For anyone involved in the service sector – repairing air conditioning or heating units, fixing computers, cleaning air ducts or clearing clogged drains – QuickBooks recently developed new mobile technologies that make getting paid faster and easier than ever before by allowing service technicians to process a credit card payment right there are the customer’s location – without any special equipment!

The first and most exciting way is Intuit’s GoPayment system. How does it work? In a nutshell you download and install a small application to almost any Internet-ready cell phone. The technician uses that cell phone to process credit card payments right there at the customer’s location, confirm the credit card charge has been approved and even allows the technician to email or text a paid receipt to the customer.

Something a little easier to use is Intuit’s web-based credit card acceptance. With any web browser you surf to Intuit’s website, login to your merchant account and process the customer’s payment (via either credit card OR debit card) over the web – and the funds end up in your bank account.

I saved the best for last – QuickBooks Online Edition (QBOE for short). Taking online credit card acceptance a step further – QBOE integrates the transaction into your entire accounting system. By replacing standard computer-based QuickBooks, you or your employees can access your QBOE files and create customer invoices, enter receipts, mark payments and have the payments post to your checking account. For security purposes, you can limit an employee’s access to be selective or total so employees can have access to enter a customer sale but not print a check out made payable to “CASH” or check your last quarter income statement. With iPhone and Blackberry access you can get the same mobile functionality of web-based credit card acceptance on top of go-anywhere access of your entire business.

The days of the old fashioned credit card machines or hand swipers are over. Aren’t you glad?