TrashCanBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

Commercial Dumpster Pad Billing for Trash Can Cleaning Companies

Residential cans keep a bin cleaning route busy. Commercial dumpster pads can make it profitable. Restaurants, apartment communities, shopping centers and offices all have enclosures that smell, stain and draw complaints. One pad can be worth several residential stops. But commercial customers expect to be billed like a business, not like a homeowner.

Commercial Accounts Bill Like Property Managers

A business with several locations is set up much like the accounts in Billing Property Managers for Bin Cleaning: Many Addresses, One Account. One client, with each location as an address. The main difference is what you are cleaning and how you price it.

In TrashCanBossPro, tag these clients as Commercial so they are easy to find and never mixed in with residential billing. Custom fields can hold anything extra a business needs on file, like a purchase order number or an accounts payable contact.

Pricing the Pad

Dumpster pads vary far more than residential cans. A small restaurant enclosure with one dumpster and some grease is a different job from an apartment community with four dumpsters and a compactor area. Price by what the job takes, not by a flat number:

• Size of the pad or enclosure
• How dirty it is and how often it is cleaned
• Grease, food waste or other heavy buildup
• Access: tight alleys, gates, times you are allowed on site
• Any carts or cans inside the enclosure that also need cleaning

For a new commercial customer, an estimate built from your service list works well. The customer approves it online, and the approved estimate becomes scheduled services, so the price you quoted is the price you bill.

Line Items for Commercial Work

Commercial customers often need to show their own managers what they paid for. Give them clear line items. Something like "Dumpster Pad Wash" as the main line, with separate lines for "Cart Cleaning (4 carts)" or "Degreaser Treatment" if you charge for them. Every service on the invoice comes from your own service list, so you can name them however your commercial customers will understand them best.

If sales tax applies to commercial cleaning in your area, it goes on the invoice too. Check with your accountant, since commercial work is sometimes treated differently from residential.

Monthly Statements for Businesses

Most businesses would rather pay one bill a month. Set commercial accounts to Monthly and they get one statement covering every location, with each line labeled with its address. A restaurant group with three locations sees all three on one statement. An apartment company with several communities sees every pad and can room in one place.

Find out early who approves vendor bills and when they pay. Many businesses pay on a set cycle. Knowing that keeps you from sending reminders before they are even due.

Photos Matter More on Commercial

A homeowner might never check whether their cans were cleaned. A restaurant manager whose health inspection is next week definitely will. Before and after photos in the tech app stay with every job. When a manager asks what was done, or when they need proof for their own records, the office can show them.

Train techs to take the same photos every time: the whole pad before, the whole pad after, and a close-up of the worst spot. Consistent photos make it easy to compare visits and show steady results.

Scheduling Around the Hauler

Commercial dumpsters are emptied by a hauler on its own schedule. Clean the pad right after the dumpster is emptied, just like residential cans after the city pickup. Record the pickup day on the address so the office sees it when scheduling. Add access notes like gate codes, the manager's phone number and any hours you are not allowed on site, so the tech does not show up during the lunch rush.

Mixing Commercial Into Residential Routes

A commercial pad can be one stop on an otherwise residential route. On the dispatch board, give it more time than a residential stop and let auto-route place it. Some owners prefer to run commercial stops early in the morning before businesses open. Either way, the billing stays on the commercial account no matter which route the stop lands on. For more on billing different types of accounts, see Organizing Billing With Tags: Monthly, Every-Other-Week, HOA and Commercial Accounts.

Revisit commercial pricing after the first few visits. A pad that looked simple at the estimate can turn out to need twice the time once you see it after a busy weekend. If the job is consistently bigger than quoted, talk to the manager, show the photos and adjust the price.

The Short Version

Price pads by the job, use clear commercial line items, send one Monthly statement for every location, photograph every visit, and schedule around the hauler. For more billing guides, go back to the trash can cleaning billing software page.