MaidBossPro Blog — Offices, Rentals & Move-Outs

Getting Paid by Commercial Cleaning Accounts: Card on File, Statements and Past-Due Follow-Up

A commercial account can be some of your best work, or some of your slowest money. Businesses tend to pay on their own schedules, through their own processes, and sometimes only after a reminder or two. A maid service used to collecting by card the day of the clean needs a slightly different plan for business clients, agreed on before the first visit.

Agree on Payment Up Front

One statement a month, covered in Monthly Statements for Commercial Cleaning Accounts: One Bill for Every Location, is the most common way business clients want to be billed. How they actually pay is a separate question, and it is worth settling early.

When you send the estimate, include your payment terms in plain words: how you bill, when payment is due, and what happens if it is late. A business that approves an estimate with clear terms has agreed to them. That is much easier than bringing up payment terms for the first time when a bill is already late.

Ask who pays the bills, too. In a small office, it may be the owner. In a management company, it is often a bookkeeper you will never meet. Getting the right name and email on the account from the start keeps statements from landing in the wrong inbox.

Option One: Card on File, Charged on Completion

For small offices, single rentals and one-off move-outs, a card on file works well. The client adds a card through the customer app or a sign-up form, and when the team taps Complete, the invoice is created and the card is charged. There is nothing to chase.

Many small business owners prefer this. They already pay for most of their services by card, and they never have to remember to pay you. If the card is declined, past-due follow-up kicks in, and the client can update the card in the customer app.

Option Two: Monthly Statement, Charged on a Schedule

Some accounts want one bill a month but are still happy to pay by card. Set the account to Monthly, keep a card on file, and charge it on a schedule after the statement goes out. The client gets the clean record they want, and you still get paid automatically.

This is a good fit for small offices and dental practices where the owner signs off on vendors, and for hosts with several rentals.

Option Three: Monthly Statement, Client Pays

Larger property managers, builders and businesses with an accounts payable process often will not keep a card on file with a vendor. They want the statement, they will pay it on their schedule, and they may ask for something like a purchase order number on the bill. Record those on the account with a custom field.

The statement can be viewed and paid online from the customer app. For accounts that pay another way, the statement is still the clear, line-by-line record of what is owed and for which address.

Past-Due Follow-Up

Even good clients pay late now and then. The office manager was on vacation, the statement went to an old email address, or the bill is sitting in someone's approval queue. MaidBossPro's past-due follow-up sends reminders on overdue invoices, so the first nudge goes out without anyone in your office having to remember.

If reminders do not work, a friendly text helps. Two-way texting from the office reaches the office manager or property manager directly: “Hi Dana, just checking that our September statement made it to your bookkeeper. Happy to resend if needed.” Most late payments are paperwork problems, not unwillingness to pay.

When an Account Stays Behind

If an account keeps falling behind, look at the pattern. Reports by account show how much work each client sends, and the past-due list shows who is behind. A client who always pays two weeks late but sends steady work may be worth keeping on clear terms. A client who is behind on several statements may need a conversation about moving to card on file, or pausing service until the account is current.

Make the decision based on the whole relationship. See Reports by Account: Knowing Which Commercial Cleaning Clients Pay Off for more on reading those reports.

Keep the Paperwork Clean

The easiest way to get paid on time is to send bills that do not raise questions. Invoices and statements with line items, the address on every line, extras listed separately, sales tax included and before-and-after photos saved with every job make it hard for anyone to dispute a charge. When a question does come up, you can answer it with the job record, not from memory.

To see how payments fit with offices, rentals and move-outs, visit the MaidBossPro commercial cleaning software page.