PestBossPro Blog — Quarterly Plans & Recurring Service

Auto-Charging After Every Recurring Pest Service

Recurring service creates a lot of small invoices. A few hundred quarterly customers means a steady stream of bills every week, and every one of them that waits for a check or a reminder is cash sitting in someone else's pocket. Auto-charge turns that stream into money in the bank without anyone in the office touching it.

From Inspection to Invoice

Yearly renewals, covered in Yearly Termite Inspection Renewals: Keeping Every Termite Customer on the Calendar, are billed the same way as every other recurring visit. This article covers how that billing works.

In PestBossPro, when a technician taps Complete on a visit, the invoice is created from the service on the address, with line items and sales tax where it applies. If the customer has a card on file, it can be charged right then. The technician does not have to ask for payment, and the office does not have to send a bill.

On Completion or on a Schedule

You choose when the card is charged:

• On completion. The card is charged as soon as the technician completes the visit. Simple, immediate, and the customer sees the charge and the post-treatment email on the same day.
• On a schedule. The card is charged on a schedule you set. Useful if you prefer to batch charges or give the office a chance to review the day's invoices first.

Most residential plan customers are happiest with charge-on-completion. They get the service, they get the receipt, and the next time they hear about money is after the next visit. Commercial accounts on monthly account billing get one statement each month covering every location instead.

Why the Card Has to Be Captured at Sign-Up

Auto-charge only works if the card is on file. The easiest time to get it is when the customer signs up for the plan, which is why the sign-up form captures it. A customer who signs up without a card can still be invoiced and pay online, but every visit becomes a bill they have to act on. Over a year, that is four or more chances for a payment to slip.

If you have existing plan customers without a card on file, ask them to add one in the customer app. A short text explaining that it saves them from paying each invoice by hand is usually enough.

When a Charge Fails

Cards expire, get replaced after fraud, or hit a limit. When a charge fails, the invoice stays open and past-due follow-up goes out. The customer can update their card in the customer app and pay the open invoice without calling the office.

A few habits keep failed charges from turning into lost customers:

• Look at past-due invoices every week. A failed charge is usually an expired card, not an unhappy customer.
• Text before you call. A friendly text with a link to update the card solves most of them.
• Decide when to pause service. Write down how many unpaid visits you will allow before the next visit waits for payment, and apply it to everyone.

Prepaid Programs

Not every recurring service is charged per visit. Customers who prepay a program, like a mosquito season package, have each visit paid from their prepayment instead of being charged. When the prepayment runs out, the next visit can be charged to the card on file if the customer continues. Prepayments are covered in Prepaying a Mosquito Package Plan: How Program Prepayments Work.

What the Customer Sees

Customers who are charged automatically should never be surprised. A few things help:

• Say it at sign-up. “We charge your card after each visit” on the sign-up form and in the technician's pitch.
• Send the invoice. Every charge comes with an invoice the customer can see in the customer app.
• Send the post-treatment email. It tells the customer what was done, which makes the charge feel earned.

Reminders before the visit, covered in Reminder Texts and Emails for Recurring Pest Customers, also help. A customer who got a text the night before and an arrived text on the day knows exactly what the charge was for.

Re-Services and Auto-Charge

If your plan includes free re-services between visits, make sure those jobs are set up as no-charge services in your service list. A customer who calls about ants and then sees a charge for the re-service will call again, and not happily.

Getting Paid Is Part of the Plan

A recurring plan is only recurring revenue if the money actually comes in. Auto-charge after every visit makes that automatic. For how billing fits with scheduling, routing and renewals, see the recurring pest control software overview.