The Flow of Billing
What is a normal billing cycle like in Trash Flow?
One of the most common questions from new users is "How do I do my billing?". Companies vary widely in how and when they bill so the steps below won't necessarily describe how your business is run, but it's a good starting point for any company that regularly bills for trash pickup.
- If you use our Trash Billing service to process electronic payments then pick up web payments and send info to the web. Doing so will ensure that you record any last-minute payments your customers might have made.
- Assess finance charges or late fees. The trash bill is the last bill most people pay, and unless you bill all your customers ahead then inevitably some people will have a late balance. Many trash haulers charge a flat late fee or a percentage-based finance charge to discourage people from getting behind.
- Assess Regular Charges to bill customers for their recurring rates. This step is what gives all the customers a balance so you can print a bill for them.
- If you use Trash Billing then send an autopay batch now. The autopay process goes through all customers signed up for automatic payment; if they owe you money it sends Ivy Computer a request to charge the card or bank account on file for the balance on their account.
- You’re now ready to print your bills!
Some companies make a big distinction between residential and commercial customers. That's normally handled in Trash Flow by putting them in separate bill groups, allowing you to bill them at different times. (One common practice is to charge residential customers in advance every quarter but charge commercial customers in arrears every month.) When you print bills you can choose different formats (postcards, statements, invoices, coupon books, etc.) depending on the account type or bill group.
If you provide rolloff/industrial service billing is usually handled differently. Ongoing rolloff jobs might be billed once a week, or whenever the job is finalized, or separately for every tip. One important thing to understand: by their nature these jobs are usually not charged a set amount per month or week. Instead charges accumulate from work you have done for the customer and billing is just a matter of printing/emailing a bill that pulls together all the unbilled charges together. Billing works similarly if you have a transfer station/landfill: some customers pay on the spot when they dump, others receive a regular bill for however much trash they've dumped in the last week, month, etc.
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