This article explains how to make one customer a sub-account of another master account.

Context

Some customers pay for service at different locations. Here are some common situations where this happens:

• A property management company paying for trash pickup at rental units throughout the city
• A parent paying for service for their child across town
• The regional headquarters of a grocery chain needing dumpster service at all local stores

The master account, or parent account, is the account belonging to the person or company paying for the service.

The sub-account, or child account, is the account for a customer that receives services that are billed to another account.

When you print statements, the master account’s bill will include information for each sub-account, including a grand total at the bottom summing up the balance owed for all accounts. If you choose to print numbered invoices, then each sub-account gets its own invoice.

View Financial History for Master and Sub Accounts

1. Go to the History tab of the master account

2. Right-click anywhere in the window.

3. Click View Sub-Accounts. On the right you’ll see the account number and name for each transaction.

   Tip: If you do not see the account and name, right-click again and click Display Options > Reset Column Widths. When the customer sends you a payment you can divide that payment as needed. See the article Entering Payments for guidance.

When You're Done

Assign Customer to Bill To Account

1. In the Trash Flow tilebar, click Customers and open the account of the customer that received service.

2. Click in the Bill To field on the Rates tab and enter the name of the customer who should receive the bill for this account.

   

3. If this account should be set up for automatic payments, go to the E.F.T. tab and follow the instructions found in Setting Up Autopay or Saved Payment Methods for a Customer.

4. Go to the master account and press SHIFT F1 in the Bill To field or double-click to see all sub-accounts under the master account.

When You're Done

Another Option: Container Placements

If you use Trash Flow’s container tracking module, you can also use multiple container placements to handle customers paying for service at multiple locations. Based on you and your customer’s preferences, you can set up multiple service locations as different accounts, as different container placements, or by combining both methods.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages for each option:

Method	Advantages	Disadvantages
Different Accounts	History, notes, and route information of each location is kept separate and easy to find Can use account to represent a distinct “job” with multiple placements of its own, with each sub-account receiving its own invoices	Because locations are kept as separate accounts, searching for charges becomes more difficult if you have incomplete information Customer might prefer charges for all their locations to appear on a single invoice Slightly more time involved in initial customer setup Extra step involved when entering payments
Different Container Placements	All locations are visible on one screen—the customer’s Boxes tab Customer can be still be invoiced by individual containers or for all containers over a given time period	Less flexibility in setting up recurring charges Customers with many locations over time can end up with an inconveniently long list of container placements Harder to distinguish charges for different locations when reviewing history Can’t handle complicated tax situations

For more support using container placements, please contact us at 1-800-852-5199.

Additional Resources:

Entering Payments on Bill-to Accounts