The folder marked accounts
You have a dozen business customers who do not pay at the counter. A boutique hotel sends guest laundry and dry cleaning daily. A car dealership has staff jackets cleaned. A theatre sends costumes after each run. A few individuals have monthly accounts because they prefer it.
Each time, the ticket is marked on account and a copy goes into a folder. At month end, someone sits with the folder and a calculator, writes up an invoice for each account in a spreadsheet or your accounts package, and sends it. Then the hotel emails back: room 214's shirts were charged to the guest directly, why are they on our invoice?
Some tickets are missing from the folder. Some are in the wrong account's pile. The month-end job takes a day and the invoices still go out with errors.
The theatre wants each costume listed against the production, not the month. The dealership wants invoices split by department. Each of these is reasonable, and each one adds another hour to a job that is already done by hand.
Account tickets are paper, even when the till is not
Your point of sale may handle cash and card sales well, but the account side is often an afterthought. Tickets marked on account do not always carry the reference the business needs, and nothing totals them automatically.
- References such as room numbers, staff names or purchase orders are not captured.
- Account tickets are filed on paper and totalled by hand.
- Price agreements for each account are kept in the manager's head.
- Invoices are retyped into Xero, Sage or QuickBooks.
- Nobody sees how much an account owes until the invoice is made.
Late invoices, disputes and slow payment
Invoices built by hand go out late, which means you are paid late. Errors lead to disputes that delay payment further. Accounts with agreed discounts get charged the wrong price, which either costs you money or embarrasses you. And the person doing month end is taken away from the shop for a day.
How we build business account billing
- Each business account is set up with its agreed prices, required references (room, employee, cost centre, purchase order) and invoice contact.
- At the counter or on the driver's collection, the ticket is assigned to the account and the reference is required before the ticket can be saved.
- Account tickets build a running ledger. The manager can see what each account owes today.
- At month end, a statement is produced for each account, listing tickets with dates, references and prices. You review it before it goes.
- Approved invoices are created in your accounting software through its API, such as Xero, Sage or QuickBooks, so nobody retypes them.
- Businesses can be given a portal view of their tickets during the month if they want to check as they go.
| Month-end task | Today | With account billing |
|---|---|---|
| Gather tickets | Folder and missing copies | Ledger already complete |
| Apply agreed prices | From memory | Set per account |
| Add references | Often missing | Required at the counter |
| Create invoice | Retyped | Sent to your accounting software |
Payment terms, credit limits and any chasing policy stay your decision. We can add reminders for overdue invoices if you want them.
Month end in an hour, not a day
The manager opens the account statements, checks anything unusual, and approves. Invoices go out on the first working day of the month, with every ticket referenced the way the business asked. The hotel's accounts team can match room numbers without emailing you.
Does this describe your accounts?
- Business account tickets are kept in a folder.
- Month-end invoicing takes someone a full day.
- Businesses query invoices because references are missing.
- Agreed account prices are applied inconsistently.
- Invoices are retyped into your accounting software.