TreeBossPro Blog — Tree Service Software

Card on File, Auto-Billing and Prepayments for Tree Companies

Tree work is expensive, and expensive work brings collection headaches. The big removal that sits unpaid for six weeks. The PHC customer who forgets every invoice. The property manager who pays in batches whenever they get around to it. Each one is cash your company earned and can't use yet.

Card on file, auto-billing and prepayments are three tools that move most of that money in faster.

Same-Day Invoices Are Only Half the Job

In Invoicing Tree Work the Day the Job Is Done, invoices went out the day the work was done. That speeds up billing, but it still depends on the customer acting. These three tools reduce or remove that dependence. Each fits a different kind of tree work.

Think about where your unpaid money usually sits. For most tree companies it's in three places: repeat customers who pay late out of habit, recurring program customers who get an invoice every visit and forget half of them, and large one-time jobs where a single slow payment hurts. Card on file handles the first, auto-billing the second and prepayments the third.

None of these replace good customer service. A customer who felt rushed or overcharged won't be won over by a smoother payment process. But a happy customer who simply forgets to pay is a process problem, and process problems have process fixes.

Card on File for Repeat Customers

A card on file is exactly what it sounds like: the customer's card, stored securely, so it can be charged when work is completed. In TreeBossPro, customers can save a card in the customer app when they pay an invoice or sign up for recurring work.

It's most useful for customers you see more than once: pruning cycles, PHC programs and commercial accounts. Once the card is on file, nobody has to request payment every visit.

Ask for permission clearly. Customers should know when their card will be charged and for what. Most repeat customers prefer it, because it's one less thing to remember.

Auto-Billing for Recurring Work

Auto-billing takes card on file one step further: invoices for recurring jobs are charged automatically. When the PHC applicator completes a program visit, or the pruning crew finishes a cycle, the invoice is created and charged without the office touching it.

For a company with a lot of program customers, that removes a huge amount of routine collection work. The office can focus on the exceptions — a declined card, a customer with a question — instead of every invoice.

Recurring work and auto-billing work well together. A customer who has a pruning cycle and a card on file is a customer who renews almost by default.

Prepayments for Big Jobs

Large removals are a different problem. They're one-time, the amounts are high and you may be committing a full crew and equipment for a day or more. Prepayments let you collect some or all of the price up front, when the customer approves the estimate.

In TreeBossPro, prepayments are recorded and applied to the invoice when the job is completed, leaving only the balance due. That protects you if a customer cancels late, and it shows the customer is serious.

Prepayments also suit PHC customers who want to pay for a program up front. The prepayment is applied as visits are completed.

Handle Declines and Questions Gracefully

Cards expire and charges get declined. When that happens, the customer should get a polite message with a way to update their card in the customer app. Don't let a declined card quietly turn into an unpaid invoice nobody notices.

Reports show unpaid invoices, so declines and slow payers are visible. Look at them weekly.

Choose the Right Tool for Each Customer

Not every customer needs every tool. A one-time pruning job might just get an invoice with online payment. A large removal might get a prepayment at approval and the balance online. A PHC program customer might get card on file and auto-billing for every visit.

The point is that the tools are there when you need them, in the same system as the work. That's how TreeBossPro tree service software turns completed jobs into cash with less chasing. The next article covers two details on every invoice: sales tax and online payments.