Differences Between a Daily Money Manager and a Bill Paying Service
As individuals seek to streamline their daily tasks by outsourcing certain services to professionals, one area that often causes confusion is outsourcing bill paying. Many people assume that any professional dealing with finances, such as a daily money manager or CPA, also offers bill paying services. In most cases that’s incorrect. Below are a few key definitions you should be familiar with, as well as the difference between a money manager and a bill paying service.
What is a daily money manager?
A daily money manager, also known as a DMM, provides personal financial services to older adults, people with disabilities, busy professionals, high net worth individuals, and small business owners. They offer a broad array of financial services to individuals such as bill oversight, including calls to payees regarding incorrect bills, reconciling checking accounts and investment statements, preparing and making bank deposits, organizing tax documents, negotiating with creditors, reviewing medical insurance papers, and verifying processing of claims, and providing organization of financial papers and systems. Services vary by DMM but tend to be comprehensive in nature, covering a broad range of tasks.
What is a bill paying service?
Unlike a daily money manager, the sole purpose of a bill paying service is to oversee the ongoing payment of bills for older adults, busy professionals, and small business owners. They focus exclusively on ensuring bills are paid correctly and in a timely fashion each month while allowing clients full access to their activities for complete oversight and transparency. The purpose of a bill paying service is to simply remove the hassle and inconvenience of bill paying for individuals who no longer have the ability or time to handle the task on their own.
Why choose a bill paying service?
Most individuals who simply need assistance with the ongoing task of bill paying are likely better off choosing a managed bill paying service. Engaging the services of a DMM or even a CPA to take on the role of managed bill paying will come at a higher cost as DMMs and CPAs have a more expansive clientele, and offer services requiring advanced credentials or licensing. While there are DMMs and CPAs that bundle bill paying in with other monthly services, it’s not the main focus of their practice. On the other hand, a professional managed bill paying service only focuses on the service of providing bill paying assistance. A professional bill paying service like Bill Simplicity will partner with clients, offering full transparency, access to bill paying activity from a variety of platforms, 24/7 access to all activities, and the ability to add additional users for more oversight. This last feature is especially valuable for children of aging parents who need to ensure their parents are getting the assistance needed to pay bills but are unable to take over the task themselves. CPA and DMM firms that do offer bill paying services are often simply leveraging an online bill paying platform, similar to what banks and credit unions already offer. A managed bill paying service will provide you with a dedicated customer support resource who is responsible for managing bill payments each month.
If you’re a busy professional, small business owner or older adult seeking help with the task of bill paying, understanding the difference between daily money managers and a bill paying service is important to ensure you’re getting the most dedicated managed bill paying professional possible at the most reasonable price. Want to learn more about how managed bill paying works? Contact Bill Simplicity to see learn more!
