Migrating from Airtable to a Billing Platform: A Complete Guide

Sometimes the tools we start with aren’t the ones that can take us the whole way. At the beginning of a subscription-based business, making the switch from spreadsheets to databases proves productive. A flexible, visually intuitive, and well-organized platform like Airtable helps manage customer records, subscription details, and team collaborations.

But as your business grows, the cracks begin to show.

Airtable, though a good starting point for businesses, is not ideal for scaling. Its limited capacity fails to handle the complexity of recurring billing. This results in payment failures, unmanageable data, and revenue leaks.

Therefore, migrating from Airtable to a billing platform is the transition growing businesses need.

In this blog, let’s survey why Airtable falls short for billing, how businesses benefit from migrating, and why SubscriptionFlow is the ideal billing platform for your business.

Airtable: A Brief Overview

Airtable is a web-based platform that allows customers to create custom applications and workflows without any code. It can be used to store, manage, and collaborate on data about various things. For example, content management and project planning.

The Limits of Airtable in Billing

While Airtable is great for customization, it isn’t designed to sustain billing for a growing subscription business. Let’s look at the key areas where it comes up short:

• Lack of Scalability: Airtable is well-suited for small or medium-sized datasets. Businesses in need of large and complex data management may not be fully satisfied with it. This can lead to billing chaos.
• Limited Native Automation: The platform can’t handle recurring invoices on its own. It also doesn’t automate payment collection. This increases the manual workload of teams.
• Performance Issues: The greater the dataset, the slower the response time from the platform. It also gives rise to missed payments, inaccurate charges, or revenue loss due to human error.
• Lack of Native Payment Integrations: As compared to potent billing platforms, like SubscriptionFlow, Airtable doesn’t link with various payment gateways. These include well-known ones like Stripe, Braintree, or PayPal.
• Restricted Custom Logic: Airtable only facilitates simple workflows. Even if businesses create complex automations, the system can’t handle them at scale.

Signs It’s Time to Migrate from Airtable

You should consider migrating when you experience any of the following:

Your Customer Base is Growing Rapidly

With more customers comes more billing complexity. In this regard, Airtable shows record limits, storage caps, and lagged performance that make data processes error-prone. The platform works well for small teams, but as you scale, the performance starts slowing down.

This is a sign you should migrate from Airtable to a billing platform.

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You Require Advanced Logic

Airtable handles basic formulas and simple automations, but not tiered pricing, usage-based plans, proration, or complex dunning flows. Complex custom functions are hard to sustain without costly third-party tools or developer scripting.

That’s where a dedicated billing solution makes sense.

You Need Robust Security

Airtable doesn’t provide expansive security to its customers. Features such as user authentication, encryption, taxation, PCI DSS compliance, and access controls are not built into this platform. This is especially critical for businesses expanding their operations globally.

Industry laws and data security are non-negotiables in today’s market. If you’re experiencing weak security, it’s time to make the switch.

You Require Integration Flexibility

If you’re a subscription-based business, integrations are a basic necessity for you. So much so that data should readily be at your fingertips for non-bumpy workflows.

However, this need cannot be fulfilled by Airtable. It carries limited native integration options. Along with that, its restrictive API capabilities may disrupt heavy data syncing.

As a result, businesses often rely on a single ecosystem.

You Need Value for Money

As you upgrade for more records, users, or automations, Airtable gets costly without offering the enterprise-grade functionality in return.

Its per-user pricing plans and plan limits can become expensive for growing projects. In the long run, this offers less value for money.

How to Migrate from Airtable to a Billing Platform?

Here is a detailed guide on how to migrate from Airtable to a powerful billing platform like SubscriptionFlow:

Clean and Prepare Your Data

Organize your entire dataset. This includes customer information, payment details, and subscription records, which should be methodologically kept, whether in a CSV file or Excel.

Ensure there are no duplicates or errors. Click on the ‘Download CSV’ option from the drop-down menu in Airtable, and export the data.

Select the Right Billing Platform

The right billing platform will offer the following:

• A scalable infrastructure
• Advanced automation and custom logic
• Multiple third-party integrations
• Actionable analytics
• Flexibility and strong security

An all-round billing platform that accommodates all these features is SubscriptionFlow.

Import Data into the Selected Billing Platform

Log in to the billing platform account. For SubscriptionFlow, head on to ‘Administration settings’, then the ‘Imports’ section.

Next, upload the CSV file containing your Airtable data. You will need to map every field in the system. Ensure that the correct data is matched, if not done already.

After that, review all data and cross-check the information for errors.

Set Up Billing Logic

In this step, you need to define billing tasks on your own terms. These include pricing models, tax laws, proration, discounts, and renewal logic.

Determine billing cycles for invoices. Set automation flows for payment reminders and failed payments.

Also, connect your billing platform to the desired payment gateways, CRMs, accounting systems, and more.

Run Tests

Double-check everything before you go live. Make sure workflows are running smoothly, e.g., trigger actions.

Launch and Go Live

Moving on to the final step. After you’ve migrated from Airtable to your new billing platform, the next step is to carefully monitor. Early billing cycles can reveal hidden issues, so monitor them carefully and let the analytics help you make any adjustments.

Why SubscriptionFlow is the Top Billing Platform for Your Business

With the increasing demand for flexibility and structure, it’s hard to find billing platforms that offer both simultaneously. Enter SubscriptionFlow.

SubscriptionFlow runs billing the way your growing business needs. You not only transition smoothly but also stay in for long-term success. Its wide range of features includes:

• Automated billing workflows that handle recurring payments, renewals, and dunning with minimal human intervention.
• Adaptive pricing models, customizable invoices, and proration adjusted to precision.
• In-depth analytics that offer key insights into churn rate, customer behavior, and growth.
• Multiple integrations allow you to widen your audience base. CRMs, ERPs, accounting, tax management platforms and various payment gateways are some examples.
• Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, SubscriptionFlow ensures that it keeps growing without any hiccups.

Bottom Line

Airtable is a competent platform that excels at managing early-stage workflows. But billing is a more refined process than that. It requires automation, compliance, and accuracy for long-term success.

To guarantee that your billing platform matches the pace of your business, it’s important to migrate at the right time. With SubscriptionFlow, you can unlock a whole new realm of billing that positions you in an upward trajectory.

Schedule a demo with SubscriptionFlow to experience billing without limits.