I think this is much more common in Europe. Many businesses (not only enterprises) want to receive an invoice before making a payment (usually the payment is by wire transfer)
What happens here:
- Send an invoice about 2 weeks before renewal is due
- The invoice contains a specific structured code that needs to be mentioned when making a payment
- This code is used to track payment of the invoice
- If no payment made, send reminders
All of this can be automated. I know most bookkeeping software can be used to track the code, but that’s about it. I haven’t seen a flexible solution that’s easy to integrate with (please let me know if you know one)
Another option that you have inside the SEPA area (European Union) are direct debits. It don’t know if there is an equivalent elsewhere in the world and not all businesses are very open to the idea of given you a direct line to their bank account