TrashCanBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

Billing for Extra Cans: Invoicing the Second, Third and Fourth Bin

Very few houses have exactly one can. Most have a trash can and a recycling can. Plenty have a yard waste can too, and some have two trash cans because one is never enough. How you price and bill those extra cans has a big effect on what each stop is worth, and it is one of the easiest places for money to slip through.

Extra Cans and Plan Frequency

Plans like the ones in Billing Weekly, Every-Other-Week and Monthly Bin Cleaning Plans set how often you clean. The can count sets how much each visit is worth. Both have to be right for the invoice to be right.

Three Ways to Price Extra Cans

Pick the one that fits how you want to sell:

• First can plus additional. One price for the first can, a smaller price for each additional can. Simple and common.
• Flat price up to a limit. One price covers up to two or three cans; beyond that, each extra can is charged.
• Per can type. Separate prices for trash, recycling and yard waste, since yard waste cans can be dirtier or bigger.

Whichever you choose, it should be easy to say out loud: "$25 for the first can and $8 for each extra one." Those are example numbers; set your own on your service list.

Can Counts Live on the Address

In TrashCanBossPro, every address stores the number of trash, recycling and yard waste cans. That count shows under the address on the office lists and on the tech's phone, like "2 trash · 1 recycling · Trash day Tue."

Matching your invoice lines to those counts is what keeps billing honest. If the address says two trash and one recycling, the invoice should show two trash cans and one recycling can. When the count and the invoice agree, the tech, the office and the customer all see the same thing.

Show Each Can on the Invoice

Put cans on the invoice with quantities, not just a total. "Trash Can Cleaning x 2" and "Recycling Can Cleaning x 1" tells the customer exactly what they paid for. A single "Can Cleaning: $41" line makes them do math, and math leads to questions.

Clear lines also make it obvious when a customer adds a can. If their invoice suddenly shows three trash cans instead of two, they understand why the total went up.

Catching Cans That Were Never Billed

The most common leak in bin cleaning billing is the extra can that shows up at the curb but never makes it onto the invoice. The customer bought a second recycling can. The tech cleaned it, because it was there. Nobody updated the record. Months of free cleanings follow.

Prevent it with one rule for the crew: if the cans at the curb do not match the count on the card, note it in the job notes before tapping Complete. The office updates the address and the plan, and every invoice after that is right.

Then check for mismatches during your month-end review. For that checklist, see The Month-End Billing Review for a Trash Can Cleaning Business.

When the Customer Has Fewer Cans Out

The opposite happens too. A customer pays for three cans, but only two are at the curb. That might be a one-time thing, like the recycling was not picked up yet, or a permanent change. Your skipped-can policy decides how you bill that visit. If it turns out to be permanent, update the count so you stop expecting a can that is not there.

Extra Cans for HOAs and Managers

On Monthly accounts, extra cans can raise a question of who pays. An HOA might cover two cans per home and leave a third to the homeowner. In that case, keep the HOA's statement to the cans it agreed to, and set the homeowner up separately for the extra can with their own card on file. Write the arrangement down so the office does not have to guess each month.

Make sure the homeowner knows about it too, so they are not surprised by a separate small charge for the extra can each visit.

Advertise the Extra-Can Price

Put your extra-can price on your website and your sign-up form, right next to the base price. Customers who know a second can costs a few dollars more are happy to add it at sign-up. Customers who find out on their first invoice feel surprised, even if the price is fair. When the price is public, the conversation about extra cans happens before the first cleaning, not after it.

The Short Version

Pick a simple extra-can price, keep can counts accurate on every address, show each can type with a quantity on the invoice, have techs note mismatches before tapping Complete, and check counts monthly. For more billing guides, head back to the trash can cleaning billing software page.