Monthly or Annual?

[Evoir]

Ok, So a few of my client sites have come up for renewal, and I am now in the awkward position of paying monthly for these domain names. One of the main reasons I became a resseler, was because it was an easy way for me to "take care of everything" for my clients. I'd give them an annual price, I'd bill them annually, and it was done.

I'd like to still invoice my customers annually, and I wouldn't even mind adding funds to my FQ account to cover the amount I expect each domain to incur, but, it seems like an accounting nightmare (I have trouble balancing a checkbook).

What have other resellers done with this? Are you billing your clients monthly now? Are you prepaying for a year (I know, that''s not exactly the right terminolgy).

I've been rethinking how well reselling at FQ works for me anymore. :( This is not a thread to debate with FQ about the changes, but rather to get feedbackl from FQ and others about ways to use the reseller program to my advantage. I like to keep it simple.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Evie

[hobbes]

We still bill clients annually, but now pay FQ once per month. The FQ team has been great in working through the few glitches that popped up in annual accounts that transitioned to monthly, and other than these, it's not that much more difficult accounting wise now. Plus we get the float:)

[Evoir]

So, were you able to work out a once a month billing cycle? Rather than 3 different billings within 1 month? What kind of glitches were there for you?

[hobbes]

FQ has moved to the once a month billing cycle; or rather they always had it, but it's new for folks who have always done yearly payments and now switched to monthly (as there's no cost benefit for doing it yearly). Even for yearly accounts that expire mid-month and are switched to monthly, payment only has to be made on the 1st.

The glitches were related to receiving incorrect termination notices and odd posting of payment to domains within an account. The former has been fixed (I think), and once all yearly accounts are converted to monthly, the posting of payments should be a non-issue.

[Binky]

(I have trouble balancing a checkbook) I'm worse . . the world's worst. For me financial planning consists of punching numbers into the bank machine and if the money comes out I figure I'm okay for a couple of days, anyway.

When I got notice about the monthly thing I instantly dug a hole in the ground and put my head in it. Then completely forgot about it. I just got my first monthly invoice. I am not happy. I won't bill my clients monthly because it'll be a nightmare for me. Even with my excel spreadsheet I have trouble keeping on top of things. So I'll probably send in twelve months worth of payments at a time for each account.

I thought businesses loved annual payments in advance. :umm: :confuz:

[Matt]

I still prefer to invoice clients yearly, but have a few clients paying monthly. I don't pre-pay for anything, just pay monthly invoice. :teach: Note to FQ: if I didn't trust you guys so much, I would have left due to confusing monthly e-mail invoices. Really, the way they are formatted makes making sense of them nearly impossible without pulling out a piece of paper, pencil, and calculator. :confuz:

-Matt

[dank]

Note to FQ: if I didn't trust you guys so much, I would have left due to confusing monthly e-mail invoices.
Agreed. I know FQ isn't trying to pull a fast one on us, so I haven't bothered trying [much] to make sense of the new billing arrangement. I just put everything on the monthly auto-billing and pay off the credit card each month... Any other company and I'd be very leery.

Dan

[Joe]

I absolutely loathe this monthlly billing business. As I mostly pass on the discount I get to my clients (friends!) I just trust FQ with 12 months worth of fees upfront thereby letting them hold the float and deduct one month's fee at a time. If FQ does go belly-up (I have confidence they won't), I lose whatever percentage of the float FQ is holding at the time. I'd rather take that risk than go through the hassle of reading and handling monthly bills for a dozen or more accounts.

[Andilinks]

Just an idle observation, for what it's worth:If FQ does go belly-up (I have confidence they won't)...New and prospective clients without a history here are not likely to be so confident.

Andi

[Evoir]

I'm wondering how well the reseller program is doing with all the change... oh, I wish I could know. I know that if I were faced with the decision to join the reseller program now, I'd probably pass on it. The one big selling point for me was the simple billing. Like, I didn't have to get all accountant-like to do it. But, I am in kinda deep, and so here I am. :)

And I love the services FQ provides, very happy with them.

Thanks for all of your replies. I feel less alone in my trying to figure out how to do this. Think I will bill a year in advance and try to make certain I always have anough money in my account. Maybe should use a credit card instead of my bank card. :(

[Mandi]

I don't presently have anyone on reseller myself (well, except a few of my own projects LOL) - but that is exactly the approach I would pick too - annual invoice for the client, monthly payments on a credit card for me, backed by the float from the client.

[kitchin]

The monthly billing to resellers is pretty easy. One big email with a single total due amount, which covers all accounts resold. The line items make sense if you see each block as a mini-history, but it's easier to use FQ's super-handy http://QuestAdmin.net for accounting purposes.

[dan]

My boss (that pays the bill to FQ) thinks it is kind of silly to be billing resold accounts each month. She can't imagine the amount of extra work FQ has to do to put these little transactions in the books and keep track of them.

So we are still billing our clients by the year and paying FQ by the month, which of course means more work for us also to keep track of the small charges and more trees dying so that we have an offline copy of each bill. It seems easier to me, and my boss, to go back to annual payments for resellers.

[John Kennett]

OK, so it's been a while now, but I've just about had it with the new monthly system. I'm not a major league reseller, but mainly use it as an add-on for a few clients plus friends and family. I've got about 30 domains here, spread over a dozen accounts.

I like to keep it simple -- buy yearly, pay in advance, know where I stand.

The staff are helpful as ever, and with QuestAdmin I can dig through and check the status of each account, but at the moment I'm feeling that it's all more bother than it's worth.

Of course, if I move some of my accounts elsewhere then because of the monthly pricing, the cost of the remaining packages will go up as I lose points. So it would have to be an all or nothing approach.

I don't want to leave FutureQuest, as everything else about the service is superb. I also know that the aggravation of moving would actually be at least as bad as dealing with the monthly accounting system.

So I'll probably stay and see if I get over it, but it's really bugging me at the moment.

How are you all getting on with it?

John

[hobbes]

Pretty straight forward. We continue to bill yearly, and pay FQ once a month. If you only have 12 accounts, then I can see where it's an issue as you're at about the break even point; with more accounts, you only need to review the FQ charges once a month (12x/year) vs. each time a renewal is due.

[Webmarm]

Oh, I blew it when I opened a new account this month. I forgot about the whole switch over, automatically clicked annual billing for a Visionary, and only much later realized I'd forgotten to check the coupons page (sheesh, I also added an IRO), and that billing monthly for a Visionary ends up cheaper.

Other than that, it hasn't been a biggy. I put a chunk of change into my account at the end of the tax year and am still working off of that for the monthly accounts.

[sheila]

Oh, I blew it when I opened a new account this month. I forgot about the whole switch over, automatically clicked annual billing for a Visionary, and only much later realized I'd forgotten to check the coupons page (sheesh, I also added an IRO), and that billing monthly for a Visionary ends up cheaper.
If you make an error of this type, you can always write in to the Service Desk and request that we change the billing on the package to monthly, and we will work with you to adjust the account's billing records, so that you can receive your reseller discount.

even if you've already paid for it...

[EWOlson]

New and prospective clients without a history here are not likely to be so confident.
You are so right Andi.

I agree that FutureQuest should make there invoices and such easier to read.

I am not a reseller currently but wanted to become one. I haven't found the reseller area yet though. Is it gone? I signed up for the affiliate program for now/instead.

As far as the people who aren't any good at finances I have to say one thing. You really need that skill, especially if you are going to be involved in the trade of goods/services. I understand if you are having difficulting, it can be hard, but it *can* be learned. It is a skill that you need for this type of work just like HTML and PHP. Take a course or have someone help you. Finances are a part of everyone's life and should be something you feel comfortable with.

I, also, am confused on why FutureQuest would want to go to monthly billing in place of yearly billing. Business *does* love yearly billing. They can hold that money in an account and accumulate interest on it. I don't know why FutureQuest is the odd man out.

[EWOlson]

Maybe should use a credit card instead of my bank card.
You should always use a credit card when doing business online. It is the only form of payment that has fraud protection for Internet sales. Some bank cards can be used as credit cards and should be. Not only do you get the added security but you will also be entered in all of the contests that they are currently running to promote bank cards being used as credit cards. :smile:

Sorry for the double post but I hate trying to combine multiple quotes into one post. :blah:

[Bob]

Hello,

The Resellers area is found at:
http://www.FutureQuest.net/Services/Resellers/

It is a link from the Navigation on the FutureQuest Web Site:
http://www.aota.net/4F/FQuestScrS_resellers.jpg

Third from the bottom under "Services"

Earlier in this thread was the rational for changing to Monthly for Resellers Accounts due to the changing nature of discounts...

-Bob

[EWOlson]

The Resellers area is found at:
http://www.FutureQuest.net/Services/Resellers/

It is a link from the Navigation on the FutureQuest Web Site:

Third from the bottom under "Services"
My bad. I really didn't see it.

Edit: Actually it is second from the bottom.


Earlier in this thread was the rational for changing to Monthly for Resellers Accounts due to the changing nature of discounts...
I went back and looked and still did not see it. Was it in a *different* thread perhaps?

And would you look at the response time! Man, I hadn't even finished reading the thread yet! :smile: You guys (and gals) rock! :yeah:

[Deb]

I went back and looked and still did not see it. Was it in a *different* thread perhaps? It's been in several but the original explanation was posted when it happened in December of 2004 within the thread located at:
http://aota.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18473

You guys (and gals) rock! :yeah:
Yes they do :wink: They really do :QTthumb:

Deb
- All complaints about discounts _not_ being received have ceased :P

[EWOlson]

It's been in several but the original explanation was posted when it happened in December of 2004 within the thread located at:
http://aota.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18473
Thanks Deb.

What fast responses. I love FutureQuest. :clapper:

Hey, one little complaint. When I use the emoticons it puts an extra space before and after it. I'm very picky about formatting and was wondering if that could/would be changed. If everyone else likes it I will just have to deal. I just wanted to mention it.

[Wassercrats]

The space saves you time because you usually want a space before and after the emoticon. You just have to remember not to add a space before inserting an emoticon or you'll have two spaces. If you use two emoticons in a row, there are two spaces between them, but that's usually ok too.

[Andilinks]

If everyone else likes it...If the spaces weren't included, I'd just have to add them. And any extra spaces are collapsed in the final rendering anyway so I prefer too many to too few. But I suppose our fine forum mechanics could easily install a spacer option toggle on the :kewl: smilie list. How many would use it? How many would use an annual/monthly toggle switch?

[Wassercrats]

And any extra spaces are collapsed in the final rendering anyway :umm: :umm:

Yeah, you're right. I don't emote enough to know.

[EWOlson]

I, personally, don't use spaces. I add all that I want by myself. But like I say, it's not a biggy. If everyone is happy with the way it is so am I. Just something I noticed so I thought I'd bring it up.

[Wassercrats]

I'm happy :)
I'm saying wow-@

See how much better it looks with a space? The last smiley you used was the diamond guy, who was separated from the text by a period, which is mostly whitespace, and there's a lot of whitespace at his widest points because his widest point is just a piece of his hand and it leads in a straight line away from the text. Stationary, circular smilies that are right next to a letter are too close without a space.

[Rich]

You should always use a credit card when doing business online. It is the only form of payment that has fraud protection for Internet sales.
Although many people believe this, it just isn't true. While your out-of-pocket losses are much better defined with credit cards (limiting your loses to $50), there is also loss protection with debit cards. In general, if you report the card loss (or the fraudulent transaction) quickly, you can limit your losses to $0.

[Andilinks]

...if you report the card loss (or the fraudulent transaction) quickly... How much more quickly (in days) must you report the debit card's being compromised? The term "card loss" is very deceptive. The actual physical card, while important, is not essential for fraud. The average person will not be aware that any crime has even been committed for 10-45 days making the credit card much safer.

Yes, one should check balances daily, most people don't.

Andi

[Rich]

How much more quickly (in days) must you report the debit card's being compromised?
Andi
For physical card loss, your liability will be limited to $50 if you report the loss within 2 days. You could be held liable for up to $500 if the loss is not reported within 2 days.

You also risk unlimited loss if you do not report a fraudulent transaction within 60 days of receiving your bank statement.

For the case when the card is not stolen but a fraudulent transaction occurs you must report the fraudulent transaction within 60 days of receiving your bank statement.

For those using a debit card for transactions, I highly recommend using online banking and software such as Quicken or Money so you can review all transactions with a day or two of their occurance.

[Andilinks]

...within 60 days of receiving your bank statement.That's not as bad as I had thought, but the debit card still is riskier if for no other reason than that losses are immediate and the recovery from fraudulant use much more difficult. Not to mention the inconvenience and unease of constant monitoring and vigilance...

[John Kennett]

Just as an update, I have now got all my accounts in order! :)

It has taken a bit of head scratching, and a fair bit of staring at the screen with my head in my hands, but I got there. It was complicated by a misunderstanding where some credits (a couple of overpayments) were applied randomly[1] to different accounts which didn't help.

I now have a spreadsheet showing the renewal date for each account and their payment status, and I pre-pay for 12 months hosting. I'd still prefer a proper annual payment system, but I can live with the new way.

All credit to the FQ staff who have done everything in their power to help, and have very cheerfully made manual adjustments for me where I needed to move credits from one account to another. Without their help, and the information that Questadmin makes available, I'd probably have given up in despair.

[1] It probably wasn't random, but it confused the hell out of me!

John