The Top 10 Online Payment & Billing Solutions for Hiring & Staffing Companies

Virtually every industry in the nation is struggling with a talent shortage. The skills gap is wide and growing. Businesses are increasingly turning to hiring and staffing companies to help them find talent.

It’s an arrangement that makes a great deal of sense. As a staffing company, you handle everything from candidate vetting to skills matching, meaning that your clients (the hirers) have less to do on their end. That allows them to focus on what they do best without having to worry about the minutia of hiring.

However, hiring and staffing companies face some unique challenges. This is particularly true for when it comes to billing and invoicing. It’s a convoluted system, particularly if your agency allows hirers to “trial” employees for several months before making a hiring decision, or if you offer temporary staffing.

There is hope and help available, though. You don’t have to struggle with accepting payments from hirers or making payments to the professionals you serve. In fact, with the right combination of online accounting software and Smith.ai’s services, you can achieve the same advantages that you offer your clients—the ability to focus on what you do best.

The different software options

The ability to accept payments and invoice clients online is liberating. You can instantly send invoices and see real-time payments as client remittances hit your bank account. It also reduces paperwork, manual labor, and time spent on administrative tasks.

However, online payment and billing solutions come in different shapes and sizes. You’ll find some that are basically online bill pay services, while others are full-fledged business management suites that combine online payment and billing capabilities with CRM functionality. Both are valuable options, but they are not the same, nor do they serve the same needs.

In this guide, we’ll touch on both standalone billing software and some of the leading staffing company management suites to help you make an informed decision that spurs success for your business.

Speaking of growth & success…

One of the most important benefits of online payment softwares is the ability to help your administrative team focus on more important matters while automating mundane yet critical tasks. At Smith.ai, we help you achieve the same goals through Live Chat capabilities offered by our professional, highly-trained receptionists. From handling incoming calls to booking appointments, we take the load off your team so they can place clients in the right jobs. 

Our top 10 picks

Below, we’ve assembled a list of the 10 best options to help you move your billing and payment processing into the 21st century. There’s a little something for everyone, whether you’re a small hiring agency or a thriving organization that’s opening new locations.

1. Bullhorn

We’ll kick our discussion off with Bullhorn, a full agency management suite that offers billing and payment capabilities, but also a great deal more. According to the company, Bullhorn can help you increase job orders, reduce time-to-fill, and drive efficiency through talent management. It also features a full applicant tracking system (ATS) designed specifically for staffing firms at all stages of development. 

Bullhorn’s billing and payment capabilities include capturing time and expenses accurately, improving documentation efficiency, online billing and invoicing, as well as advanced reporting. Other things to know about this agency management suite include the following:

• Free option? No
• Price: Custom
• Accessible via mobile devices or desktops
• In-depth reporting
• Full candidate tracking system
• Send multiple invoices at once
• Integrates with your accounting system for seamless invoicing and payment processing
  

2. Big Biller

Big Biller by Top Echelon is an interesting product. It is not a full agency management suite, but it is more than an online payment/billing solution. It combines applicant tracking capabilities with sourcing and tracking features, email parsing, and CRM-like features that help you stay in front of both clients and candidates.

Big Biller also integrates with other products from Top Echelon (including the company’s recruiting CRM). It operates on both Mac and PC platforms, too. Other things to know about this option include the following:

• Free option? No, but there is a 15-day free trial.
• Price: $59.50 per user per month
• Full ATS and recruiting CRM capabilities
• Accept payments online
• Send invoices online
• Custom invoicing setup
  

3. Oorwin

It’s the software suite with the funny name, but don’t let that fool you. Oorwin is a fully-fledged solution for your most pressing needs. Billing itself as an “AI-powered, integrated CRM, ATS, and HRM,” it provides the opportunity to bring your entire agency on one platform. 

Oorwin provides payroll and invoicing capabilities tied directly to the applicant tracking and management module. That offers granular control and in-depth visibility, plus the power of automation streamlines time-consuming tasks. Some of the most important things to know about this software suite include the following:

• Free option? No, but there is a free trial.
• Price: Custom
• Full HRM and ATS
• Robust payroll and invoicing capabilities
• Fully secure
• Accessible on mobile devices
  

4. Avionté

Another entry in the staffing and recruiting software list, AviontéBOLD is an end-to-end solution “from recruiting to payroll and billing”. The suite allows you to capture and track time in a wide range of ways, including through basic web entry. The result is a streamlined, accelerated process that maintains accuracy. 

For billing, the suite provides personalized invoicing, batch invoicing, and more with a focus on helping you deliver a branded, positive experience. Important things to know about this tool include the following:

• Free option? No
• Price: Custom 
• Full recruiting CRM
• Powerful ATS capabilities
• Baked-in billing and payment capabilities
• In-depth reporting
  

5. CYMA

Looking for something more streamlined and focused on pay and billing? If so, CYMA is the answer. Not only is this not a full ATS or recruiting CRM, but it is a billing/payroll solution designed specifically for the staffing/recruiting industry. 

You’ll find fully integrated payroll and accounts receivable modules, as well as the ability to define standard pay and billing rates, connect those to specific job types, and more. Billing and payroll are updated simultaneously when you post payroll, and it’s simple to keep company employees and staffing employees separate. Other things to know about CYMA include:

• Free option? No, but there is a free demo.
• Price: Custom
• Process staffing payroll
• Work-based order system
• Designate your desired funding company as “remit to”
• Invoice clients individually or in bulk
• Alter billing rates as needed
  

6. Akken Cloud

Another full agency management solution, Akken Cloud brings some interesting features and capabilities to the table. Like many of our other options, it was designed from the ground up for staffing and recruiting agencies. It also offers front, middle, back office, payroll, and reporting/analytics capabilities.

In terms of billing and payments capabilities, Akken Cloud offers a full payroll program, as well as an in-depth accounting and invoice management feature. You can accommodate specific billing needs for your clients, send invoices digitally, manage time and expenses, and more. Other important things to know include:

• Free option? No, but there is a live demo.
• Price: Custom
• Simplify invoicing and payroll with digital timesheets
• Integrates with QuickBooks
• Accommodate specific client needs in terms of invoicing customization

7. COATS Staffing Software

For staffing and recruiting agencies looking for a bit more granularity in the tools they purchase, COATS offers payroll software (as well as additional modules that can be combined to create a more robust solution). COATS provides full payroll capabilities, including paying and billing, pay cards, direct deposit, and time & attendance. 

In addition, you can also make use of ACA billing capabilities, invoice volume discounts, PDF invoicing and statements, bank reconciliation, and other important features. There is also a general ledger module that builds on these capabilities. Other things to know about COATS include:

• Free option? No
• Price: Custom
• Full payroll capabilities
• Invoice volume discounts
• Invoice time sheet attachment
• PDF invoicing/statements
• Time and attendance
  

8. Chargify

Chargify is a little different from the other options we’ve covered thus far. For instance, it was not purpose-built for staffing and recruiting firms. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a lot to offer. You’ll find that it provides a wide range of capabilities that enable you to free your team to focus on what they do best. You’ll also note that the website states “billing for B2B SaaS”, but there’s so much more this suite can offer.

Within the Chargify platform, you’ll find recurring billing, revenue retention, in-depth analytics and insights, full payment processing and invoicing capabilities, online and in-person payment gateways (Stripe, Square, GoCardless, etc.). Other important things to know about Chargify include the following:

• Free option? No
• Price: $599 per month businesses with under $2.4M ARR/or customizable based on your needs
• Automated payment capabilities
• Customizable pricing
• Net terms invoicing
• Consolidated invoices
  

9. Erecruit™

Developed and offered under the Bullhorn umbrella, Erecruit™ promises, “pain-free processing – human error is removed through a seamless, automated time capture to pay and bill process. Save back-office time, resources, and cost.” There’s a lot to love about this handy solution, too.

One of the most interesting features is that you can capture time and attendance down to the second. You also benefit from automatic verification so you can invoice ahead of payroll. Financial invoicing is also more accurate with this solution. Some of the most important things to know about Erecruit include the following:

• Free option? No, but there is a free demo.
• Price: Custom
• Billing generation in just seconds
• Error-free time and attendance
• Automatic invoice verification
• Mobile app for workers
• Fewer delays and errors through automation
  

10. Workerly

Designed and developed under the Zoho umbrella, Workerly is designed to “Simplify and speed up your staffing process with effective temp staffing software.” You’ll notice right off the bat that this is more than payment and billing software, and it manages to straddle the line between a full recruiting/staffing agency management suite and billing/payroll software. 

Some of the most interesting capabilities offered within Workerly include a single dashboard for all your needs, rejected/approved timesheet reporting, customizable timesheets, automated invoices as and when jobs are completed, and real-time insights to help you fine-tune your operation. Important things to know about this solution include:

• Free option? Yes
• Price: $1.18 per month per temp worker
• Granular reporting
• Easy to use dashboard
• Customizable timesheets
• Automated invoicing
• Faster approvals with e-sign 
• A worker portal
• Worker mobile app
  

Finding the right tools for the job

We’ve covered 10 of the best online payment and billing solutions for recruiting and staffing agencies today. Whether you’re looking for a simple, streamlined option or a full agency management suite, there is something here for you. However, don’t limit your search to just billing and payment solutions.

Recruiters average between 40 and 75 calls per day. Each of those calls might last 10 minutes or longer, meaning that your team probably spends an enormous amount of time tied up. The good news is that while some of those calls are unavoidable, many of them can be handled by a Live Receptionist.

At Smith.ai, we offer professionally trained, Live Receptionists to answer calls, provide information, and even track leads and make appointments. How much time could your team dedicate to more important tasks if half of their daily call volume was handled for them? It’s an incredible amount.

We help you screen incoming calls and tame unpredictability. From wrong numbers to spam to answering basic questions and call routing, we handle it all. Combine those capabilities with Facebook Messenger chat, text chat, and our wide range of other capabilities, and it becomes plain just how much time and effort we can save your team. 

Isn’t it time you were able to better serve your clients and workers? Let Smith.ai’s team provide the expert support you need. Get in touch with us today by calling (650) 727-6484. Prefer email? No problem – you can reach us at hello@smith.ai. Or you can go ahead and schedule a consultation to learn more about our Live Chat features and how we can help you build a thriving business.