In a Nutshell
pros
- Enables you to pay by card
- Payments with bank transfer are free
- Unlimited users and clients per account
cons
- No mobile app (but platform works well on mobile)
- Only one integration (QuickBooks)
Melio at a Glance
Melio Ease of Setup and Use
Registering your business with Melio takes only a few minutes and is free. If you have an Intuit (QuickBooks) account, you can use this to sign in and get started immediately. If you don’t have an Intuit account, then you can sign up for Melio using your business email. Complete your registration by entering your business details as you’d like them to appear on your payments (business name, address, phone number, and your first and last name).
Note that when completing your first bill payment, Melio will ask you to fill in your business’s legal information so it can verify your business for compliance purposes. After the first payment, everything will work automatically for all subsequent payments.
With the Melio dashboard, you get an integrated tool where you can manage and track all your accounts payable and receivable through a single platform.
Melio Pricing and Plans
The only thing Melio charges for is credit card payments, which carry a 2.9% fee per transaction. There are no sign-up or subscription fees, and it doesn’t cost anything to make an ACH bank transfer. Melio allows an unlimited number of users per account as well as an unlimited number of payment recipients, and never charges you for adding new users/recipients.
All the additional features shown below are also free of charge.
Melio Features
Melio lets you pay or receive any business expense, whether it be an invoice from a contractor or service provider, or a bill such as electricity or last year’s taxes.
Here’s how it works:
- Add bill details. Take a photo, upload a file, enter details, or connect QuickBooks online.
- Pay by card or bank. Pay (or request payment) with an ACH bank transfer, bank deposit, or business credit card (even if your recipient doesn’t accept credit cards).
- Choose payment delivery. Melio sends a check or bank transfer. The recipient doesn’t need a Melio account to receive the payment.
Melio includes the following features free of charge:
- User roles and approval workflows. Assign each user the role of owner, admin, contributor, or accountant. Control approval of each transaction to stay on top of your cashflow.
- 1099 forms. Easily categorize and export payments in .csv format to include in IRS 1099 forms.
- Scheduled payments. Pre-schedule individual payments or add and schedule all your upcoming bills in batches to simplify your bill-paying process.
- Payment tracking. Track all your previous payments and sort by date, recipient, and other filters.
- Recipient notifications. Each time you make a payment, you’ll be given the option of sending an email from Melio to notify them that their payment is on the way (as well as the payment method and ETA). If you choose to have a paper check sent on your behalf, it will arrive in the mail to the specified recipient address within around 7 business days.
Melio Integrations
Melio integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online (all versions except “Simple Start”). At present, it doesn’t connect to QuickBooks Desktop (although Melio says an integration is on its way) or QuickBooks Self Employed.
Log in to your Intuit account to connect QuickBooks Online for automatic two-way sync between your payments and your accounting, every five minutes.
Aside from QuickBooks, Melio does not offer any other integrations.
Melio Mobile Apps
Melio works through your web browser only, and does not have any mobile app. However, the good news is that the Melio platform is optimized to work well on any mobile-based browser.
Melio Customer Support
The customer support is very good, as shown by Melio’s 4.5-star rating from 200+ reviews on Trustpilot in 2020-21. If you want to know more before signing up, then you can book a free demo from one of Melio’s customer representatives. Melio’s YouTube page and the FAQ section on the Melio website also have lots of helpful tutorials.
Support channels are:
Email: info@meliopayments.com
Chat: On Melio website (usual response time of around 5 minutes)
Bottom Line
As every small business owner knows, managing invoices can be one of the most time-consuming parts of running a business. Melio offers a simple but effective solution: it lets you manage all your payments from one platform, giving you and your staff more time to focus on more important things – like growing your business.
