Are you an industrial equipment distributor? Expanding your business north to Canada just got a whole lot easier thanks to FieldServio’s newly integrated, turnkey Canadian payment processing and Accounts Receivables management.
If you’re a decision-maker in an American company eyeing selling to and servicing Canadian businesses, or even setting up a new warehouse or satellite office in Canada, you’ll be happy to know that FieldServio’s integrated payments feature now supports seamless cross-border commerce. While it’s true that doing business internationally is not without its challenges, FieldServio has smoothed out all payment-related bumps by automating steps like currency exchange, cross-border payment processing, and compliance. And of course, FieldServio’s core features for industrial equipment distributors and field service companies, such as multi-warehouse inventory, multi-location service management, distributed sales management, and aggregated financial management, also support cross-border operations and sales.
So now you can easily grow into Canada and access new revenue streams with FieldServio powered by Payroc. Let’s grow your business in Canada together.
Why Canada?
If you’re not already doing business internationally, or if your global footprint does not currently include our neighbor to the north, Canada is a logical and attractive place to consider expanding.
First, Canada is a stone’s throw away. We share time zones and the English language. Trade between the United States and Canada is already well-established, making cross-border operations and logistics much simpler than in many other international markets.
Second, the Canadian economy—the tenth largest in the world—is not just stable, it’s growing. According to the Bank of Canada, Canada’s GDP growth is forecast to reach 2-2.5% in 2025. After real estate, Canada’s largest industries are mining (including oil and gas extraction) and manufacturing, both of which may be of interest to companies using FieldServio.
And third, Canada is well-known for its business-friendly practices, including a favorable corporate tax environment, skilled workforce, and ease of starting a business and filing required reports. Its well-managed government and beneficial international trade agreements also benefit American companies looking to expand into Canada.
In fact, perhaps the most apt question to consider here isn’t “Why Canada?” but rather “Why Not Canada?” Depending on your distribution territory agreements and potential to expand and capture more business, now may be the perfect time to level up your business northward.
Expertise Matters
As you begin to expand your operations into Canada, you’ll soon learn that who you choose as your payments partner matters. We hope you’re already using FieldServio’s integrated digital payments for the accounts receivable feature for your American customers. The benefits are vast and include the ability to streamline operations through payment technologies purpose-built for B2B/ERP platforms.
However, in Canada, the integrity and capabilities of your cross-border payments integration have become even more crucial. Here are some differentiators to look for as you make your assessments. It’s worth noting that FieldServio’s payments partner, Payroc, checks all the boxes.
Card Payment Preferences
Interac is the name of Canada’s interbank network, which links financial institutions and enterprises to carry out digital financial transactions. Most Canadian debit transactions use Interac. Like ACH payments in the U.S., Interac transactions have lower fees than credit card payments but also have unique Canadian infrastructure requirements that must be met for the transactions to process and fund smoothly.
√ Payroc seamlessly supports Interac.
Consumer Expectations
As a successful industrial machinery distributor and field service company, you know doubt are already well aware that meeting customer expectations is half the battle. Canadian customer payment expectations are also a key piece of the puzzle.
Canadian use of e-commerce and digital-wallet payment platforms such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal surpasses their adoption in the United States, with more than half of Canadians relying on these technologies already. Also in Canada, pre-authorized debit payments (PADs) are the norm for recurring payments. With FieldServio powered by Payroc, note that customers who prefer to pay by phone can still call with PAD or credit-card details.
√ Payroc seamlessly supports e-commerce, digital wallets, and PADs.
Pricing and Interchange Fees
Be sure your Canadian payments partner is well-versed in Canadian interchange rates. Canada’s regulated digital payments interchange rates are lower than they are in the United States. This means that all Canadian payments processed will cost you less than their counterparts in the U.S.
√ Payroc commands expert knowledge of Canadian interchange rates and fees.
Regulations and Compliance
To stay on the right side of Canada’s laws and avoid fines and penalties, it is essential to ensure that your Canadian payments partner abides by all other Canadian regulations and is PCI compliant.
In Canada, stringent Anti-Money Laundering/Know Your Customer regulations, overseen by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FINTRAC, prevent financial crimes and help ensure the integrity of the financial system. Automated payment processing steps that document customer identity and proof of address, for example, and routinely monitor transactions for unusual patterns, are part of the required due diligence.
Accurate sales tax collection and remittance are also central to compliance in Canada. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) must be properly charged, administered, and remitted. FieldServio’s excellent integration with Avalara helps ensure seamless tax management.
Finally, PCI compliance carries some different nuances in Canada, as Canada’s stricter consumer protection laws (such as PIPEDA) disallow the information gathering and storage of certain personal information. Again, you’ll want a Canadian payments partner experienced in the cross-border refinements of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.
√ FieldServio and Payroc abide by all regulatory and compliance requirements in both the United States and Canada.
Other Cross-Border Considerations
As you vet payments partners for your Canadian transactions, don’t forget to ask about currency handling, card processing, and bilingual support.
Does the payments processor seamlessly manage multi-currency transactions, particularly those including the U.S. dollar? And does the payments processor ensure that their system accepts non-Interac debit and international credit cards as well as Interac payments?
French is the mother tongue for about a quarter of all Canadians. In the province of Quebec, this percentage leaps to 82%. This means that bilingual English-French payments support is not only a nicety for your Canadian customer base, it’s a necessity.
√ Payroc’s FieldServio payments integration automates the U.S. dollar-to-Canadian dollar conversion in both directions, accepts non-Interac debit and international credit cards, and offers invoice presentation and customer support in French Canadian as well as English.
Ways FieldServio Powered by Payroc Simplifies Canadian Payments
FieldServio, powered by Payroc, offers an end-to-end solution to manage Canadian card-not-present payments effortlessly, enabling your business to streamline operations and unlock new growth opportunities.
Simply use FieldServio to generate your invoices. Whether the customer is located in the United States or Canada, the platform will create the invoice in the customer’s native payment currency and perform all the intermediate steps needed to have the payment funded into your business account in U.S. dollars.
Reasons to Get Excited About Doing Business in Canada
A Final Thought About Experience and FieldServio Powered by Payroc
We’ve already emphasized that cross-border digital payments expertise matters, but there’s also no substitute for boots on the ground. Payroc’s executive leadership team has a long history in Canada, dating back to 1983 with the founding of Caledon Computer Systems, which was acquired by Payroc in 2019. We believe Payroc’s payments integration within FieldServio seals the deal. Together, we have the deep experience and proven solutions to ensure you’ll have the right partner to succeed in Canada.
What’s more, selling into Canada is a significant step toward future-proofing your business. Canada is not only an attractive market itself but also a geographic stepping stone to expanding into Europe. You can count on FieldServio powered by Payroc’s cross-border payments integration to grow as you grow and fuel your expansion, wherever business takes you.
Ready to Expand True North?
If you’re already a FieldServio customer, reach out to your FieldServio representative to learn more about how we can help your business expand into and thrive in Canada. If you’re new to FieldServio, we invite you to book a demo.