I have recently had a growing interest in Cash Based Physical Therapy due to PTs like Jarod Carter (http://www.drjarodcarter.com/), Ann Wendel (http://prana-pt.com/) and Chris Johnson (http://chrisjohnsonpt.com/). I don’t want to go too far into why I think its an incredible option not only for the clinician but also the patient because I think I still have a lot to learn, maybe in another post. But with cash based PT in mind, I write this post.

All small business owners need to do 2 things. Make money, and spend less money than they make. Its a simple equation that can get really really hairy. There is a ton of resources out there about how to do both of those better. This post will focus on the later of the two. Cutting Costs.

There are tons and tons of point of sale systems (POS) out they vary in price and complexity. There are 3 relatively new options to throw into the mix and they have really changed the game, like all good innovation does.

The 3 POS systems are Square, Paypal Here and Intuit GoPayment. Each of these three systems are mobile based, cheap (free start up if you have an ipad), and allow you to accept credit cards very easily. Let’s take a look at each

Square:

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Square was the first of the mobile card accepting systems. With Square, you can pay either 2.75 percent on all sales, or you can pay $275 a month for 0 percent as long as the item price doesn’t exceed $400. Square does not offer a customer service telephone number, so quick customer service may be hard to come by. Start up is free though, free app and free card reader. More info here https://squareup.com/.

Paypal Here:
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Paypal is relatively new but has made quite a splash. PayPal offers a very straightforward pricing plan: 2.7 percent on everything, no matter your volume or item prices. PayPal technically argues the fee is only 1.7 percent, but that’s only if you use the money with its free debit card with 1 percent cash back. While this is its way of getting to 1.7 percent, it’s only true in very specific spending circumstances, and doesn’t offer much flexibility. Paypal can also take paper checks, which is huge for a PT clinic because many patients still prefer to pay this way. For more info go here https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/credit-card-reader

Intuit GoPayment:
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Intuit’s GoPayment offers two main pricing structures in a somewhat similar way to Square. The GoPayment will charge 2.75 percent on all swipes, or you can opt-in for a monthly plan of just $13 a month, which drops the swipe rate down to 1.75 percent. For the monthly payment to pay off, you’d need to be selling more than $1500 a month or so in stuff. $1500 isn’t much to someone with a serious small business, but it’s not meant for the once-in-a-while user. As a result GoPayment has versatility for the small business user, as well as a fair starting rate. For more info go here http://intuit-gopayment.com/iPhone

Bottom Line:
Square is the best deal if you are bringing in more than $10,000 a month. PayPal is good for a smaller clinic making less than $10,000 a month, it can also accept checks and GoPayment has the lowest overall per swipe charge if you pay the measly $13 a month.

What do you think?