PetGroomBossPro Blog — Billing, Tips & Payments

Senior Living, Doggy Daycare and Apartment Pet Days: Billing Grooming Accounts Monthly

A regular account can be one of the steadiest parts of a mobile grooming business. The van parks in the same lot on the same day, the pets come to you one after another, and there is no driving between houses. Each type of account works a little differently, though, and the billing should match how the account actually runs.

The Monthly Statement Behind Every Account

The mechanics of monthly billing were covered in Monthly Statements for Grooming Accounts: One Bill for Every Visit in the Month. In short: in PetGroomBossPro, an account set to Monthly gets one statement each month covering every visit, instead of an invoice after each one.

This article looks at the three kinds of accounts mobile groomers see most often, and what to think about for each before the first visit.

Senior Living Pet Days

Some senior living communities allow residents to keep pets, and some host a grooming day so residents do not have to arrange transport. The community may pay as a resident service, or residents may pay for their own pets. Ask which before you start.

If the community pays, set up the community as one account, set it to Monthly, and put the visits on a regular schedule with Add Recurring Grooming — for example every 4 weeks on the same weekday and time, in the same van. Van notes are worth getting right: where to park, which door to use, who signs you in, and where the outlet and water hookup are.

Senior living pet days often involve the same pets each visit, with owners who like routine. Cut notes saved on each pet, carried forward to the next visit, keep every groom consistent even if a different groomer works that day.

Doggy Daycare Bath Days

A doggy daycare might bring in a mobile groomer for a regular bath day, offering baths to the dogs in their care. The daycare is usually the customer, and it may resell the baths to its own clients at its own price. That is between the daycare and its clients; your bill goes to the daycare.

Set the daycare up as an account on Monthly billing. Each bath day is a visit on the schedule, and each completed visit goes onto the month's statement. Agree up front on what each bath day covers and how you will price it, whether that is per pet, per add-on, or a set amount for the visit. Write it down on the account so the office bills it the same way every month.

Apartment Community Grooming

Apartment communities sometimes host a mobile groomer as a resident amenity. The arrangement varies the most here. Some communities pay for a set number of grooms as a perk. More often, the community hosts the van and residents pay for their own pets.

If the community pays, it is a monthly account like the others. If residents pay, each resident is better set up as their own client, with their own pets, invoices and card on file, so each household gets its own bill and can tip in the customer app. The community simply provides the parking spot. A tag on those clients makes them easy to find as a group.

Either way, a regular slot on the same weekday makes it easy for residents to plan around.

Questions to Settle Before the First Visit

Before you groom a single pet at a new account, get clear answers to a few questions:

• Who pays: the organization, or each pet owner?
• How is a visit priced: per pet, per service, or a set amount?
• Who receives the monthly statement, and how do they pay?
• When is payment due after the statement?
• Who is the contact on the day, and where does the van park?

Put the answers on the account in PetGroomBossPro, using custom fields or notes. Then whoever handles billing next month has the same information you did.

Keeping Accounts Healthy

Accounts reward reliability. Show up on the scheduled day at the scheduled time, keep each visit accurate, and send a statement that is easy to approve. Review each month's visits before the statement goes out, so a skipped day or an extra add-on is right.

If you ever change prices for an account, tell the contact in writing ahead of time, and update the price on upcoming visits from the Recurring Clients list. The approach is the same as for households, covered in Raising Prices for Repeat Grooming Clients Without a Mess on the Invoice.

Senior living, daycare and apartment accounts can fill the quiet days of a mobile grooming schedule with steady, predictable work. To see monthly statements alongside the rest of PetGroomBossPro billing, visit the pet grooming invoicing software page.