GarageDoorBossPro Blog — Garage Door Software

Billing in Garage Door Software: Invoices, Card on File and Past-Due Follow-Up

Garage door work is not cheap, and customers know it. That cuts both ways for billing. Most homeowners are ready to pay when the door works again, but a bill that arrives a week later, without detail, is easy to set aside. Garage door software should get the invoice out while the door is still closing smoothly behind the van.

From Approved Estimate to Invoice

Install work usually starts as an estimate, as covered in Garage Door Estimates in the Software: From Service List to Approved Job. Once the job is done, billing picks up where the estimate left off, with the same services and prices.

The Invoice Is Created at Complete

When the tech taps Complete on the tech app, the invoice is created. There is no ticket to type up later and no pile on the passenger seat. The invoice includes:

• Line items from your service list, such as a $89 service call and a $295 torsion spring replacement
• Sales tax, applied the way you set it up
• The customer and the address the work was done at

If the tech added something on site, like new rollers the homeowner approved, the office can add it as a line item so the invoice matches the work.

Card on File

A card on file is the simplest way to get paid. When the tech completes the job, the card can be charged right then. The customer gets their invoice, the payment is recorded and the tech never has to take a card at the door or ask for a check.

Cards can be saved several ways: when a customer signs up through your website sign-up form, when they sign up for a tune-up plan in the customer app, or when they update their card in the app themselves.

Auto-Charge on Completion or on a Schedule

There are two ways to auto-charge:

• On completion. The card is charged when the job is marked complete. This fits most repair and tune-up work.
• On a schedule. The card is charged on a set schedule. This fits customers who prefer to be billed at a regular time.

Either way, the payment happens without someone in the office running cards one at a time.

Online Payment From the Customer App

Not every customer has a card on file, especially first-time emergency calls. Those customers can see the invoice in the customer app and pay online. They can also save a card at the same time for next time.

Having invoices in the app also answers the “can you send me a copy of that bill?” calls before they happen.

Past-Due Follow-Up

Some invoices will still sit. Past-due follow-up keeps after them so the office does not have to remember who owes what. A customer who forgot gets a reminder, and the office sees which invoices are still open without paging through a stack of paper.

If a customer has a question about a bill, two-way texting from the office is a quick way to sort it out. The job has the photos, notes and inspection attached, so it is easy to show what was done.

Property Managers, HOAs and Commercial Accounts

Not every customer wants an invoice per job. A property manager with a dozen addresses, a townhome HOA or a commercial account usually wants one bill a month. Set those accounts to Monthly and they get one statement each month covering every address, with each line labeled with the address it belongs to. That gets its own article next: Monthly Accounts in Garage Door Software: One Statement for Property Managers and HOAs.

Tune-Up Plans and Repeat Customers

Billing gets easiest with the customers you see every year. A homeowner on a yearly tune-up plan already has a card on file from signing up. When the visit comes due, the office books it from the Waiting List, the tech runs the door safety inspection and taps Complete, and the card is charged. Nobody in the office touches the payment. If the card has expired, the customer can update it in the customer app before the next visit, and past-due follow-up catches the rest.

Billing in Other Countries

GarageDoorBossPro works in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and bills customers in their own currency. A garage door company in Canada invoices in Canadian dollars, and one in the UK in pounds.

Getting Paid Before the Van Leaves

The point of all of this is short time between the work and the money. An invoice created at Complete, a card on file charged on the spot, online payment for everyone else and follow-up for the stragglers. To see how billing fits with the rest of the system, visit the GarageDoorBossPro garage door software page.