WindowBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

Window Cleaning Cash Flow in the Slow Winter Months

In much of the country, window cleaning has a season. Spring is a rush, summer and fall are steady, and then the cold sets in. Residential work slows or stops, ladders and frozen water do not mix, and the phone gets quiet. The bills do not get quiet: the van payment, insurance, phones and the owner's own household all keep coming. Winter cash flow is mostly decided by what you do the rest of the year.

Winter Starts in September

Messaging customers about billing was covered in Invoice Texts and Emails: Keeping Window Cleaning Customers in the Loop on Billing. Those same habits, used well in the fall, are a big part of going into winter with money in the bank.

The rest of this article is a set of practical moves. None of them is clever. Together they make the slow months a lot less stressful.

Collect Everything in the Fall

The most painful winter is one where money you already earned is still sitting in open invoices. Every past-due bill from October is cash you need in January.

• Charge at completion. With a card on file, WindowBossPro creates the invoice when the tech taps Complete and can charge the card right then. Fall work gets paid in the fall.
• Work the past-due list. Past-due follow-up reminds customers by text and email, but in the fall it is worth a personal text or call on anything older than a few weeks.
• Settle commercial statements. Make sure property managers and storefront owners have paid their October and November statements.
• Fix declined cards now. A customer whose card declined in October will decline again in spring.

Storefronts Keep Going

Storefront routes are the backbone of winter income for many window cleaning companies. Shops need clean glass year-round, and outside storefront work on a single story is often possible on days when tall residential work is not.

Building up a storefront route in summer and fall pays off in winter. Shops on monthly or every-two-weeks cleanings come due on the Waiting List on their own, so the route keeps running as long as the weather lets the van out. Whether you bill them per visit or on a monthly statement, those payments are what carry many companies through. See Billing Storefront Owners With Several Shops on One Window Cleaning Statement.

Inside-Only Work

Some customers are happy to have inside-only cleanings in winter. Offices, lobbies, some homes. WindowBossPro tracks sides on every job, outside only, inside and outside, or inside only, so a winter inside-only visit bills correctly and the tech knows not to drag the ladders out. Offer it to customers in the fall, before the slow months start.

Book Spring Before Winter Ends

Spring cleans are your biggest one-time rush. The earlier they are booked, the earlier you can plan, and the more of spring you can fill before competitors do.

• Text past one-time customers in late winter: “Spring cleaning dates are open. Want us to put you on the list?”
• Make sure your website request form and sign-up form are working, so leads flow into Form Responses.
• Send estimates that customers can approve online. Approved estimates become scheduled services.

Some companies ask for a deposit on spring bookings made in winter. If you do, run it with invoices, a deposit invoice now and the balance at completion. That is real cash in the slowest weeks.

Recurring Plans Smooth the Year

Quarterly and twice-a-year residential plans spread work across the year. A quarterly customer cleaned in late winter or early spring, then summer, fall and early winter, keeps money coming in more months than a once-a-year customer. Every one-time spring customer you convert to a plan is income in a month you would otherwise have nothing.

Know Your Numbers Going In

Before the slow months start, take an honest look at what you have. Reports in WindowBossPro show what was billed, paid and still open. Look at what came in last winter, what fixed costs you have, and how much needs to be saved from the busy months. That turns winter from a surprise into a plan.

The monthly review habit makes this easy. See The Month-End Billing Review for a Window Cleaning Company.

Software Costs in Winter

Some owners worry about paying for software in the slow months. Keep it simple: plans are $59, $89 or $199 a month, never billed per user, so adding a seasonal helper in spring does not change the bill. The real question is whether the software saves more than it costs in the busy months, by getting fall invoices paid and spring bookings scheduled.

Get Through Winter With Cash

Collect everything in the fall, lean on storefront routes, offer inside-only work, book spring early and keep recurring plans running. To see how WindowBossPro helps with billing year-round, visit the window cleaning billing software page.