How do you guys like to be paid?

[Ramster2000]

How do you guys like to be paid after completing a job, whether it be mowing, mulching, trimming, fertilizing, and so on. Do send a monthly bill to everyone of your customers. If so how do you send them out, through mail? Do you pay for all the stamps each month or do you have one of those envelopes that don't require a stamp. If so how did you go about getting them, I am interested in finding a new way to collect my money. Right now I am just knocking on the door when I am done. That is very time consuming because some of my customers like to talk a lot. I was interested in changing the way I collect my money, so any responses will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

[CLC]

I do a monthly billing, send them on the 1st of the month everytime i pay for stamps but, if someone does know how to get the fee ones let us know :blob3:

[Eric ELM]

We send out a bill at the end of the month. Collecting each time or even once a month at the door takes up a lot of time. We use the computer to address the envelopes and put on our return address. I hope this helps.

OK, now you have asked 4 questions. I have asked you 2 questions in replies to your posts. Could you please answer my questions too? You need to read the responses to your questions so we can further help you out.

Here is one of mine to you.
What state is Jamison in? Could you add the state to your profile so we know where you are from? The reason is, in your other post we would of had a good idea what sort of grass you are cutting by knowing what state you are in.

I did look up your town and the only one I see in the USA is in Iowa. If this is the right state, could you add that to your location? If you don't know how, let me know and I can do it for you.

Please answer the question I had on your cutting problem also on that thread.

Thanks
Eric

[Chopper Lover]

I like to be paid cash on the spot. That does not happen often. It saves me a trip to the bank. I hate banks!

I have both annual accounts and accounts that are billed at the end of the month for each mowing. The bill goes out around the first and is normally left on the front door. I expect payment in my grubby paws by the 10th of the month with a 5 day grace period. There is a 5% late fee for anything not to me by 5 PM on the 15th (unless I can see from the postmark it was lost in the mail for a substantial amount of time).

I supply self addressed envelopes which also include my address as the return address. It should get back to me no matter what. I used to include stamps but found I was not getting my self addressed envelopes back. I stopped placing stamps on all my accounts but 1. That account pays promptly and ALWAYS uses my envelope.

You can also leave bills with return envelopes after each mowing. They can be due in 7 days. That way you shouldn't mow more than twice without getting paid. I prefer the monthly billing because it is less administrative hassle for me.

Good Luck,
Mark

[lawnboy82]

i do a mixture of billing methods. i find that it works well for me. some people i leave a bill in the mailbox, others i go to their door and get paid, i am gonna try for this year to leave an account or two unpaid until the end of the year to cover some winter expenses. i have heard about this being a good thing to do and am going to try to implement it.

[dhicks]

We invoice out clients the first of the month via snail mail. Payment is always due by the 10th of each month. Some pay by check and some use PayPal on our web site. One exception, for some reason we are catching lots of vacation mowing this year. If the client is unknown to me, payment must be made in advance. No mo' no mow.

[powerreel]

I like a brown paper bag with $$$ in it.

[Guido]

Let me help you out with what your talking about. You don't want to leave accounts unpaid until winter time. You have the concept a little misunderstood.

Let me try to clarify it a little bit, and I personally think this is a great billing method for maintenance contracts.

When you have a yearly contract to regularly maintain a property, some people, instead of billing each week or month for payment in full, spread out the payments over a 12 month period, so they're bringing in steady income, no matter what the workload is. Anything outside of the contract, i.e. pond install, landscaping, etc is billed regularly.

example:

You mow Mrs. Jones' Grass every week for 7 months out of the 12. Her monthly bill is usually $125.00 (every month for 7 months) for a total of $875

What you can do is spread that out : Bill her $73.00 every month for 12 months instead. This will give you steady income over the slow winter months. (in seasonal climates, when snow removal can be slow or non-existant/not offered)

Most clients like this also because thats a little less stress ($ wise) on them during the 7 mowing months.

Let me know if this helps!

[Mike (MLC)]

I usually get paid right after I do the job. Most of my customers are never home anyway and leave the money somewhere for me. I get the money and I can leave without having a long conversation. There are a handful of clients, mostly commercial, that I send a monthly invoice to. I just buy a roll of stamps from the post office each time, since there are not that many invoices being sent out each month. I always make sure to get money on the spot for 1st mow's. Sometimes you don't know people from Adam, so you want to make sure they are going to be a paying customer.;)

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by lawnboy82
i am gonna try for this year to leave an account or two unpaid until the end of the year to cover some winter expenses

Why? Learn to budget, bill year round, why let them keep money in their bank drawing interest until the winter? Heck, go ahead a get the money, send it to me, I'll hold it for you until the fall. :D:angel:

[dfor]

I like some of my customers to pay with sexual favors, if not I just bill at the end of the month.

[grassyfras]

LOl dfor, I wouldn't mind that either. I bill once a month. I like to just hand then a bill or knock on the door and just tell them how much they owe works either way.

[kcameron]

I have started something new this year w/ some of my clients. I email them a bill stating what was done on what date and what the finial bill is. I have a prompt that lets me know they recieved the attatchment, so I know they get it. It varies as far as weekly or monthly as far as the customer is concerned. So far, it cuts down the mailing time, stamp fees envelope fees and I get my check about two days sooner. The rest of my clients just pay me when the job is done. Kevin

[Fine Lines Lawn]

LOL dfor

[LoneStarLawn]

Originally posted by Ramster2000
...Do you pay for all the stamps each month or do you have one of those envelopes that don't require a stamp. If so how did you go about getting them, I am interested in finding a new way to collect my money. ...

Those envelopes are purchased with a permit....when ever used the permit owner is billed (I believe) They are definitely not free..

[kris]

Our Contracts State... "Invoices will be billed at the start of each particular maintenance month"....any extra work gets billed right away or at the end of the month when I make time to make sure I haven't missed any extras. We find that by sending them out on the first,we will get payment by the end of the month.

[Vibe Ray]

Well, in dfor's case, I'd like to be paid every week!!!!

Seriously, I just usually knock on door after I finish and get paid, if they are not home I'll catch them later somehow in the neighborhood and even if I don't, it's no biggie. Everyone pays around here. I don't even hassle them and I either get paid every cut or every othe cut. But when I turn 18 (June 27), I am going to get a P.O.Box and have everyone mail the payments by check to me via the P.O.Box.

[Toad]

Once a year. very simple, price per cut times 25 cuts per year,+ tax includes clean ups. Don't like it find someone else

[David Gretzmier]

monthlies split between those who pay per service and those who pay same monthly payment year round. all thru mail. dave g

[Premo Services]

I LIKE TO BE PAID PROMPTLY. When a customer asks for extra work to be done , I try to do this as promptly as possible, and they should be the same way when paying me my money. I do monthly billing on the first day of the month.

Also what dfor said in his post.:blob3:

[GreenQuest Lawn]

I bill 50% on the 1st, & 50% on the 15th of the month.

Also any contracts signed before march 1st, get billed March-October.

Then after that its April-Nov

This way I still have mowing money coming in in Dec.

This year I had sent out snow plowing invoices AFTER I had sent out some lawn care ones.

And of course I have a handfull of acct. that like to be billed each month for the services provided.

[jjfehr]

Just had an idea, let me know if you feel it will be workable!
Week one : collect $ at signing of contract for first week of service and leave a company envelope for the client to leave in the door for you to collect after your next visit!
week two : after providing your client service, go get your envelope with the check in it from the pre-determined location (between doors, etc......) and leave a new envelope for you to collect the following week! <How to let them know when you are coming> pay the .06 cents for the phone call the night prior to let them know whether or not you will be there the following day! Most of the time they will know which day to expect you, however sometimes the weather will not permit you to perform service and this is the purpose of the phone call.
I think that the customer would even like not to have to sit around and wait for you to get done so they could pay you, and would rather put the check between the doors, or where ever you decide is a safe place! Not only will this be a good deal for them, but also a good deal for you by not wasting your time on the computer printing invoices, or trying to figure who STILL owes you money, or talking to Mr. or Mrs. X for ten minutes when you would rather be cutting your next lawn so you could finish the day before it gets dark!

[lawnman_scott]

I bill monthly, i charge by the month not by the cut. I mail them a bill and they mail it back. No i dont pay for either the stamp or envelope, and no one has ever asked me to. Those envelopes arent free, you have to pay for the postage. www.pitneybowes.com is one place you can look for them though.

[joshua]

i aks the customer what they would perfer, billing at end of month or pay weekly, if they pay weekly and i miss them i'll see them next week and collect for both weeks.

[awm]

in most cases its show me the money after each job. a few are sent bills.