WindowBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

Billing Screens, Tracks and Hard-Water Removal on a Window Cleaning Invoice

The glass is the job. The extras are the profit. Screens, tracks and hard-water stain removal take real time on a ladder or at the tailgate, and they are the first things to get given away for free when the billing is loose. Here is how to quote them, record them and bill them so they get paid for every time.

Extras Deserve Their Own Lines

In Window Cleaning Invoice Line Items Customers Actually Understand we covered naming and ordering the lines on a bill. Extras are where that matters most, because they are the lines a customer is most likely to question.

Folding screens and tracks into one bigger “window cleaning” number hides the work. The customer cannot see that the price went up because they asked for tracks this time, and you cannot easily drop the tracks if they ask for a cheaper visit. Separate lines keep everyone honest.

Screens

Screens are the most common add-on and the easiest to underprice. Pulling them, carrying them to the driveway, washing them, drying them and putting them back takes time, and a two-story house with screens on every window takes a lot of it.

Most window cleaners price screens per screen. Some include a basic brush-down with the window and charge for a full wash. Whatever you choose, put it on your service list. In WindowBossPro, per-screen pricing lives on your service list, estimates pull from it, and the job carries a Screens flag that shows under the address on the office lists and on the tech's phone. When the tech sees “Screens” on the card, they know they are getting paid for them.

On the invoice, describe what was done: “Screens, removed, washed and reinstalled.” That one sentence explains the price better than any number.

Tracks

Window tracks collect dirt, dead bugs and whatever the dog tracked in. Cleaning them is slow, fiddly work and customers love the result, especially on sliding doors. Price tracks per track or per window and list them separately.

Tracks only make sense on inside work. If a job is outside only, the tech should not be cleaning tracks, and the invoice should not list them. Keeping the sides on the job (outside only, inside and outside, or inside only) next to the extras helps avoid billing mismatches.

Hard-Water Stain Removal

Hard-water spots from sprinklers are a different job from regular cleaning. They take products, time and sometimes several passes, and the results vary with how long the stains have been there. That makes them the extra most likely to cause a billing argument.

A few habits help:

• Quote it separately. Hard-water removal should never be a surprise on the invoice. If the tech finds heavy stains on a regular cleaning, they note it on the job and the office quotes it before doing it.
• Price by the pane or by the window. Easier to explain than an hourly rate, and the customer can choose to do only the windows that bother them.
• Set expectations in writing. Put a line in the estimate saying that old stains may not come out completely. That protects you when they do not.
• Take before-and-after photos. The tech app saves photos with the job, which is the best answer to “it doesn't look any different.”

Get Extras on the Estimate

Extras are easiest to bill when they were on the estimate. In WindowBossPro, the estimate is built from your service list, the customer approves it online, and the approved estimate becomes scheduled services with the extras already on them. When the job is completed, the invoice uses the same lines.

Recurring customers are a good place to sell extras without a hard sell. A quarterly customer might get outside-only three times a year and a full inside-and-outside with screens and tracks in the spring. Put that on the plan once, and the invoices follow.

When the Customer Adds Something on Site

It happens every week: the homeowner meets the tech in the driveway and asks if they can do the screens too. The tech should say yes, do it, and make sure it gets billed. A quick note on the job from the tech app, like “Customer asked for screens, 18 screens done,” tells the office to add the line before the invoice goes out or before the next cleaning.

If the job is set to charge the card on file at completion, that note matters even more, because the office may want to adjust the job so the right amount is charged. Agree on a simple rule with your crew: anything added on site gets a note before Complete is tapped.

Bill the Work You Do

Screens, tracks and hard water are where window cleaning companies make or lose a lot of money. Put them on your service list, quote them, show them on the job and list them on the invoice. For how story height changes the bill too, read Story Add-Ons on a Window Cleaning Invoice: Billing Two- and Three-Story Homes. For the full billing picture, see the window cleaning billing software page.