounting teams.
  • Credit card fees are automatically incorporated into pricing with smart surcharging. Invoices are generated automatically in the point of sale system.
  • Customers can choose among various payment methods on a single invoice.
  • Milestone payments can be automatically triggered from the point of sales system.
  • Reminder emails are automatically sent to the customer.
  • How much time and headache will that save you? How many mistakes will be avoided by cutting down the number of handoffs?
• In addition to all that, you’re saving money on credit card fees AND enabling your sales team to provide a polished, modern payment experience, embedded into their proposal, to help them close more sales.

"I prefer paper checks because I can get the money immediately"

• • With checks you typically get the money one business day after you deposit. But how much time does it usually take for the customer to write the check and get the check to you, and then for you to deposit it? With CashFlow, depending on the payment method, you receive funds 2-5 businesses days after payment - so in most cases, you get the money just as fast or faster than you would have with a paper check. Plus it’s a lot easier, with no need to take additional steps like manually providing the customer a receipt or marking the project as paid in your system operations systems.

"Paper checks don’t cost me anything, so why should I pay for this?"

• Paper checks cost you time and are a headache to manage. Have you ever lost a check? Well CashFlow has a nominal fee, it’s a small fraction of the hidden costs of relying on old systems and processes to manage paper checks.

"I don’t want to learn how to use a whole new platform"

• There’s no need! CashFlow makes it incredibly easy to find the info you need - all in one place.
• Your team can add you to your company’s account on OpenSolar (accounts are free - no cost to do this) and then you can simply download the accounting report, and upload it to your accounting platform to reconcile everything that happened through CashFlow.
  • (Later on this year, we’ll be releasing integrations with the leading accounting tools to automate this process.)
• And if you need additional detail on project payment history, each sold project has a full activity history that records any payment actions taken by your team, your customer, and our automated system - all in one place.