PetGroomBossPro Blog — Cat Grooming

Invoicing Cat Grooms: Card on File and Charging When the Job Is Complete

The cat is back inside, the owner is happy, and the groomer is packing up. This is the moment many small grooming businesses lose money: the invoice gets written that night, or the next day, or the owner says they will pay next time. Card on file and charging at completion close that gap.

From the Customer App to the Invoice

The Customer App for Cat Owners: Live Route Map, Invoices and Tips showed what owners see on their side: invoices, online payment, card on file and tips. This article covers how those invoices are made.

In PetGroomBossPro, when the groomer taps Complete on the groomer app, the invoice is created from the job, and the card on file can be charged right then. Nobody has to write the invoice later.

What Goes on a Cat Invoice

The invoice comes from what is on the job:

• The services, as line items: Cat Groom, Cat Lion Cut, Cat Nail Trim, or whatever was done.
• The add-ons ticked on the job: De-Matting, Ear Cleaning, Nail Grinding and so on, each as its own line.
• Sales tax, if you charge it.

For a home with a cat and two dogs, the dog services and the cat service each appear on the same invoice, so the owner sees all of it in one place. Because the lines come from the job, the invoice matches what was booked and ticked. If an add-on was done at the door, tick it on the job before Complete so it reaches the invoice. See Add-Ons on a Cat Appointment: Ticking De-Matting, Ear Cleaning and Nail Grinding on the Job.

Card on File

A card on file is the simplest way to get paid for mobile grooming. Cards get on file in a few ways:

• The owner adds or updates it in the customer app.
• A sign-up form on your website captures a card, and one click turns the sign-up into a client.
• The office adds it while setting up the client.

Many groomers ask every new cat client for a card on file before the first visit. That is a policy decision; the software just makes it easy to keep.

Charge at Completion or on a Schedule

You choose how cards are charged. Auto-charge on completion means the card is charged when the groomer taps Complete. Charging on a schedule runs the charge at a set time instead. Either way, the owner sees the invoice in the customer app and can see what was charged.

Owners without a card on file can pay online from the customer app. If an invoice is not paid, past-due follow-up reminds them.

Tips on Cat Grooms

Once an invoice is paid, the owner can leave a tip in the customer app: $10, $20, $30 or another amount. Tips show on the tips report in the office, which helps when you pass them on to your groomers, including both people on a two-person cat appointment.

Monthly Accounts

Some mobile groomers do pet days at senior living communities, apartment communities or doggy daycares, where several residents' pets are groomed in one visit. Those accounts can be set to Monthly, so the account gets one statement each month covering every visit. A community where you groom a handful of residents' cats twice a month gets one bill at month end instead of a pile of small invoices.

Price Changes for Repeat Cats

For cats on a repeat schedule, a price change is made on the Recurring Clients list for upcoming visits. Past visits and their invoices stay as they were. That keeps an old invoice from changing under the owner, and keeps the new price on every visit going forward. Repeat visits are covered in Repeat Cat Appointments Every 6 or 8 Weeks With Add Recurring Grooming.

Currency and Countries

PetGroomBossPro works in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and bills customers in their own currency, so a cat groomer in Toronto or Auckland invoices in local dollars.

For a new cat client, it helps to explain how billing works before the first visit: the card on file is charged when the groom is done, the invoice is in the customer app, and they can tip there if they like. Owners who know what to expect rarely question a charge, and the office spends less time on billing questions.

Paid Before the Van Leaves

An invoice built from the job, a card on file charged at Complete and a tip button for the owner mean most cat grooms are paid before the van pulls away. For how billing fits with the rest of cat grooming in PetGroomBossPro, see the cat grooming software page.