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There is a lot that comes with owning a printer/copier.
Managing your volume, tracking your costs, and making sure your supplies are stocked up….it can be a lot to deal with, especially if you don’t have the time to address it all.
One of the elements of owning a printer is that statement at the end of the month that expands on all your monthly printing costs, which most companies call a monthly invoice.
We’ve gotten quite a few questions about invoices during our time as a locally managed print vendor and although it’s typically not a major problem for customers, we’ve received enough of the same questions where we feel it’s necessary to address the most common questions around invoicing in the print industry.
In this article, we’ll be going over three common invoice questions, including the different fees, payment methods and how to cut down on your monthly bill. We’ll also give you a couple of pointers, so you will be positioned to never have to deal with a pressing invoice problem.
While print vendors may have different billing processes, these invoice questions are common enough to apply to most print vendors across the country and are not just specific to our experience with customers.
What Is a Printer Invoice?
To accurately discuss the frequent questions around invoices, it would help to have a working definition of what a printer invoice actually is.
Put simply, it’s a bill that a print vendor sends to its customers every month that itemizes the monthly costs and fees associated with their machine.
Invoices help vendors track payments customers owe in order to manage and monitor company cash flow.
Before we dive into the other three common invoice questions, let’s get more specific about how invoicing affects print customers specifically, including what fees will be on your monthly invoice and how much they can add up to.
3 Common Monthly Printer Fees
Below are three of the more common fees you’ll see in your monthly invoice from a print vendor:
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Monthly Printer Usage Fee
Something that will show up on your invoice every month, assuming you used the machine that month, is the monthly usage fee.
The monthly usage fee is the cost per print or copy that you make in a given month, which means it can fluctuate depending on your print volume.
On average, black-and-white prints cost $0.02 per print and color prints cost $0.10 per print.
Suffice it to say, that printing costs can add up quickly, especially if you’re printing in bulk for a big project or printing in color.
This is why print management software could be useful for businesses with a high monthly print volume or have a large number of printers to manage that want to track usage and control printing costs.
Some printer manufacturers have their own print management software, such as Xerox’s Standard Accounting Feature or Canon’s uniFlow feature. There is also external print management software you can invest in, such as PaperCut, Printers Plan or Y-Soft SafeQ (who we partner with).
To learn more about managed print, read these blogs:
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Printer Maintenance Plan
Most vendors will recommend opting into a maintenance plan when buying a printer.
Maintenance plans usually start around $12 a month and cover any repairs or service issues your machine may undergo during your ownership of the machine.
It should be noted that, in most cases, maintenance plans will increase by a little each year. As the machine gets older, the number of service problems tends to increase, which is why your monthly maintenance bill will usually escalate every year.
Most maintenance plans also allow for automatic toner shipments, which means the manufacturer will be alerted when the toner is running low and ship a new toner supply promptly.
To learn more about maintenance plans and automatic toner shipments, read these blogs:
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Printer Insurance Fee
Yes, even printers have an insurance fee, and most print vendors will require you to either pay a monthly fee or show proof of insurance when leasing a printer.
Since most customers choose to lease printers, rather than purchase outright, an insurance fee is a common one seen on monthly print invoices.
The insurance fee will usually be minuscule to most people. For instance, if you bought a $15,000 printer, the insurance fee will be around $15 a month from most vendors.
There are other common fees you could see on your monthly invoice as well, such as the one-time lease document fee, property taxes and shipping fees.
To learn more about the other common printing fees and overall printer costs, read these blogs:
3 Common Printer Invoice Questions
Now that we’ve discussed what an invoice is and rolled through some of the typical fees you will have on your monthly printer invoice, let’s dive into three of the other common invoice questions:
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How Do You Ensure Your Payment Gets Credited to the Proper Invoice?
One of the standard questions around printer invoices is how to make sure your payment goes through and is credited to the proper invoice.
To ensure your payment is processed to the correct invoice from your print vendor, take one of these two steps:
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Include a copy of the invoice with your payment.
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Write the invoice number on your check.
Being extra diligent about your monthly invoice will protect against mishaps that might come along with paying your monthly bill and will safeguard against any wrongful liability.
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Can I Pay My Invoice With a Credit Card or ACH?
Another common invoice question revolves around the payment method options at your disposal, and whether a credit card can be accepted as a form of payment.
Out of the three questions in this article, this is the one that arguably has the most variety in terms of direct answers.
The payment methods allowed by vendors are entirely dependent on their own policies, or the policies of the company whose products they sell.
In Xerox’s case, credit cards are not accepted as a payment method, but payment through ACH (automated clearing house) is.
Some vendors are flexible and may accept all forms of payment, including credit cards. Others, however, might have a strict payment policy for all customers.
It’s best to discuss payment methods before opting into a contract or lease agreement to clear up any confusion that may result from an invalid payment method.
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Why Am I Getting Two Invoices When I Used to Get Only One?
This is a common invoice question that usually has two standard answers.
If you receive two invoices in a month when you were accustomed to only receiving one, it’s most likely that your single invoice indicated that service and supply payments were all rolled into a combined payment when your machine order was placed.
Or it could mean that your maintenance portion is being billed separately from your lease payment, which is likely the result of how your contract was originally set up or negotiated.
2 Things to Remember With Your Printer Invoice
Let’s now go through two actions you need to always keep in mind when it comes to monthly invoices so that a future problem doesn’t arise:
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Pay Your Printer Invoice on Time
Think about if you missed a monthly payment on your phone, electricity or water bill.
There would be practical consequences for it, right? Your power would shut off, your water would stop working or your phone would be cut off.
The same is true for missing payments on your monthly printer invoice; if you don’t pay your bill on time, there will be consequences.
This can range from late fees, service pauses and collection efforts, which could result in the removal of the machine.
It’s an obvious thing to say but paying your invoice on time is crucial to avoid any problems you might incur with your monthly invoice.
If there’s an external problem out of your control that caused a late payment, it’s best to notify your print vendor and work with them to find a solution.
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Keep Your Information Up to Date
Both businesses and individuals change personal information all the time.
It could be a change in physical address, contact information, credit card information, etc.
While notifying your print vendor about a change in personal information might not be at the top of the priority list when it comes to updating information, it’s important to keep your vendor informed of any changes in personal billing information to assure timely receipt of invoices and avoid late payments.
You may be able to do this online if your vendor has an online portal set up, or you can simply contact your vendor through email or phone call and update the necessary information accordingly.
Interested in Cutting Costs on Your Monthly Printer Invoice?
Printer invoices are typically a standard monthly bill that results in few problems and is usually a seamless process.
However, various questions could arise throughout your machine’s contract about invoices, including logistical concerns, such as a change in physical address or contact information, or an increase in your monthly statement.
As a locally managed print vendor for over 35 years, we take pride in using our expertise to answer any and all questions within our knowledge capacity about various issues throughout the printing industry.
Not only do we answer questions as thoroughly and honestly as possible, but we provide you with actions that could help your company in both the short and long run.
One of these actions is to incorporate a print management service on your device if you don’t already have one and print at a high volume. Print management services can help cut down on your usage and save on extraneous printing costs.
If you are interested in a print management service for your business or have any other pressing invoice questions, reach out to us and we’ll find the solution for you.
