PetGroomBossPro Blog — Cat Grooming

Add-Ons on a Cat Appointment: Ticking De-Matting, Ear Cleaning and Nail Grinding on the Job

The cat groom is the main line on the invoice. The add-ons are where a lot of the small, easily forgotten work lives: the de-matting that took longer than planned, the ear cleaning the owner asked for at the door, the nail grinding after the trim. When those are not written down, they either do not get charged or they turn into an awkward conversation.

In PetGroomBossPro, add-ons are ticked on the job, and from there they reach the groomer, the invoice and the owner.

Services and Add-Ons Are Different Things

Cat Services on the Service List: Cat Groom, Lion Cut, Comb-Out, Sanitary Trim and Nail Trim set up the main services. Add-ons are the extras that ride along with them.

The add-ons you can offer are whatever you set up. The usual list includes De-Shed Treatment, Teeth Brushing, Nail Grinding, Flea & Tick Bath, De-Matting, Ear Cleaning, Anal Glands, Paw Balm, Blueberry Facial and Bow / Bandana. You keep the ones you offer for cats, add your own, and give each one a price, for example a $15 teeth brushing.

The add-on list is shared between dogs and cats. There is no way to mark an add-on as cat-only, so if you offer something only to cats, put that in the name.

Add-Ons on the Booking Page

When a cat owner books online through your Book Now link, they see your add-ons with their prices and can pick the ones they want. The total updates as they choose. The request lands in Leads with the add-ons listed and the quoted price, so the office knows what was asked for before calling or texting to confirm the time.

This is handy for add-ons owners already know they want, like nail grinding with every visit. It is less useful for add-ons that depend on what the groomer finds, which is where ticking them on the job comes in.

Ticking Add-Ons on the Job

Every job has its add-ons ticked on it. The office can tick them when booking, and they show on the groomer's card next to the pets, so the groomer knows what is expected at that stop.

When a repeat appointment is booked with Add Recurring Grooming, the visits carry the details forward, so an owner who always gets ear cleaning with the cat groom has it on each visit without the office re-entering it.

If something is added at the door, the job can be updated so the add-on is ticked before the job is completed. That way it lands on the invoice instead of in someone's memory.

Add-Ons on the Checklist

The groomer app has a grooming checklist for each pet. Along with the standard lines, such as coat and skin checked on arrival, brushed out / de-matted, nails and ears, the checklist includes the add-ons on that job. The groomer ticks them as they are done.

That gives the office a record that the add-on was not only booked but done, and the office can print it on the Grooming Report for the owner. More on the checklist in The Grooming Checklist for a Cat: Working Each Line on the Groomer App.

Add-Ons on the Invoice

When the groomer taps Complete, the invoice is created from the job, with the services and add-ons as line items and sales tax if you charge it. The card on file can be charged right then, or on a schedule, depending on how you bill.

Because the add-ons are on the job, the invoice matches what was done. The owner sees “Cat Groom” and “De-Matting” as separate lines, which is easier to understand than one bigger number.

De-Matting: Quote It, Note It

Of all the cat add-ons, de-matting is the one most likely to cause a surprise on the bill. A few habits help:

• Write the coat history in the notes. If de-matting is needed most visits, the pet's notes line should say so, and the office can tick it up front.
• Use the customer note. The checklist's note for the customer can explain what was found, in plain words.
• Quote new cats. An estimate from your service list, with de-matting as a line, gives the owner the number before the first visit.

None of this decides when de-matting is needed. That is the groomer's call. It just makes sure the owner hears about it the same way every time.

Small Lines, Real Money

Add-ons are small on each visit and add up across a route. Setting them up once, offering them on the booking page, ticking them on the job and letting Complete put them on the invoice keeps them from slipping. For how add-ons fit with the rest of cat grooming in PetGroomBossPro, go back to the cat grooming software page.