Setting Up Billing ...Beginners Guide

[chris@uk-pornogirls.com]

Ok Guys and Girls my website is now just about fully built :D

Entering a huge global market but im hoping for a few members at least.

Billing seems a nightmare senario with 1001 questions I could ask but could you please steer me in the right direction for these few questions firstly.

Do I need to register as a trading company at Companies House ??

I'm guessing CC-Bill would be my best billing option right ??

Please tell me exactly what pitfalls and i should expect regards payment processing ??

How secure is a secure members area ??

Thanks in advance
Chris.

[ristac]

Ok Guys and Girls my website is now just about fully built :D

Entering a huge global market but im hoping for a few members at least.

Billing seems a nightmare senario with 1001 questions I could ask but could you please steer me in the right direction for these few questions firstly.

Do I need to register as a trading company at Companies House ??

I'm guessing CC-Bill would be my best billing option right ??

Please tell me exactly what pitfalls and i should expect regards payment processing ??

How secure is a secure members area ??

Thanks in advance
Chris.
Are you employed or self employed at present?

[JT]

Do I need to register as a trading company at Companies House ??


No, you can run your site as a sole trader


I'm guessing CC-Bill would be my best billing option right ??


I would have always said yes up till now, but if you are willing to wait a month or so, there may be a better option with paycom. They have something very very exciting on the horizon, that as far as I can see will make ccbill look a bit shabby.

Those who are comming to the next b&b meet, who are interested, can find out more



How secure is a secure members area ??


Not very at all, you will need added security

[Damian]

Either CCBill or us. :)

PaycomEU. We're the biggest two out there. We've been going 10 years and CCBill for 8.

Or, preferably both. You can make about 10-15% extra having two billers. So when one declines a card, it can try the other.

Also, it might be worth noting, if you use us as primary biller, you will get MPA3 for free. We will handle paying your affiliates too.

If you have any specific questions feel free to PM/email (damian AT paycom DOT net) me or hit me up on ICQ

Good luck with it!

Damian

[chris@uk-pornogirls.com]

Are you employed or self employed at present?

Employed this is venture ontop of my day job.
I currently PAYE & NIC at source.

When i looked at CC-Bill sign up they wanted some sort of company registration number.

Finding it all a bit scarey tbh ....small fish in big pond syndrome.

[Mattyboy]

CCBill has a better all round solution right now in terms of stats/affiliate set up but Paycom i find are a better 'biller' having used both side by side for some time now.

There stats are pretty crappy right now but their being much improved and should wipe the floor with CCBills old clunky system soon.

I've never been a fan of CCBill's admin area as it often times out and is super slow.

Both companies are solid though.

[Damian]

CCBill has a better all round solution right now in terms of stats/affiliate set up but Paycom i find are a better 'biller' having used both side by side for some time now.

There stats are pretty crappy right now but their being much improved and should wipe the floor with CCBills old clunky system soon.

I've never been a fan of CCBill's admin area as it often times out and is super slow.

Both companies are solid though.

Fair comments all :)

Our new stats/affiliate system is in beta now and will launch very soon. The feedback is very strong so far.

[gawdi]

Employed this is venture ontop of my day job.
I currently PAYE & NIC at source.

When i looked at CC-Bill sign up they wanted some sort of company registration number.

Finding it all a bit scarey tbh ....small fish in big pond syndrome.

Dont do this as a registered limited company until you know how things are going... The amount of red tape involved with limited companies is a nightmare, as you have to submit accounts with companies house etc.... Also the trap set by Mr G Brown, in the form of lower NI for sole traders forming limited companies, has been well and truely sprung!!!!!!! As a sole trader, you can keep off the radar of taxman, vatman etc...

You just have to provide proof of your identity to ccBill and tell them your a sole trader..... But dont think, you can ignore taxman... as ccBill will disclose details of your turnover to the taxman if asked by the inland revenue... Also if you part of an affiliate program which pays via epassport, these transactions are also disclosed to the taxman.... So be honest!!

A good accountant is a must... he/she can sort out your NI/Tax for you......

And dont forget, if u need to open a bank account... your a webdesigner or webmarketing... adult is a no no...

[globalguy]

Whilst credit card is and remains the best billing mechanism for monthy subscriptions, phone billing is a great way of making money from the majority of the world who do not have a credit card, or would perfer not to use them online.

Our geo-ip technology can easily be integrated not only on joinpages, but with galleries and tours too, handing you a website in 37 languages fit for the 21st century and a new revenue stream thrown in.:bandb:

By buying a block of time (usually 30 minutes) in advance, such billing is popular with surfers and works even if the surfer has one phone line.

To see global money being made in real-time:http://www.password-by-phone.com/realstats.php

We factor payment and pay you long before we get paid by the telcos - every 2 weeks by cheque, TT or epassporte.:)

Feel free to contact me with any questions:)

[ristac]

Employed this is venture ontop of my day job.
I currently PAYE & NIC at source.

When i looked at CC-Bill sign up they wanted some sort of company registration number.

Finding it all a bit scarey tbh ....small fish in big pond syndrome.

Limited Company: Will cost you around £350 to set up, you own shares in your own company and you have stricter laws regarding filing your accounts. Downside lots of extra paperwork, account fee's but the upside, if it goes all tits up you can declare bankruptcy and nothing outside of the limited company can be touched. Debtors cannot come knocking looking to take your sofa and TV away. You cannot take a drawing in cash from a limited company, you have to pay yourself a wage.

Partnership: You can take money out as a drawing, less paperwork and you can just put it down as an extra income at the end of a tax year. As you are already using your tax allowance in a full time job, you will have to pay 22% of any profit to the tax man. Remember your computer and any software can go down as an expense, you only pay tax on profit. Much better option for you as you do not even know yet if you will make any money. As for a company name, call yourself your last name +web design. Accountants and the bank will not be concerned like they would if you put porn into the name.

You will need a business bank account, look for one that offers at least first two years free of charges, but again, wait to see if you make any money at first.

VAT you only need to register for this if you hit a trunover of £60k in a year.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/se1.pdf might help you and lots of info on the legal business side at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/

[redwhiteandblue]

Limited Company: Will cost you around £350 to set up, you own shares in your own company and you have stricter laws regarding filing your accounts. Downside lots of extra paperwork, account fee's but the upside, if it goes all tits up you can declare bankruptcy and nothing outside of the limited company can be touched. Debtors cannot come knocking looking to take your sofa and TV away. You cannot take a drawing in cash from a limited company, you have to pay yourself a wage.


I don't know where you've been buying your limited companies from, but £350 is way too much! Look in the back of Exchange and Mart and there are any number of companies who will do you one for £50 or so and include a bank account with it (they must be on commission from the banks or something). I wouldn't recommend a limited company either to start with, you can always incorporate your sole trader business into a company later, but it's much more difficult to do it the other way around and unincorporate a business. However, there are tax advantages to owning a limited company - once the company has paid the 20%-odd corporation tax on the profits you can draw the remainder out as a tax-free dividend....well you used to be able to, I know our dear friend Mr. Brown has messed around with the laws on dividend payments somewhat so I don't know exactly what you can and can't do these days.

[supafly]

The only thing you save now by paying yourself a dividend from a limited company is national insurance.

[Skunk]

Those who are comming to the next b&b meet, who are interested, can find out more


Right looks like I may have to drag the 'boss' along for this then, well that's my excuse anyway :cheers2:

[Grisey]

Limited Company: Will cost you around £350 to set up, you own shares in your own company and you have stricter laws regarding filing your accounts. Downside lots of extra paperwork, account fee's but the upside, if it goes all tits up you can declare bankruptcy and nothing outside of the limited company can be touched. Debtors cannot come knocking looking to take your sofa and TV away. You cannot take a drawing in cash from a limited company, you have to pay yourself a wage.

No idea were you get £350 from dude

http://www.quickformations.com :crown:

[dvtimes]

Ok Guys and Girls my website is now just about fully built :D

Entering a huge global market but im hoping for a few members at least.

Billing seems a nightmare senario with 1001 questions I could ask but could you please steer me in the right direction for these few questions firstly.

Do I need to register as a trading company at Companies House ??

I'm guessing CC-Bill would be my best billing option right ??

Please tell me exactly what pitfalls and i should expect regards payment processing ??

How secure is a secure members area ??

Thanks in advance
Chris.

Once you have the payment setup, which is faily harmless as even I managed to do it. Basicly if you use ccbill all you do is give them access to your site and they upload your files.

But its worth getting a bit of security too. By this a password protection system. This spots if a password is used by more than one person. It just saves somone joining then posting the password.

Ccbill is good as you can set up an affilate ststem with ease.

[ristac]

I don't know where you've been buying your limited companies from, but £350 is way too much! Look in the back of Exchange and Mart and there are any number of companies who will do you one for £50

You get what you pay for, I give my accountant a list of names, he searches availability for me and when I have the one I want it is just sign a couple of papers and that's it. For £50 you are risking applying for a name already taken, you have to do lots of running around yourself (so to speak) and it is fine if you have the time to do this. The back of magazines, web sites etc make it sound easy. If you feel comfortable doing this then fine but as he said it was his first go then I figured he would want an accountant handling it all and ensuring it was a smooth ride should he select this route.

[supafly]

It takes about 10 minutes filling in online forms (including doing an online search for a company name). http://www.formationshouse.com/ I used this website last year.

[redwhiteandblue]

You get what you pay for, I give my accountant a list of names, he searches availability for me and when I have the one I want it is just sign a couple of papers and that's it. For £50 you are risking applying for a name already taken, you have to do lots of running around yourself (so to speak) and it is fine if you have the time to do this. The back of magazines, web sites etc make it sound easy. If you feel comfortable doing this then fine but as he said it was his first go then I figured he would want an accountant handling it all and ensuring it was a smooth ride should he select this route.

Is the name really that important for a company behind a porn site? Just buy an off-the-shelf company and trade as the name you want. Why spend money you don't need to?

[redwhiteandblue]

The only thing you save now by paying yourself a dividend from a limited company is national insurance.

Is that once you're over the higher rate threshold, or for any amount?

[chris@uk-pornogirls.com]

Great help so far peeps ...still trying to inwardly digest it all ..and I will be taking up the offers of help (Feels relieved). This board is helpful as well as providing some comic light relief :D

Hope you don't mind some further questions when im less tired.

[Grisey]

You get what you pay for, I give my accountant a list of names, he searches availability for me and when I have the one I want it is just sign a couple of papers and that's it. For £50 you are risking applying for a name already taken, you have to do lots of running around yourself (so to speak) and it is fine if you have the time to do this. The back of magazines, web sites etc make it sound easy. If you feel comfortable doing this then fine but as he said it was his first go then I figured he would want an accountant handling it all and ensuring it was a smooth ride should he select this route.

You would rather pay someone £250 to do a search that takes 10 minutes of your own time by searching companies house ?

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/86c994b23b74d9c8a62a5ece5518335f/wcframe?name=accessCompanyInfo

(I'm pretty sure the search function on companies house closes at midnight until 8am )

When picking a name pick something UN porn

[dvtimes]

Great help so far peeps ...still trying to inwardly digest it all ..and I will be taking up the offers of help (Feels relieved). This board is helpful as well as providing some comic light relief :D

Hope you don't mind some further questions when im less tired.

The good thing about ccbill is that even i could set it up. and its clear i am a twit when it comes to web stuff.

Before you think about becoming a company get advise first. Personaly i just see it as hassel.

To be honest one of the things you need to think about is what to charge. And also do you have it set up that people can re-bill.

But before you do anything, make sure that your host is decent and reliable. You can have the best set up, but if your site is down from time to time, everything is pretty pointless.

[chris@uk-pornogirls.com]

The good thing about ccbill is that even i could set it up. and its clear i am a twit when it comes to web stuff.

DVT don't knock yourself ... maybe you won't dealing in thousands of members...but you had the go getting to try and from little acorns big oaks grow.....people who don't try are the twits.


So sole trader it is...and bank account in a nice mellow company name.

Keep the tips coming this is really helpful for not only me but lots of other newbies too. :D

[dvtimes]

DVT don't knock yourself ... maybe you won't dealing in thousands of members...but you had the go getting to try and from little acorns big oaks grow.....people who don't try are the twits.


So sole trader it is...and bank account in a nice mellow company name.

Keep the tips coming this is really helpful for not only me but lots of other newbies too. :D

Not sure why you even need a business account. No law that stops you paying it into your normall acount (may help to get a usa dollor account). As long as you claim it to the tax people then your fine.

To be honest unless you plan on writting out checks, I see no reason why you need a business account.

But if you do opt for a business acount, its easy to set one up.

Just remember when you get your check for $500 or so, by the time its been converted to uk pounds, then the bank takes there commishion, you may have enough to buy a mars bar.

[dvtimes]

By the way, you do not need a business name. You can work under your own name. Even if there are firms with the same name as you, your legaly still alowed to use your name. So if your called Joe McDonalds, you can wok under the name of Joe McDonalds. But if you work as McDonalds you may have problems (but thats may).

[dvtimes]

Some thoughts for you:

1. Buy as many domain names that are close to yours, and point them to your site. You can also if you wanted offer them to affiliates who bring in good sign ups to let them use the domain to do even better.

2. Think ahead. These days a sigle site may be harder to sell than say one that when you join you access the rest. So one advise would be look to buy 3 to 4 more domains that you can use as pay sites at a later day.

[dvtimes]

Employed this is venture ontop of my day job.
I currently PAYE & NIC at source.

When i looked at CC-Bill sign up they wanted some sort of company registration number.

Finding it all a bit scarey tbh ....small fish in big pond syndrome.

Make sure you sign up to eu ccbill.

[dvtimes]

Employed this is venture ontop of my day job.
I currently PAYE & NIC at source.

When i looked at CC-Bill sign up they wanted some sort of company registration number.

Finding it all a bit scarey tbh ....small fish in big pond syndrome.

You do not need to be a company for euccbill (unless they have changed things). Make sure you are going to the eu side, often people look at the usa side, which is different.

Ccbill are very helpfull. Unlike a lot of net businesses, the people seem to be normall (not odd nerdy types).

When you fill in the form, post it. Fax is a pain. I think its best to post, this way they get a better copy. Such as a decent copy of your passwort and so on.

And its cheaper than faxing.

Plus they will get it within a day or two. I think its only malta it goes to.

As i say i know nothing about hardwear and only know basic bit of htlm, but i managed to do it. And seriously if i could do it anyone can.

And the only reason why I stoped having a ccbill site was I found it a nightmear finding the server had crashed every few days and having to phone some canadian up to tell him (last thing you want is to chat to some smemy canadian, whith his 'sure man' ways).

[ristac]

Is the name really that important for a company behind a porn site? Just buy an off-the-shelf company and trade as the name you want. Why spend money you don't need to? True but maybe my error in listing my experience in setting up a bricks and mortar Ltd company.

[ristac]

Not sure why you even need a business account. No law that stops you paying it into your normall acount (may help to get a usa dollor account). As long as you claim it to the tax people then your fine. Business accounts are not free and if your bank catches on that you are running a business and paying the income into a personal account then they will not be happy. Personally I would get the information gathered as he seems to be doing and sit on it until I saw which way it was all going to take off.

[chris@uk-pornogirls.com]

What sort of proof of identity and sole trader do CC-Bill(EU) require ?

[JT]

What sort of proof of identity and sole trader do CC-Bill(EU) require ?

Passport I believe