About Us
GetBeyond helps streamline business processes while increasing security and compliance. We provide these solutions without contract or termination fees. We make it easy and safe to embrace new technologies without the worry of becoming trapped. We support these solutions with a dedicated domestic support center in Louisville and 500 local business advocates nation-wide.
What are your 2023 goals? I'm here to help
[ E-Commerce ] * [ Clover POS ] * [ Payroll ]
[ Billing / e-invoicing ] * [ B2B ] * [ Time and Attendance w/Job Costing ]
[ Payment Processing ] * [ Lending ] * [ Staff Scheduling ]
[ Inventory ] * [ Online Ordering ] * [ Delivery Integration ]
How We Got Started
A former multi-unit merchant and head of the Princeton Merchant Association I know the challenges of brick and mortar businesses. I have lived through my share of good (and bad) card, payroll, lending, and POS arrangements and prepared to share my experience, tools and services offered by Beyond to benefit your business.
Beyond stands by its 10 customer promises including transparent pricing, no termination fees, and supporting our sister charity Giveback.NGO as the beneficiary of Beyond. Beyond offers business solutions that help streamline operations and stay compliant with payment and payroll rules, regs and best practices.
The products and services we offer
Products & Services
Reduce Credit Card Expense by 50-80%
(All plastic is not considered equal)
As a merchant, did you know that credit cards are 2 - 6 times more ...
Is there a best way to streamline your payroll, benefits and risk?
Yes, Integrate them all!
As long as your Payroll choice takes on full tax li...
My Fellow Merchants:
Several prominent card processors are yet again raising prices going into the New Year and others have been sprinkling...
Recommendations Given (35)
"I've known Teri and Gabe for literally decades and they are seasoned hospitality professionals..."
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"I've known Teri and Gabe for literally decades and they are seasoned hospitality professionals that know how to please a crowd and party hosts. Their reincarnated Shasta-Java & Tap trailer is fantastic and sheer genius. Food trucks are a dime-a-dozen, but great coffee, espresso, and draft beverages (including cold-brew) are loved by one and all. I'd book this coffee trailer 100x over for special events rather than a food or ice cream truck. Their coffee concept fits perfectly into any entry-upscale event, but especially where food trucks simply don't cut the mustard in terms of service elegance, plating, and food presentation. This trailer is a portable sip of Java-Genuis!"
"Paul has a deep financial advisor background. When combined with merchant payment, payroll, and..."
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"Paul has a deep financial advisor background. When combined with merchant payment, payroll, and lending solutions through Beyond he is poised to disrupt a lot of the unscrupulous competitor tactics and business practices that can be a disservice to local merchants. Armed with a wide variety of payments and POS solutions and more, combined with the transparent and ethical business practices at Beyond (protected pricing, no junk fees, and no early termination fees) Paul has the ability to make a positive impact on every merchant he encounters. I recommend that you find out what he can do for your business!"
Recent Activity
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on September 27, 2020
There is a lot changing in the marketplace right now, be it Covid changing in-person commerce or merchants pivoting to more online sales and marketing. Contactless payments are in vogue and many employees are working from home. In a normal year technologies change and create opportunities, in...
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There is a lot changing in the marketplace right now, be it Covid changing in-person commerce or merchants pivoting to more online sales and marketing. Contactless payments are in vogue and many employees are working from home. In a normal year technologies change and create opportunities, in the current year our habits changed and technology was used to help solve these new issues cast upon us.
To answer the question, I reach out to my merchants at least once a month, and more often if there are new solutions that I think would benefit their business. I'm not trying to sell them anything, I'm trying to address their business needs through technology solutions I offer. For example, adding a pin-pad to a credit card machine allows merchants to separate the hardware that staff interact with, and that which is facing the customers on the other side of the plexi-glass. Many of those same pin-pads accept contactless payments - Apple or Google pay, or the new tap-and-go cards. I have several clients who have added Paylinks to their website and Facebook pages allowing customers to pay bill online without sharing their credit card info. I have other merchants that want to pass credit card fees on to their customers, but don't want to do it in a way that ruins patron loyalty. One solution I have recommended is to surcharge only credit cards (not debit), and make the premium just enough to lower rewards credit card fees (typically 3%) to approximate the cost of a debit card (1%). My suggestion is a 2% upcharge, and assuming a 35% Debit and 65% credit card mix, the business will cut overall acceptance cost by 55%, and stops funding the patron rewards/miles.
Let's talk payroll. With staff working from home, time and attendance modules need to work remotely. Our smartphone solution can snap a selfie to ensure that the employee is the one clocking in and from what location (photo geo-tag), and we have another for in-office staff that can clock them in using facial recognition and even takes their temperature contact-free. Similarly offsite crews can be restricted from clocking in when not inside a preset geo-fenced location or area. Finally, when adding new staff, online and employee self-service on-boarding makes adding new employees and uploading required documentation remotely a snap.
These are just some of the many ways I not only keep in touch with my merchants, but keep them appraised of the latest tools that can help them be more productive and efficient while providing their customers the solutions most needed and desired.
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on August 29, 2020
Integrate them all!
As long as your Payroll choice takes on full tax liability, then payroll itself has basically become a commodity in today's marketplace. What now separates payroll offerings from one another is what you can bolt onto it, to turn it into a complete employee management...
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Integrate them all!
As long as your Payroll choice takes on full tax liability, then payroll itself has basically become a commodity in today's marketplace. What now separates payroll offerings from one another is what you can bolt onto it, to turn it into a complete employee management solution that requires no double entry of data.
Beyond payroll is different in that we have worked to directly integrate many popular and needed options to our payroll solution.
For example, online job posting and applicant management that can help screen for qualified applicants, schedule interviews or calls, and even extend acceptance offers. Once the employee accepts, they self-board by uploading required documents and filling out required forms. Once completed, they are automatically added into payroll. Think about all that for a moment - your email isn't blown up by applications, your desk is not covered in paper apps and post-its, and record keeping is managed for you. Did you also know that employers with 10 or more employees are required to keep all applications on file for a full year? All done in the cloud!
How do you track time and attendance? Time clock, emails, spreadsheets? No need, Beyond payroll has an integrated time module that handles all punches in-house or remote. In house can be IP specific, like only from in-office PC's, by cellphone, or biometric device. Cellphone clock-in can include a selfie to prove it's you, and you can even set GPS geo-fenced areas within which clock-ins are valid so you know all on-site crew are actually there. You can even enable scheduling and job-costing. Guess what, that on-boarding module above automatically populates the clock app as well.
Time for payroll: Clock data can be imported or manually added. Does your State have paid sick leave. No worries, accruals of all kinds are included, and we even have an employee self-service portal so they can see balances, request PTO, view check stubs and W-2's. Beyond payroll allows you to see your batch data before you submit it, so you know impounds ahead of time, not after the fact. We can ship checks, direct deposit, or allow you to print your own checks locally. We even have a suite of PPP forgiveness reports (8 and 24 week, FTE, etc) that we will populate for you at time of conversion, and if you use QuickBooks Online we have an API that integrates all the payroll data for you.
Wait, there is more! How do you presently pay workman's comp, the traditional way with 20% down and 8 monthly payments? That's terrible if your business is seasonal or impacted by weather events. We offer a pay-as-you-go comp plan that deducts the exact amount of comp based on each payroll run. You pay more when you are busier, and conserve cash when slower. And the best part, annual comp audits and penalties are virtually a thing of the past!
Still more ... Do you have a 401(k)? Are you uploading data, spreadsheets, or entering values? No more, it's all automatically integrated!
Finally, do you know the difference between FLMA and FFCRA? Both impact you and your employees. FMLA was for 50 employees and up, but when COVID hit Congress changed to FFCRA and that starts at one employee. Too much to digest right? No longer an issue with our Live-HR solution that will notify you of changes that impact your business or State, help you create or augment your employee handbook, and provides topical search, FAQ's and even live access to HR professionals! When you are expected to know, Live-HR is the way to go!
So coming full circle, choosing an end to end employee management solution can turn all these separate administrative tasks into one seamless process from start to end, freeing up time while reducing frustration, errors, and risk.
It's time think outside the payroll box. Less is no longer more. Consider employee management from Beyond and make more into less!
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on August 17, 2020
Great question, and the honest answer is that it depends!
First a few basics, generally speaking debit cards are 2-6 times less expensive to accept than credit cards, so it really depends on what the customers choose to pay with. The second factor is the amount of your average sale. There are...
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Great question, and the honest answer is that it depends!
First a few basics, generally speaking debit cards are 2-6 times less expensive to accept than credit cards, so it really depends on what the customers choose to pay with. The second factor is the amount of your average sale. There are fixed fees associated both with the card and the processor that can impact acceptance costs more on smaller purchases. Percentages however (charged by both card and processors) impact larger purchases more. Finally the cost to process tends to inversely follow average monthly volume (more is less).
Fixed price offerings from Square and others might be beneficial for start-up merchants, but generally after volume exceeds $4,000 a month, moving to a cost-plus solution can lower their costs.
There are alternative cost reducing strategies: Most States allow surcharging which allows the merchant to levy a fee on credit card purchases, but not on debit card purchases. As we started this discussion, encouraging patrons to switch to debit cards instead of credit cards can reduce card acceptance costs 50-80% while still allowing one form of plastic. This is a great way to give the patron a no cost choice without funding their rewards programs. Second, if you are a B2B merchant and see your share of business, corporate, or purchasing cards, if you add more data to each transaction (like tax amount and invoice number) can lower card brand costs by as much as 33%. This is know as adding Level 2 and Level 3 data and often requires a special counter top or virtual terminal. Most are familiar with being ask for the card code or numerical portion of your billing address - that is considered Level 1 data.
There are bad actors out there that will promise you rates that are below card brand costs and then increase your rates through time either directly or hidden in card fees. The red flag on those offerings are contracts that have early termination fees. If they are pricing fairly, there should be no need for such conditions or penalties. Finally, never lease a card machine, their typical cost now starts at about $150, 250 for touch screen, and 350 for wireless/cellular. If you work at a PC and do not see customers directly, Virtual Terminals start around $10/mo and many will process Level 2 data!
If someone promises that they can lower your rates without seeing your present statement, don't believe it and run. If they offer concrete solutions, transparent pricing and no early termination fees, it might be worth hearing what they have to say. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on August 17, 2020
With high cost and risk exposure of leased retail space it seems to me that less is more and starting up without has it's merits.
There is a very successful crepe/eatery locally that began in an indoor year-round farmers market. The abundant foot traffic and low overhead made it a great...
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With high cost and risk exposure of leased retail space it seems to me that less is more and starting up without has it's merits.
There is a very successful crepe/eatery locally that began in an indoor year-round farmers market. The abundant foot traffic and low overhead made it a great incubator to hone the brand, offering set and even grow awareness for the day that she decided to move into bricks and mortar. When she did there was already a loyal following day one greatly reducing her risk and increasing chances of success.
Since March many people have taken to the internet to purchase in a contact-less fashion. Selling online has never been more active and although that eliminates retail costs, there is a lot more competition to market again out there which creates it's own challenge to overcome.
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on August 17, 2020
A client of mine is a local distillery that converted into making hand sanitizer. Before March they were a startup just getting by, now their staff has doubled and product is flying out the door. Early on they were the only show in town and supplying the local hospitals in need. Sourland...
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A client of mine is a local distillery that converted into making hand sanitizer. Before March they were a startup just getting by, now their staff has doubled and product is flying out the door. Early on they were the only show in town and supplying the local hospitals in need. Sourland Mountain Spirits is their name in Central NJ.
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on May 24, 2020
Chip-In might be the solution that provides shop-local traction in everytown, USA ...
Imagine a Shop-Local solution that reinvests sales dollars into the local economy twice ... wherever that community may be.
Chip-In: Connecting Communities through Commerce
Through this...
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Chip-In might be the solution that provides shop-local traction in everytown, USA ...
Imagine a Shop-Local solution that reinvests sales dollars into the local economy twice ... wherever that community may be.
Chip-In: Connecting Communities through Commerce
Through this 'shelter-at-home' period online retailers have done very well at the expense of local merchants and we've all grown more familiar and comfortable with home delivery. Any Shop-Local solution needs to provide tangible rewards/results to motivate consumers to make the effort to shop-Local rather than remain online.
My company, GetBeyond.com, has just released that solution, it's called Chip-In and it's available nation-wide for any town or chamber to embrace, as well as any merchant or non-profit allowing communities to pair up to drive consumers to those merchants knowing they will support their local non-profits by making a donation!
Chip-In allows merchants to create a 'donation offer' intended to encourage supporters of Non-Profit causes and charities to dispatch their supporters to Shop-Local in order to 'claim' the donation for the causes that matter most (designated by each patron). Non-Profits are in dire straights just as local merchants are. For restaurants challenged by reduced seating capacity, the app allows donation offers to be set by day of the week, so you can encourage visits at off peak times. The app also allows merchants to set a minimum spend to qualify for the donation. In these times of curbside pickup there is good reason to take home an extra meal, and by spending more the merchant does better and the donation offer is typically more than covered by the added spend. Donation offers can be a fixed amount to thank patrons and encourage more visits, it can be a percentage of the purchase amount, or a combination of the two. The merchant decides what suits them best and can even set a donation cap per visit. Chip-In sends merchants new customers and creates a loyalty that retains them.
Here's the great part - it's free! That's right, 100% of the donation offer goes to the designated non-profit. Any merchant and any non-profit can participate at no cost (other than the donation offer the merchant posts). And get this, there is no hardware required, no software, and no administration on the part of the merchant or non-profit - It all happens 'in the cloud' when purchases are made with a linked card. Once a month the merchant will receive a report showing how many offers were claimed and by which non-profits. Chip-In is like advertising for your business - except it costs nothing unless it sends full price patrons to your business.
Interested in learning more? We have a website that merchants and non-profits can use to sign up online right now in three easy steps. There are no contracts and businesses can cancel at any time. Personally I call this a Shop-Local, Reward-Local ecosystem that each community can deploy to encourage their local residents to focus on Main Street and not send purchase funds out of town. For interested users, there is a 'how to' tab to help you get started and search for participating merchants in your area, see their offers, or suggest new merchants.
Download the Beyond Chip-In app today and give it a try. It's fun and satisfying knowing that you are taking care of business - literally!
Chip-In: Connecting Communities through Commerce
PS: Once we are all comfortable travelling again, Chip-In works anywhere in the US. Make purchases to collect donation offers wherever you are and send the donations to your favorite non-profit at home - you are still shopping local and helping those independent merchants where ever you shop.
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on May 02, 2020
Web design, support, e-commerce deployment, and internet SEO and targeted advertising. All this is in high demand as merchants move move products, services and reputations online by refreshing pages, updating functionality and linking with social media. Great part about this segment is that it...
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Web design, support, e-commerce deployment, and internet SEO and targeted advertising. All this is in high demand as merchants move move products, services and reputations online by refreshing pages, updating functionality and linking with social media. Great part about this segment is that it can be run from anywhere, so you don't need to rent space right away. Acquiring the operational knowledge is the biggest barrier to entry, but there are affordable online options like Udemy.com that can help with targeted training. I'm also hearing that there are a variety of tech firms laying people off - Toast POS for example laid off 50% of it's workforce, so you might be able to acquire talent during this market slump. Remember too that being online is not something traditional independent merchants have had top of their list, now however with limited store access (once it's even allowed), internet presence will not only be critical, but may actually allow merchants to operate more economically going forward.
PS: Perfect example, WaitWhile.com is an interesting new app that allows limited access merchants to automate their appointment scheduling/wait list and calendar online and on their website (if they only had someone to add that for them! ;~)
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John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on April 26, 2020
Have you heard of the newest 'shop-local' app that connects communities? It's called Beyond Chip-In. It's like merchant advertising/marketing that costs nothing ... unless it pulls in full-fare paying customers - and it's not limited to restaurants.
How Chip-In Works and who it...
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Have you heard of the newest 'shop-local' app that connects communities? It's called Beyond Chip-In. It's like merchant advertising/marketing that costs nothing ... unless it pulls in full-fare paying customers - and it's not limited to restaurants.
How Chip-In Works and who it helps
Chip-In allows merchants to post a donation 'offer' that can be claimed by patrons when purchasing with a linked credit card. The app is also where the patrons chooses their favorite non-profit or charity to receive that donation. The entire process is handled 'in the cloud' requiring no hardware, no software, and no administration and the app is free.
The cool part is that the merchant can set the offer to trigger just on certain days, meal periods, and even require a minimum purchase amount to qualify. The intent is to drive business to periods with excess capacity and not when already busy. The next step is to alert local schools, groups and non-profit organizations that your business supports their cause when their supporters choose your business. This is where the shop-local symbiosis kicks in - local merchants and non-profits now need each other more than ever to simply survive. Chip-In adds that reward-local component that creates incentive to make purchases local rather than using Amazon, and 4-5 times more money gets reinvested in the local economy when spent at local independent merchants.
Example of Chip-In Merchant / Non-profit partnerships at work
Municipalities, Chambers and Merchant Associations can adopt Chip-In as their own shop-local program eco-systems to add real value and inventive to the shop-local paradigm. Chip-In raised over $325,000 in April alone for our non-profit partners, and based on the typical 10% donation offer means that those participating patrons spent $3,250,000 with those merchants flying the Chip-In flag. This is far less costly than coupon mailers, entertainment books or Groupon style marketing that encourages non-loyal bargain hunters that just move onto the next offer.
Unlike other programs, Chip-In delivers 100% of the merchant donation offer to the Non-Profit specified by the patron. And once we are all able to travel again, the Chip-In app has a merchant offer search tool, so you can use Chip-In to collect merchant offers in all 50 States and send funds home to your preferred charity (you are still shopping local and doing your part to support independent businesses).
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on April 24, 2020
Quick answer - deploy online ordering to maximize order processing efficiency and facilitate curbside pickup. Next redeploy your servers for at home delivery. They can still serve their regulars and receive tips, albeit off premise. They remain employed and ready to transition back to the...
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Quick answer - deploy online ordering to maximize order processing efficiency and facilitate curbside pickup. Next redeploy your servers for at home delivery. They can still serve their regulars and receive tips, albeit off premise. They remain employed and ready to transition back to the floor when that is possible. Keep in mind that reopening of dining rooms will likely require greater separation of tables, so the online pickup and delivery you establish today will still be filling the gaps after reopening occurs.
Part 2: Renegotiate your lease. If your square footage will be generating fewer dollars per square foot, that makes your premise less valuable. That said, landlords will likely be crushed by closing businesses and will always prefer to work with you rather than be left with an empty store in a glut market. Split the difference - create a new lower base rent and add a percentage of sales so as you start to thrive, so does the landlord. 4% of sales over the base rent natural break is typical meaning a $2000 base rent would not start paying the percentage until they exceed $50k/mo in sales (2000/.04).
Part 3: Regain control of your costs. Are credit card acceptance fees above 2.5%? Depending on the amount of debit cards and your average sale even that might be excessive. What about payroll and workman's comp. Are you paying staff weekly and being charged a per-run fee by the Pr company? Move to bi-weekly or a monthly fee provider. How about Comp - are you on a traditional installment plan still where you pay 20% up front and the balance over the following 8 months? Jettison that and switch to a pay-as-you-go comp provider that links to payroll. Then when it's January you are paying half the comp when payroll is half, and more in the summer when the outdoor tables are full (or would have been full unlike this year). But this also solves these unexpected variations in payroll and com can follow it in lockstep.
Part 4: Good luck and keep yourself and staff healthy!
John from Beyond Business Solutions, POS, Payments, eCommerce, Payroll Answered this on April 24, 2020
Consider this: How many pre-configured restaurant spaces will be vacated in the next six months due to collapsing sales? This will become (if it's not already) a tenants market to pick and choose. I predict landlords will start lowering rent for their existing tenants to keep them in place...
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Consider this: How many pre-configured restaurant spaces will be vacated in the next six months due to collapsing sales? This will become (if it's not already) a tenants market to pick and choose. I predict landlords will start lowering rent for their existing tenants to keep them in place and alive - a far cheaper proposition than empty spaces. Have your client be on the lookout for existing businesses that are preconfigured for both take-out and dining room space to suit the present curbside sales climate and knowing that table service will likely be limited compared to the past by increased spacing making revenue per square foot go down, therefor rent needs to do the same. Best scenario is to set a very favorable base rent, and add to it a percentage rent on sales in excess of the natural break. This covers the tenant downside risk and allows the landlord to generate more income when the merchant does better. It creates a symbiotic partnership between the two parties to ensure that everyone does better in the long run.
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