Free (and almost free) online invoicing and credit card processing tools

The faster you get paid, the stronger your business will be. If you can invoice customers by email, you are speeding your collections cycle by one to three days. If you accept credit cards, you are speeding it even more.

Google Checkout: allows anyone to accept credit cards
Traditionally, being able to accept credit card payments involves getting a merchant account with a bank, finding a payment gateway, and putting a shopping cart on your website. Once this is all in place, businesses typically pay multiple monthly fees plus transaction fees. Google Checkout has simplified this process and provides a shopping cart and online invoicing for free and credit card processing for transaction fees only - so any sized business can accept credit cards on their website and through an email invoice. Here are the steps to setting up Google Checkout:

1. Visit http://checkout.google.com/sell and click Sign Up Now.
2. Create an seller's account, and provide the bank information where you want funds deposited.
3. Google will deposit a small amount in that account to verify that the information you provided is accurate. When you receive it, record the amount in Google Checkout.
4. You will be given choices of how you want your customers to pay. You can use one, some or all of these:
   • Invoice customers by email
   • Use the Google tool to set up an online store
   • Put a "pay now" button next to an item on your website
   • Create coupons

All these tools are free. For more information about Google Checkout, visit http://checkout.google.com/sell.