Invoice collection for contractors

How the program runs

Invoice collection runs in five parts, in the order a job’s money moves: a deposit on the estimate, the invoice on the day the job is done, ways to pay that customers already use, terms stated on every invoice, and books kept in step with QuickBooks Online. Each part leans on the one before it: an invoice nobody has sent can’t be paid, however many ways there are to pay it.

1. 1

   Take a deposit on the estimate

   Estimates and proposals in Business Genie can ask for a deposit, which the customer pays before the work starts. On a big job that is money in hand before the materials are bought, and a customer who has paid part of the price has agreed to it. In the sample week, the two estimated jobs bring in $1,800 before anyone picks up a wrench.

   • Estimates and deposits
   • From estimate to invoice
2. 2

   Invoice on the day

   Send the invoice when the job is done, from the truck, on the web or in the iOS and Android app — not at the end of the week. An invoice written up on Saturday is five days late for Monday’s job before the customer has seen it. Switch this part off in the week and nothing past the deposits has been asked for by Friday night, whatever else is on.

   • Invoicing
   • The mobile app
   • Invoice templates by trade
3. 3

   Make paying easy

   An invoice from Business Genie can be paid online, from the invoice itself, by whichever of the five ways the customer already uses, so they can pay from their phone the evening the job is done instead of finding a checkbook and a stamp. In the sample week, four customers pay that night, $2,455 between them. Payments on Business Genie come in 2x faster, paid the same day.

   • Payments
   • How to collect payments faster
   • Online invoicing
4. 4

   State your terms

   Say on every invoice when payment is due and what happens after, so a customer who hasn’t paid yet knows the date they are paying to. Decide the late fee before you need it: the late fee calculator works out a fee to state. In the week, the two balances still owed each end on a due date.

   • Invoice late fee calculator
5. 5

   Keep the books in step

   Business Genie syncs with QuickBooks Online, so a deposit or a payment taken on the job reaches the books without being typed in twice. In the sample week that is every row with a check beside it: the two deposits and the four payments taken on the night, $4,255, are in the books by Friday night, and the $4,095 still owed follows when it is paid.

   • QuickBooks Online sync
   • Maximizing cash flow