CarpetBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

Billing Monthly Office Carpet Maintenance From an After-Hours Route

Office carpet maintenance is some of the steadiest work a carpet cleaning company can get. The office needs it every month, the work is usually done after hours when the building is empty, and the client is a business that expects a regular bill. The challenge is that nobody from the client is there when the work happens, so the billing has to speak for itself.

One Kind of Commercial Account

Setting up a property manager as one client with many addresses is covered in One Statement, Many Addresses: Billing a Property Manager for Carpet Cleaning. Offices often work the same way. A company with several suites, floors or locations is one client, with each one as an address.

Setting Up the Recurring Visits

In CarpetBossPro, repeat cleanings are set by minimum days between visits. For monthly office maintenance, set the address to come due about once a month. When it does, it appears on the Waiting List, ready to schedule.

Each office address carries its carpet job details: square feet, carpet type (Commercial Low-Pile is a common one), method such as Encapsulation or Low-Moisture, and access notes. For after-hours work, access notes are critical: the alarm code, which door, who to call if the key does not work, and where to park the van.

The After-Hours Van

A common setup for carpet cleaners with two vans is one van on residential jobs during the day and one on commercial after hours. The dispatch board shows jobs by day, can be filtered by van, and routes can be set by hand or with auto-route, Closest First or Furthest First from the shop.

The after-hours tech sees their jobs in route order on the tech app, with the access notes on each card. They do the work, complete the checklist, take before/after photos and tap Complete. The job is done and ready to bill without anyone in the office being awake.

Monthly Statements, Not Nightly Invoices

Offices rarely want an invoice for each visit. Set the client to Monthly and they get one statement each month covering every address, with each line labeled. A company with three locations sees all three on one bill.

That suits their accounts payable process, and it suits yours. One statement is easier to follow up on than a stack of small invoices. If a statement goes unpaid, past-due follow-up sends the reminder.

Photos for the Office Manager

The office manager is rarely in the building when the carpet gets cleaned. Before/after photos taken on the tech app are their only view of the work. Photos of the reception area, the main traffic lanes and any problem spots go a long way toward a statement that gets paid without questions.

The finished checklist on the job also records the condition (Good, Needs attention or Repair recommended) and a note for the customer. A note like “Traffic lane at front entrance is wearing, may need replacing” is useful information for the client and shows the work was looked at carefully. More on using that record in Backing Up a Carpet Cleaning Invoice With the Finished Checklist and Before/After Photos.

Pricing Office Maintenance

Office maintenance is usually priced by square foot or as a flat monthly price per address. Services in CarpetBossPro can be priced off the property's measurements, so a square-foot price works from the measured area on the address. A flat price can be its own service on your list. Either way, agree on it up front and the statement will be consistent every month.

Extra work, like a spill cleanup or upholstery in the conference room, can be added as its own line when the office asks for it. Put it on the job before it is completed, and it lands on the same monthly statement.

Keep the Account Healthy

Commercial maintenance accounts last when the client never has to think about you. A few habits help:

• Confirm the statement contact when you start, and again if the office manager changes.
• Keep access notes current. A changed alarm code is a wasted night.
• Use two-way texting for quick questions, so there is a record.
• Flag wear or damage in the customer note, not just on the phone.

Steady Work, Steady Billing

A few monthly office accounts can carry a small company through slow residential months. Set them up once, let them come due on their own, route them on the after-hours van, and bill them on one statement. To see how commercial billing fits with the rest of CarpetBossPro, visit the carpet cleaning invoicing software page.