The storm's over. Bill it before the next one.
Thirty driveways, four commercial lots, two pushes on most and salt on the lots. If you don't bill it the day after, the next storm buries the details. Redline turns the storm into invoices from what you tell it, per property.
Billing a storm
Log as you go
Keep a running count per property while you plow. A quick note on each customer's file ("2nd push 4:10am, salted walk") is enough, and logging keeps working out of signal, uploading once you're back in range. The chat itself needs a connection.
Tell Redline what each property got
"Storm on the 14th. Driveways on the Maple St route got two pushes. The Dunkin lot got two pushes and two salt runs." It drafts an invoice per customer at their rate.
Check and send the batch
Approve the drafts. Finished jobs also wait in Money under Ready to bill, where Send all invoices them at once.
Get paid by card
Each invoice has a card pay link. Copy it from the invoice and paste it into an email Redline drafts, sent from your own Gmail when you approve it.
Chase the late ones
Unpaid invoices get flagged at day 3, 7 and 14 after sending, and you get told who to call.
The morning after
Two drafts:
Brightwater Plaza: $740, "Jan 14 storm: lot plowed twice, 2 salt runs, sidewalks once" ($370 + $280 + $90).
Dave Russo: $110, "Jan 14 storm: driveway plowed twice."
Both due in 14 days. Approve both?
Pay links are live. From Jan 3, three are unpaid, $585 total, all past the day 7 flag: Marsh Dental ($310), Pruitt ($165), Alvarez ($110).
Invoicing and overdue alerts are on Solo ($29 a month) and up. Example prices only.
What's on a snow removal invoice
| Line | Unit | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Driveway plow | per push | Storm date on the line |
| Commercial lot plow | per push or per hour | Lot name on the line |
| Sidewalk clearing | per visit | Often billed separately for lots |
| Salt or ice melt | per application or per bag | Each run counted |
| Loader or skid steer | per hour | Stacking and relocation |
| Snow hauling | per load | When the piles run out of room |
| Seasonal contract installment | per installment | E.g. 1 of 4 |
| Overnight or overtime surcharge | per storm | If your contract allows it |
A chat invoice is one amount with a one-line description, so the storm date, pushes and salt runs go in that line.
Seasonal contracts and per-push in the same book
Most snow outfits run both: seasonal contracts sold in October and per-push customers billed after every storm. Seasonal is the easy one to forget, because there's no storm to remind you. Set a reminder for each installment date, and when it comes up in your morning push, invoice it by chat in one line.
Per-push is the opposite: lots of small invoices all at once, right when you're most tired. Billing by property while the counts are fresh is the difference between getting paid for two pushes and getting paid for one.
Straight answers on snow billing
Redline does
- Invoice per property per storm from one message
- Send a batch from Ready to bill with Send all
- Remind you when seasonal installments are due
- Card pay links and overdue flags at day 3, 7 and 14
- Keep activity notes logged with no signal and sync them later
Redline doesn't
- Record GPS timestamps of when you were on site
- Bill each storm automatically
- Charge seasonal installments on a schedule by itself
- Take bank transfers, it's card only
- Text invoices to customers
Questions contractors ask
What if one storm runs over two days?
Bill it as one event with both dates in the description, or as two invoices, whichever your contract says. Tell Redline which when you ask for the invoices.
Can I bill a commercial account monthly instead?
Yes. At month end, tell Redline the storms and pushes for that lot and it bills the month as one amount, with the storm dates in the description.
Does it work at 3am?
The chat works whenever you do. Suggested visit times assume weekday business hours, so for storm routes just tell it when you went.
More for snow removal
Bill the next storm the morning after.
Add your properties free this fall. Turn on Solo at $29 a month when the first storm hits, with a 7-day trial on the web.
Keep reading
- Snow removal softwareBill a whole storm in one message, sell seasonal contracts and chase who still owes.
- Lawn care invoicing softwareA month of mows per customer, billed in a batch, with the late payers flagged.
- Overdue invoice alertsUnpaid invoices flagged at day 3, 7 and 14, with a push telling you who to call.
- Invoicing and card paymentsInvoice from the job in two taps or one message. Customers pay by card.