ElectricalBossPro Blog — Electrical Contractor Software

Billing in Electrical Contractor Software: Invoices, Card on File and Past-Due Follow-Up

Every electrical shop owner knows the feeling of a good month on the schedule and a thin month in the bank account. The work was done. The invoices were just late, or lost, or sitting unpaid. Billing in software is about closing the gap between finishing the job and getting paid for it.

Billing Starts With the Job

Many customers arrive through the forms in Website Requests and Sign-Up Forms: New Electrical Customers Without Retyping, some with a card already captured. Billing picks up where those leave off.

In ElectricalBossPro, the invoice is built from the job. The job was built from the service list, or from an approved estimate that was built from the service list. So by the time the tech taps Complete, the line items are already there. Nobody writes an invoice from a work order at the end of the day.

Invoices With Line Items and Sales Tax

Each invoice lists the services on the job as line items with your prices: a $99 service call, two $165 GFCI replacements, a surge protector. Sales tax is applied. If the tech did extra work on site, the office adds the line from the service list so the invoice matches what was done.

Customers see the invoice in the customer app and by email, with clear line names. A homeowner who can read what they are paying for pays faster and calls with fewer questions.

ElectricalBossPro works in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK and bills customers in their own currency.

Card on File

A card on file is the single biggest change for most electrical shops coming off paper. Cards get on file several ways: captured on a website sign-up form, added by the customer in the customer app, or added by the office.

With a card on file, the invoice can be charged automatically when the tech taps Complete. The tech does not have to ask for payment at the door, and the office does not have to chase it. For customers on yearly inspection or generator maintenance plans, it means each visit is paid the day it is done.

When a card expires, the customer updates it in the customer app. No reading numbers over the phone.

Auto-Charge on Completion or on a Schedule

There are two ways to charge automatically:

• On completion. The card is charged when the tech taps Complete. This fits most residential service calls and plan visits.
• On a schedule. The card is charged on a set schedule. This fits customers who prefer to be billed at a regular time rather than the moment a job is done.

Either way, the payment happens without anyone in the office remembering to run it.

Online Payment

Customers without a card on file, or who prefer to pay each invoice themselves, can pay online in the customer app. The invoice is there with a way to pay, and once it is paid, it shows as paid in the office.

Online payment also helps with larger jobs. A homeowner who approved a panel upgrade estimate online can pay the invoice online when the work is done, without mailing a check or calling with a card.

Past-Due Follow-Up

Some invoices will sit. Past-due follow-up reminds customers about invoices that have not been paid, so the office does not have to call through a list every week. The reminder points the customer to the invoice and a way to pay.

The office can still step in on the ones that need a personal touch, using two-way texting to reach the customer. But the routine reminders happen without anyone sitting down to send them.

Commercial Accounts and Monthly Statements

Property managers, landlords, gyms and retail chains often want one bill, not one per job. Set the client to Monthly, and they get one statement each month covering every address, each line labeled with its address. That is covered in Monthly Account Billing for Property Managers, Gyms and Retail Chains With Many Addresses.

Residential customers keep getting their invoices job by job, and both kinds of billing run in the same system.

Fewer Unpaid Jobs

Put together, the billing tools close most of the gaps a paper shop has. Invoices exist the moment the job is done. Cards on file are charged automatically. Customers can pay online. Late invoices get reminders. Commercial clients get one statement. The result is fewer finished jobs that never turn into money.

To see how billing connects with estimates, the tech app and the customer app, go to the electrical contractor software overview.