Friday afternoon and the restaurant needs sixty more napkins
A restaurant on your round has a standing order: tablecloths, napkins, glass cloths and chef's cloths, delivered twice a week. On Friday the manager rings the plant. They have a private party tomorrow and need more napkins and a few extra round cloths. Someone in the office says of course, tells the packing team, and the extras go out on the Saturday delivery.
Nobody writes it into the billing system. Or it is written on a pad that the office manager clears at month end, and by then two of the notes are missing. The driver also took a request at the back door for more glass cloths, and passed it on verbally.
December is where it really adds up. Christmas parties, extra covers, a function room opened for the season. The standing order barely changes on paper, while the van goes out fuller every week.
At month end the invoice shows the standing order. The restaurant is not going to point out the extras. Your plant processed them, your van delivered them, and nobody paid.
Extras live outside the account
Your laundry or billing system knows the standing order and bills it reliably. Anything outside the standing order has no route into the system except someone remembering to type it in.
- Extra requests arrive by phone, text, email and at the back door.
- Packing works from a note, not from an order record.
- The delivery note is handwritten and shows the standing quantities.
- Returns of extras (the restaurant sends back unused cloths) are not recorded either.
- Month-end billing relies on the office working through notes.
Linen processed, delivered and given away
Unbilled extras mean wash, finishing, packing and transport costs with nothing coming in. For busy restaurants the extras can be a meaningful part of the work, especially around holidays and events. There is also a stock effect. Extra linen sent out and never tracked may not come back, and replacing it is your cost.
Finally, when you do bill extras later from memory, restaurants query them, and without a signed record you often write them off.
How we capture and bill every extra
- Restaurants can request extras through a text link or web form showing their usual items. Phone requests are entered by the office on the same screen.
- The driver's app has an add-request button for back-door asks, so they go into the same list.
- Each extra is attached to a specific delivery, and appears on the packing list for that run.
- The electronic delivery note shows standing and extra quantities separately, and the restaurant confirms receipt on the driver's phone.
- Extras flow into your billing system or accounting software, such as Xero or Sage, as separate lines against the account.
- Unused extras sent back are recorded at the next collection and adjusted.
| Request route | Today | With order capture |
|---|---|---|
| Phone call to the office | Note on a pad | Order line against the account |
| Text to the manager | Sits on one phone | Web link, logged |
| Word with the driver | Remembered, maybe | Driver app request |
| Month-end invoice | Standing order only | Standing plus confirmed extras |
We keep the standing order logic in your existing system if it works well. The build is about giving extras a proper path in.
A month-end invoice the restaurant recognises
Every extra is on the invoice, each linked to a delivery note the restaurant signed for. Queries are rare because the manager can see the dates and the signatures. Your office stops chasing notes, and the packing team works from a list instead of a sticky note on the wall.
Signs you are giving linen away
- Restaurants regularly phone or text for extras.
- Drivers take requests at the back door.
- Delivery notes are handwritten.
- Month-end billing depends on notes and memory.
- You suspect extras are going out unbilled but cannot say how many.