Accepting Online Payments with Plooto vs. QuickBooks Online: Why Plooto’s Pricing Structure Got Us to Make the Switch
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We’re HUGE fans of a good tech stack here at Workflow Queen. And that same love for tech and automations carries over to our firm, Magnetic Bookkeeping & Consulting!
But when we add a piece of software to our tech stack, it’s always intentional. We love efficiency - so we don’t implement more software or systems then we really, truly need.
Which brings us to the topic of this blog: Using Plooto to collect recurring payments from our monthly bookkeeping clients!
A few of our students asked us why we’d choose to use something other than QuickBooks Online’s recurring sales receipt feature to auto charge clients monthly. So I thought I’d share EXACTLY why we made the switch with you!
In this blog, you’ll learn:
What purpose Plooto serves in our firm
The difference between Plooto and QBO
How much money you can actually save by switching
If you’re like us and LOVE saving money where it matters, keep reading to learn more.
What Exactly IS Plooto?
At its core, Plooto is a software that allows business owners to manage their Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. They allow you to simplify your payment systems and collect money from clients quickly and efficiently.
AKA - they make it ridiculously easy to make sure clients pay their monthly fee automatically!
They have options to create automations and integrate with QBO or Xero, so sending out client invoices is one less thing on your plate every month.
But all of that only scratches the surface of how AMAZING Plooto can be for your firm - because we haven’t even told you the best part yet!
If you want to streamline your firm with ACH payments without the hefty fees, Plooto is worth checking out!
Why We Chose Plooto Over QBO for Our Bookkeeping Firm
There are sooo many reasons why we decided to choose Plooto over QBO for capturing recurring payments from our monthly bookkeeping clients.
It really boils down to the fee structure that Plooto has in place for its users. In most cases, their pricing truly can’t be beat!
To give you an idea of how Plooto fits into our client process, here’s the breakdown:
New client signs contract and pays initial invoice in Dubsado
We set them up with an account in Plooto and send an ACH authorization request
The client inputs their bank information into Plooto
They’ll need to validate their bank info by entering a secret pin from a micro deposit in their bank account (if they don’t do this within one week, we’ll follow up with them to see if they need support)
Each month, Plooto automatically draws the client’s fee from their account and initiates a transfer to us 🎉
When you’re using QuickBooks Online for recurring payments, you’re probably losing more money than you need to (more on that below).
Now, we briefly mentioned Plooto’s amazing fee structure, but let’s really dive into how much money switching to Plooto could save your firm!
Plooto’s Fee Structure (spoiler alert - it’s awesome)
When you use QBO for ACH payments, they charge you 1% perfect transaction amount as a fee (up to $10). This is, of course, on top of the monthly fee you already pay for QBO.
When you use Plooto for ACH payments, they give you 10 FREE domestic transactions! After your 10th one, you’ll only pay $0.50 for each additional domestic transaction. Plooto does have a $25 monthly fee for their service, but the more recurring clients you have - the more money you’ll save!
Here’s How Much Money You Can Save With Plooto
Imagine you have 10 clients on a recurring basis…
Now, if you’re billing each of those clients at $500 per month, let’s see how much you’d pay!
QBO: 10 transactions x $5 transaction fee = $50 in fees/month
Plooto: 10 transactions x $0 transaction fee + $25 subscription = $25 in fees/month
And that sounds great, but what if you had 20 clients at $500 per month?
QBO: 20 transactions x $5 transaction fee = $100 in fees/month
Plooto: 10 free transactions + 10 transactions x $0.50 transaction fee + $25 subscription = $30 in fees/month
I mean, those fees really add up! In the example with 20 clients at $500 per month, you’d save a whopping $840 in fees after one year.
So sure, it’s an extra piece of software to set up and learn but another reason we LOVE Plooto is how freaking easy it is to use. But for us, getting to save more of our hard-earned cash is TOTALLY worth it!
Ultimately, switching our recurring ACH payments to Plooto was a no-brainer when we realized how much time and money we could save. If your firm uses ACH to collect money from clients, we HIGHLY recommend you check out Plooto!
Plooto Frequently Asked Questions
What fees will I have to pay?
Plooto charges a $25 subscription fee for using their service every month. You get 10 free domestic transactions, and only pay $0.50 for each domestic transaction after that. If you have international clients, you’ll pay $9.99 per transaction. And that’s IT! They really make it so simple and affordable.
Does Plooto offer a free trial?
100% they do! You can try Plooto at full capacity for 30 days to ensure it’s the right fit for you and your firm. When they say “free” that means they’ll waive the first month’s $25 subscription fee and give you 10 domestic transactions at no charge. You’ll still have to pay the regular transaction fees for more than 10 domestic transactions and any international ones.
Can I add my team to my account?
Yup! And Plooto doesn’t charge additional fees to add users, clients, or integrations to your account.
We are seriously SO obsessed with the convenience and simplicity of Plooto! It’s been a complete game changer for us in our firm and we hope it’ll be the same for you!
