PetGroomBossPro Blog — Billing, Tips & Payments

Auto-Charge on a Schedule: When Charging Later Fits Better Than Charging at the Van

Charging the card the moment the groom ends is the default for a lot of mobile groomers, and for good reason. But it is not the only way to bill a card on file. Some owners would rather send the invoice first and charge a little later. PetGroomBossPro supports both: auto-charge on completion, or auto-charge on a schedule.

Two Ways to Charge the Same Card

The driveway routine in Getting Paid Before You Leave the Driveway: A Payment Routine for Mobile Groomers assumes the card is charged at completion. This article covers the other option.

With charging on completion, the groomer taps Complete, the invoice is created and the card on file is charged right away. With auto-charge on a schedule, the invoice is still created when the groom is complete, and the customer still gets it by email and in the customer app, but the card is charged later on a schedule rather than in the driveway.

In both cases nobody has to remember to run the charge. The difference is only when it happens.

Reasons to Charge Later

Owners who choose a schedule usually have one of a few reasons:

• Giving the customer a look first. Some customers like to see the invoice before their card is charged, especially early in the relationship.
• Room for corrections. If the office often adjusts invoices after the groom, a short delay means the charge comes after the correction.
• Owner preference. Some owners simply like to review the day's invoices before cards are charged.

Reasons to Charge at Completion

The case for charging at completion is just as simple. The visit is closed the moment it ends. There is no window where an invoice is sitting unpaid. If a card is going to decline, you know while the customer still remembers the groom, which makes the follow-up easier.

For a one-van owner-operator, charging at completion often wins, because there is no office checking invoices in the afternoon anyway. For a business with an office person who reviews jobs, a schedule can work well. Neither is wrong. The point is to pick one on purpose rather than charging by hand whenever someone gets to it.

Whichever you choose, write it down as a house rule so everyone in the office handles cards the same way. Mixing the two without a rule is where trouble starts: one client gets charged in the driveway, another waits, and nobody is sure which invoices are supposed to be open. One clear default, with a short list of exceptions, keeps the open-invoice list meaningful.

Monthly Accounts Are Different Again

Auto-charge on a schedule is not the same as monthly account billing. A senior living community, a doggy daycare or an apartment community set to Monthly gets one statement each month covering every visit. That is a different kind of customer with a different kind of bill.

Auto-charge on a schedule is for individual clients with a card on file who you would rather charge later than at the van. Monthly statements are for accounts that want one bill for a month of pet days. Both are covered in this section; for the account side read Monthly Statements for Grooming Accounts: One Bill for Every Visit in the Month.

Tell the Customer What to Expect

Whatever you choose, tell customers once, clearly, when they sign up. “We keep your card on file and charge it after each groom” and “We email the invoice after each groom and charge your card on file on our regular billing schedule” are both fine. What customers dislike is a charge they did not expect.

The invoice email and the customer app give the customer something to look at either way. They can see the pets, the services, the add-ons and the tax, and on a paid invoice they can leave a tip.

What Happens if a Scheduled Charge Fails

A scheduled charge can decline just like one at completion. The invoice stays unpaid so the office can see it. The customer can update the card in the customer app, and the charge can be run again. The longer version is in Declined Cards After a Groom: What to Do When the Charge Does Not Go Through.

The one thing to watch with a schedule is the gap. If a scheduled charge declines some time after the groom, the next appointment may already be close. Keep an eye on unpaid invoices as part of a regular routine so a decline is handled before the next visit, not after it.

Charging at completion and charging on a schedule are both ways of making sure every card on file gets charged without anybody doing it by hand. To see them alongside invoices, tips and monthly statements, visit the pet grooming invoicing software page.